Tulum Dreams

I saw a blog post recently suggesting comfortable clothes while in your twenties. And it occurred to me, I'm no longer in that demographic. 

I spent the last days of my twenties with a close group of family and friends, a girls trip to Tulum, Mexico. A few close friends couldn't come for various reasons (new babies, life changes, difficult times) but I was able to celebrate with them in other ways. 

One day we started with a yoga class. Our yogi instructor spoke English really well, and was able to guide us through the poses. She called us yogini's, and it was an intense class. She really pushed us to do hard poses, and it was quite warm in the "yoga nest" with not a ton of airflow. It was also a really humid day due to overnight rain, which intensified it more! We definitely took moments to breathe through it in child's pose. After yoga, we stopped for some smoothie bowls. Our server talked us into adding cacao nibs which were huge and added an incredibly lovely, and a little bitter, crunch. The bitterness of the added cacao was really nice paired with the sweet and smooth banana. 

One night, we visited a tapas style restaurant on the beach that was known for it's view of the ocean. We arrived after the sun had already set, and we sat in the little enclosure on the beach, just past the small pool. We could just see the moon reflecting off the dark water, and we could hear the rustling waves as we dined; it was so peaceful. We drank mojitos and caipirhinas, and they were perfect for a beach dinner. Since the restaurant was quiet post-sunset, it was intimate, and made a great spot for our girls night. 

Although I love Mexican food, we changed it up one night and went to an Italian restaurant. When you arrive, you walk through this gorgeous jungle of plants and kitschy items. Beyond the greenery is white sand, blue skies, and vast ocean. There are benches, big chairs, and beds (beds!!!) to lounge on at the beach while you dine. It was a lovely spot to watch the sunset. We sat outside on benches and chairs on the beach, facing the water. We ordered a bottle of rose wine, snacked on some caprese, foccaccia bread, pickled veggies, and sank our toes in the sand. It was *chefs kiss* perfect.

I took the trip for my 30th birthday thinking that I would regret not traveling somewhere for a "big" birthday if I didn't. Here we are, a few months later, and we are staying at home due for weeks on end. It was nice to have that recent trip to look back to during this time. I was already setup to work from home a few days a week, so now I'm continuing to work, just remotely 100% of the time. I'm grateful that we both have jobs that we can do remotely. We are taking advantage of Chicago restaurant's to-go business in order to support the industry that we love. We go out for walks, but even in late April, the sunny, warm days of spring are few and far between. 

On Sunday, I was feeling really stir-crazy, but thankfully it was sunny out. To get out of my rut, I put on some real clothes, a nice tunic with a vintage butterfly belt. I even put on a little lipstick. I made bread to have with coq au vin for dinner. We drank cocktails on the front porch while sitting in the sun. Dottie played in our little front area, getting some fresh air. While she napped, I cracked open a book that takes place in Italy. A cocktail perspiring on the porch, the sun on my face, and the book set in Italy really made the day feel somewhat normal.