Why My House Smells Like Pot

So I love my quiet neighborhood here in Cancun. Lots of families, very clean, everyone says hello, etc etc etc.

And then there’s my next door neighbor. A pretty normal-looking, average guy who isn’t at all friendly, but doesn’t really bother anyone either.

Yesterday I came home from work and I saw his dogs tied up to the window in the front yard. I figured, “Oh, they must be doing some work in the backyard.” I walked into my kitchen and was overwhelmed by the smell of pot in the air. I whined about it on Twitter, then went about my day since this is a pretty frequent occurence. (Our houses share a wall, so smells and noises frequently make their way over to our place.)

I sat on the couch and noticed some of my neighbor’s friends enter his house. Minutes later, I heard chanting in some unknown language coming from his backyard. I was about to go peek into his backyard from my upstairs window when the chanting was suddenly accompanied by what sounded like hammering. Confused and more than a little weirded out, I decided to stay put.

The chanting and banging eventually stopped and the men all came back out into the front yard. Jorge got home just then, and I heard them ask him a question and he responded cheerily.

When Jorge came into the living room, I said “What did they ask you?”

“They wanted me to check if their pigeon had flown into our backyard.”

…

…

…

I really hope that pigeon made it to safety.

Weight Loss Update

It’s been a few weeks since I posted on my weight loss. For any new readers, I started at 160 pounds and my goal is to get to 130. I’ve been going to the gym, and seeing a nutritionist since December.

The process has been slow but steady, with me losing about 1.0 – 1.5 pounds a week. Right now, I’m proud to say I’m down to 140 pounds. 20 pounds down, just 10 pounds left to go.

Here’s a list of weight loss victories from the past month or so:

• My favorite jeans (size 12) are now officially too big for me to wear. I need to get a picture of how saggy they are!
• My 2 favorite denim skirts no longer fit. This is exciting but also sad, because I wore them every weekend!
• My wedding ring needs to be resized.
• I can now fit into a cute sequined tank top I got for Christmas. In December, it wouldn’t even go over my shoulders.
• When we went to Holbox last weekend, the other guests at our hotel were mostly thin Europeans. Normally I would have felt huge by comparison in my bathing suit, but I was pleased to notice that I felt like I fit in with all the thin girls.
• This morning I noticed for the first time that I have lower back dimples. Who knew?
• My favorite dress is a colorful halter-top dress, but it always made me feel “mannish” because of my chubby arms and wide frame. I wore it to a wedding recently and felt great!
• This week, I was able to fully resist the nacho chips at my favorite restaurant for the 1st time.

Obviously these are all small victories, but they’re what keep me going!

A "before" picture at 160 pounds, wearing my favorite denim skirt that no longer fits! (Notice the hands-on-hips stance, a trick I often used to make my arms look skinnier in photos.)

Me now at 140 pounds. I used to feel like this skirt made my hips look huge. Now I think I look pretty good in it!

Unfortunately for the next few months, I’ll be walking around in clothes that don’t fit me very well. There are no pants or denim skirts I can wear, so I’m stuck with a few remaining skirts and summer dresses until I get to my goal weight and can finally go shopping!!

**Note: 160 pounds is NOT fat. Many women look amazing and are incredibly healthy at 160 pounds and up. (I know several.) It all depends on your height and body type. I just don’t happen to be one of those women who looks trim and gorgeous at 160 pounds. 130 pounds is my goal weight according to my nutritionist (based on percent body fat and my body type), but it may not be the most attractive or the most healthy weight for other girls.

Mayan Animal Art and Other Surprises

So I have a 3-day weekend coming up, and it is going to be epic.

Spring Break is going strong in Cancun, so we might swing by Party Center one evening to see all the craziness. There will also be a wedding and at least two beach trips. I can’t wait!

The most exciting part is our Trash The Dress photo shoot this weekend at a surprise location. (Can’t say where it is just yet… but rest assured it’s STUNNING and I’ve been working on my tan.) If you want to follow along with my photo shoot this Sunday, I’ll be live tweeting, so follow me on Twitter at @CancunGringa.

I’ll leave you for the weekend with some pics of some new wall decor we hung in our living room last week. We bought these little critters on our trip to Ek Balam back in 2010, and we’re just now getting around to hanging them.

