Packing for Costa Rica

I have to make this snappy, it's ridiculously late and I have to be up in 5 hours. But this girl is on vacation energy - so I had to squeeze in a post. Packing for Costa Rica has been interesting, to say the least. 

First off, I rarely travel for just pleasure. I hook on quick getaways before or after work trips, or simply find a 3-hour adventure while I'm on the road. That's why this trip is so exciting to me! i am finally the person in the airport wearing tropical clothes, and not frantically checking emails while lugging collateral and signage! Packing has been a tinsy bit fun.  AND then, the rain forest adventure is a little different from the typical beach vacay- which is also why packing has been interesting!! Just wait..  

So in no particular order.. What I've been doing for the last 5 or 6 days to get ready for our trip! 

^Turning off my work email at 6 p.m. Today.  I never do this, and this is the longest chunk of time I've ever had off.^^

^^^It took me forever to pick polish. I wanted a cool green with some crazy tropical name. Then I realized I just wanna be hot neon pink!!! ^^^

^^So many colorful workout ensembles! Our excursions will be pretty active, with one long hike and possibly a fishing excursion. So I want to look semi-cute, but no I refuse to buy lululemon for a thousand smackaroos. I hit up Marshall's and old navy for all my workout goodies! Also, lots of maxi dresses^^

^^Bathing suits, and I always always bring my Hana blow dryer.  You Never know when you need a blowout! Also, some tennis that I am willing to toss when we are done.^^

^^^And here is the interesting part....4 different kind of bug sprays, rain panchos, sunscreen, cortisone in case someone gets a rash, immodium in case you know what...cliff bars, band aids, neosporin^^^

^^And a water proof case for the Nikon! No way Jose that a little rain is gonna keep me from snapping those monkeys and froggies!!^^

Sleepy time Tea, and I'm out!! 

Travel: If you're ever in Southern California ...

Do make it to Balboa island in Newport beach... It was the cutest little island I ever did see. It was right next to the marina, and had so many cute bungalows and shops.  

 

Because my dad's side of the family is from Trinidad, all the women get nicknamed "island girl." It's one of my favorite nicknames (besides "cakes" from Matthew) so I died when I saw this shop.  If it wasnt filled with children's clothes, I would have been all over it!! 

But I did score this mug at another shop called "the heart of the island." So I was happy. This mug is one of my favorites so far!

Also - do not miss out on a "lookey loo" spot a bit further south, called Javier's. It's down the highway and had the best Cali-Mex.  It was quintessential "OC," and the enchiladas were to die for. 

Over and out - T 

Let's be friends on Snap Chat!

So really quick, I am kind of obsessed with Snap Chat at the moment. It's an app that just makes life a little more fun!

 

If you've never heard of snap chat, you basically send pictures and videos that erase after your friend views them.  My friend and I were sending weight loss 'progress' pictures, and always texting "If you share this, I will kill you" or "delete asap." But now that we have snap chat, no need to worry!! So send away, embarassing photos, funny videos, the possibilities are endless!

 

Of course Kristen said "oh you think they erase them." in which I countered, "since we aren't celebrities, no one will hack our accounts and I think we'll be ok!"

 

Go download the app now! My username is Tessytessio, come find me ya'll!

Converting a Buffet to a Media Unit

Hello and Happy Friday! I'm back from California and catching up on sleep. This post isn't related to my recent trip, but I've been wanting to share this for a couple weeks, so here it is! Our 6 month furniture search has come to an end!

Matthew and I are both bargain shoppers, so finding the perfect piece for under our TV was taking forever.  It was so hard to pull the trigger because we really wanted a buffet piece that we would to convert into a media unit. We also have a distinct theme going on in our open living/dining/kitchen space (Which is very navy and reclaimed wood-ish). Well I finally found something I loved at HomeGoods, and within 5 minutes of seeing it I was telling the salespeople to take it off the floor!

HomeGoods put it on a paid hold, so I had seven days to pick it up, and could return it just as easily. I told Matt if he hated it we could take it back, but we were buying this piece and testing it out no matter what! 

