Sunday, March 9, 2014

Nothing Like a Party or Two or Three ..... Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

After watching 8 Oscar nominated movies in 8 days, it was finally time to get gussied up for the BIG event - Oscar Party, 2014 at Jim Lee & Sean Carey's home, Casa de Perro Azul (House of the Blue Dog).  But first the primping had to happen. So I was graced with the presence of Ary Aerial Belloso who performed miracles on my feet, toes, and fingernails with a manicure and pedicure for only 150 pesos ($11.50) AND she came to our house to perform this miracle!! Such a luxury for me, as I do my own and haven't had one done for me since my daughter pampered me with her Mother's Day gift when I was in CT June, 2013.

Ary Aerial Belloso
 
Since their home was literally right around the corner, Mike and I walked up the hill then down the hill to Jim and Sean's.  Not knowing the correct protocol as gringos in Mexico, we actually showed up at 6:10pm for the 6:00pm invitation.  And, yes, we're in Mexico so most didn't begin to show up until the respectable half hour late time.

However, the promptness allowed us to enter leisurely with time to actually meet new people and enjoy our beautiful surroundings at a wonderful pace before the onslaught of many beautiful people!  The home is beautiful and stunning in a very comfortable homey but elegant way. The art is incredible! And, the views - simply breathtaking!!  Needless to say, a fantastic time was had by all!! We even did watch most of the show on TV with many others. 

Our Red Carpet Entry!
 

Their living room.

Bara DeMarino & Christy DuChateau with one of our servers.
 

The stunning view!

Pool Area.

Our bar tender.

Some of the wall art. Love it!

Another painted server.


Me, Mike & Jacqui McCarthy (now our beautician).



Jim Lee, Isabel & Daniel Portela

Dining Room

 

THE Guys!

Looking down over the pool area from the main floor balcony. Can you pick me out??

 
I must have had a really good time because my body revolted Monday morning and didn't let me get out of bed until way late. So Spanish class wasn't attended by me. I truly did feel guilty but just knew my concentration wasn't working well enough. ~

Mike went to his class at noon and then on to his doctor's appointment. He saw a dermatologist at the local private hospital in our neighborhood who immediately diagnosed that the 4 areas of concern on his back were only warts. And, he proceeded to burn them all off and give Mike some antiseptic cream. The whole tab came to a whopping $60 !!  Yes, we're very pleased with the first medical issue here in PV, Mexico!

Once Mike got back home, he handed me "my homework" from class. I looked it over and was totally confused. It didn't look anything like what I expected. I thought, holy crow, did I miss that much in one class?? So for the rest of the day, I slaved over the work. With help from Mike, I got some understanding of the exercise. But, it took me about 5 hours of struggling to get it done. Talk about a lingering headache!!

Being back to normal, off I went to class Tuesday morning. For an hour we reviewed and discussed sentence structure and practiced speaking of the homework from the week before. Nothing new. I was a little irritated after working so diligently the day before when I really wasn't feeling up to it. 

Well, the mystery was resolved when right after my class, Mike asked me for HIS homework sheet!  Yup, you got it. I had done HIS homework!! [The teacher had told him before class he would give him Tricia's homework and he had to leave early for his doctor's appointment, so he assumed the work given was for me]  He even asked me for the answer sheet I had worked up. I think NOT!!!  He's so far ahead of me - no wonder I struggled so hard!!  But, I got to puff out my chest when I reviewed my answers with him and only missed 3 and I figured out why before he could correct me. Boo Haa!!

Tuesday was also Fat Tuesday and time for the Mardi Gras parade down the malecon and through Old Town. But first we went to the Expat Happy hour at Langostinos where we met some wonderful people from WA and ID. From there we decided to have dinner and watch the sunset from Sea Monkey. 


The Los Muertos Pier lit up at night.

