Bienvenido a Miami!

In celebration of my 12th-21st birthday, boo and I hit the beach. This was our first solo vacation, and it was very well deserved. Though I've flown to the other side of the world and back, in addition to other countries in between, I'm still a pretty jittery flyer. This was only my third flight since 9-11 and I still pretty much turn into a great big baby starting a week before the flight. Boo wasn't aware of this, and didn't allow me to bury my head in his fresh white t because he didn't want me to get make-up on it. I made it clear that he was to wear a black shirt on the return flight.

So after a lot of internet searching, finangling with priceline.com, and stalking all the travel websites in search of a reasonable fare (why can't you ever find those super cheap deals when you are actually looking to fly somewhere???) I booked the flight, hotel, and rental car. The only thing left to do was pack and get to the airport.

I wound up booking an historic boutique hotel in the Art Deco district of Miami Beach, called Indian Creek Hotel. I pretty much spent the whole five days trying to figure out if I loved it or hated it. On the one hand, it smelled and felt like I was staying in my grandmother's grandmother's house...but on the other hand, it was super unique and shabby chic rolled up into one beautifully landscaped hotel. The broken elevator, imperfect paint job, and old school bathroom was more than made up for by the beautiful palm trees, colorful flowers, and strategically placed lighting outside the building and around the pool. Our room was painted a pretty aqua color and the furniture was dark mahogany with sleek clean lines. But the walls were sorta stucco feeling...like they felt like somebody plastered but forgot to sand them...Boo said he felt like he was in Havana or somewhere. But the bed just ate us up! We spent way too much time in the bed (and I'm not being fresh) than we should have...it was beyond comfortable.

We had a good time in Mia, however, it wasn't exactly a thrifty vacation. We walked out of every meal feeling like we had just been jacked. Two people, two sandwiches, some fries, and a few beverages never came up to less than $60 and typically ran upwards of $80. Eventually we made use of the Spanish market and Spanish eatery across the street. That place had positively the BEST EMPENADAS I think I've ever had EVER! I had to stop and get two on my way to the airport...as a final hoorah. Our favorite places were Mangoes and Oceans 10. The live bands were really good and the crowds were fun. We danced and had a really good time. Of course the highlight was when the dj at Oceans 10 played Conga by Miami Sound Machine. How can you go to Miami and not get down to some Gloria Estefan!? I love that little lady!

I was pretty surprised that we made it five days together, just us, and we didn't want to break up as soon as the plane landed. But he actually called me after we both went home and told me that he missed me already. Awwwww! I think this one's a keeper ;0)

Welp...There's 90 Minutes I'll Never Get Back

Where oh where do I start with this one...

I cannot think of a single good thing to say about the way I wasted two perfectly good hours on Saturday night...other than...that $5 coke wasn't half bad.

After a long week, and a pretty hectic Saturday, boo and I went to the movies...I let him pick. Of course, I have veto power over any selection. But...he picked Love Guru, and much to eventual dismay, I approved.

Love Guru is on my short short short list of top two awful movies. I don't know what else is on the list with it, but I'm pretty sure I've seen something else that sucked just as bad if not worse. If I can't think of anything...then Love Guru takes the number 1 spot hands-down.

When I say this movie is stupid...it is an insult to all stupid people and things. Now I know I'm a bit of a stiff when it comes to certain things...but I can appreciate a good silly movie from time to time. I mean two of my absolute favorite movies are Napoleon Dynamite and Beer Fest. But apparently that's right about where I draw the silly line.

The highlight of the movie for me was the cameo of one of my total faves...Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order SVU fame. And I can see her on TNT or NBC anytime day or night for free, in the comfort of my own home, drinking my $1.19 bottle of coke, snuggled up with my schnookems, playing on the internet. But I digress...

I shoulda known 3 minutes into the movie that it was best to leave before it got ugly, when Mike Meyers strummed out some faux-Indian-accented version of 9 to 5 with elephants and ethnic women in mini-skirts dancing in the background. From midgets (ahem...little people) to fart humor, to absolutely terrible "jokes" (which I use loosely), to a completely wack plot, that 90 minutes could not end soon enough.

We walked out of the theater in absolute silence...walking like we just didn't know what to say or do after what we just witnessed. My silence was pretty much from the shock of seeing that treacherous production...and partly because I didn't want him to feel bad for making me endure that torture. I don't know if boo was trying to save face after picking a terrible movie or if he thought I hadn't yet formed an opinion, but on the way out of the theater he breaks our silence and says "that wasn't that bad." I just laughed (for the first time in almost 2 hours) and said...we don't even need to discuss this night ever again. This was something that is truly best left in the past. We will just pretend like it never happened.

My Boo is Gonna Kill Me

I just read through my blog entries and I realized that I never updated my status! ME AND BOO are back in stride again! And things are going great as ever! I'm sure over time I'll have some "Sweetums n Me" stories, but for now, I'll just say, we're back together!

Gone Fishin'!

