Welcome Home & Guests

I'm sad to say that I have returned home from my amazing Mexican adventure...thank you NYC for still being cold as shit.


I'm trying to get myself back to reality aka staring at my still fully packed suitcase while I try and bust out a short entry to you guys and get my Zumba routines down (I just became an instructor everyone!!!!).  I just can't believe its over...so sad!  Although one more night in Mexico may have killed me...god bless all inclusive. 


Anyway, for some reason I had major issues trying to post all the guest posts while I was away...the computers were terrible and the price of the internet was not worth the aggravation I was facing.  So, I will be posting them now and you will enjoy each one because lets be honest, they kick ass!!


So, I'm going to get back to shaking my ass to some latin beats and leave you with todays guest post from the ever fabulous Jewels over at Turning 30: A Journey of Self Exploration  She has an amazing blog filled with stories which will make you laugh, make you think, reflect and maybe even shed a tear.  She's a wonderful writer and this is an awesome vacay story...I'm so happy to have her be my FIRST guest post!!!!


Oh and because I was away I wasn't able to tell you all the I also WROTE my FIRST guest post for my girl Hutch over at Be Awesome Instead....once you are done with Jewels post hop on over and check it out here: The Legend (BUT only do that when you read this first!...got it? Good!)


And now here it is...


Firstly thank you so much for inviting me to come over and post while you are on vacation! I cannot wait to hear all about it when you get home…I hope there is lots of romance and even more laughter. Enjoy it!!

The summer after my senior year of high school when everyone was heading to Mexico or Florida for senior week I was sitting at home, all kinds of not going. I more than made up for it though when I went to Greece with 2 of my 3 younger sisters, my grandmother, and my best friend from Florida, Sofia. We spent a month traveling Greece, staying with family in Thessaloniki, taking in the sights, and flirting with European men. Luckily for me Sofia speaks fluent Greek and we were able to head off on our own quite a bit…even taking motorcycle rides around Athens with random, skinny jean wearing, Greek men.

The highlight of the trip was the cruise to the Greek Islands. I mean come on—the Greek Islands-amazingly beautiful-you’d have to be crazy not to love a trip like that. It wasn’t just the sights though, it was summer and there were a lot of other kids my age on the ship. We had a blast at the dance clubs, drinking with our awesome bartender Sheriff and dancing our butts off. I had a hopeless crush on Jamie, a pot smoking, Bob Marley loving, super sweet kid but we were both too shy to do anything but smile at one another.

Things changed on the 3rd night when I saw somebody across the room and realized he was staring, unabashedly, at me with a sly smile on his face. I quickly looked away, blushing at being given attention by an incredibly attractive member of the boats staff. I know you are probably groaning and saying, “NO, Jewels! The wait staffs are notorious for womanizing…please tell us you didn’t hook up with him.” Let me reiterate that I was a naïve 17 year old virgin who swooned at the slightest bit of male attention back then, having no knowledge of a woman’s power.

So, Ace, yes his name was Ace, was a strikingly handsome 6’3”, broad shouldered, light skinned Pilipino, with a smile so dazzlingly white I lost my breath. This man looked like he spent all his free time in the ship’s gym, and by the way he made the tattoo of 4 aces on his bicep dance, I wouldn’t doubt that he did. I digress.

I had seen him around the ship, but ship staff are not allowed to hang out with passengers so talking to him was difficult. He resorted to something pretty forward and sent a note with my room straigtener/towel animal maker/pajama folder that said, “I’d really like to meet the lovely girl with the beautiful brown eyes. Sun deck 9:30 pm. Ace” How does a 17 year old resist the implied romance of a forbidden cruise ship rendezvous

Needless to say at 9:30 that night I was up on the desk, standing at the railing, looking out at the water (useless since it’s just black) and hoping he would show up. Ace came up behind me and placed his arms around me, placing his chin on my head, and looking out with me. I leaned back into him, and we just stood there, didn’t say a thing, for a good couple of minutes. (Can I get an: awwww!?)

I spent the night curled up with him on a lounge chair up on the deck talking and kissing. Turns out Ace was a pretty nice guy, working on the ship to see the world and send money back to his family. I thought this was incredibly mature and responsible of him at 22 and had an incredible crush on him by the end of the night. I crept into my room at 5am to change for our excursion that day-being tired was more than worth it.

The next night was too cold to spend outside all night and since he wasn’t supposed to be seen with me he decided to give me a behind the scenes tour of the boat. We went below deck into the staff part of the boat. I don’t remember a whole lot about that tour but I do remember going out on a small shielded balcony and watching the water off the back of the boat, pretty dang low towards the ocean and letting him hold me. He showed me his room but we didn’t stay since his roommate was there. We just walked around, holding hands and kissing.

It was a very sweet little vacation romance. There was restrained passion, the thrill of the forbidden, late nights, and lips plump from kissing all night. We talked, we got to know one another, and we enjoyed each other. I will always remember him with a smile on my face and a bit of a flutter in my tummy. Sofia jokingly signed all her cards to me, for years afterwards, “Ace loves you…but the rest of the boat staff loved me.” I wouldn’t call it love, but for those 9 days we were certainly in like.