St. George's, Grenada

St. George's, Grenada

Grenada is also known as the Spice Isle because it is the leading producer of most well-known major spices. In fact, as a souvenir, we bought several spices wrapped in lauhala boxes. Here's some nutmeg =)

The island is so green and lush and on the way to the river tubing site, we were up here at some point.

And here's the view

We also passed two friendly monkeys on the way. They were both very friendly and knew how to socialize.

And smart too! Look, this one's peeling his own banana.

We took a picture with this lady displaying cacao (or cocoa) which is the base for all chocolate products.

And what do you know, a chocolate tree!

And the beach was equally beautiful as the other islands we've been to. The sand was perfect with hardly any rocks or corals along the shoreline, and the beach was perfectly calm. It's almost as if the islands were having a contest on which one has the best beach. This was my favorite (so far!).

I have yet to upload the river tubing pictures which was a lot of fun. Oh, what I would give to be on the beach again! Although, I can't really complain about the nice warm weather we're having just a few days shy of spring. 17 degrees, baby! I should spend more of it outside, and actually get some sun =)

my two loves - sugar and paper!

What a busy two months! Lately, I've been feeling sooo bogged down. There's been hardly any time to just stop and think! I guess it's payback since I had such a laid back vacation where I hardly did or thought about work! I'm ending all my sentences in exclamation marks! That alone is a definitive sign of stress! (it's time for another vacation?? haha!) Don't get me wrong though. I am grateful. And after such an eventful vacation, I think I have more appreciation for life than ever before. Anyway....

Since I am waaay behind in vacay photos editing, I am taking a break to update on what I've been doing the last few months. Shall we?

I'm starting backwards 'cause it's easier to remember =P

I was working on these baby shower cupcakes for a dear friend. I had this idea to make chocolate swirls and I since I couldn't do too many things at once, I needed A's help to help me make them. He did an awesome job, didn't he?!

And since he was strangely successful, why stop there? He made these chocolate nests too!

A closer look...

My classic fondant booties with the heart applique on red velvet cupcakes. I thought the flags were brilliant! I never had to answer which one is which!

Here's some of them...

And some more! Props for A for such amazing photos!

In clear boxes! I get sooo excited about packaging!

I was also working on these cookie monster baby shower invites last weekend

And lastly, I am creating these invitation samples for two weddings we're covering in the summer. I think I love the idea of boxed invites now as much as I love pocketfolds. They're so elegant.

I love this pink and green theme!

Love the single flower! The orchid always makes everything more elegant.

With a different flower option in vibrant pink!

We also made Save the Dates for them using the engagement pictures we took. Will post them soon(ish!) haha.

And that's it folks! Lots to do in April with invitation projects, photoshoots and other stuff. Hoping I'd get better at updating as these are almost two months worth!

Roseau, Dominica

Roseau, Dominica

This is the view that welcomed us upon docking. Isn't it beautiful?

On our way to the lush rainforest, we passed by some locals selling handmade products. I loved this little bug things! They were all handmade and hand painted.

We passed this on the way to Trafalgar falls. The tour guide ahead of us said this looks like diarrhea. Couldn't agree more

This is what we were hiking for. It was worth it!

Woohoo, we made it!

It was unbelievably cold but we went in anyway. The water was crystal clear!

We also visited the boiling sulfur springs.

And finally, some downtime relaxing in the hot springs!

back from paradise...part 2

Sint. Maarten/St. Martin

We arrived at the Dutch side St. Maarten and crossed over the the French side, St. Martin to spend time at Orient Beach, the famous clothing-optional beach. The day started out pretty gloomy, lots of rain clouds and a few scattered showers in the morning. The beach was breath-taking nevertheless. Just look.

We played in the water and shortly after the clouds began to clear and the beach showed its beautiful colour.

And even more beautiful blue...

I didn't do much editing on this picture. It's picture-perfect all on its own.

And here we are, three brown girls, relaxing under our make-shift shade.

I did mention this is a clothing-optional beach. Note our little friend in the back. Hehe, how very mature of me =P

On the way back to the ship, this is the view that welcomed us. I have many of these postcard looking pictures, thanks to my hubby.

We were immensely fascinated by this little coconut smoothie place called Coco Express. It was delicious.

In the ship, fancy dinners await us. This is roast lamb if I remember correctly. It was delicious. (haha. word for the day, I guess)

And not too fancy for having fun, I suppose. This is my nephew Jan's creation out of our nightly bread and butter.

And alas, a picture of all of us, with the camera perched on a seat. It didn't occur to us to bring a tripod so A came running (and weirdly ended up in a squatting position haha!). It was a really good day =)

back from paradise...

First stop -- San Juan, Puerto Rico

It was craziness having to drive to New York for our San Juan flight but I love NYC and I would not pass up an opportunity to visit one of my favorite cities in the world. So, we travelled by night and got to New York in the morning. We detoured and had lunch at Shake Shack and did an impromptu tour driving around Manhattan. Ate Jann and Mike haven't really had the chance to go around NYC so we volunteered to show them around, drove by The Empire State Building and Fifth Avenue, passed by Soho and Ground Zero, used a coin operated public toilet by Madison Square Park (pretty cool, by the way) and at the end of it all, we ended up parked on a side street, sleeping in broad daylight in the city that never sleeps.

We've been travelling for about a day and a half by the time we got to Puerto Rico. We were all tired and sleep-deprived. By 6 am in the morning the day of the cruise, we were just ecstatic to see a Wendy's by the airport serving breakfast who by the way, served amazing pure Puerto Rican coffee. Timmy's have some serious competition.

A few more hours, we got to the port and this is what we saw.

Beautiful, huh? I think I would have appreciated it more if I wasn't so sleep deprived. We had to wait a few more hours before sailing, so we managed to catch some sleep. There were lots of sleeping pictures roaming around to A's and my nephews' amusement. Alas, the wait was over and this was what was waiting for us...

Don't you just love all you can eat buffets??

Meanwhile, in the stateroom, A's making sure the lifejacket fits.

And I'm making sure I'm catching up on my work-out routine. Note the horror in my face.

Who am I kidding? I don't even work out when I'm not on vacation! What a hypocrite!

The best part -- getting the chance to hang out with my sisters for a few days =)

More pictures and stories soon...