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I have a penchant for small reptiles, as well as brightly colored animal figurines. (It occurs to me that y’all have yet to see my alebrije collection! Soon!)

Weight Loss Before and After Part 1

*Warning: Yet another annoying diet post! Whatever, it’s my blog.

This month I’ve been pretty lame about my diet, and haven’t lost any more pounds.  After my last weigh-in was unsuccessful, I’ve now caught my second wind and decided to put together some before and after photos to keep me inspired.

Before – 160 pounds (not including snake)

After - 145 pounds

I have another 15 pounds to go! I know you’re thinking, “But Laura, you already look so trim!” Well, let’s just say I’ve gotten pretty good about hiding my arm fat in photos. Plus those yoga pants are incredibly flattering.

A tan and good posture also help, apparently.

What I’ve Been Up To

So the past few weekends I’ve taken tons of pictures to share with you guys! Things have been pretty busy at work, but I figure I’ll keep ya’ll updated. Here goes…

Last Weekend:

Went to my friend Dama's birthday party at Black Pub Friday night

Saturday: Went to another friend's birthday party, complete with palapa and a taco stand

My "gringas"... flour tortilla, pastor, onion, cilantro and pineapple

Saturday night: Burgers in a friend's backyard (it had very cool design, but I only managed to get a shot of this light-covered palm tree)

 

This Weekend:

On Saturday I bought this... I'll tell you why later!

Sunday afternoon: Puerto Morelos

Saturday night: Carnaval parade in Playa del Carmen (all pictures were either blurry or blocked by pedestrians, but the costumes were great!)

What did you do this weekend?

5 Year Anniversary Surprise

Can you still celebrate dating anniversaries once you’re married?

Well, we did it anyway.

On Friday we had our 5 year dating anniversary, and Jorge wanted to take me on a dinner date to a surprise location. I wore my favorite yellow dress because I don’t get many fancy occasions for it.

I was really excited when we got there and I found out we were going to Elefanta, an upscale Indian restaurant at Plaza La Isla. We had a table under a palapa by the lagoon, which was lovely. About halfway through the meal, we felt water misting our feet. The waiter explained it’s their bug repellant spray to protect the legs. Pretty cool.

We’d never had Indian food before, but it was DELICIOUS. We started with potato and cheese naan bread, then had saffron and cheese shrimp and some kind of amazing spiced chicken for the main course.

I didn’t take many pictures because who wants to take pictures on a date? Plus “romantic lighting” isn’t very photo-friendly. You can check out Elefanta’s photo gallery, though. It’s a really, really beautiful restaurant.

All I have for you is a shot of my view of the lagoon:

I love upscale restaurants, hotels, etc, but for some reason I always feel out of place in fancy venues. What if the waiters find out that I’m not rich like the rest of the customers? That we had to save up for months for this dinner? That this is my only (sort of) expensive dress? That we took the city bus to get here? Totally irrational. But I love going anyway 🙂

 

**Update: By “popular” demand, here’s a picture of my favorite yellow dress:

Jorge Probably Just Knows Me All Too Well

Remember how Jorge and I went out to a bar this weekend? Well I was super tired and left early around 2 am. Jorge walked me out to get a cab and told me “Don’t forget to call me when you get home so I know you got back ok!”

Well… I forgot.

I probably forgot because I was busy keeping the dogs from slamming into the back of my knee and causing me to collapse on the tile floor (happens a lot when I walk into the house).

Then I went straight to sleep (and by “sleep”, I mean read Hunger Games in the middle of the night) and turned the sound off on my cell phone so I could sleep in the next morning without interruptions.

Aaaand Jorge called me 10 times.

Finally around 3:30 a.m. I noticed my cell phone was lighting up, so I answered. Jorge told me he had been calling me non-stop and was really worried for my safety. How sweet!

OH. WAIT.

If he was so concerned about me being assaulted by a taxi driver and/or home intruder, why did he not come check on me after AN HOUR AND A HALF of not answering my phone?

I mean… I would have felt bad that he had to cut his night short because I forgot to call him when I got home… but still!

Then today my cell phone dies at the office (grrr). I just get an e-mail from him saying, “When you didn’t answer my calls today, I was worried you were kidnapped by a taxi driver.”

