Gypsy Diva Hair

When you travel as much as we do, you want to carry as little as possible. A while back we were sent someplace in Oklahoma for 3 weeks and I attempted a no-product trial with my hair. I didn't use any product at all on my hair except shampoo and conditioner. I only blew it dry with a blow dryer, which most places provide, and attempted to style it the best I could with my round brush which was the only hair styling item I took with me to this particular place. When I got my hair done before we arrived I asked for style that was easy to take care of and required little effort to style. I'm here to announce that it was a complete and utter failure. Unfortunately I was born with boring, super straight, lifeless hair that refuses to hold a style without being forced to stay in place with an armory of gravity defying products. Thanks Mom and Dad. So unless I grow my hair out and just pull it back in a ponytail everyday my poor hubby is stuck with me and my styling spray, thermal protector, leave-in conditioner, powder root boost, hair spray, big round brush, and blow dryer. I did recently find a great product that combines a leave in conditioner and styling elixir called 2 Chic by Giovanni. You get it at the health food store. I love 2 in 1 products, when they work, because they give me the benefits of two products in one convenient container. Conditioning shampoos are not on this list. I can't even get a comb through my hair if I don't use a separate conditioner. I also cannot live without my powder root boost. That is the best stuff ever invented for fine hair. I usually stock up on it when I can find a Sally's. And my hairspray is also pretty much a must or it just falls flat as soon as I walk out the door. So its hopeless for me to ditch the hair products, which I keep in a collapsible cloth box I got at the dollar store. I haven't been traveling with a blow dryer because most places provide one. The place we are renting now doesn't, so I was forced to go out and purchase a "travel dryer". Yeah right, travel dryer, ha! The handle folds down. Big deal. It still takes up as much room as a regular dryer. But, I can't live without one and be seen in public. It's a necessary evil. It's so hard to be a Gypsy Diva.

I gave up nail polish

That's right. I gave up nail polish. I grew weary of carrying around a bag of various color nail polish, base coat, top coat, crackle coat, cuticle oil, nail polish remover, cotton balls, cotton swabs. By ditching these items, I saved several square inches of space, and I'm sure, a few pounds of weight from my luggage. Keeping up with your nail polish can be a hassle. I can't sit still long enough for it to dry, so I always inevitably smudged my fresh polish. I would have to change the color depending on what I was wearing. I certainly couldn't leave the house if I had a chip in my nails. The horror!!!! So, of course, I would have to re-do the whole thing before going out, much to my husband's dismay. Well, I decided to stop wearing nail polish altogether and I haven't regretted it. Now I just massage some coconut oil on my cuticles and nails everyday. It make them look attractive, and gives them a nice shine. In fact, I've noticed my nails are so much healthier. They're longer, stronger, and thicker than they've ever been. I recently took a trip to Jamaica and I debated on making them pretty just for the trip. But then I remembered the trip we took to Cabo. I somehow scraped my toes on the bottom of the pool and scratched my polish at the tip and it stressed me out the whole trip. So I decided this trip to forgo the polish, and I'm glad I did. I got to focus on having fun and not on how bad that chip in my polish on my big toe looks. I know a lot people will find this impossible, but I feel liberated.

