Back To Reality 

or my fun in the abundant sun is O-V-E-R!

*Sigh*

Okay, so I spent last week in oh-so-sunny Marco Island, Florida carousing with my fabulous card club gal pals. Usually we fly to Florida in February or March, which is a much needed break from the wretched wench that is winter, only to return to cold and snow reducing our Southern bronze to Northern pale face in a matter of days. Being we travelled to the land of sun and surf in the Spring the hope was we'd head home to the warm, hospitable PA sunshine affording us the opportunity to finally show off our tan gams. No such luck. And so it goes.

No matter. Vacation was absolutely GREAT! Loads of laughing, lounging and liquor. You know, the Holy Trinity of a girl-fest vacation. And let's not forget about the gobs of chocolate and garbage-bag sized portions of junk foods. Because, really, it ain't a girl-fest unless you've strapped on the feed bag of salty snacks. Hey, a girl's gotta eat something to absorb the liquor. Otherwise thangs can getz ugly.

The week started out with a rowdy birthday celebration at a Mexican restaurant, replete with copious amounts of margaritas and ended with a foolish day of less than adequate sunscreen resulting in yours truly resembling a very well cooked, RED lobster.  

But back to the initial fun..

We celebrated Duckie's birthday first by trashing...er, decorating the condo with streamers, hanging twirly thingies (technical name) and strings of photos depicting past shenanigans. 

She was pleasantly surprised. Di even made a Peep sunflower cake which was lovely en fuego. Okay, so Peeps have two uses... as cake decoration 

...and blowing up real good in the microwave.  

Come on. You knew we'd have to blow them up. It's too awesome!

We headed to a nearby festive piazza to continue our birthday festivities dining al fresco at a terrific Mexican restaurant. Being girls, we ordered pitchers of Margaritas and a variety of delectable appetizer chasers to share because that's how chicks role. 

Two pitchers in, the sun set quietly while the decibel level at our table rose exponentially. I mean it was loud. Seriously LOUD! So much so that our happiness actually made one couple move far away from us. I contend they were weak and needed to be thinned from the herd. Surprisingly, we were not asked to leave. In the midst of all the chaos, I managed to drunk-dial Geo, treating him to a slurry, detailed account of our antics concluding with an "I love you, Man" proclamation. Isn't he lucky.

Okay, so one of the many things we ordered to munch on that night was a basket of jalapeno poppers. We got this. It looked like a popper...golden fried crunchy outside, red(?) pepper with cream cheese inside and, what's this ...shrimp? That's right. Shrimp. In a jalapeno popper. A "Shropper", if you will. A bit startling when you aren't expecting it, but mighty tasty nonetheless. Of course, what isn't good deep-fried and slathered with melty cream cheese? Seriously.

Later in the week we returned to the piazza of the crime to partake of the Oh-So-Happy Hour,  two-for-one special at an adjacent bistro. Because honestly, the cocktail bell BOGO is just too compelling a vacation Siren's Song to ignore--no matter how embarrassing our behavior the prior visit. So, what started as a sunny, breezy evening full of promise...

turned into this

The deluge lasted just long enough to force us inside to dine...and order another round. Forty-five minutes of rain over nine days. I'll take it. (I don't know why, but this picture reminds me of the lovely time Geo and I spent in Florence, Italy. *sigh* Some day we shall return...)

All in all it was a fantastic week of walks on the beach, lounging pool side, late nights watching movies and playing games, binging and bonding and 11am cocktails. 

"She loves the Sunset. She loves the cocktail bell.." Indeed. Until next time.