Puerto Rico, You Lovely Island

From the moment I booked my flight to Puerto Rico I've had the songs of West Side Story stuck in my head. I've watched this video about 1,000 times during February.

Fun fact: in 4th grade I was a "Shark girl" in my school's production of West Side Story. I appeared in one scene -- the "America" song -- wearing a puffy dress and trying to blend into the background.

Anyway, my trip to Puerto Rico was amazing. I just wish it was about 3 weeks longer! We flew overnight on a Thursday (arriving super early Friday morning) and left around 4:30 am on Tuesday, so we had 4 full days on the island.

We stayed in the Marriott Stellaris Resort & Casino in Condado. It was about a 15 minute cab ride ($20) from the airport to the hotel and the perfect location for everything we could have wanted or needed. We were a little worried to be arriving in Puerto Rico at 5 am -- we didn't book a hotel room but assumed we'd be able to just hang in the lobby or on the beach. As soon as we arrived we all passed out on couches in the lobby and were thrilled when they told us a room was ready around 7:30 am! So awesome.

Most of our time in Puerto Rico was spent eating, drinking, laying in the sun, and swimming in the ocean or pool. So glorious. Our hotel had a huge pool with a swim up bar and direct access to a private beach.

giant lizard!

After laying around for a few hours on our first day, we walked down Ashford Avenue to check out the restaurants and bars in the area. The whole street is lined with great places (and two 24-hour pharmacies, which came in super handy). We made a short stop at a taco truck called Kabanas for some food. I had the most delicious seared tuna taco and some tostones (fried plantains). The tostones were served with ketchup mayo and were so awesome. They tasted like McDonalds' hashbrowns. Ha!

Later on we had our first fancy dinner at Casa Lola. We were given complimentary sangria and then I ordered a margarita. For my entree I ate some amazing jumbo grilled shrimp with rice and plantains. We also got a free dessert -- the manager loved us!

We were so exhausted from the red eye that we passed out fairly early, but not after watching some salsa dancing in the hotel lobby. The hotel gave salsa lessons every Friday and then had a huge dance party. I was so jealous of all the dancers! I wish I had had a partner to dance with!!

The next day was another full day of sun and sand. But first I woke up early and did my BBG workout! I was so determined not to skip it and am glad I fit it in. The hotel had a pretty great fitness center. Much larger than most hotel gyms. I met the girls at the pool after and still had a solid 8 hours in the sun. During out laying we of course had to get some pineapple drinks from a nearby shop. Mine was filled with pina colada and was yummy as it looks.

Despite wearing tons of sunblock me and Kathleen were burnt to a crisp. Like SERIOUS pain. The CVS next door to our hotel came in super handy when we bought a jumbo size bottle of aloe and oatmeal lotion.

Somehow we managed to get clothes on over our sunburns and made our way to beautiful Old San Juan for dinner and exploring. Our first stop was Barrrachina, famous for inventing the pina colada! The drink was good for sure, but not the best I've had. At least it was cheap (~$7).

Next we headed over to Punto de Vista for dinner. The restaurant is on the roof of a hotel and super cute. I believe it's one of very few rooftop restaurants in Puerto Rico -- which is surprising considering the beautiful weather. Punto de Vista is also known as having one of the best mofongo dishes in all of Puerto Rico, so of course I had to try it. Mofongo is a traditional and popular Puerto Rican dish where mashed plantains are formed into a bowl and filled with meat or seafood then covered in sauce. It kind of reminded me of a pot pie. The one I ordered from Punto de Vista was filled with steak and covered with the most amazing garlic sauce. This picture sucks but it was dark out:

It looks kind of small in the photo but it was super filling. I could only eat about half of it. Puerto Rico is just like Europe, where it takes hours to get through a meal. We probably sat waiting for the check for 1.5 hours after we were done eating. Luckily it was a beautiful evening so we just enjoyed the fresh air!

After dinner we spent a little time walking around Old San Juan before heading back to the hotel. Again, it was dark so my pictures aren't great.

