Get excited!!

I finally switched my blog over to WordPress from Drupal (sorry, Drupal friends). I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now but just have not had the time. Regardless, it’s done & I’m pretty pleased. It’s quite different from my old site but it’s now consistent with my “brand” (I feel like a princess when I say that) and I think it will be much easier to maintain in the future.

Anyway, hope you like it as much as I do and I’m also pretty excited to be going to Dallas next week! Thought this vacation was never going to come.

Photo credits: http://weheartit.com/entry/8335288 & http://weheartit.com/entry/13420769

Last week I ventured on my first cruise to Key West, Nassau, and CocoCay. I’ve always been a little weary about cruises. You hear all those stories about everyone on the boat getting sick and let’s be serious, you’re in the middle of the ocean with no help for miles. We all know what REALLY happens when something goes wrong. Ha. But seriously, the biggest boat I’ve ever been on is the Magic Kingdom ferry boat (my sister-in-law would be proud of me for saying Magic Kingdom & not Disney ;) ) so I was a little unsure about being on giant cruise boat for a 4 night cruise.

Nonetheless, I grabbed a few good friends and we were on our way. Key West was beautiful but short-lived and rather touristy. We weren’t docked there for more than just a few hours so we only walked around and did some shopping. If you ever go, you must get Kino’s Sandals… I’m thoroughly enjoying them. =)

Our next stop was Nassau where Courtney & I had booked parasailing. The other girls booked a dolphin swimming excursion so we split for the day. I have to say, my stomach was in knots before we went parasailing. This picture should tell it all:

We were on this tiny boat with about 12 other people (not including the boat driver & the parasail guy) so it was a tight squeeze. Of course everyone on the boat but myself got a harness (what the hell!) and we were soaking wet from the waves by the time we got out to our parasailing spot. Before I knew it, the guy was pointing at Courtney and I and it was our turn!

You sit on this strap at the front of the boat and you basically wait for the wind to pick you up. In the blink of an eye, you’re up 400-450 ft in the sky.

Let me just tell you…it was the most peaceful experience I think I’ve ever had. It’s quiet, so completely beautiful, and oddly very still. Definitely a very fun experience AND I didn’t do too shabby on my landing. =)

For the rest of the time in Nassau, we just walked around (I couldn’t get used to people driving on the wrong side of the road!) and then hit up the beach. The sand was so amazingly soft and the Mango daiquiri wasn’t too bad either. ;) (Picture is at Junkanoo Beach.)

We went to Senior Frogs for dinner where there were plenty of drinks & food, as well as singing and a little shimmy shaking.

Our next stop was CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island. It was very beautiful. We started the day with some yoga on the beach but then it rained a little bit so it wasn’t until the early afternoon that we were able to rent some snorkel gear and head out.

Schools of fish kept following me and it was totally creeping me out! Snorkeling was definitely a workout but rather fun. =)

The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking Coco Loco’s (the amazing island drink) and soaking up the sun. I was so completely relaxed it was ridiculous. It’s always so nice just turning off the phone, not bringing the lappy, and totally disconnecting.

Of course we had some fun activities that were on the boat throughout the trip like the belly flop competition (we were just spectators, don’t fret), bingo, trivia, the casino, shows, and a yogurt machine on the pool deck open basically all the time. :X

All in all, had a fantastic cruise. Vacations never feel long enough, but I’m feeling stress free, relaxed, and happy. Can’t ask for much more, right?

Wow. What a fantastic week in San Francisco! I’m honestly not even really sure where to start! I had been planning this trip since last summer…right after I knew about DrupalCon Paris. Knowing there was no way possible I was going to be able to swing Paris, I set out to attend the next one in San Francisco.

I’ve wanted to go to California my entire life and DrupalCon seemed like a great bridge to make that dream come true. When I was in high school, I wanted to move there to go to school but as a youngin’ =) I was convinced by many it wasn’t a good choice, so I passed up the opportunity. And as you can imagine, as the trip came closer and closer, my anticipation grew so big I could barely sit still the week prior to leaving.

I had been hearing so much about San Francisco from friends (basically about how AMAZING it is) that I was starting to think maybe it was too good to be true. As we arrived to the sunny skies, breezy temperatures, and the hills and mountains, I knew it was definitely not too good to be true. We took their metro subway (the BART!) to our hotel – right in the heart of downtown San Francisco on Powell and Market. From the moment we got out of the metro and onto the streets, I had a HUGE smile on my face that I just could not wipe off.

