Punta Cana! Part 3.

I couldn't believe the trip was almost over and we only had a couple more days in Punta Cana.  After getting sick on Wednesday night after Dinner at the French Restaurant, though I don't believe it was from the food but rather the ice in my Orange Soda, I was more determined to spend time by the pool and get in as many activities as possible.  Unfortunately, my drinking had pretty much commenced, and I stuck with lots of water and perhaps a glass of wine at Dinner or Chunky Monkey by the Pool.

Turtle Head

We stayed by the beach longer than normal on our last full day there, swimming in the water, I took my last dance class (each day was different, so I learned Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata), and read my book underneath an umbrella.  We made our way to the swimming pool that afternoon and all of us had water races, took pictures underwater, and basked in the sun while we floated in the pool.  That night we all went off and did some shopping.  Mom was looking for some jewelry so we bartered with the guy to give us a good deal and she found a bracelet she liked.  I found these super cute little Turtle guys, but there wasn't much else I really liked, so I picked up my painted Turtle and a Punta Cana shot glass for Emily and I's apartment and then met up with everyone and we all played 'Catchphrase' on our last night before we had Dinner.

Last day of Dance Lessons, Bachata Bachata!

That night we ate at the Italian Restaurant and I was able to order a dish similar to Fettucine Alfredo (at this point, I was missing normal food) although I tried all the fun sushi appetizers and gazpacho's they had including watermelon, cucumber, and even beet that was delicious.  But my favorite part of that meal was the giant wheel of fresh Parmesan cheese you had to scrape to get out!  I put cheese on everything I could, from my salad, to my crackers, to my pasta, to my sushi, to my gazpacho soups, and anything else.  After getting sick on Wednesday I stuck with a lot of fruits and veggies too, not eating anything too heavy because I didn't want to worry about not getting to enjoy the rest of the vacation.  Since I've been back in LA I've really been missing the fresh pineapple, mango, and watermelon!!

Mom & I before Dinner :)

We stayed down by the Lobby as long as we could, drinking and playing games and then finally made our way up to the room where a few of us had ordered room service and played Trivial Pursuit one more time before we would head back to the States that following afternoon.

The next morning we all went to Breakfast together, toasting with our Mimosa's to a wonderful vacation.  After packing up my suitcase (rolling clothes was the most genius trick ever) I tried to order a drink at the Lobby Bar since it had Sambuca in it but it was too strong so I stuck with one of my standbys, a Tanqueray & Sprite, which was refreshing, while we waited for our shuttle to take us to the airport.  We got to say our goodbye's to everyone, and get some snacks until our plane arrived and then as we made our way to the tarmac and boarded our plane, it was a bittersweet goodbye to the Dominican Republic.

Our Trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic!

All in all, the best part of the vacation was having fun in the sun, getting to order these tropical drinks and spend time with my family while trying new foods.  All that aside, we've traveled to different cities in Mexico on 3 different occasions, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd take a trip back to Mexico before I'd head back to the Dominican Republic.  And I'd much rather spend family time with cocktails and games right in good ol' Plymouth Wisconsin because when it comes down to it, it's not where you are, it's who you're with, and I'm pretty lucky to have such an awesome family :)  Thank you to the Wegner's & Wittkopp's for an excellent trip!

Punta Cana! Part 2.

The week my family and I spent in Punta Cana this July consisted of fun tropical cocktails, an assortment of themed restaurants (we got to eat at every single one), with days spent by the beach and pool, and nights laughing and playing games like Catchphrase, Trivial Pursuit, and Loaded Questions!

Tuna Tartare

My Dad and brother, Bobby, arrived on the second day and that night we had reservations for the Japanese Restaurant, Maiko, which I was really looking forward to.  The meal started off with a few different kinds of sushi and some tempura, and then the Habachi was started and we got fish, steak, shrimp, chicken, veggies, and rice.  After our meal we were moved to a different table and served dessert, and also celebrated my 'Belated 30th Birthday.'  It was one of my favorite Restaurants of the trip and I was happy to see my Dad trying sushi and eating shrimp for the first time ever!!  Way to go, Dad!

Wegner Family in Punta Cana :)

For Dinner on our third night we went to the Garden Grill where they had different types of steaks and a huge buffet.  I think I had 3 platefuls of food before my steak even arrived!  The steak was good but not even close to the Rack of Lamb I had the next night at the French Restaurant!  I've never had Lamb before so I was a little nervous but it was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly.  I also had Lobster Bisque soup that night in addition to an excellent Tuna Tartare.  Because there were 11 people in our group they brought us extra appetizers and entree's so we were able to try everything, which was really cool.  Everyone else tried the Lobster but I stuck with my Lamb and amazing veggies that night.