The next day was adventure day! While Erica went scuba diving, Kathleen and I rented a car from Enterprise to go explore the El Yunque national rain forest. It was about an hour drive from our hotel and it was so fun to just drive through a bit of Puerto Rico. Once we got to the rain forest we explored a few different trails. The rain forest was gorgeous and the sound of the rain hitting leaves almost put me to sleep. I was seriously smiling ear to ear the entire time we hiked.

We hadn't planned to explore the popular La Mina Waterfall trail but thought it would be a quick and easy there and back. I knew it would be raining in the rain forwst (obviously) but I never expected it to be torrential down pouring the way it was while we trekked to La Mina. We ended up walking for about an hour with BUCKETS falling on us. It was so crazy. Finally we made it to the fall and we were absolutely soaked. It was actually a lot of fun and felt like we were in a theme park (or the rain forest cafe...ha).

After spending a few hours in the rain forest we dried off and drove to Luqillo beach -- a beautiful, public beach with far more local people than the beach near our hotel. Adjacent to the hotel is a row of about 60 food kiosks/bars/restaurants that are open on both sides. We had so much fun walking down the row and sampling food and drinks. I had some fresh coconut water, ceviche, and some cheap fried food.

After we dropped the car off we stumbled upon a little jazz festival. It was a great way to kick off the evening!

For dinner that night we went to Cocina Abierta, a trendy tapas style restaurant. We ordered a bunch of items off the menu to share and everything was absolutely amazing. This wasn't only one of my best meals in Puerto Rico, but one of the best meals I've had in the last few years! Here's what we ordered:

Manchego cheese croquettes with red pepper jam (special of the night)

Plantain carpaccio brulee with tuna tatake, shitake mushrooms, avocado and a soy truffle glaze

Duck tacos with orange-grape pico de gallo, chipotle crema and grilled corn

Squid ink risotto with jumbo prawns and fried cauliflower

Malbec braised short ribs over cous cous

Ricotta gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese and prosciutto

Beef wellington with foie gras sauce

Seriously this meal was so good! I'm so happy my travel buddies like to eat as much as I do! After dinner we went over to Serafina for a night cap. I tried a great local beer -- Crash Boat IPA by Boqueron Brewery.

On our last day in Puerto Rico I woke up early and took an outdoor yoga class being offered by the hotel. There were only 3 other people with me and it was glorious. Such a great way to start the day! After yoga I walked down to Bajuice and grabbed a breakfast of champions:

The rest of the day was spent reading by the pool, eating gelato, drinking cocktails, and just basking in the final few hours of sun and warmth before heading back to Boston. BTW, I read Luckiest Girl Alive in PR and loved it.

For our last dinner we ate sushi! Sounds strange for the Caribbean, but we were all craving it and every time we walked past the restaurant the food looked so delicious. I didn't take any photos but have developed an insatiable sushi craving since this dinner!

We went to bed pretty early since we had to get up at 4 am to head to the airport. I was so sad to leave and wish I was still in the Puerto Rican sun. Such an awesome getaway weekend with my two best friends! Now where to next??

Body Acceptance

If you're like me and your brain lives constantly in the world of weight loss and fitness, you know there's a big "body acceptance" movement going on. Between "plus size" Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and viral 30 second transformation photos, it seems everyone is telling women it's time to accept our bodies as they are.

I'm going to Puerto Rico tomorrow - yay!! It will be my first true beach trip in many years (I'm not counting Liz's bachelorette party in Miami). In the past, one of the biggest reasons I opted out of beach trips was because of my body. The idea of frolicking around in a bathing suit next to my thin friends for a week just wasn't appealing to me. I didn't want to have to sit out of photos in front of the ocean so my body wouldn't be posted on Facebook for everyone to see. I didn't want to worry about anyone looking at me on the beach thinking I should cover up.

