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"Seafood + sun + sea + cerveza = paradise"! Thank you family & friends for all the birthday well wishes. I tell you, July 4, 2014 may go down as one of the best birthdays ever, and hey, I've had more than a few.
Our first official day here yesterday was spent relaxing & enjoying each other's company. (Rory greatly improved by around noon which was great after having this flu.) After a day of being sloths, swimming, floating, eating, having drinks, well we were just in a zen mode. It could not be better and one would be selfish to expect any more. I had to beat people off my floaty chair 😊
It was very hot and required mucho pool time. This pool is amazing, with the waterfalls, is large enough for everyone to float on chairs. Music and conversation filled the air, while some read, some floated and some just hung out. Lunch was an assortment of cheeses, meats, olives and breads on the terrace which is an outdoor covered room with an outdoor ceiling fan to keep you cool out of the heat.
I even started a new book called, "Before we met".
It's about a young woman wary of commitment meets Mark, a fellow Brit, and within months they are married. When Mark fails to return from a business trip, her certainty about their marriage begins to crack. Her life begins to unravel with clues. Why don't his colleagues know about his trip? Who is the woman that keeps calling his office? And why is her bank account all of a sudden cleaned out? Secrets will be uncovered and will lead her to a place of violence and fear. (Now doesn't this book just make you want to run out and buy it? Much like Gone Girl that I read last year. Psychological thriller.
Al took some time yesterday to take some beautiful pics of butterflies (in abundance & so colorful), flowers and plants. Given the house is close to the ocean and in a beautiful gated community, we also back on a beautiful golf course, & are surrounded by lush tropical foliage. It was such a relaxing day, so glad we have this private home to ourselves to stretch out and just be. We are probably at best 10 minutes by foot to the beach. Al took the cut-through yesterday
and said the beach was beautiful and the Caribbean was rippling & showing off again how beautiful she is. We are so used to being ocean front when in Playa, but I have to tell you, a private home away from other guests and noise is a welcome change. However, being at Luna in town, and ocean front is no hardship either 😊
We finally decided for dinner we'd go out to Plank Grill & Patio which is a relatively new restaurant in Playa. Very beautiful, upscale and with a twist in dining. Their concept focuses on a special cooking technique designed to infuse a delicate touch of flavor by cooking food directly on Himalayan salt planks or wooden planks! No artificial preservatives and they offer seafood, USDA certified beef, chicken and fish, grilled vegetables and gourmet flat breads. This place is top notch; they have a glass floor, elegant decor and the service is very refined.
Everyone got gussied up, Jaime picked us up, and off to town we went.
The drinks were particularly nice; Al tried their smoke infused bloody Caesar which was really tasty. My margarita was very good, and the girls had berry
smoothies and pina coladas. Complientary grilled flatbread was brought to the table with 3 dipping sauces; roasted tomato (amazing), hummus and poblano pepper & corn. So tasty. I enjoyed two Caribbean grilled lobster tails (perfectly cooked), Ray/Pat ordered Himalayan jumbo grilled shrimp with chipotle chutney. Marth had a rack of lamb with sweet pepper & rosemary, the girls filet mignon (side of mac n' cheese), and grilled chicken salad with poached egg, garlic dressing. Al had the cedar plank salmon with a dry rub and Parmesan potatoes.
Of course a wonderful evening of surprises, home-made cards and gifts from the girls they had bought yesterday (behind my back) that had me in tears all night. You can dress them up, but you can't take moms out for dinner & give them homemade cards; it makes them weepy. They bought me real silver! A beautiful fire opal bracelet for me (apparently Lara's pretty good at negotiating prices). Ava gave me the matching earrings, and Rory gave me a beautiful Mayan Aztec calendar necklace with a beautiful silver chain, and it's the fire opal on one side and the other side is a blue/green opal to match earrings they gave me
last year. Can you believe this? They did it all by themselves! And Kate presented me beautiful earrings on my birthday morning. Thank you Natasha (Kate's mom) for going to all that trouble for me.
Rory's handmade card will be laminated and kept forever. So much for make-up after I read it.
Dear the best mother ever. Happy birthday! I hope that you have an awesome day and all your wishes come true. Also that you had a great year and this one's even better! You are such a wonderful person and I love you so much. Thank you for always taking care of me and doing nice things for me and loving me so much. You are my idol and role model because you are so nice, funny, smart and everything about you is outstanding. You are such an incredible person. And I'm so lucky to have you in my life and be my mom. I love you so much. Love Rory (and she drew fireworks too!)
Ava's card (she's 9!)
Dear Mom, I love you so much. I cry alot even when you scrape your elbow. I'm sorry my card isn't as amazing a card that will bring you to tears. I still remember when I was like 3 or 4 you'd put me in a stroller and you went on your rollerblades. It was a fun ride! When I'm older I want to be JUST like you! You're amazing! Hopefully we can get in a midnight or earlier swim! Love Ava (PS she ripped a heart shape in the middle of it!
Al got me a lovely card (I won't bore you with what he wrote) and some DVD TV series I had wanted. We agreed to forgo birthday gifts and come to Playa in this amazing villa. Ray & Pat bought me a beautiful bottle of Chadonnay and they treated us to dinner at this very expensive restaurant! Thank you Ray and Pat...
At the end of the meal, I was serenaded in Spanish by the staff, all men, who had voices like angels. My dessert was lit with sparklers that were like fireworks on my dessert, unlike anything I have witnessed at home. Strawberry cheesecake, with freshly made whipped cream & strawberries. And the girls had a sampler platter of dessert (Linda L. you would be impressed) which was
apple crumble, key lime pie, chocolate mousse & cheesecake. Big enough to share.
We ended up back at home to enjoy the pool, and we watched some of Wimbledon tennis and the Calgary Stampede (Pat loves the chuck races). I headed to bed by midnight and a storm blew through, heavy rain and thunder. Pat says there was an outdoor light on, and it was showing the rain hitting off the palm trees. BEAUTIFUL. Rain at night, hot & sunny during the day. JACKPOT.
Today was another glorious day. We woke around 8, and turned on the ladies final at Wimbledon. Gotta tell you, watching tennis lying in our king size bed like were were kings of the mountain. Then the housekeeping showed up, the pool guy cleaned the pool & the manager Dan swept the terrace, arranged the loungers and got our Blue Ray working. Sheesh, I wonder if the queen receives such service at Buckingham????
I will give you a pass today & not write too much. Frankly (and Sally and who the heck is Frank) are SO lazy my fingertips fell asleep typing this blog. Pics are all below; you can make them bigger
by clicking on them and then hitting next for pics). If you want, if you don't want, don't do it. Don't do anything you don't want to do. So there.
Hope you are all enjoying hot sunny weather with loved ones.
"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are".
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Mom
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Happy holidays!!
It can't get much better than that!! Everyone looks so happy and are having a great time and making memories. And I do agree that you are a wonderful Mother. Love ya, XOXOXOXO