My gut reaction when my dad arranged for a family fishing trip was to say hecky no. But after a few moments, I thought...this could actually be kinda fun. I used to go fishing with my dad...and I used to enjoy it. But when teen years set in, getting up before dawn to spend a day with worms and minnows lost its appeal.

So this past Saturday, me and the fam head out to Chesapeake Beach...at 4:00AM by the way (EEEK!). We boarded the charter boat and I thought...this could be ok. The captain, Marty, introduced himself and his first mate, Josh, and off we went...speeding away from land...and into the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

As we progressed...splish splashing along...I realized...Makia...I think you might be about to get sea sick. Oh dear God no...please don't do this. So I sat real real real still for the better part of an hour. Then the fishing commenced. Josh set up the fishing rods and threw out all kinds of lures and what have you...and we "trolled" for a good while...the boat was just a-rockin with the waves...and of course my stomach was still just as queezy as ever. In addition...I really wasn't sure at this point if they were some kinda psychos that might throw us off the boat in the middle of the bay. News is so crazy now-days, you just never know with people.

Well after a bit, a rod started bouncing..."Fish on!" they yelled...and it was time to get to reeling them in. One after another, we caught fish after fish. And I use "we caught fish" kinda loosely...because truth of the matter is, Josh (who for some reason, I kept calling Rusty) actually did essentially all of the work. We just reeled the fish in, and posed next to them for the photo op once Josh unhooked them, and in some instances, held them.

By around 9:30, I was really into the groove. I wasn't too nervous anymore, and the sun was shining, and the water was beautiful. We spotted all kinds of different interesting things, including some sting rays, and a swarm of ducks all flying in this great straigh line pattern as if they were in a marching band or something. I also believe this was around the point when my parents were on their second margarita. lol. As my sister says,"It's 5:00 somewhere!"

Then around 10:30, we had the bright idea to turn on some music, and at this point it kinda became an all out boat party. Bob Marley was playing, we were singing and dancing, and oh yeah...I guess we were still fishing too.

By 11:00ish, it was time to head back to land, and we pulled into our spot around 11:30.

It was really a fun morning spent with the family. The weather was beautiful, our ship crew was fantastic, and we got some great fresh fish out of it...which my mom stuffed with crab meat and served the next day for Father's Day. YUMMMM YUMMMM!

Only Sorta Suckered: An ELF Update

After a few weeks of wondering and waiting...my ELF products finally came in...all $50 worth...which in itself is good news. Because after the "Elf is a hoax" internet warning, I was pretty sure that that was $50 of my hard earned money flushed down the toilet...so to get anything at all made me feel a little better about the whole situation.

So, I've been sifting through my purchase, trying on things here and there, and here are five items that I really like thus far.

1. Candy Shop Lip Tins

A great lip gloss...it's kinda thick how I like it, so it stays on for a good length of time, and it has a really nice little shimmer to it. And let's face it...anything in a tin is automatically pretty darn cute.

2. Hypershine Gloss

This was a little bizarre to me at first, but once I got it going, I really liked it. It's a lipgloss that comes in the shape of a pen. The application apparatus is a brush, and you twist the base of the pen until the gloss oozes out of the tip of the brush. I don't know if I'm describing this the best way possible, but once it oozed, the gloss was a great little shimmery color that I really liked a lot.

3. Total Face Brush

I don't know about you, but whenever I need a good blush or face brush, they tend to run at least $10...and that strikes me as a bit much. But...I always make the purchase because a good blush brush is an absolute must for any fashionista. So I was eager to try the ELF face brush and once I got it, I felt like this was a dollar well spent! Well...actually two dollars...because you know my hoarding tendencies would not let me run the risk of this being a good deal and me only buying one brush. And I'm glad I did get two...I may even go back and buy more! It never hurts to have a good brush on standby.

4. Mechanical Eyelash Curler

It's great, it works, and it's $1. Need I say more???

5. Brightening Eye Color

With colors being the thing in fashion these days, it's always nice to dab a nice splash of coordinating color to your eyes to bring the whole outfit together. But who in the heck is going to invest in 20 different expensive eyeshadows ranging from fuschia to avacado green to aqua blue just to tie it all in with your new top? What better way to add some fun new colors to your makeup pallette without emptying your wallet?!

So...all's well that ends well in ELF world...but my only issue with the whole thing is...where did this affiliation with Nordstom come from??? Had I known that ELF was just a regular old $1 makeup company with no intentions of going out of business, and NOT a discontinued line of makeup sold at Norstrom which was urgently liquidating all of its stock...I would have proceeded a little differently. Instead of feeling like...if I snooze I might lose, and trying to buy out the whole stock of products and thinking I was getting some monstrous deal for my money, I might have just said well...maybe I'll buy a lipgloss or two, and go back for more if I like them. But that is just not the way I roll. Now the only thing to do is find a nice cute make-up bag that can hold all this new stuff! And I guess that isn't so bad after all, is it?