No Jacoby Vacation would be complete without Family Photos at every possible opportunity so on the night we went to the French Restaurant, while we were all dressed up, we went down to the Beach to get some group photos even though that evening was a little overcast.  Say cheese!

During the day, we'd be by the Beach and grab drinks at the Bar, like Banana Mudslides or Blue Hawaiian's, and they served Hot Dogs so you felt like you were at the Ballpark!  We found a quieter pool a couple days into our vacation where we ended up spending most of the time when we were out in the sun.  They had Sambuca so one afternoon I sipped on that while I floated on a raft :)  The Hotel Staff also brought wild animals around to take pictures with, there were Parrots, Snakes, and even a Spider Monkey!  Of course, I love monkey's so as scared as I was, I got my photo taken with the Monkey! 

Cocktails by the Pool!

Clearly, time flies when you're having fun!

Punta Cana!

After my Birthday in June I had a lot to look forward to including a week-long vacation to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with my family!  There were going to be 11 of us hanging out (my Mom & Dad, brother, Bobby, my Aunt and Uncle, my 3 cousin's, and their 2 girlfriend's, everyone coming from all over the US) all week long while we sipped Coco Loco's, had incredible meals, and enjoyed the beaches and activities at The Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana.

I met my cousin, Tyler, and his girlfriend, Monica, at LAX on Saturday night where we took a red-eye to Atlanta, Georgia, then had a 4 hour layover until we took our next plane ride into the Dominican Republic.  The moment we stepped off the plane it was warm and the airport was packed with people going through custom's and before we knew it, someone was grabbing our luggage and leading us outside.  I literally asked the guy if he was going to kill us, but since he spoke little English he had no idea what I was saying, and Monica was able to make sure we were going to arrive safely at the resort since she's fluent in Spanish.  It was about a half hour ride through the city and country, and very interesting, seeing how expensive gas was, all the resorts along the way, the apartments the residents lived in, and little shops and tourist spots.

As soon as we got to the Resort, everyone met us in the Lobby, we checked in and then headed to the room so we could go down to the beach and pool for a while to get some swim time in.  The water was a beautiful clear blue along a gorgeous sand beach, filled with umbrella's, chairs, and bars.  After swimming we got ready for Dinner and Mom and I made our way to the Lobby to meet everyone, but it was pouring rain outside.  To be honest, that was one of my favorite parts of the trip, it was a warm rain and it was really fun to be walking outside in it (lucky that the rooms had umbrella's in them since it rains nearly every day at some point).  We grabbed a drink at the Lobby then took a shuttle to El Pescador, the seafood restaurant, and once we got seated at our table, they came around with wine, told us to grab our starters at the buffet and then placed our order for Dinner.  This restaurant was my least favorite out of the ones we ate at because I was looking forward to really fresh fish and I was just disappointed with the choices and flavor of my meal and the meals I tried.  The buffet and some of the appetizers were really good but overall, I liked this meal the least.

Becky, Monica, Nicole, and I were ready for some Karaoke!

After Dinner we went to the Sports Bar where Karaoke was going on and since all of us had a few cocktails in us, the girls and I all went up to sing some Karaoke.  I sang 'Baby Love' and had Monica and Nicole as my back-up singers/dancers, and then we got a bunch of girls to sing with all of us, including Becky, Matt's girlfriend, for 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls.  Since it was so busy in the bar we all went outside and played King's Cup, a fun drinking game, that has different rules for each card, including some strategy and word games.  We had a good time and after a late night snack we all were ready for bed!

Each morning we all went to have Breakfast at the Buffet before we got settled in at the beach for an hour or two.  Monica and I took dance classes in the mornings and I even went for a run down the whole beach one day when it was cloudy, in addition to taking some exercise classes on the beach.  I went swimming every morning, we all played pool games, and I tried to walk everywhere versus using the shuttle, so I was happy to be getting in some form of a work-out every day!

Catching some rays B)

And that was just night one...there's more Punta Cana to come!

What's for Dinner? Part 15.

I've been practicing a few new recipes lately and last night after a great work-out and deep cleaning of the apartment I wanted to make something light and healthy.  That afternoon I had read a recipe that sounded pretty good but I wanted to use ingredients that I had in my apartment and this was what I came up with.  Hooray for Roommate Night and Healthy Eating!

