The Dominican!!! At last...a long vacation

Bret and I spent seven full days in the sun and sand last week. The Dominican Republic was absolutely amazing. So here's the story:
We flew into Santo Domingo. Easy flight - Savannah to ATL. to Santo Domingo. The Viva Wyndham Palace (our resort) is about 1.5 hours from the airport. So instead of being smart Americans and taking dependable ground transportation to the resort, Bret and I decided to RENT A CAR. What? Yup -that's right - we drove in the Dominican. Even after EVERY website and blog said "please stupid Americans, do not drive in our country - there are no rules of the road." And they're correct. NO RULES. We dodged potholes that were bigger than our car and deeper than the french drain Bret built in the backyard. Motorcycles popping out of nowhere and cutting you off at every pass. We thought we were being adventurous and would explore outside our resort in our vehicle, but really - we were just dumbasses. So after 2 hours and getting lost in La Romana, we finally made it to the Viva resort.
We were shown to our room - a third floor balcony room overlooking the beach. Cute room with amazing views. We explored the resort and found so much we liked, and little that we disliked. The beach is amazing - you could walk out in the clear blue water for nearly 100 yards before you couldn't touch any longer. Kayaks, Sunfish, snorkeling, and windsurfing - all available right off the beach at the sports "hut." There were multiple pools with multiple bars that served me many multiple rum punches throughout our stay.
One thing I must mention is that the resort is Italian-owned, so 85% of the guest are....Italian! 10% are French and the rest are...well...a mix of Dutch, Canadian, and lastly...American. We met a GREAT couple down there - Matt and Laura. They were good Southerners from SC and were on their honeymoon. My broken Spanish got us through a few rough spots, but otherwise we felt like we were in Europe - and we LOVED it!
The food was....okay. Mostly Dominicans trying to cater to Italians - lots of pasta, bread, and cookies. You could absolutely count on a carb coma everyday at lunch. Which wasn't so bad since everyone took a siesta anyway.
There are 4 restaurants and three buffets on the property (did I mention this was our first all-inclusive??). Anyone who knows me, knows my stomach issues - but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And the toilet flushed efficiently (not like the Bret "incident" in Mexico last year).
Every night, the hotel hosted "Animacion" which was a show put on at a big theater on the sister property right next door. The animation staff worked their tails off and were quite entertaining.
BUT, the highlight of our trip, was def. the trapeze. OMG, I was like a giddy schoolgirl - flying through the air, over and over again. The video on youtube is pretty hilarious.
So, after a week, we got back in our rental car that we never used and made the harrowing trip back to Santo Domingo. We stopped at these cool caves on the way and didn't get killed while the kids on the side of the road washed our car at a stoplight and pounded on our windows for money (lock the door Bret!!!).
If you're looking for a vacation - the DR is really amazing. It's inexpensive, easy to get to and just plain beautiful. We'll absolutely return. And we won't rent a car.

Pilates training in NYC

What a weekend in the Big Apple! Khristine (my boss at Memorial) and I went to NYC to do our 7th Pilates training. It was AWESOME. Our instructor, Patrizia, was amazing. She was the smallest thing I've ever seen - and so powerful. She was also very Italian - with a great accent and all the cuss words to boot. She used the word "vagina" about 50 times. "Pull in your vagina - tighten your vagina." At one point, she clasped her hand between by legs (while I was trying to perform a Russian split) and hoisted my crotch up two inches - all the while chanting "lift your vagina, lift your vagina." Quite interesting. And I feel a bit taller as well. In the picture - she's the little pixie in the middle.

Zumba!!!

I guess I'm hip with the whole Zumba craze - I went to Zumba training on Saturday and it was AWESOME! Holy sweatfest! I'm officially certified to teach, but I officially have no idea what I'm doing - so practice practice practice! I think Bret will be my first Zumba victim - here he is striking a Zumba pose.

The finger, Hanna, and beer

We promised Royce and Sarah that we'd update the blog, even though we didn't take any photos. So here's the skinny: Bret has a nail fungus....barf. And don't ask where he got it from - only the nail knows. He went to the doc - she lanced it and he screamed like big boys do - in silence, with his inner voice. The tip of his middle finger is still bigger than his thumb...double barf. And we do not have any photos of the nail - - or the fungus.

We've been watching all the fuss on Gustav, but Hanna is the big story if you're in the Lowcountry. If you ask me, she's gonna dogleg it and smack us with a Cat 1. Not a bad showing for a girl named Hanna (funny that it rhymes with Savannah).

The Craft Brewfest was great this weekend. 100 beers, but a tiny little glass....meant for sampling of course, not downing shot after shot of ice cold, bubbly goodness. We'll def. return next year...with our own glass (aka...German beer stein).

The Great Nate

I just got this photo from my fabulous sister-in-law. My parents were up in Maryland visiting my brother and his wife. This is their 8-month old baby (our nephew), Nate Garbe. The first grandchild!!!!

Chris and Tanja's Visit

We had a blast last night with Chris and Tanja - they came in from Atlanta for the weekend. We were psyched to have them at our house on Friday and they're heading to the Kehoe House tonight! Bacchus Wine Bar was fabulous (as usual) - but the power was out all over downtown from the electrical explosion, so we headed back to the homestead for a little debauchery.