This time, when my roommate suggested a trip to Puerto Rico I just said yes. I'm trying to be bolder and braver this year, so this was a little step in that direction. The other day I was in Marshall's and decided to try on a few bathing suits. I took a couple of one pieces and a pretty purple bikini into the dressing room. To my surprise, I didn't hate how I looked in the bikini. Actually, I was pretty happy. I know my body isn't near perfect, but I work really hard for the body I have. Why shouldn't I wear a bikini? And really, who even cares about this?

I ended up buying the bikini and added to the collection of one pieces I was packing for Puerto Rico. Then today, I went to Target to get some more things for my trip. There were some super cute dresses on sale so I tried a few on. And wouldn't you know it -- I absolutely HATED how I looked in the mirror, in every single dress I tried on. I found my thoughts wandering to a really dark place. I was saying the most horrible things to myself -- things I would never say to anyone but myself. Immediately I started thinking about that bikini. What was I thinking? I can't possibly wear a bikini the way my body looks now.

I left Target without buying anything new and thought a lot about this drastic change of heart on the way home. I've struggled with these significant body image issues for as long as I remember. Every time I feel like I've made some progress I take 10 steps backwards. Why can't I just accept my body for how it is? Will I ever just feel satisfied with how I look, or will I perpetually be striving toward some impossible end point?

I'm still insanely excited to go to Puerto Rico tomorrow and still plan to bring that bikini. Not sure if I'll wear it, but we'll see. I haven't written a post like this in a while. Feels a bit strange to press publish, but here goes anyway...

Boda Borg

Last weekend I did one of the most fun activities of my whole life! It was right up there with Great Urban Racing.

It's challenging to describe Boda Borg so I'll let their website do it: "Guests are transported into a real-world gaming environment; an experience we call Questing. Teams of 3-5 literally move through our Quests tackling a variety of mental and physical challenges. Success in the first challenge means entry into the next challenge and so on… Failure in any challenge means starting over or selecting another Quest. No video games, no virtual reality, no special clothing or equipment....real people, real Questing, real adrenaline and heart-pumping excitement."

Boda Borg started in Sweden and opened its first U.S. location in Boston (well, Malden) in October. As soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to try it out, so I was thrilled when someone on my volleyball team brought it up. Our group of 4 went last Sunday (on Valentine's Day...ha) and had a BLAST.

When you first enter the facility you register then are given some quick instructions. Basically, there are no rules, hints, or help. Quests are split into three categories: Green (purely mental challenge), Red (mental challenge with some physical elements), and Black (very physical challenge with mental elements). You choose your Quest -- each quest had a theme like "Farm", "Alcatraz", "Platoon" -- enter the room, then try to figure out what to do. Usually it's not so obvious. Once you figure out the first room, you move to the next, and then the next, until you officially solve the Quest and add a stamp to your "passport". If at any point you fail (you may not know the reason, but will be alerted by a computer system in the room), you have to exit and start over.

We were there for almost 5 hours and solved 6 Quests (Farm, Coach, Tough, Roll & Rock, Step Up, an Dansa Pausa). There are about 15 Quests in this location. We completed a few of the Quests after 2-3 tries, some took 5-6 tries, and some we tried almost 10 times before calling it quits. I'm still frustrated by a few that we just couldn't figure out! At least I have an excuse to go back. One of my favorite parts about our visit was that we all locked up our cell phones in advance. When's the last time you spent 5 hours without anyone stopping to look at their phone? So since I didn't take any pictures, here are some photos I found on the internet that show a couple of Quests:

The physical challenges were seriously physical, and I have the bruises and sore muscles to show for it 3 days later.

There are many more that would be inappropriate to post on this blog :-)

Boda Borg was so much fun and I'd recommend it to most people, but not all. You definitely need to be into puzzles and games, ready for a physical challenge (if you want to try the Red/Black Quests), and able to work with a team. One of the greatest parts about my group was that while we all know each other pretty well, no one is comfortable enough to yell or get extremely frustrated. We saw a lot of arguing couples, families, and friends while there and I'm glad I wasn't part of those teams!

I can't wait to go back and try to figure out the Quests we failed!!!