Minty Lemon Cucumber Quinoa

1 Cup Quinoa

2 Cups Water

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Lemon (Juice & Zest)

1/2 a Cucumber

3 Mint Stalks

1/4 Cup Honey Goat Cheese

Sprinkle of Mozzarella Cheese

Salt & Pepper

Make Quinoa according to package instructions, boiling, and allowing the Quinoa to absorb most of the water.  While my Quinoa was cooking, I chopped my Cucumber, grabbed 3 stalks of Mint and pulled the leaves off.  Then I cut the mint (next time I'll finely chop it so the pieces aren't as big), zested the Lemon and juiced it setting that aside with my Olive Oil.  After my Quinoa had cooled to room temperature I added a dash of Salt & Pepper and then assembled my Dish, adding in the Cucumber, Mint, Lemon & Olive Oil, and crumbled Goat Cheese over the top, coating the Quinoa with the Oil Mixture and softening the Goat Cheese.  Then I sprinkled the Mozzarella on top and gave it one more stir to mix everything together.

This one had lots of Mint!  YUM :)

I was really impressed by how tasty this dish was!  I'm not sure whether to consider it a salad or a side dish but I think next time I may add in some White Grapes or Pomegranate Seeds to give it a hint of sweetness.  I did love how the Mint made it really fresh, and the crunch of the Cucumber was really nice.  The Honey Goat Cheese did make it sweeter and I loved the light taste of the lemon.  Overall, I was so happy with it, I can't stop thinking about it and I wanted to make it again this afternoon!  Now that's a success :)

Birthday Photo Post...1 Month into my 30's!

I can't believe it's already been a month since I turned 30!  I had a week-long celebration with friends, had a crazy couple of weeks at work, and then traveled to Punta Cana in the Domincan Republic to spend a week with my family!  Since there were so many great photos from my Birthday Week I thought I'd post an extra blog just to share some more pictures from the fun week I spent with so many awesome friends!

Karaoke Birthday Night with Jamie!

Love this girl :)

JB & I...Friends for nearly 8 years!

Kristina + Lyndsey = Rockstars!

It's been a great welcome to my 30's :)

A Couple Days With Deegs

I always love when one of my favorite visitor's comes to spend a couple days at my place to hang out.  I've got a little buddy following me around, snuggling and sleeping right next to me, and he even does tricks and helps with my laundry!  Well, sorts my laundry, I guess.

 

Posing!

Deegs came over for a couple days and I got to Dog-Sit him while his Roommate was out of town.  We love taking long walks through the park, hanging out and watching 'The Bachelorette' and sleeping late in the mornings!  I did my Laundry one day and Deegs just couldn't help walking through it and then sitting right in, since it was nice and warm; cozy for him to be a Snuggle Bug!

He was so excited to show off all of his skills, shaking hands, rolling over, giving kisses and even waiting till I told him he could eat.  He always loves all the attention and affection he gets and just basks in all the love my friends and I give him while he's around.

That's Revenge, Deegie Boy!

I definitely miss that little Troublemaker as soon as he leaves but I know he is always excited to come visit and spend a couple days with me :)

Mimosa Party B)

I remember when the Saint's & Sinner's crew would go out for Brunch on Sunday's and we'd get Mimosa's at Overland Cafe and we always had a blast.  Those bottles of Champles (champagne) wouldn't stop coming until 4 pm when Brunch was over and we would all leave giggly and sleepy after an awesome afternoon with friends.

Cuppy-Cakes

For my Birthday a couple years ago I started my Mimosa Sunday Party where I had friends come over, we'd eat snacks, appetizers, and cupcakes, and drink all kinds of Mimosa's.  Last year I did a BBQ and this year I made a couple different things since I just invited a few people to hang out.  I found a couple recipes on Pinterest, one for Cherry Beergarita's which involved, Tequila, Lime, Cherry Soda, and Beer which turned out very sweet but delicious.  I also made a Funfetti Dessert Dip for Animal Crackers that was super low on fat, since I used Fat Free Plain Yogurt and Cool Whip.  It's my new favorite dip!  I mixed together a couple types of salsa's, one spicy with beans, another with corn, and then a third with papaya and mango.  I also made cupcakes with bright blue frosting and little 'fishy's' swimming on top.  I was pretty proud of my spread :)

Jess & Lynds

So my friends and I sat by the pool, enjoyed some tasty food and snacks, sipped on some yummy mimosa's (I had Mango Juice, OJ, and Cran-Peach-Strawberry Juice), and finally the sun came out to play!  It was very chill and a perfect way to spend my Sunday after an insane work-week, and knowing I had work the next 7 days in a row, in addition to all the Birthday Party fun the previous week.

As much fun as my 30th Birthday Week was, I was happy to go back to normal and take a little break from drinking after Sunday.  I knew I was heading to Punta Cana in a couple weeks so I wanted to get back to eating healthy.  But I had such a great Birthday and was so happy to spend it with so many different friends and celebrate.  Thanks to all my friends for joining me during my Birthday festivities, to those who called, Facebooked, or texted me, and also to my family for making my 30th Birthday so very special!  I can't wait to see what happens during this year ahead!

Acquah and I give it Two Thumbs Up for an Awesome 30th Birthday Week

Karaoke Time!

