In 2010 I ... escaped to Mexico.

The 10th anniversary of a Mexican family tradition concluded this past Saturday. Well, we're not Mexican. The trip is Mexican. To Mexico. You know. Whatever.

Anyway, it was paradise as usual. Every day looked like the sunny, beachy amazingness we've come to expect from Cancun/Playa del Carmen. Everyone always asks what the fam does during this 7-day retreat, and like the recent cabin trip, it's often a whole lot of nothing. This year was no exception.

There's a lot of brunching. Daily brunching, in fact. There's also quite a considerable amount of tanning/lounging/beaching/pool time. And because that schedule is exhausting, there's a happy hour break before dinner. With all this activity, we did manage to squeeze in a few adventures however.

Like this delicious snack in Playa del Carmen. This trip is really all about doing nothing and eating, and my PdC highlight being a snack is totally fitting.

I also had a ton of Mexican chair envy with gorgeous red and white laser-cut chairs that were jaw-droppingly perfect. Conveniently, they'd all fit into the motif of my kitchen, and my patio ... let's be honest, I'd put them anywhere in my teeny, tiny condo. I'll be stalking these down, weeping when they don't fit in my "budget" and then lying to my dad about contributing to my IRA when I'm really stashing away funds for these babies. Wouldn't you?




Maybe they're an Umbra designer line? Moving on. We also made our second journey to Xcaret, or what I refer to as the Disney World of Mexico. The fam did not approve of this title, however, so we finally settled on a Busch Gardens comparison. It is an amazing place:

We took a quick boat ride down this quaint beauty.

If I could stop killing orchids, maybe this could live on my patio?

Mexico really has no boundaries or safe guards of any kind, as this butterfly was on my mom's arm moments after I snapped this.

View from lunch.

Stunning, right? It's a massive place where you could easily get lost for days. We finished off the day with one of my favorite bits of the entire trip - an hour+ spent floating and tanning in inner tubes. Glorious.

After Xcaret there was more eating, tanning and a bit of shopping (although as far as the fam's trips typically go, shopping was at a concerning, all-time low). We ended the trip at the most stunning restaurant I've ever seen, JC Capitan:




Obviously this trip is a complex formula of: eat, tan, eat, relax, and repeat. After years of practice it seems we finally nailed it.