Mer's World

Warning: Don’t read this on Monday morning, if you are in a location with lots of that cold, white stuff out the window!

Fortunately, in Boston, we are experiencing a heatwave (high 61* today), so I think I’m safe to post…

We spent the last week in St. Croix for our annual family, fun-in-the-sun-then-look-like-a-lobsterbake vacation.

We stayed in a wonderful house, overlooking the Caribbean Sea on all sides…

Now, before you stop reading and hate me forever, let me be honest and tell you that the weather was far from perfect this trip.  This is our 4th year spending a January week in St. Croix and the first year that we had really ‘iffy weather’.  Now, before you start feeling bad for us, I can attest to the fact that we got some sun by the flaming sunburn in random parts of my body…

It was just a weird weather pattern, more rain than normal, colder nights and hotter days in the sun… but we managed to survive and have lots of fun anyway!

We spent a morning at the eastern most point of the US (Point Udall, St. Croix), watching the sun rise…

Meg and Lance went on several different adventures (Jet-skiing at Rainbow Beach, Sea Thru Kayaking), but honestly, this was pretty much my view from the beach (with a bottle of water, lots of time in shade and water, and lots of books!).

The travel and heat took more out of me then I would like to admit, so I spent a little more time ‘inactive’ then I would have liked… but I got lots of reading done- on the beach and on the porch with my feet up!  I’m still tired, but feel like my batteries did get recharged, and that’s the most important part of a vacation!

We also spent lots of time at our ‘home away from home’ Off the Wall Beach Bar…

While I wasn’t officially ‘on’ the rental car agreement, I did end up as a designated driver on many occasions…  :-)

Tomorrow, I’ll re-post my suggestions for eating, drinking and shopping (cause we all know this is how I spend the majority of my vacations…).

Happy Monday!

XO, Mer

Sometimes it’s all about a number…

A number that has caused sweat, tears, anxiety and then pride.

A number that demonstrates dedication, control and perseverance.

A number that opens up a whole new world of opportunities.

A number that says ‘You go girl, and kick some diabetes ass’.

My A1c hasn’t been under 7.0 in a decade.

Today I flew past the 7.0 mark and landed firmly at 6.6.

For the first time, in a long time, I’m going to put my feet up and celebrate the strength that’s gotten me to this point.

And then I’m going to throw a few things in a bag and take a little cruise to Bermuda. When I’m done basking in the sun (and a diabetes victory), I’ll be back with shopping reports, food pictures and a sunny, relaxed attitude!

The past few months have been quite a journey- thanks for coming along for the ride and providing support along the way!

Who knows what’s gonna happen now?

A few pix of the support staff

(plus my in-laws, but blogging from the iPad and can’t seem to find a picture of them to post!!)

So you’ve heard about dogs eating homework, food from the table, vegetables from the garden… but, really?!?! really?!? my stack of clothes set out to pack for vacation? Argh.  Sharing my life/house/life savings with dogs is usually, a genuinely enjoyable experience.

They make me laugh, provide constant love and affection… and destruction. I might possibly have ordered a few things online this week, even though the husband put me on a strict budget (if it’s a great deal, then it’s still adhering to the budget, right?!?).

Upon arrival to the house, I efficiently ran the items upstairs and stacked them neatly on the chest at the end of the bed- my usual ‘packing place’.  Ok, so I was also trying to make it look like I’d had them forever and there wasn’t a thing new about them (except for the tags hanging down and the plastic bags they were ‘stored’ in).

Since the damn dog managed to chew the boob-area and buttons out of most of the tops (it’s not THAT kind of trip- if it was, I wouldn’t be taking my father ), I’ll kindly keep this G-rated and only show the most moderate damage (on the shirt that I am now wearing as PJs with another tank top underneath…).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, in addition to needlepoint class, laundry, packing, gardening, yardwork, housework, grocery shopping, etc. I’ll also be scrambling to replace the 4 articles of clothing that were destroyed in a puppy play party on Friday night. In other news, these shoes are not made for walking (2 miles to Starbucks/Trader Joe’s/Cannon’s LAX game):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sounded like a great idea at the time- some fresh air, a stroll along the river, a foodie destination… Well, Lord have mercy on my fat, swollen, puffy, red tired feet.  This new medicine makes them puffier than normal and now I have this lovely red rash making it’s way closer and closer to my knees.

So, I’m thinking that a 2 mile walk, in inappropriate shoes, on a super hot day was probably not the best life choice.  Needless to say, I’m paying for it today. But, at the end of all that walking, were hot, sweaty guys in purple.  That helped my spirits immensely (as well as a few ice cold Bud Lights).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, as if that wasn’t a good enough weekend- Bella and I went to Copley on Saturday for some shopping and not only scored front row seats to some seriously awesome people-watching (hello, Boston Pride Fest 2012), but got some free manicures.

Bella always teases me about the amount of glitter that I use in our craft projects… after yesterday, she admitted that I had a LONG way to go to keep up with some of the people that we saw (Mr. teeny-weeny-purple-sequin-shorts-covered-in-glitter-oil I’m looking at you (and drooling)).

We also scored free manicures and gift bags from Sephora for their nail event.  Bella walked away with 5 different polish colors, and I walked away with a need to run straight to my nearest CVS and buy-out their Essie Summer Color line.  So, I did.  Hello, To Buy or Not To Buy:

 

 

 

 

 

And, here are Bella’s summer color choices:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With that update, far more than you probably wanted to know, I’m off to hop in the shower, grab an iced latte and head to my stitch class this morning!

I’ll be back midweek with a stitch update and a stitch guide for you.  I’ve gotten lots of compliments in my stitching class, so I thought I would share my secrets to success (with a fair amount of snark mixed in).

Have a great Sunday!

XO, Mer

 

 

Getting back into the swing of things here in cold, cold Boston…

We picked a hell of a time to come home- the weatherman is referring to the brutal temps that we had on Sunday as ‘the coldest day we could see all winter’… yay.

So, with that in mind, I’ll give you my island recap..

We had a great trip, and frankly, most of it was spent here:

the pool at our rented house

or here:

the beach at Cane Bay (or Off the Wall Beach Bar)

We had lots of good eats, here are a few of the favorites:

Crucian Painkillers…

Spicy Guava Margarita

1 part Jalapeno infused tequila

1 part margarita mix (any kind!)

1 part guava juice

Mix and enjoy.  Amazing.

Edamame, flash friend with teriyaki and Sriracha sauce

Fresh Mahi Mahi tacos with mango cole slaw and marinara polenta

And, of course, anything from:

We did do a few historic/touristy things as well…

A quick trip to the Eastern-most point in the USA

 

Wouldn’t be complete without a family photo…

Enjoying Buck Island on a sunny day

Exploring the plantation and sugarmill ruins in our neighborhood…

And, just plain enjoying the laughter of family and the company of about a dozen trash romance novels…

Now it’s back to the regular routine!

How do you get back into the habits of healthy living after a vacation?!

Have a great day!

Just one of those days…

Spent getting back to reality after an amazing Caribbean vacation (more coming on that later in the week!!).

Sorry for the lack of posts, I had a bit of a photo/internet/computer fail..

So, today was spent catching up on:

Laundry

Grocery Shopping

Football (GO RAVENS!) and hot tea (to try and adjust to these COLD temperatures!)

Stitching…

Notice: two projects that are just a few threads short of finished… argh.

I’m headed back to putting my feet up (and putting my laundry away!).

See you tomorrow, when I’m back to my regular posting!

XO, Mer