Um mistério.....

So traveling to Rio with a group of guys has been very illuminating for me...... It has given me both some key learnings and a new puzzle.

First, after seeing what I have seen, I would never let a man I was dating or married go to Rio alone or with his boys. And I mean NEVER, EVER, EVER! Being with a bunch of guys gave me a unique experience of being a fly on the wall. If a guy wants, he could easily have a different beautiful woman to sleep with every night that he is in the city...EASILY, as long as they have the money for it. I saw grown men act like kids in a candy store. So, I would strongly question the motives of any man going to Brazil without a woman.

Second, the biggest mystery of all to me is how the country can produce so many beautiful women and so-so looking men!?!?!? I really don't understand it. All over beautiful woman and, with one or two notable exceptions (including the one in my pictures below), the men were not really that great looking. Maybe all of the good looking men are in a different part of the country that I have yet to explore. So while it was the land of milk and honey for the guys in the group, it was not the same for the women. But hey, I guess you only really need one, right? ;-)

But what this meant was while the men were busy recuperating from their evening activities, the women were a little restless and exasperated at spending half the day waiting to do something. This was the first time that the trip organizers had ever had women on their trip and they learned a little bit about the differences in how women and men travel!

No alto do mundo!

On our last day there the weather cleared up, so we went to Corcovado. For those who are unaware, Corcovado has a giant scupture of Jesus that sits atop the peak, overlooking Rio. It is quite a spectacular sight. To get there, you take a trolley car up a 45 degree incline up the side of the mountain until you get to the top. And, as you can see, the views are breathtaking!

How do you spice up a rainy day in Barra?

Can you say caipirinha?? Oh, and some food, of course.

It was a good birthday!

Feliz aniversario a mim!

So, I celebrated my __ birthday in Rio! The group had a party that just happened to be on my actual birthday to celebrate everyone in the group who's birthdays were in October and November. But since it was on my actual birthday, I commandeered the party for myself! ;-) And, it was a great opportunity for me the wear this fabulous top I have had for a few years and requires a special occasion to wear it. What do you think?

Terra e mar!

Despite the rain and clouds, we did manage to get some nice landscape shots while in Rio....

I have been holding out on you....

I had one more trip planned before I was "restructured," and I just got back from it. Boy, do I want to go back! Especially, since it is cold here now!

I planned to celebrate my birthday in Brazil this year and went with a group (some friends, some new friends) to Rio for 7 days. The trip had its challenges, including plumbing problems in our apartment and 3 days of rain, but in the end I had a good time! Let me show you what I am talking about!

My new purchase....

I decided that I am sick of having black luggage that it is hard for me to pick out from all the other black suitcases at baggage claim. So I went in search of a more colorful option! Others are on to this and there seem to be some popular colors that have become prevalent on the carousels these days, namely red or royal blue. I was looking for something more distinctive. I saw a light blue set but knew that they would become filthy after the first trip or two... So I continued my search, on and off, until I found them! There they were... sitting there in the front of the store at TJ Maxx. They were calling my name and I had to have them! A set of wonderful looking ballistic nylon PURPLE luggage.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I have a weakness for purple. And I admit, things just loom better to me in purple, which I understand is not entirely rational. And it is not all shades of purple. I prefer plum toned purples as opposed to grape toned ones, or in other words, purples with more red than blue. And I am a relatively recent liker of lavender since I am just getting over my general dislike for pastel colors. Okay, enough of the purple talk. Here is my new luggage!

Now why, you ask, am I buying new luggage????

My run in with the po-po

One little detail I left out from my trip.....

I got pulled over by the po-po! It was actually pretty ridiculous and how the police decide that we needed to be stopped when there were tons of underaged kids walking around with open containers just a couple blocks away is beyond me but.... let me tell you how it all went down.

Some old classmates and I decided that we had to go to this great restaurant in town, that has since been acclaimed by Gourmet magazine as one of the 50 best restaurants in the country. So, after a day of walking around campus and shopping on the main drag, we met up at the restaurant for a great dinner. It was relatively early so we were able to get a table for 6 with no problem. We drank mango/lemongrass and lychee martinis and ate on tea-smoked salmon bento boxes, sweet potato samosas and lamb. Yum!

Then, when it was time for us to leave, I offered to drive everyone to their cars that were a mile or two across campus. So we all piled into my car to head back. Now, my car is roomy but not that roomy for 6 full grown adults and only 2 could sit in the front, so the married couple "sacrificed" and one sat on the others lap.

I was driving carefully, obeying all traffic laws and all of a sudden I saw flashing lights in my rearview mirror so I pulled over. This cop walked up to my window and asked for my license and registration and went back to his car. Now, while he was checking my "record" we noticed that 2 other cars pulled up and that one cop was standing by the back door with his hand on his revolver in the holster. I mean, come on! This is a group of 30-something MBAs who just spent $400 on dinner. What are we going to do???

The cop came back and said that the reason that he had pulled me over is because I had a "gazillion" people (his words, not mine) in the car. I told him that I was just taking them back to their cars at the business school and was becoming keenly aware that I probably had about 7-10 years on this guy. The other cop came over and asked if this was "a bet." What kind of bet would that be??

Anyway, he obviously let me go with a warning and a feeling of contempt at what a waste of tax dollars that was.....

Spur of the moment trip...

Okay... I am so behind on my blogging we are just going to pretend that these posted on the dates they say they did.... (and that I am not typing without my right index finger that I just hurt in the garage door -- you will just have to read ahead to find out about that!)

Anyway.....

This past Friday, I got a call at about 11am from some good friends of mine from grad school. You see this past weekend was homecoming and my class's 5 year reunion. I had been toying with the idea of going but hadn't really committed to anything. But when I got the call, and realized that I hadn't seen some of these folks in 5 years, I started thinking......why not?? A couple friends said that I could stay with them and it is not like I had a job to be stuck at on a friday afternoon. So, I arranged for someplace for the dog to stay and was on the road in about 3 hours!

Six and a half hours later I was pulling into a parking space to meet folks at an infamous local bar in the town I went to grad school in. Whew!

I actually didn't go to any of the official events or the football game but got to see and hang out with some really great folks and go to dinner at my favorite restaurant there, which has since been recognized by Gourmet magazine. Now, I remember why I liked grad school so much!

Oh, the other thing, it seems that aside from working, my classmates have also spent the time having kids! The majority of them seem to have two which makes me feel like I have been really unproductive....

The flip flop dilemma

I have developed a silver flip flop obsession..... Probably because they match my toes and just seem a color that seems less casual than other flip flops. (See!)

However, I have run into an issue. My favorite (and only) pair of silver flip flops seems to be breaking and I can't find a replacement pair because they are out of season and the company isn't making them right now, or the place I buy them from isn't selling them. So I decided to look for alternatives. It is better to have a back up pair anyway!

I looked at tons of pairs and I don't like any of them as much as the pair I had but I decided to try a pair in an effort to be openminded. And since Zappos.com has free next day shipping, I didn't have to wait long.

Here were my choices:

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Initially, I was just going to go with number 2 but they are so casual and completely flat. I do like the thin profile of the straps though. Number 3, forget about it! So shiny and pink! Yuck! I didn't love number 1 but when I tried them on, they were sooooo comfortable, and they have this little arch support thing so I am willing to overlook the green accents.

So now I have 2 new pairs of silver flip flops but i still like the old ones the best so I think I am going to try to get them fixed!