After the June Gloom during pretty much the whole month, it was nice to welcome the sunshine back now that it's July!  It's been so hot in LA and almost humid.  Weird.  But I've been glad to get some tanning time in since I leave for Punta Cana on Saturday and want to make sure I have a good base tan going so I don't get burned! 

Singing to Friends at Gabe's!

Last week at Karaoke it was pretty mellow, which was nice after my Birthday Karaoke being fun and having lots of singers.  I started the night with 'You Know I'm No Good' by Amy Winehouse and since we had a group of Southern ladies and gentlemen sang 'Jolene' by Dolly Parton which they loved.  My new song of the night was 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police which I really liked singing and will sing again soon.  Foxy requested some Beatles and since I normally do 'Oh Darlin' I decided to switch it up and do 'Help' which is one of my Dad's favorite songs as well.  It was duet time at the end of the night, with a little Disney Super-Set of 'A Whole New World' and then I sang 'Part of Your World' which was fun!

This week at Karaoke was jam-packed thanks to 4th of July being the next day.  Plus, we had a couple Birthdays and my friends brought in some of their co-workers.  I think it's the longest wait I've had for people to sing, which always makes me sad because I want to give everyone an opportunity but also want to reward the people who are there early and ready to sing.  Thankfully, once most of the people sang their first song, they had a drink or two and then left so all my friends were able to sing at least twice.  We got a new computer at Gabe's which is very exciting but our History Folder was completely wiped, not to mention a Document I had been adding to for 2 and a half years of all the songs I have ever sang.  I'm not a huge fan of change, and losing all those songs brought on my anxiety right away but Judy made a good point, it's a transition into new and starting over which is always good.  So we all started from scratch and since 'Heartbreaker' by Pat Benatar was my first Karaoke song ever, I figured that would be a good song to start with.  Since the rotation was so long my next song was my new song and with the suggestions from friends decided on 'Jessie's Girl' by Rick Springfield.  It was a little low to start off but everyone knows that song so it's a great sing-a-long!  I closed out the night with Jewel's 'Don't' since everyone slowed it down on their last song.

So here's to starting over, starting new, bigger and better, and everything that's to come :)

Happy 4th of July!

My Black & White 30th Birthday Party!

After a wonderful 30th Birthday at Gabe's for Karaoke I knew I still had a couple more parties the rest of the week and needed to prep for the next few nights.  I made it to work on Thursday morning, though the shots I had the night before tried to stop me, the Bloody Mary I had a couple hours after arriving at Irish Times got me back on track along with a little encouragement from Aimee!

Saint's & Sinner's Crew!

I had my actual Birthday Party at The Garage and it was a Black & White Party where everyone wears black and white, black, or white.  I was happy to see everyone showed up looking all spiffy and awesome and in proper Black & White Birthday Party attire ;)  Carolyn had given me the idea for it a couple years ago on her 30th Birthday Party, with all of us in our black and white, and she came in, in a beautiful Red dress.  I knew I was doing this a month prior to my party, and it was a matter of finding the perfect dress, and thanks to Emily for shopping with me the previous week we found it, and I loved my Hot Pink and Black Dress!

Roommates...Em & I!

Emily had gone early and decorated in The Motor Club as well as baked 2 different cakes so the place looked fantastic!  It was so great to see all my friends coming by, people I met nearly 8 years ago when I first moved to LA, or people I hadn't seen in a long time, and some of my closest friends and co-workers.  I tried to take as many pictures as possible since it's rare that we get to be all dressed up and looking fancy!

Around midnight, Emily brought out the cakes and everyone sang to me.  She had also set up this Birthday card which everyone signed and I loved reading all the fun little notes the next morning!  There were cocktails and shots, lots of Rumchata, but because I was making sure to get to chat with everyone, it was a very low-key drinking night, and I was happy to go home and soberly make Ramen (considering just a couple months ago, I gave myself 2nd degree burns on a late night Ramen-fest...ooops)!

Turning 30 was a big deal this year, (clearly since I was having a mini-mid-life crisis for a couple months leading up to it) but it was totally worthwhile when I realized my favorite thing about my Birthday was knowing it gave people a reason to come out and celebrate, people I haven't seen in a long time, and it's just nice to catch up with those friends.  I felt so lucky to have so many friends stop by, even if it was just a quick hello; it meant a lot and made me feel very special on my 30th Birthday!

Friends on my 30th Birthday!

*Thanks to Em for decorating for my party and making my 30th Birthday so incredible, and not scary at all, and to Bethany for setting up all the details and specials for all my friends in The Motor Club in addition to lending me the perfect necklace, and to Kristina for taking pictures all night long so I have memories on an incredible day :)  And thanks to everyone else for coming and making me smile! Cheers :)