For a lack of better words, San Francisco is just beautiful. Nothing beats a fast-paced (yet mellow) and diverse culture of a big city…street vendors, young and old people, dancers performing in the streets, enormous stores like Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters (hello…that is paradise for me) – it was just incredible. The last time I went to a “big” city was Chicago a few years back (that is another place I want to visit soon again).

After dropping off our stuff, we ventured to explore! We went up to North Beach to check out Coit Tower. We hiked our way up the hills of San Francisco, screaming quotes from “The Sweetest Thing,” and staring in awe of our beautiful surroundings. The view from Coit Tower is worth all the huffing and puffing up that steep hill to get to it.

Coit Tower was built in honor of Lillie Hitchcock Coit and for the San Francisco firemen – hence why it looks like the nozzle of a firehose! We took the scenic route down, through gardens and wooden stairways. One of my favorite parts about this day was we really didn’t know where we were going, we just went and we were going to love where ever we ended up. We stumbled upon this Zen Garden where we laid in the grass making grass angels, balanced on rocks in the water, saw people meditating, and watched the Weeping Willows blow in the wind. Sigh… it was breathtaking.

The next day we went to visit Alcatraz. I’ve never been a big history kind of girl – always really bored me. Alcatraz was awesome though. As we toured the island, took an inordinate amount of photos, and listened to the audio tour of the cellhouse, I was really excited to be standing on history. The audio tour of the cellhouse was really interesting. Actual prisoners and officers narrated, telling us stories and the history of Alcatraz. And wow – what a view of San Francisco from the island. Absolutely gorgeous.

Did you know Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1973? It now has over 1.4 million visitors a year! CRAZY!

After Alcatraz, we walked around for a bit, breathing in the salty air, we grabbed some seafood at the Fisherman’s Grotto. Salmon cakes for me. YUM. On our way back we got to catch some break dancers (don’t worry, I got video…it is to come soon) – they were awesome!

I think we picked a perfect time to go to San Francisco because one thing I did not expect was the amazing landscaping all around. I’m not sure if it’s like that in most parts of California, but the trees and flowers all over the place are just gorgeous. I was never really into plants and flowers and trees (ask my Mom, I never wanted to help out in the yard – haha) but I can say I was always fond of weeping willows and daisies – all of which San Francisco had plenty of. Guess you gotta make time to stop and appreciate that kind of beauty!

I have lots more from my trip, I just didn’t want to bore you all at once, so stay tuned! =)

Well, it is finally that time. I’m leaving for San Francisco this weekend to attend DrupalConSF and can I just say that I AM SO EXCITED! This is the FIRST official “cross-off” on my vision board for 2010 and I’m pretty proud of myself for sticking to my goals and MAKING IT HAPPEN. Not only will I be with my fellow designing and development geeks for a few days, but I’ll be taking some extended time there to enjoy and explore the city with my friends. I’m not too happy about the 60% chance of rain 5/7 days that I’m there, but I’m not going to let it hold me down! If I must run around San Francisco in some rain boots, I most certainly will.

You know, that phrase, “making it happen” … well, it seems to be my life motto as of late. There’s just something about saying you want something and then actually doing whatever it takes to make it happen – regardless of barriers. Last week was a pretty interesting week for me. I was presented with an opportunity that I think probably would have turned my world upside down and then back down and around the corner. It was going to be something completely different from what I’ve been doing. It would have been a new opportunity to learn, to grow, and to simply try something new. At the end of the day, I chose to pass this opportunity along to someone else. And although there are various reasons why I turned it down, the one primary reason was that I realized that taking it would deter me from where I wanted to go. And essentially, I would be compromising what I want.

I think it’s easy to convince yourself that something might be right or wrong for you. You can make that list of pros and cons, ask for others opinions, bury your face in your pillow, toss and turn, and then take a leap, but you absolutely cannot forget what it is that you truly want. I honestly believe that sometimes we ARE meant to go off the path and take chances – to try new things, but I also believe that sometimes we simply are not.

Dream.
Plan.
Focus.
Make it happen.

Photo credit: http://weheartit.com/entry/13529938