Bon Bini!

That means "Welcome" in Papiamento, Aruba's national language. (It's also the only word I learned in Papiamento - most people spoke Spanish and English.) Steve's parents have a timeshare at the Marriott Ocean Club and generously invited us along for their August vacation. As you can imagine we jumped at the chance!

So yes, I'm back after a week of surf, sand and sun, with a sunburn, a yen for Cuban food and an itch to try making mojitos at home.

Want to see some pictures? Of course you do!

Welcome!

Aruban national beer...extremely delicious

A restaurant inland called Papiamento, situated in an old house. Amazing!

Another restaurant, the Flying Fishbone. It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but all of the tables are on the beach and some of them are right in the ocean!

Another view at Flying Fishbone - looking out over the harbor

View from the hotel heading towards the beach

My efforts at being artsy on the beach

Sunset on Saturday night

How can you not like a place they call "One Happy Island"?

My daily view

Giant lizards were running around everywhere...they'll go right up to your table and you can feed them french fries!

Sunset on the beach, Insta-gram style

It's definitely not easy to be back after a tropical beach vacation! At least now, after 14+ hours of travel back to DC (a combination of Hurricane Isaac, the lovely ground crew at National Airport, and a quirky Aruban airport system that requires you to go through customs and security not once, but twice) I'm exactly where I want to be after a long trip - laying on my bed, catching up on DVR, wearing my comfy pants with the AC blasting, eating a leftover sandwich.

Now it's on to Labor Day weekend and an upcoming trip to New York!

Anyone else take any fun summer vacations?

xoxo,
b

Happy Friday

Cheers to the freakin' weekend, right? Here are some heart-warming things I found online to start your weekend off right:

Gawker: A baby elephant running and farting at the same time.
ABC: Bill Clinton and a Ugandan baby named after him 14 years ago


Also, my apartment has been swallowed by packing. Exhibit A:

I hope to one day retrieve my coffee table.

Posting will be light the next couple of days as I'm on vacation, but I'll be checking in from the hotel when I can. Happy weekend!

xoxo,

b

Summer Travels: Chicago Edition

I'm kicking off my summer travels on Friday with a jaunt to Chicago for my cousin's wedding! Since I haven't spent much time in Chicago (one St. Patrick's Day in college and one baseball game at Wrigley in 2007), there's a few things that I'd like to check off my Chicago bucket list while I'm there:
1. The Bean.

Yes, I know it's touristy, but I've never seen it. It seems like a fun activity to do with the fam too.

2. Deep-Dish Pizza

I'm not sure that I can really count this on my bucket list since I've had it before, but it's worth a #2 spot on this list. The rehearsal dinner is at a well-known pizza restaurant so I'm pretty sure I can get this box checked off.

3. Boat Tour

I normally hate boats, but a river tour has been recommended to me as one of the best things to do in Chicago. It seems like a great way to see the city and learn about the history, plus I took a boat tour in 2006 (in Holland) that was one of the more fun legs of the trip.

4. Sears Tower Ledge

Another tourist destination I'm sure, but doesn't this look scary and fun and scary?! Emphasis on scary.

What else should I do while I'm out there? Any restaurants that I must try? Places I must see? Let me know!

xoxo,

b