July 2018

I do not have a lot of stitching to share with you. The past couple of months have been incredibly busy - in a good way. In addition to Mother's Day and Father's Day celebrations, we have had several birthdays within the family, my son graduated from high school, I had several opportunities to work at our local school district... It has been busy, but fun!

My stitching goals for July are pretty simple:
1. Make progress on at least one of my cross-stitch projects.
2. Share an under-the-sea themed project with step-by-step instructions.

The remainder of this post will be sharing the highlights from June. They are not stitching related, though. (I have not picked up a needle since May 8th, if you can believe it. I need to fix that soon!)

In April, one relative really wanted to celebrate their birthday by visiting a Portland Escape Room with the whole family. It finally worked into everyone's schedules in June. We spent an hour locked in a room with a zombie and actually managed to flee with about 3 minutes to spare. I was a little nervous at first, but had a great time! (If you are curious, you may learn more about Portland Escape Rooms at their website at www.portlandescaperooms.com and they share photos of each group that participates on Instagram and on Facebook.)

After the whirlwind beginning of this year, it was fabulous to make a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with some dear friends for an early anniversary celebration. Following another friend's suggestion, we stayed at the Playa Grande Resort and Grand Spa. It was such an amazing time. We spent a lot of time just relaxing near the pool. The Wednesday night Beach Party was a hoot. And the Monday night Mexican Fiesta was highly entertaining.

We stumbled upon Lolita's Restaurante while looking for a local market. The owner, Alfredo, saw us consulting a map and gave us directions. He was incredibly helpful and friendly, so we went back that night for dinner. Of our group of four, two had the sea bass with mango sauce (which the staff offered to grill for me, as I cannot have any dairy - including butter), one had chili rellenos, and one had birria. (I chose the birria - a traditional Mexican soup, over the sea bass. We will definitely be looking up recipes for this on-line. It was SOOO good.) Let me just say, I want to go back to Cabo just to eat at Lolita's again. Yum!

We also loved eating at Captain Tony's. Of course, it may help that they cooked our tuna for us! 

One of our friends loves fishing. He researched various charters on-line before our trip and booked a fishing excursion with Pisces Sportfishing. I get seasick, so while I relaxed at the pool with a puzzle book, my husband and our friends caught 6 yellowfin tuna. Most of it was frozen for our trip home. 

However, our fishing friend cooked some for us that night. The next day, we took the remainder of our fresh tuna to Captain Tony's. 

We could not decide on one method of cooking it, so we had it cooked 4 ways. First, they brought out the sashimi. I could not eat the rolls (as they contain crab), but I did try some of the tuna in the center of this platter (which delighted my husband, as the idea of eating raw fish has never interested me) and it was absolutely delicious.

I was also able to eat the blackened tuna (as it had no butter). My husband and our friends loved the tuna with white wine sauce and capers. They also enjoyed the tuna with mango sauce.

The staff was wonderful, letting me know what was safe for me to eat. They also prepared my vegetables without butter. The live band that played for our table (and nearby tables) was fantastic. It was such a memorable evening.

This was truly the most relaxing vacation I have taken. We had an amazing time. Now, I am getting back into a normal routine with cooking, chores, job hunting, and (hopefully tonight) stitching.

Thank you all for stopping by!
Renee