Hotel Room Cuisine

I’ve been addicted to watching shows like Rachael Ray and The Chew. This is somewhat frustrating due to the fact we have been living in hotels for the last few months and I have no kitchen. The closest thing I have is a microwave and refrigerator. I love to cook and I want to make all those delicious meals I see them creating on their shows. Although cooking meals in a hotel can be challenging, it is not impossible. Nutrition is available without eating out every meal, which can get expensicve or having to eat every morning at the hotel provided carb-laden breakfast, which can get fattening and boring. Believe it or not, you can make scrambled eggs in the microwave. I simply scramble two eggs add a little milk or water, and sometimes a little grated cheese, and pour into a ceramic coffee cup (which I got at Dollar Tree.) You should spray the cup with some cooking spray, or I just add a little olive oil and brush around with a pastry brush. Don’t forget to cover with a paper towel. Cook in microwave for 30 seconds, stir, cook another 30 seconds, stir, and cook for a final 30 seconds. Microwave times vary, so you have to experiment with times. Sometimes we add some veggies such as green or red peppers, mushrooms, onions, jalapenos, etc, and I will add a few more seconds to each microwave cooking time. You can also mix all the ingredients and pour into a microwave steamer bag available near where you would find zip loc baggies at the grocery store. You just cook them in the microwave for a minute or two and you have an omelet. Never use a regular zip loc baggie to do this. Tortillas are one of my favorite staples to keep on hand as you will soon learn. You can wrap the scrambled eggs in a tortilla and add salsa. We have a portable, electric, non-stick grill I picked up at a second hand store for $6.50 that I use to grill meats on. It also works perfect for toasting bread, English muffins, or thin hamburger buns. We enjoy it with just jelly or add egg, cheese and turkey bacon. Another way to cook egg for a breakfast sandwich is to put a some ham or turkey on the bottom or a ceramic coffee cup or bowl, crack an egg on top, cook for a minute in the microwave, add cheese, cook for another minute and slide out onto toasted bread. I like to get fresh cut fruit, or fresh berries, and add to the side of my eggs, turkey bacon, and toast, and you have a nice healthy breakfast, and for a lot cheaper than what you would pay at Denny’s. Not that we don’t like to splurge on Denny’s occasionally. Other easy breakfast ideas are: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, turkey rolled in a tortilla, Greek yogurt and fruit, and oatmeal. Dinners are another challenge. Fortunately, as I mentioned before, I managed to pick up a non-stick, electric grill at a resale store. It is absolutely my favorite purchase so far. My second favorite is my hand held mixer I got at Goodwill for $4. I use it to make my salsa, because I don’t like store bought salsa. But, let’s get back to the grill. I use it to grill chicken breasts, salmon, steaks, hamburgers, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, squash, asparagus, pineapple, and toast. I only have two spices that I carry with me at the moment, and they are not salt and pepper. Weber makes some delicious spices for grilling meats. My two favorites are Kick’n Chicken, and Garlic and Herb. They taste great on any type of meat whether is says for chicken are not. I love when I find a grocery or health food store that carries bulk spices. I can buy as much or as little as I want. So if I just need enough curry spice for one meal, that’s all I have to buy. I don’t have to buy a whole container. I like to use garlic and onion powder a lot, but hate to carry around a bunch of bulky containers. I just get small amount and keep it in the baggies that are provided. They barely take up any room. You can also sometimes find bagged spices in the produce section and they are a lot cheaper than buying the ones in the spice aisle. You just need to re-bag them in a zip loc baggie, because they’re not re-sealable. Another of my favorite ideas for dinner is to pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and serve it with a side or some tomatoes and avocados. I like to get the cherry tomatoes, because they don’t require refrigeration. But I will buy the larger ones if I am going to cut the whole thing up and eat at dinner. Uncle Ben makes some delicious brown rice side sold in a steamer bag that goes straight into the microwave. Santa Fe flavor is our favorite, but I’m having a hard time finding it at Wal-Mart lately. There are also several frozen vegetables now sold in steamer bags as well. We like the broccoli and cheese. I put whatever is left of the rotisserie chicken in a zip loc baggie (how would I ever live without these things!) and serve it the next night on a tortilla with cheese, veggies, and salsa. We sometimes give in and get microwave TV dinners, but not often, because they’re loaded with sodium and controversial ingredients. Healthy Choice makes a frozen dinner line called Café Steamers. My favorite is the Chicken Margherita. Here’s a little secret: You can save the steamer bowl that comes with this meal and use it as a colander to rinse berries and canned beans. It works perfect and its compact. There goes my frugal side. We also like to occasionally get the lasagna dinners for two, but since we don’t get them very often I couldn’t tell you what brand we like. We’ve recently discovered that we love Campbell’s 100% Natural Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla Soup. Sprinkle some crumbs from the bottom of a bag of tortilla chips on top. Delicious! Hotel room dining isn’t as boring as I once conceived. With a little imagination and ingenuity it can be pretty tasty.