And yet he never showed up at my office to check on my safety.

I mean… I would have felt horrible that he had to take a bus to my office to check on my safety because my cell phone died… but still!

And this is exactly why I shouldn’t be trusted with a cell phone.

**Update:** I just confronted Jorge on this via e-mail, and his response was “Well if you’re kidnapped by a taxi driver what can I do? It’s not like you’ll be at home when I get there to rescue you.”

Touche.

20 Pounds To Go!

You may remember that back in December I had made the decision to see a nutritionist to lose some weight after a shockingly traumatic run-in with a sales girl.

I have to go in to the nutritionist for a weigh-in every two weeks, and the following day she sends me a new menu to follow.

Jorge often helps me prepare my breakfasts, lunches and snacks every morning for me to take to the office, and he always says, “This is SO MUCH FOOD!” And it is. This is seriously the best diet ever… I spent all day stuffing my face, except now I’m eating mostly fruits and vegetables (as opposed to my previous diet of cinnamon rolls, Domino’s pizza and cheese). Last night I even made some fish tacos with tomato, cucumber and chipotle mayo. AMAZING.

I’m supposed to lose between 1 and 2 pounds per week, so I was happy to lose 4 pounds after the first two weeks! Hurray!

The second two weeks included my Christmas trip to the US and a weekend in Yucatan, plus my gym was closed for the holidays, so I didn’t lose any weight this time around. I didn’t gain any, either, which quite frankly is a miracle considering the amount of Christmas cookies, burritos and soda I had while away from home… so I’m happy!

My mom and dad also bought me some very cute gym clothes for Christmas this year and I no longer appear homeless when working out.

At 4 pounds lighter I’ve already had several comments that I look thinner, so now it’s time to keep it up!

I used to look at thin girls and think “I hate you”. Now I look at them and think “I’m going to be so much hotter than you in a few months”.

Online Shoppers Don’t Have To Put Up With This

The other week while shopping at Plaza Las Americas for a sweater for Jorge’s upcoming Christmas trip (yay!), I stopped by a clothing store to browse a bit. On a high-up shelf, there was a headless, armless, legless mannequin wearing a gorgeous cream-colored strapless dress.

Since I couldn’t find the dress on any racks, I asked a saleslady for help and she asked my size. “Large”, I answered. The saleslady goes into the back and brings back a dress. “Sorry, we only have medium. Try this one on.”

A tad doubtful, I made my way to the fitting room with the medium dress in-hand.

The skinny fitting room attendant looks at me and says, “Are you sure you don’t want a larger size? Maybe something wider?”

She then made me hold the dress up to my body to make sure it was the correct size.

Then she brought the large size down from the mannequin “just in case”.

…

Wow. Consider me humiliated.

Anyway, I’ve been going to the gym for a year and was doing well, but I haven’t been able to lose any more weight for a few months now. I’ve plateaued. (sp?)

So this week I went to a nutritionist and have officially begun my new 1300 calorie diet to lose my recommended 25 pounds of fat! The diet combined with my normal workout routine will hopefully result in fabulousness by April or May.

Let’s do this.

**Note: The medium size fit, by the way. In your face, fitting room attendant!

My Mexican Thanksgiving

As I was going through some pictures yesterday, I realized I hadn’t told you about my Thanksgiving!

Back in the US, my family does Thanksgiving just like everyone else’s family… turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and lots of desserts! When I was in college in Cancun, I never had any fall breaks. Now that I’m working, I only get back home for Christmas. So I haven’t been home for Thanksgiving since 2005, I think. (or seen any fall weather, for that matter!)

This year, my suegros took pity on me and prepared a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. They invited some of their friends, and I invited some of mine. We had a pretty big group (not all are pictured), including an American priest from the church my suegros go to.

There was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and lots of veggies! Everyone seemed to really enjoy all the American food. I was almost expecting them to break out the tortillas, but they resisted.

Thanksgiving dinner still had some undeniably Mexican touches to it, though… dinner didn’t begin until 10:30 pm, the turkey was heavily seasoned with lime, the dinner was blessed by a Catholic priest, and the priest had to explain the Thanskgiving story several times to our Mexican guests. Close enough!

Me being a dork

Oh mashed potatoes… it’s been too long since we last met!