Afterwards we made our way up the malecon to Cheeky Monkey where we had front row reservations to watch the parade that started at 9pm. Unfortunately, there were allot of tourists who had been there for hours and when they discovered there was going to be a huge parade decided NOT to leave. I wasn't a happy camper. I must say that the staff at Cheeky did their best to work it out for us and managed to get us squeezed in up to the railing in time to see the parade. 

And what a great parade it was!  This is only the 3rd one held here in PV and this year it really grew! The majority of those that support it are the local business establishments. I'd love to see the addition of local school bands and dancers next year. But it was colorful and fun, fun, fun!














Once it had passed us by, Mike and I went down to the malecon and walked up toward Old Town in hopes of seeing more of it again. We were able to get up there in time to see a wonderful crowd of people enjoying all of the pageantry. It appears that this year the crowd topped 15,000 up from last year's 10,000!  We headed home and were in bed by 11pm like good students with class the next day.

Just before class on Wednesday, I received a message from a friend from back home, Dane Warner. He said he was in town with his daughter, Hannah, and his girlfriend, Debbie Baker, who we also knew. So we made plans to get together at Sea Monkey for $1 margaritas/beers and visit at about 5pm. Turns out that they were actually on a cruise and only in PV for the day. 
 
Dane Warner, his daughter Hannah, & Debbie Baker all from Kettle Falls, WA.

Nice picture of Dane.



We had a nice time visiting and catching up on what's going on back home especially since we were all in the same business of real estate back in Stevens County. But I must say that I've never seen anyone throw back so many margaritas in such a short timeframe!! He said drinks were $8 on the boat so he was going to take advantage of the cheap price.  Lol. Dane was feeling no pain whatsoever!!

Mike and I decided to stay out since we were already down in town. I had just gotten the update that a restaurant that is located just one block from where our new home will be has 50% off all of it's entrees on Wednesday nights. So off to Fusion's for dinner we went. WOW!! What a great meal with drinks and the total bill was only $23!!  Now, that's a bargain we can afford that just might become a habit once we're in the neighborhood!

 

Mike's Coconut Shrimp.
 
Another stop to listen to some good rock music at Nacho Daddy's with Funky Monkey.  And, then off to home. 

I'm definitely getting pampered with the services that come to your home at a reasonable rate. This time, we had our hair trimmed by Jacqui McCarthy. We had met her at the Oscar Party and made arrangements a couple of days later. The convenience is fabulous!  And, both of us got our hair trimmed in record time for only 250 pesos. Actually, a cut is 100 pesos plus transportation. That's $8 each for a total of $19!  Lovin it!

Lesson learned! On Friday, Mike and I decided to return the air mattress and sheets that we bought and now don't need at Costco when we arrived in mid December. Thinking Costco is Costco no matter where you are, we thought if we don't use them we can return them whenever. Ha! Not so in Mexico!! You're only given 30 days on non electronics and only 15 days on electronics. Yikes!! Thank goodness they took pity on us and let us return them since they were never opened. 

Our good friends, Suzan Haskins and Dan Prescher, editors and writers for International Living, arrived in town Thursday evening for 5 days of filming and interviewing. We were finally able to get together Saturday evening.  Of course, we met at Sea Monkey for those $1 margaritas and beers, then off to Los Muertos Brewing for some good beer and fabulous pizza.  We topped the evening off with a few more drinks and great music by Joe King Carrasco.  Since Dan is a really good musician, it was awesome to see him and Suzan enjoying Joe's musical talents.

 
 
This is the Sea Monkey from the beach area bar.



Suzan Haskins, Dan Prescher & Me at Los Muertos Brewing.

The 4 of us: Mike, Me, Dan & Suzan.  Yes, Dan is really that tall!

Mike, Me & Joe King Carrasco.
 
You don't often see Joe without his hat.

We have made the decision to call March our "vacation" month. There's way too much going on with all the parties, parades, and now the many friends that have begun to arrive from all over the world. And, in the midst of all of this, we will be moving 3 times. So stay tuned to hear about how this month unfolds.

As always, Thank You Mike for all of your beautiful photos! 


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