My Sister’s Wedding – Cancun, Mexico

Robyn & Eric were married on Saturday, August 13th at the Gran Caribe Resort in Cancun, Mexico. This was my very first “tropical” vacation, can you believe it?? Twenty-eight years of life… and the only beaches i knew about were Texas Gulf beaches. (Well, we did go to Panama City Beach, FL when i was a little kid… but i was like 12, i barely remember it!)

The wedding party on the beach

The ceremony was held in an open-air chapel facing the water and the view was incredible. Everything about that day was perfect… even the 10 minute surprise thunderstorm that briefly interrupted the evening reception! The girls wore short, strapless red dresses (with pockets!) and the guys wore tan guayaberas with red embroidery. Robyn looked absolutely stunning, and the white sand, bright blue water and clear skies made for an amazing backdrop.

A few things i learned about Cancun…
1) it’s the hottest/most humid place on earth. like, i was literally dripping sweat just loungin’ on the beach. and the minute i stepped foot outside our villa, my curls would fall and my hair would be damp with sweat from my head. i think i styled my hair 3 times each day. maybe next time i visit Cancun, it won’t be in the middle of Summer.
2) all-inclusive is the way to go! obviously there are different rates for upgraded rooms, etc… but the average cost was approx $100/per person, per day. and this price included all restaurants & bars on the resort (alcoholic drinks too!), free room service, and an awesome villa! it was pretty neat being on vacation and not having to “spend money” – everything was taken care of for us.

We all lucked out, because about a month after Robyn & Eric decided where the wedding would be a “groupon-like” special surfaced on EverSave.com. The deal was $299 for an all-inclusive 3-night stay for two, at the Gran Caribe resort! Even though Will & I had already booked and paid for our stay through the wedding coordinator, we quickly purchased the voucher and canceled 3 of our 4 nights. Since that saved us over $400, we were able to upgrade when we arrived. Our villa was incredible. We even had a private, two-level balcony with a jacuzzi!

It was an awesome trip, my sister married an awesome man… and i promised myself i’d take a tropical vacation every year from now on 🙂

The Boston Beer Marathon trained for us!

oh yes, the Boston Beer Marathon happened again…and this time we showed up with 9 more people! we started at the House of Blues just like last year, but this time we actually made it to Allston for the last 8 bars or so <– major accomplishment!

us with the Beer Marathon Founding Fathers!

i think the best part about this year was having a few Texans in tow… a college buddy of mine, Lee Bernhoft, recently took a job in Stamford, so this was his first chance to get to really party with me, Will and company on the East Coast! Lee had a FANTASTIC time to say the least… and he even started a bro-mance with the charming Mr. Martti Thomas. I even got a call the next morning from Martti and had to text him Lee’s digits! LOL Those two were a match made in heaven! Watch out Southern CT: Lee & Martti are on the prowl! oh yeah, so Lenny has been calling me “T-Toast” (short for Texas Toast) since we met… so it was only fitting that Lee got his own nickname as well: Lee Toast.

Even more Aggies/Texans met us in Boston – Amanda & Brandon Lackey are a couple who recently moved to CT from Cleveland. (Funny story actually: on lee’s 2nd day in CT he was walking the streets of Stamford and he saw a guy unloading stuff from his vehicle which happened to have an “A&M” sticker on it. Of course, Lee was wearing his maroon Aggie shirt so he stopped and introduced himself. Thankfully, since we’re just a friendly bunch of people… Brandon and his wife joined us a few weekends later in NYC for the Lonestar Chili Cook-off. And the rest is history…) Despite Brandon’s horrific case of food poisoning in Boston on Friday night, he was out on the streets with us like a champ on Saturday. It was great being around other Aggies in Boston.

*The Great Boston Experience is becoming so successful that they are planning on duplicating it in other major US cities. It is official… the Big Apple Beer Marathon is scheduled for Saturday, September 24th! The Beer Marathon is coming to NYC 🙂