RV Life

I haven’t been writing in a while, and I apologize. We didn’t have internet access about 75% of the time last year and I just got out of the habit of writing. I’m making an effort to get back into it. Last year we bought an RV. A 36 foot fifth wheel. I loved it. It was like taking your home with you when you moved. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to pack everything up in a suitcase and boxes every time we had to move. It has an island kitchen with plenty of storage and plenty of room to cook full meals. I even baked bread and made desserts. It boasts a large living area, a dining area, and a bedroom with a queen size bed, a vanity dresser, a clothing closet and a utility closet. It also featured a decent sized shower, sink, and separate toilet. This came in handy on a few occasions travelling down the road and couldn’t find a gas station or McDonald’s. We even had a satellite system with an automatic search. We did not however have our own internet access. Some RV parks do offer free wi-fi, but most of them you have to be in range of the modem. At one RV Park in Indiana we had to walk all the way up to the office, and sit in the rec center to get access. I usually did this on days I did laundry. When we first purchased the RV my husband was working in Oklahoma and we stayed at the State Park. They don’t offer wi-fi. Of course they don’t! You should be out enjoying yourself. I liked staying here, because we woke up to deer walking around every morning. They had a nice pool that offered water aerobics in the evening and several hiking trails I would go walk on in the mornings. I would also ride my bicycle a lot without worrying about getting run over. One of the drawbacks to staying at the State Park is you are only allowed to stay for up to 14 days. Then you have to leave for 24 hours before you can come back. Unless you get an extension, like we did. We were there for almost 3 weeks. But I went to the Park Ranger and explained to him that my husband was waiting on word to go to the next project site and we would need a few more days and he gave us an extension for another week. Next we were sent to Cheyenne, WY, right during Frontier Days. Which was an exciting experience, but most of the RV spots were reserved up to a year in advance. So we had to stay in an electric only area. So we weren’t hooked up to water or sewer. They would, however, fill up our water tanks, and empty our sewer water on a regular basis. But the electric was slowed way down by too many people on the system. So I would have to turn everything off to run the microwave or it would overload. We were not in range of the internet. So once again I was deprived of online socializing. But we did have plenty of entertainment. I had the opportunity to meet people who came from all over. I even met a gentleman from France, who was backpacking in the States. They have some amazing concerts during Frontier Days. We saw Mark Chestnutt and Jason Aldean one weekend, and Eric Church and Toby Keith the next. Cheyenne has a shuttle service that runs during Frontier Days and stops at all the hotels and campgrounds, and its only $2 to ride. If you decide to take a cab instead, I think its $8 to go anywhere in town. Cheyenne also has an awesome Farmer’s Market that runs most of the year on Tuesdays and during the summer on Saturdays. It’s a great way to get some local, organically grown fruit and vegetables. There are a couple of women who sell goat cheese and a gentleman who sells fresh farm eggs, but get there early, because he sells out quick. If you like organic meats, there are some people who sell grass-fed, organic, hormone free beef and chicken. However a whole chicken is about $12 and they don’t sell just chicken breasts, or thighs. If the Amish women are there selling their jam, be sure to try the Traffic Jam. It’s made with different fruit and tomatoes, and it is amazing. Again, get there early. It’s the first one to sell out. After a couple of months we headed to Indiana and we stayed at a place in Monticello, near an amusement park called Indiana Beach. If you arrive during the summer, it might be a fun place. We got there the week after Labor Day and everything pretty much closes down for the winter. There was one place called Jake’s Beach House we stopped at that was still open. It has a patio that overlooked the lake and we stopped in a couple of times and had a pizza and a beer. But, it closed the week after we got there. We stayed at a small RV park that leases out seasonal spots. They charge a small fee for the whole season, which runs from about April to the end of October. After that all you pay for is the electricity. We met a lot of people that live here the entire season, and then go south for the winter. I think this is the perfect retirement plan. We also met people that live within a few hours and just come on the weekends. It was a neat little place other than the fact I had to walk to the office to get internet, and do laundry. I wasn’t pleased with the water there, either. It was very hard. I was only there a few days when it already started staining my sinks and toilet. We had to change our filter on our hose about every week. Usually it should get changed once a month. Other than that, we enjoyed it there. They have several social events, and they had a big Halloween party and a hayride when we were there. We met a great group of people that entertained pretty much every weekend who received us into their group and made us feel welcome.