Gloucester Visit

Gosh - I've been terrible about keeping this blog updated. We went to Gloucester, Mass last week - visiting the in-laws. It was TONS of fun - we really had a great time and got a chance to see a lot of family. Our twin niece and nephew are the CUTEST ever. Luke, our nephew, found our wedding photo on the piano and brought it to me. He said "that's you and that's uncle bret - and why do you look like a princess?" OMG - that might have been the BEST thing anyone has ever said to me :) Leave it to the young to see you for who you really are...right? Princess Adrienne. LOL! Check out these great shots.

Birthday - Daufuskie weekend

Bret arranged an amazing trip to Daufuskie Island - off the coast of Hilton Head. The resort was wonderful and the drinks were even better.

Mom's Visit

Mom was in Savannah beachin' it for a few days. Winslow was so psyched to have his Grandma BB around the house during the weekend. We were sad to see her go :(

The Bountiful Harvest

The fruits of Bret's labor.....or painfully obvious phallics...you decide. Our overgrown box garden has produced some yummy cucumbers and beans. Next up....tomatoes and carrots. We've already used the mint for several mojitos :)

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July holiday was pretty good. I was sick with the flu - but that didn't stop Bret from doing an amazing fireworks display! We also got to see our fabulous nephew, Nate. What a good baby - he's Winslow's new best friend.

Joe, Our Savior

Joe, the GE guy, is a god. He came back to fix the fridge and told Bret he had recreated a non-working part in our fridge with a DIGITAL match. WHAT? Yes boys and girls - a digital part has been injected into our 1956 GE Wall Mount Fridge. So Bret tipped Joe a ten-spot and told him he would be the god-father of our first born. But only if the fridge worked for more than three days. And only when we decide to procreate.

Unfortunately - Bret forgot to snap Joe's picture. So, he's only a legend. The legend of Joe and the 1956 GE Fridge.

Labs like water...right?

It's a stormy Thursday night - thunder all around. Winslow is now officially scared of storms (he never used to be!). We don't normally let him into our bedroom (white bedroom, black hair) - but he was so scared! So instead of jumping on the bed - he jumped into the.....shower?

Bret's Spring Projects

Bret is happiest when he's in the backyard. So is Winslow - he's a big helper. Here are the projects - a fabulous rock garden and a resurrected Koi pond (without the Koi). Since Bret was banned from Home Depot for the remainder of June, the summer projects will wait a few weeks. But all is fair in love - I was just banned from Ebay. Tsk tsk.

JOE the GE Guy is back!

Bret's mad repair skills are sharp and vast, but alas, we had to call in the help of Joe - our favorite GE Repair Guy. Unfortunately, when Joe arrived on Friday, the power was out due to the massive thunderstorm the day before. So, Joe tried his best to tinker without electricity. When the juice finally came back on Saturday morning, the fridge was still cycling on and off. The next step is to have Joe come out and replace some parts. The GOOD news is we have TWO more fridges to harvest parts from!!! In our backyard!!! Tacky, tacky.
We'll see Joe this week - I think he cringes every time our house appears on his repair schedule. But Winslow loves him and that's a good sign. I'll have a photo of Joe soon (I'll snap it when he's knee deep in repair mode). He's like part of the family.

Back to the drawing board

Well, another update. The fridge was working great for 3 - yes THREE - days. And now it keeps cycling on and off every minute. Total bummer. Bret will try and fix it this weekend - because he truly is Bob Villa. Are we looking at a kitchen remodel? Probably. But we have faith in Bret! He's got mad repair skills.

Awesome weekend at the lake!

We had a grand time at the lake with Tom, Amy, Critter and Kristin! The weather was fabulous, the water was nice and Bret cooked an amazing shrimp dinner. Jake the dog really appreciated everyone being there - he was so sad when we left! And holy mojito madness! We cannot look at another mint leaf.

Almost complete!

So, thanks to Chuck and Ray from across the street, the new old fridge is up on the wall. Bret is working on putting our old fridge doors on the new old fridge - since our original doors are in much better condition. What a cool turquoise interior!

New old fridge

So this is a photo of the newest fridge from St. Pete that we'll be putting up soon. Bret put a cup of water in the freezer last night and it froze! YAY! We're replacing all the doors with our pink doors (got the center one on so far) and the upper portion with ours. So now we have THREE 1958 GE Wall Mount fridges (1 works). And none are in our kitchen. We figure all we need is a 1978 Monte Carlo up on blocks in our front yard to complete our ghetto landscape.

Kitchen drama continues

This is what our wall currently looks like. No fridge. UGH.

Our first post - kitchen drama

Well, this is our first blogging experience and our very first post! Hopefully, we'll remember to keep it updated.

Right now, our refrigerator is consuming us. It's a 1958 GE Wall Mount fridge. It died 2 months ago (yes - at age 50). We had another one shipped from Ohio - doesn't work. So, Bret drove down to St. Pete last weekend and picked up a second one. We ripped out the original one, with the help of Scott, Chuck, and Stephen. The new one doesn't quite fit. So, Stephen removed some tile and now we've got to get the boys back to reinstall. Oh the drama. Why so much drama you ask? Well as you can see in the photo - it takes up one side of our kitchen.