i'm interrupting my puerto rico recap to bring you some #blizzard2016 goodness!!

this past weekend we were hit with a bunch of snow.  i mean, i'm so not complaining because winter only just started for us new jerseyans.  it was in the 70s on christmas eve, then we left on vacation so i've only experienced the cold weather for about two weeks now.

i didn't "prepare" for the storm like every single resident of the state by running to the store and doing an unnecessary food shopping, only to get stuck indoors for literally a day.  junior was a little less than pleased with me because he did want to veg out and eat a bunch of junk food.  whoops!  #wifefail  we decided to venture out in the middle of the blizzard, because why not?!  and trekked all the way to 7-eleven (probably the only thing open, and lucky for us, a short 5 minute walk up the road) to stock up on some goodies!!  of course, with camera in hand ;)






did you get a lot of snow where you're from??

photography by blissfulkaos.  

and here are some random snaps from snapchat of our excursion that are too good not to share here!

junior is not the "let's lay on the beach and do nothing" type.  he doesn't like being out in the sun and he certainly doesn't like to just relax and do nothing.  that was hard for me to adjust to.  being from somewhere where it's warm for such a short amount of time, when summer comes, all i want to do it find a beach (a lawn or rooftop will do!) and just bask in the sun.  give me all the vitamin d please!!  but not him.  he's more the surfer type.  he likes to be out in the water, catching some waves.  so it was a very special day when he took me to the beach to just lay out (under a palm tree, of course) while doing nothing!!!!

we drove back to cabo rojo (the same town we found the cotton candy water) and went to the boqueron area.  fun fact- this was actually one of the first beaches junior took me to back in the day ;)  we found a nice spot under the palm tree and just laid out while listening to music and drinking beers.  it was so nice to slow down and just be, which is something we rarely do!  we are always on the go, go, go.  it's funny because this entire trip was so relaxed.  we did things at our leisure and never felt rushed or obligated to do anything specific.

once the sun started setting, we grabbed all of our stuff and just walked along the beach.  we stopped at a little bar and enjoyed some more beers and watched the sun set.  as we headed back to the car, we walked through the little town area and stopped for some pinchos (skewers).  you can seriously find pinchos throughout the entire island, even while driving on the side of a random road!  there's no way to starve on this island!!  we both got bar b que chicken pinchos.  either we were both starving, or those were honestly the best pinchos we ever had!!













outfit details: bikini from roxy, tank top is old from target and the skirt is thrifted from the goodwill (but h&m brand).  bikini linked below along with similar tank tops and skirt ;)

photography by blissfulkaos.  

junior and i spent the last day of the year at a beautiful water fall in juana diaz called salto de collores.  i read up on the location before we headed over and found out that we had to park at some older man's property. a lot of the places we have explored in puerto rico in the past are just as lax.  when we arrived, we couldn't find anyone but did see a car that appeared to be a rental (tourists!!).  we gathered all of belongings, and walked down to where the waterfall was.  you can actually see the falls from the parking area, so it wasn't a far walk at all.  we were greeted by the little old man that lives on the property and paid him the $5 parking fee.  (can you just imagine this being your backyard?!)  the best part of it all was that the tourists were leaving as we arrived so we had the entire location to ourselves!

we are always in search of beautiful places to take pictures of, but this place was so special.  i laid down on the rocks and just closed my eyes and listened to the water crashing down.  it was the best way i could have ever imagined ending 2015.  i can't even describe the feeling i had!!  i always hope to remember each moment, but if per chance i can't, i'm so glad i have these pictures to look back on to remind me how amazing i felt in that moment of time.

the rest of the day was super chill.  we picked up some lechon for dinner and went back to my in-laws' house to have a traditional puerto rican dinner...arroz con gandules, pasteles and lechon.  delicious!!  once nightfall came, we contemplated going out and ringing the new year at a party, but we opted to stay in and have a quiet night with the family.  best decision ever!  i love having family time and i know his parents appreciated having us there ;)







photography by blissfulkaos.  

hello, hello!

we got back home last monday and i'm just feeling like i need to reevaluate my life so that i can be on a constant vacation.  15 days was just not enough ;)

i'm so missing the caribbean sun right now but i'll just have to relive the past two weeks through pictures.

we spent a lot of time in ponce since it is the town next to where we were staying.  junior loves going to la guancha, which is pretty much a boardwalk with different spots to grab a bite to each and a drink.  we explored the beach area one day (which i had never been to during the day time) and took the opportunity to take some pictures.  it's so crazy to me that no one really goes swimming at this beach.  junior, being a local and all, says that the water here isn't so nice.  it could be because the locals are used to white sand beaches and crystal clear water so this is considered "not so nice".  to us jersey gals, this is paradise!!










ps- bikini is super old from target, black dress is from h&m

photography by blissfulkaos.  

hello again from puerto rico, la isla del encanto ;)

we are still here until next monday.  today we are headed to the north end of the island to go hiking in el yunque (fingers crossed!!!!) and then we are staying in el conquistador resort in fajardo for a few days.  i'm super, super excited because el conquistador has access to it's own private island, palomino island.  when we booked this trip months ago, we only had a few intentions...visit a few of our favorite spots, explore new places and visit another island.  let's see where this next week takes us!!

since i have some free time, i figured i could log on and share our first adventure from last week.  exploring this island is one of my favorite things to do.  each time we come to visit, we find new hidden gems that we didn't know about.  it's truly is an enchanted island!!  one of the first adventures we went on during this trip was to cabo rojo.  we've been there a bunch of times (junior even worked in town when he lived here) but we've never stumbled upon las salinas de cabo rojo (the salt flats of cabo rojo).  apparently the water is super salty in cabo rojo and the indigenous people have been mining salt in this area for a very long time.

as we were headed to the lighthouse, a place we frequent each time we come (those views are just breathtaking!), we saw the pink water and just had to pull over and check it out.  it was like being in a fairytale land with pink water and "crystals" everywhere.  too bad the water is salty and not sweet like real cotton candy water would be ;)

after we left the salt flats, we continued on to the lighthouse.  the beach near the lighthouse was super packed and they weren't letting cars through.  we had to walk roughly 2 miles to reach the lighthouse.  that was ok with us because we used the opportunity to take pictures of our surroundings.  it truly was a beautiful day!!















next up, a trip to the beach in ponce, pr!!


(ps- my dress is roxy brand)

photography by blissfulkaos.