Playa del Carmen: Season 2, Episode 2

Abel and I walked up and down the length of 5ta Avenida several times before we finally sat down to the fancy dinner we’d been talking about for months.   

We decided to eat at Playasia: a multi-dimensional restaurant with a coy pond and a Buddha statue to greet us as we entered.  We climbed a tangle of stairs to reach our secluded table (which sat in a 8x8 open room on stilts and was covered by a thatched roof).  A free margarita, which tasted more like poorly concocted cough syrup than a pre-dinner treat, was the first thing  on the table, but tasty skewered chicken and orangeade was soon to follow.  Coconut shrimp with melon sauce (one of my new favorite things) and fried rice filled our pallets before we noshed on the fried cheesecake balls for dessert.  Delightful.

What a lovely night; thank you so much, Abel.  And thank you for making me feel so absolutely elegant in my new jewelry. :)

Playa del Carmen: Season 2, Episode 1

Mi Amorsito at the Hul-ku garden!

The day couldn’t have gone any more perfectly.  After arriving to Cancun and rushing to meet Abel at the doors to the airport (I was so excited I ran right past him), we hopped on the bus to Playa del Carmen and smiled the whole way there at the thought of being back home.  

We first grabbed a bite to eat (BOTH eating our fill for about $10) and then headed to one of the nicest little hotels I’d ever been to: Hotel Hul-ku on 20th Ave.  Because Playa del Carmen has a 3-story rule, many of the hotels are boutique style and make an impact on guests by providing character and unique experiences.  When we arrived, Abel guided me over a little path through the center garden and we opened the door to a room with swan towels and dark chocolate.  +10 points.

First view of the garden area...

Secluded pool and statue/fountain outside the room

Abel couldn’t wait to exchange gifts, so he first handed over a small white box containing a necklace of entwined pearls and silver pieces- along with it, a bracelet and earrings to complete the set.  I smiled at the thought of wearing truly nice jewelry to our planned dinner this week.  My next gift was another complete set of jewelry: bracelet, necklace, earrings and a ring- all hand-woven by mi amorsito!  (What a talented man)  I admired the detail and forewarned him that he would have to teach me to duplicate this style of jewelry.  

 I thought the gifts were through (I had admittedly already seen the aforementioned gifts via skype- Abel got too excited to keep them to himself), but he pulled out a third necklace of brightly colored coconut beads that he had crafted into a stunning statement piece.  “I’m most proud of this one.”  No surprise, Abel loves colors and this is about as colorful as you can get.  Abel had me swooning- perfect gifts I would actually use… and more than half made by him!

Abel grabbed one more thing out of his bag before turning to me and lowering onto one knee.  “I was going to wait for dinner to give you this one, but I couldn’t wait.”  He pulled out an enormous ring swirling of sapphire blue and ruby red.  He looked up at me with those huge, brown eyes and I couldn’t contain myself for a moment more.  I bust into laughter and gladly accepted his ringpop.  What a jokester.

Eating out

After supporting my Aunt Linda at her choir concert this evening (The Houston Choral Society put on their annual “Christmas Potpourri”), we all went out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant (as you so often do in Texas).   

Aunt Linda made a comment about how cultured this week was turning out to be: Mexican tonight, South African cuisine tomorrow morning to celebrate my birthday, and a sushi date on Tuesday.   I reflected a moment; I am so grateful there is such a diverse representation here in Houston.  Besides those I just listed, there are Vietnamese, Indian, Italian, Mediterranean, Brazilian, Ethiopian, Jamaican… the list goes on and I just love it!  It gives me hope that people are becoming more open-minded to other cultures… a small step to accept someone else’s food, but a step, nonetheless.

As I was thinking these thoughts of an ultimately accepting and Utopian society, my uncle called out to our waiter, “Hey Pancho!” to get his attention.  Oye.  “Mortified” is a good word to describe my reaction... I'm pretty sure that showed.

Dallas

Although I only spent half a day in Dallas, it was a pleasant morning.  I woke up early and drove from Austin, so that I could meet with some college friends to take their engagement pictures. (We decided to meet somewhere between OKC and H-town... bless you guys!)

We met at the art museum and really took some lovely photos!  *Sidenote* If you are ever wanting to do a downtown shoot in a city you aren't quite familiar with- always shoot by the art museum... they tend to be in a cool part of town.  ;)

My second shoot of the day canceled (total bummer), so I decided to drive back early and avoid the having-to-drive-in-the-dark situation.  Good call. 

Austin

The drive to Austin didn’t seem nearly as mind-numbingly long as the drive to OKC did… the significant difference in distance might have had something to do with it.  In fact, I almost enjoyed this drive… so many great things to see.  I’ve really come to appreciate the country landscapes with my growing passion for photography- besides that, it reminds me of Abel and his desires to see them.   The “Taken” series by Spielberg really had an effect on him.

I needed a much wider lens to fit in all the cows!

I pulled off to the side of the road to document-

My shoots in Austin went swimmingly, and I met two amazing photographers who’s work I admire quite a bit: Celeste Chesser and Will Hollis.  So fantastic to meet and work with other people in the field.  Will was so professional and has beautiful work, but I can't stop talking about Celeste.  Celeste is an astounding 19yo who has a clothing line, works as a model and photographer, and will soon be published in an Austin magazine!  Wow!

The evening concluded with my wonderful MOLLY!  Molly is a girl whom I worked with on the Coral Princess; she was the computer instructor.    Molly has been living in Austin a year, but has just will be moving to NYC... I had to come see her!  Austin is only about 2.5hrs from Houston, so I had to make the trip before she scuttled off to the East coast.  We drank Shirley Temples and ate vegetarian tacos at Shiner's Saloon, a quaint little "hole in the wall" in downtown.  (By the way- check out my view as I drove down the main street to meet up with Molly)

Although I couldn't snap a pic while I was driving, this is the view I had!