My big , fat, Cuban vacation.

My darling bunnies, it is with a heavy heart I report... I am home.

In other words? Cuba was unbelievable.

8 blissful days of sun, surf, sand, and mojitos. We stayed in sunny Cayo Coco, and were blessed with warm weather all week.

I fully immersed myself in the whole experience, and did exactly what I wanted, when I wanted...which chalked up to a whole lot of nothing- and it was glorious.

I let myself unwind completely , catch up on my reading, and spent most of my time fighting off advances. I'll tell you, if ever I'm feeling down about myself, Cuba is definitely the place to go! Every day saw flirtation, invitations to dinner, little gifts, knocks on my door at midnight...my mother quickly became annoyed and extremely protective. I was flattered, but I'll admit, it became a bit exhausting! I was "the one with the eyes" -and all of the male staff whispered when I walked passed. Silly boys!

I made a wonderful friend named Ceidel, the hotel porter, who kept me safe from the flirtatious boys, made sure I was okay when I became sick, showed me around the grounds, took me bird watching, etc. I am very thankful to have met him, he really made my trip special.

I snuck away on my own quite a bit, to do some thinking, healing, growing. On the last afternoon, I sat down in the shade, and wrote a letter to the universe...

This was a very important excercise for me, as I promised myself I would leave all that worried me buried deep in the sand when I flew home.

I wrote down a neat list of everything I would leave behind, and sealed it in envelop...

and buried it deep in the sand on a remote section of the beach.

Spending time with my mother was lovely, and seeing my aunt and uncle after 10 years was also very special.

I couldn't have asked for a better time. I wanted to stay longer, until the money ran out, but the red tape was too much to handle, so I will have to settle for returning the next I am able, and plan for a longer stay.

I spent my mornings in the hotel open-air lobby reading with a mimosa in hand, and my afternoons on the beach or by the pool. Not a care in the world- a gal could really get used to that lifestyle.

Unfortunately, on the way home, we had an extended stay at the Cuban airport due to our plane having to make an emergency landing in Florida- the windshield cracked! That extended stay meant having to eat the airport food, which did not end well. Yep. All of us Canadians are currently hurting units! What a way to end a vacation- with one hell of a stomach virus. I'm writing this while still feeling the effects. I have to say, though, it was worth it.

If you are interested in seeing more photos- click on over to my Flickr . There are a whole bunch!

And so ends another adventure for Lenora... Now, to deal with the post-vacation depressing haze.

Hola!

XOX

Lenora

Our little backwoods vacation! ( Photo heavy!)

Hello my darling bunnies.

I write to you as a refreshed, relaxed and water-logged lady. We just returned from a short and simple vacation to Prince Edward Island, and it was just divine.

We stayed at our favorite little establishment , Shaw's Inn. I've blogged about our previous stay before, and let me tell you, this time was 100% more magical. The Inn is mostly closed for the winter season, with the exception of two winterized cabins off the beaten path. We had the entire property to ourselves- not even the owners were on site. This meant we could do as we pleased, and boy did we ever!

We had a lovely little cottage with a wood stove and a large hot tub in the living room. Yes, I said hot tub in the living room! See!

Our back porch overlooked a large field with hay bails, with a fantastic view of the water. A short jaunt across the field and we could dip our toes into the water and collect shells.

As a child who's family had a country cottage, hay bails had always been my summertime playtoys, so I couldn't resist taking some photos.

As you can see, our first day on the Island saw beautiful sunshine and amazingly warm temperatures. Keep in mind, it is November, and this is CANADA! I couldn't believe I could even be outside without a damn parka! I decided to take full advantage of the weather and the fact that we had the entire giant property to ourselves. Barefoot in nothing but a vintage dressing gown is proper field-frolicking attire, right? Of course!

There was something so fantastically liberating about being so very exposed in the cool air. These photos were almost hard for me to see at first- every little roll and curve and bulge visible under the semi-sheer fabric... but I was just so comfortable, content and happy. I didn't think twice about sharing these.

I am so grateful for these memories...the feeling of the cool grass under my toes, the feeling of my dressing gown blowing in the wind...this was a truly magical time, and I am so happy Nick and I could share it together.

Soon it was time to watch the sunset over the hay field. There are no words needed- just look at how beautiful it was!

Retiring back inside, it was time to fire up the hot tub for the first of many times! Trying to take photos was difficult - trying to cover our unmentionables, getting both of us in the shot, and not slipping or falling over ? A hilarious endeavor.

The next few days were spent doing absolutely nothing- exactly as we'd planned! We shut off our phones, broke out some board games , cards and DVDs and RELAXED. Yes, we could see the TV from the hot tub- we could watch Chapelle show while the jets massaged us. Simple pleasures!

It was really something to unplug and unwind- something we forget to do far too often in our faced-paced technology-saturated lifestyles. We hardly left the cottage, cooked simple meals, and soaked in the hot tub for as long as we could handle. It was truly blissful.

We went into town a few times and enjoyed some local cuisine, did a bit of shopping, visited a local friend- but for the most part, we wanted to soak up as much of this simple life as possible.

The last morning we frolicked in the field once again, and explored the shore.

Nick climbed trees while I took photos of the little red dirt road that leads you to the cottage. The soil in PEI is rusty red- something that is always so intriguing to me!

With that, we said goodbye to our little cabin in the woods, and promised to return as soon as we could. I miss the hot tub already!

If you'd like to see more photos from our trip, take a jaunt on over to my Flickr .

Yours always in sassy fatness,

XO

Lenora