Having the RV has been my favorite experience being on the road. I met a lot of nice people, and had some great times and I always felt like I was at home. One of the drawbacks we found was that most RV parks, esp in the Northern part of the country, close at the end of October. So unfortunately we had to put it in storage for the winter, and its still there, due to the fact we need a little work done on it and haven’t been home long enough to take care of it. We are hoping to be able to retrieve it soon.

Spending holidays on the road

One of my least favorite things about being on the road is being away from family during the holidays. We usually save trips home until Christmas. Of all the holidays to miss going home on Thanksgiving is the hardest. Last year I was fortunate enough to be home, and the year before that we had several of Mark’s co-workers that also didn’t get to go home that came over and I fed them. But this year it looks like its going to be just me and the hubby. He still wants me to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal and we’ll probably watch football. So I’m going to have plenty of leftovers for us to nibble on the following week. So I want to ask for some feed back from everyone. What is your favorite recipe using leftover Turkey? Put it in the comment box. Or you can e-mail me at gypsydiva24@hotmail.com. And I’ll post the recipes on my next blog. Also, let me know what you are thankful for this year.

I’m thankful for all of my friends and family and for all the blessings the Lord has bestowed on us. I pray everyone has a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading my blog.

Last Day in Cabo

Last Day Cabo

Friday, our last day in Cabo, Mark was invited to go fishing with one of our new friends. He was pretty excited about this until he found out he had to get up at 5:00 am in order to be on the boat by 6:00. He said he had a fun time and caught several fish, including some tuna, mahi mahi and a rooster fish. They ended up giving their catches to the fishing guide because we were all leaving the next day to go home and really didn’t have time to do anything with them. Although there are restaurants all along the marina that will cook anything you catch.

I took the opportunity while Mark was gone fishing to take advantage of the spa and booked a massage, a rare treat for me. Although next time I believe I will book at the beginning of our trip, because by the 6th day I was so sunburned and bruised that I was almost too sore to enjoy it. With the huge bruise on the bottom of my foot due to slipping off the ladder when we went snorkeling, I couldn’t get my feet massaged, one of my favorite things, because it hurt too badly. When I checked in they gave me a key to a locker that provided a robe and slippers, if you can call them that. I put the robe on, but the “slippers” would have been too big even for my husband. They hurt my feet when I walked, too, because the part that went across the top of my foot cut into the flesh making impossible to walk without swearing. It also had a bumpy soul that was supposed to feel like a soothing foot massage, but felt more like I was walking on rocks than anything. So I ended up wearing my own sandals. Apparently a lot of people do this, too, as I noticed while in the waiting area. Sitting still is not one of my attributes, so waiting in the quiet, darkened room for my massage with 5 other women was actually rather awkward. Guess I really was due for a massage, because I seem really uptight at this point. Although the Swedish massage was nice and relaxing, I think next time I will get the deep tissue massage. I feel as if I would benefit from that a bit more. Most hotels offer this service, although not at a bargain. I paid $120 and charged it to the room.

Since we were leaving early the next morning to go to the airport, we spent the rest of the day at, guess where, The Sky Pool. There we ran into our group of friends we had befriended and spent most of the day talking with them and saying our goodbyes. By day six I really wasn’t in a mood to drink anymore. In fact, nobody was. I drank water most of the day. I was also so tired and worn out I pretty much didn’t contribute to much of the conversation, if you can believe that. Later that evening two of the couples were going downtown, but we decided not to go out, due to the fact we had to get up early. We cleaned up and met one of the other couples we had met later that evening for dinner at the restaurant by the main pool. We ordered the pizza which was on special for happy hour. I ordered Sausage, Green Pepper, Mushroom, and Tomato, and I got Ham, Onion, Mushroom, and Pineapple. Not even close to what I ordered. They offered to make me another one, but I didn’t want to wait another 45 minutes. I asked them to just take it off my bill and the waiter said he didn’t want to do that because it would look bad on him and offered me a drink instead, which was the last thing I wanted. This was the only other incident I wasn’t real happy about, but then again, not everything is going to be perfect so I can’t complain too much. I would still stay at this hotel again. After we ate we then went back to our room and went to bed early. So our last day in Cabo was pretty uneventful and laid back.

