Aloha!

I love Terry & Marianne (aka Terrianne). They became engaged late last year a few days before leaving on a surfing trip to Hawaii. I love that they wish to share the place they explored together with their family and friends for the big day. 

Anyone know how much a ticket to Hawaii will run? I'm off to scrimp pennies and research! 

Dr. Simi, Claudia & me.

I just got back from a brief and jam-packed trip to Hermosillo. Highlights include:


.checking things off the wedding to-do list (best feeling ever)
.eating amazing food (my jeans are a bit snug thanks to the trip now)
.catching up with my crazy (loving) family
.souvenir shopping (it's too much fun to not do it)
.participating in my very first (and only) Mexican bridal shower! I'm awaiting pictures from the photographer.
.dancing with Dr. Simi...


If you have grandparents or family members on expensive medication, Farmacias Similares is the place to go. They have the generic version of a plethora of drugs. It is thanks to them that my mom's medicine cabinet is stockpiled with all sorts of medical wonders. I try to stay away from it but, every once in a while, when I can no longer breathe, I turn to it for help. However, above all else, my sister and I love to stop by Farmacias Similares for this:

There's nothing better than walking the streets of downtown Hermosillo with bags full of goodies & good company. And a hug from Dr. Simi, for good measure.

Picture madness!

I am on a quest. 

Not too difficult of one, just pricier than I ever could have imagined. I am no longer satisfied with uploading pictures from my camera to my computer to facebook. I cannot savor them the way I do whenever I first eye a shot. Therefore, my new quest is to print out my favorite pictures of trips, travels and adventures. 

Tonight I sent off for the Marfa & Seattle trips. They set me back forty plus bucks. Whoever would have thought pictures would be that much on the Walgreen's website?! Any recommendations to a higher quality printer or at the very least a bit more wallet-friendly, please share your tips. They will be more than welcome. 

TX Wears Prada

After five years of patiently awaiting, I finally got to visit Prada Marfa. Inside were beautiful leather handbags and elegant pumps. It was window shopping at its finest. For those of you who would someday like to visit, I have a few bits of advice:


. fill up your tank before leaving Marfa, TX because the 35+ miles to the store has you driving past Valentine, TX. A town that has two defunct gas stations. We learned this the hard way. A big cyber shout out to Sam who was kind enough to share his cell phone number with us in case our car sputtered out from a lack of gasoline. 


. go twice. Once during the day & the other when the sun is coming down. I wish I'd seen it in both lights. Especially since the artists who put together the piece have the store lit up at night. 


Otherwise, keep on shopping!

617 miles

A ten hour drive filled with laughter, yawns, conversation, static radio stations, almonds, coffee and more coffee: our road trip to Marfa, TX was everything a road trip should be. 

It was maddening to begin our trip two hours after our original departure time (stupid Tidwell bus & Houston traffic) but once we were on the road things were going great. Upon hitting San Antonio, we were so caught up talking about late 90s rock courtesy of a commercial free 97.7 FM that Fran & I failed to realize we were no longer on I-10. It was an hour or so later when trailer after trailer passed us by that it dawned: we were off our main route. Ultimately, it led to one of my favorite parts of the trip...u-turning precisely in front of the Mexican border next to Del Rio, TX. Had it not been for the HUGE warning sign, Fran may have checked visiting Mexico off his to-do list. 


Driving into Marfa at 3:00 am later that night was definitely another highlight of the trip. We are fairly confident in announcing that we saw the infamous Marfa Lights:


It was a deserted stretch of road. We had not passed a single car for at least an hour and a half (creepy!) when all of a sudden Fran urgently asks me to look out the back and tell him what I see. Instantly alert, I unbuckle my seatbelt, turn around and do a double-take. Off in the distance, high above the height any vehicle headlights should be, were a set of what appeared to be headlights. They were not the steady glare you see when looking back upon an oncoming vehicle's lights. Instead they hovered in a constant swarming motion with accompanying red dots next to the double white lights. It was eerily unreal. By the time the realization of what we could potentially be seeing hit me, it was too late to reach for my camera since the lights were gone. Fran & I have reached a stalemate. Relegating it to our first Valentine's Day drawer: maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I'm siding with the, it was the Marfa Lights!


Other than our uncertainty regarding the lights, the trip was amazing. We even made new friends! A super sweet & intelligent couple from San Francisco, who Fran & I both fell in love with. We met upon touring the Chinati Foundation grounds & formed our own little quartet as we walked the compound with our guide, Logan. 


We hope to go back one day. But first, we must recover from the drive. Until then, happy belated Valentine's day everyone!