Amor

Happy Valentine's Day.

TQM.

Casa De Campo

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Casa de Campo is one of the most exclusive properties in the DR.  A friend let us borrow their entrance card, and boyfriend and I were lucky enough to spend our Sunday there.  The resort is home to a world leading hotel, residences, the leading design school in the country, many golf courses, a marina, shopping, movie theater, supermarket, and restaurants of all cuisines - in other words you never have to leave the complex if you're a millionaire that lives there.  Many celebrities have homes there; including Dominican designer Oscar de La Renta, Shakira, Donald Trump, Vin Diesel, and Brad Pitt.  Unfortunately there were no celeb spottings yesterday.

Restaurants overlooking the Marina

A and I spent the day strolling past the multimillion dollar homes of all shapes and sizes, many of which had SmartCar or golf car collections in their open-air garages.  Boyfriend admired the Ferraris while I admired the yachts - I don't think we would ever agree on what to buy if we won the lottery.  

Top of the Amphitheater

At one corner of the land is Altos de Chavón, a replica of a medieval European city, with a large Roman amphitheater, beautiful views of the river, a church, and lots of small artisan shops and museums to fill its cobblestone streets. 

Altos de Chavón

There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so after lots of walking on this very hot day we rested at Playa Minitas.  The water was so clear I could see all the little fish swimming around my legs.  Of course, boyfriend was the only sun-loather fully dressed while laying on the crisp white chaise lounges at the shore. 

Standing thigh-deep 

It was awfully difficult to leave Casa de Campo and come back to reality, but I've begun my countdown to return to the beach in just 2 short weeks!  Life is good..

{Hello}

Wants

On my finger

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To remember

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To eat

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To teach my children someday

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On my passport

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On my shoulder

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To change

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Thanks, Pinterest.

Daily Life

We are 1/4 of the way through February and I've only written a single post this month!  Bloggers, do you ever feel uninspired?  For two weeks at a time?!  My days have been filled with routine this month, and for me, routine = boredom.  I'm thinking I need this encouragement every morning: 

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Today someone told me that I should see my day to day life as an experience.  Its easy for me to think that nothing exciting happens in my day to day expat life, but if I think real hard to find intrigue in my days I somehow do.  Examples: 

Monday

I fought a mentally unstable woman over a frothing pitcher at work.  Imagine me and a screaming 45 year old battling over a pitcher full of steamed milk..  At least she didn't spit on me like she did on my coworker the other day!  I guess this kinda thing doesn't happen every day.  

Tuesday

Boyfriend and I were mid tennis match when about 20 people jumped out of a helicopter with multicolored parachutes right above us!  We had to stop playing as I just stood there in awe looking at the sky and wondering how they all ended up in the same place.  I don't know how people have the guts for these things.

Wednesday (Today)

I got nothing for you.  I had to fire someone and interviewed a few others.  Blah.

But..  Fast forward to Friday and we are going to a live music bar for an Adele tribute!  Cant wait.

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Food from America

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Have I mentioned that I love getting packages in the mail?  Because I do.  

And friends in the US: you only have to pay shipping to Miami and I pick up the cost from there - mail.  me.  stuff.

Aaaanywayyyy, living abroad the last few years and not having Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes at my leisure has been a difficult adjustment.  Oh, how I miss shopping for new organic snacks and Trader Joes $4 bottles of wine!  Good thing Julia of Girl with a Stethoscope shares my love for granola bars and sent me a pity package which I received today!  It was the perfect mid-week pick-me-up.  Yes, thats right, Thursday is only mid-week for me.

The goodies

Pretzels with sesame seeds - I had never tasted pretzels like these before 10 minutes ago.  They completely alter the typical bland pretzel taste.  The bag's contents are slowly diminishing away.

Ginger Chews.  After leaving my college part-time job at Whole Foods I somehow forgot all about these things.  They are sweet & spicy and the perfect alternative to sugary candy chews.  Ginger is also good for stomach aches/indigestion so I'm convinced that eating a whole bag is nothing but good for me. 

Organic fruit leather.  Just like adult Fruit Roll-Ups.  Another reason why living abroad is hard. 

Z Bars, Clif Bars and Luna Bars.  Z Bars are my favorite ones - hint hint to those who feel inspired to send me things - but I can't wait to try the Chocolate Almond Coconut Mojo Bar.  Yum!

Thanks, Juliasters!

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