We left the hotel early and caught a shuttle to the airport. When we got in the van, the radio was playing Toby Keith’s “Cabo San Lucas.” How appropriate was that? Our driver was very friendly and even stopped along the side of the road to let us take pictures of the ocean and some surfers in San Jose Del Cabo. We got checked in and gave the girl our tourist card which you don’t want to lose if you want to get back home. Once we got through security we actually had quite a while till our flight, so we grabbed something to eat. One thing you do not want to do is take any leftovers on the plane. Eat it all or throw it away. You are not allowed to take any food item onto the plane and out of Mexico. And they do open your bag and search through it in front of everyone before you get on the plane, so don’t pack anything you would be embarrassed for anyone to see. There are also a few souvenir shops at the airport in case you forgot to grab any while in Cabo. There’s even a Cabo Wabo store with t-shirts, koozies, and other items in case you were too intoxicated when you were there to remember to get anything. When we got on the plane they handed us a form to fill out with a space on the back to list all your purchases. Anything over $800 will be taxed. I think I totaled everything we brought back to about $150. We’re not much on souvenirs. Just something you have to carry around with you. We got to fly first class on the way back. I don’t know how that happened, other than the fact that we booked our flight at the last minute and it did say there were only 2 seats left, so maybe we lucked out and got into first class by default. I was rather disappointed because the one time I get to fly first class I’m not in the mood to drink anything but water. Maybe this is a good thing because there was one couple who was on our second flight who were perfectly fine when they got on the plane and several drinks later ended up getting in a fight right before we landed. Don’t be that person. Going through customs wasn’t as tedious as I thought it would be. Though we were the first ones off the plane and went straight there. But all the agent asked us was if we had anything to declare and I told him just souvenirs and I listed it all on the back of the paper I just handed him. He said fine and to go on. They do have dogs there, so don’t try anything stupid. Thus ended our trip to Cabo. We had a great time and I can’t wait to go back again.

Cabo Day 5

Today’s entry will be shorter than the rest, because we took it easy on this day. We slept in after a night out in downtown the night before. I got up and cooked breakfast and took advantage of some relaxing down time. Later we decided to go check out the Main Pool, since we had not taken the opportunity to visit before. We had gotten in the habit of going to the Sky Pool, because it was right behind our building and not necessary to take a kart to get to. I was surprised by the activity and the expanse of the main pool. We were wondering why we haven’t been spending our time here. It’s actually several pools that all connect together. There’s one large area that’s not actually a hot tub, but has the jets you can sit and relax in. There’s a bridge that crosses over one end of the pool. They have lots of chaise lounges, and cabanas. It’s very relaxing and beautiful. They also have a swim up bar with swim up tables. The pool sits right at the edge of the beach, where they have beach beds that you can rent for the day. This part of the beach is non-swimmable because of the dangerous currents and undertows. We spent some time here just watching the waves which are breathtaking. Then we sat at one of the tables near the swim up bar and enjoyed some Pina Coladas. What a great concept!

One of the couples we had befriended while in Cabo invited us to join them and another couple on the Sunrider sunset dinner cruise later that evening. After some consideration we decided to accept. The normal price for this cruise is $55, but we only paid $40 through the concierge at the hotel. The price includes all you can eat dinner and drinks. We had debated about going, not really knowing what to expect. Let me tell you, this was one of the most entertaining activities we did on our vacation. They also have wine cruises, booze cruises, and whale watching tours available. Whale watching tours are only available certain times of the year. On our cruise we passed by El Arco and had the opportunity to take pictures. My husband told me not to go crazy on the pictures on this trip; because he said he wasn’t going to buy any more. Later he turns up with two pictures in his hand. He bought one of our group of three couples in front of El Arco, and one they took of us as we were preparing to board. I love my husband. The Sunset Cruise boasts “Music, Ambience, open bar, full dinner, and an unbeatable back drop of breathtaking surroundings are all-inclusive with your ticket to ride on this two and a half hour tour.” I won’t give away all we did, so you can experience it fresh. If you don’t take one of these cruises you are missing out on a lot of fun, and some of the beautiful scenery of Cabo San Lucas. For more information visit http://sunridertours.com/