Now onto the conversion process, you need this huge drill bit specifically for drilling the perfect hole. Which we borrowed from our neighbors. 

Voila! We finally have the missing piece to our living room. 

Now, time to tackle the walls and add shelves around it.  Has anybody else used a buffet piece for a media unit? Have a good weekend everybody! 

Things I love about the Airport

I said I wasn't a morning person, but I'm sitting at the airport so I thought I'd give the ol' morning post a try. 

As I was sitting at said airport, I started thinking, I really like airports. And here's why: 

1. Hands down, It's the best people watching.  It's like the Serengeti; all types of people. Big ones, small ones, purple ones, tall ones. Not to go all Dr. Suess on ya, but I always find myself trying to figure out where people are going, and what their life might be like. Weird - I know. 

2. It's one of the few places that strolling in in comfy clothes and little makeup is totally allowed. I never look cute at the airport! And I like it! 

3. Naps for adults are totally acceptable. Even in weird places and awkward positions. I'm a total head-on-the-tray sleeper! 

4. You don't have to small talk - unlike everywhere else in life. And Hey! A total stranger might tell you their interesting life story. 

5. Perks from airline credit cards. And Wifi on a plane. Totallyyyy cool. 

I could go on and on, I really love traveling. I'd really love to hear what your favorite traveling habits are!  Happy Tuesday everyone! 

-Tessy 

Let's talk about blogging

So I decided to finally come clean.

I am not a morning person. And even further... I only like to blog at night. For some reason, it's the only time I can post with little hesitation. I loathe "to schedule" posts, because I usually end up rewriting and over-editing. And if I wake up and realize I hate what I wrote the night before, chances are no one read it. Then I can quickly turn that sucker back into a draft! SAFE! 

So I've decided to do what I like, and get my thoughts out at night. So if you read this lil ol blog (anyone? Lol) I will most likely post at night. And announcing "I blogged" on social media actually gives me the willies. So I doubt I'll do much of that. I think I spent too much time worrying about when to post to maximize exposure, what to write, what interests others.. Etc.  and eventually blogging became a hobby that I half-enjoyed.  I never started this blog for others, so peace out to that.

My first blog post about blogging. Haha. Muy complicado. 

Anyways, I threw some shade at New York yesterday. And because that made me feel kinda bad, I decided to tell you what I really liked in NY. There were a few things....like 

1. Cinderella on Broadway. Oh em Geee. This show was so amazing. And perfect for my 5-year-old niece in tow.

2. Victor's Cafe around Broadway. BEST Latin food I've had in a long time. 

3. Peking duck in Chinatown. A semi-nice resto that doesn't feel too hole in the wall-ish...that's kinda hard to find in Chinatown. And the food was amaze. 

4. That huge screen in Times Square that you can see yourself on. See if you can find me, where's Waldo style! 

I swear I'm there! 

5.  Grabbing a plain bagel with this little one. She's so grown up!! Wahhhh. 

Now, going to the Statue of Liberty and riding the Staten Island ferry was a complete waste of space in my humble opinion.  

My niece totally thought so too, but she played it cool.

Glad we settled that. Over and out. 

-Tessy 

The last time we talked...

I was heading to New York, but to be completely honest I didn't really like that place. But that's ok, because I'm heading to California next week.  And drinking sleepy time tea in my California mug. 

Take that New York. 

Totally random, my new favorite thing is drinking out of mugs I feel are relevant to something current. I didn't even buy a New York coffee mug, convincing me further that I never really liked that place. Anybody ever do a mug swap? I feel like that would be really fun. 

Anywhodoodle. I just booked our FIRST big vacation since our Honeymoon. We are headed to Costa Rica!!!! We're gonna love on all the little baby monkeys, go chill by a volcano and generally pretend we are on the national geographic channel. I'm gonna get so many bug bites, and it's gonna be awesomesauce. Costa Rica or bust my friends. Time for an adventure! And that's all for now, because I'm a particularly ramblesome mood. 

 - Tessy