Back to My Favourite Places

Hi everyone!
Well I have finally caught up from the craziness of March and April.  Had a fabulous event at Slimlines and stay in touch as I will be announcing more events in Edmonton for the end of June!
Let's get back to travel shall we?  We were in Mexico in April so I think that will be next destination of choice for this bloggity blog...Oh and a quick tip...I finally bought new luggage and I love it.  It's by Delsey and it's super light weight and durable.  Got it on sale at the Bay for like 60% off!  Great deal and great luggage...had to share!

Mexico....
I have now been to Mexico six times and it never fails for weather, that I can say is the best!  Cancun, Mayan Riveria, Cozumel and Ixtapa have all been amazing places to travel.  Favourite resorts The Royal in Cancun and the Las Brisas in Ixtapa.  Send me a note if you want more info on them as they are incredibly indulgent and lavish!
Here's some pics from past trips! Enjoy!

Ixtapa Sunset...ahhhh....

Beautiful Beach at the Las Brisas Resort

Had to put another beautiful sunset pic in here...who doesn't love a sunset?!

Las Brisas, I highly recommend it!

Back to the other side of Mexico...off the shore of Cancun, love Catamarans!

Cancun Marina

At The Royal in Cancun they put on a Mexican night.  I loved it!  The show was absolutely mesmerizing for an archaeologist/anthropologist!

Yes...Margaritaville Nachos...a must have! Thanks to the Kellett's for introducing us to these suckers...!

Where else can you golf in flip flops and a tank top?  Cancun of course in 36 degrees!

This time I caught a sunrise instead of the sunset! 

The Royal beach bar...love the swings! 

My Belo Sol Babes!  

Ask and you shall receive at The Royal! We needed chocolate to go with our wine...we got chocolate alright!

Mike and I at the pool...

Ahhh Mexico!!  

Belo Sol Returns to Edmonton!

Hi everyone, I have taken a break from the travel pics to let you know about an event I am doing next week in Edmonton! I will be doing fitting appointments in Slimlines studio www.slimlines.ca on April 28th between 10:00 and 4:00pm.  Please check out the event announcement below for all of the details...

One thing you might notice on the announcement is a different name and logo!  That's right, Belo Sol is making a big change and slowly you will see a new website, blog, online store and ezine!  It's an exciting time, let me know what you think of the new name and logo...Be advised the Belo Sol name is still used for website and email address for now and will ultimately be redirected, so don't worry you will still be able to stay connected to your favourite swimwear stylist!

Beijos,
Tricia

Where did March Go?

Well as you can tell from my title, I have lost track of time and not posted for a really long time! March was crazy busy as all of you were escaping the Lion of March and heading to warmer climes.  I also did the same in March as well as just getting back from Mexico on Sunday.  So because I have travelled to two different locations (that I have been to before) I will post some pics to carry on with My Favourite Places to Travel.
I was recently in San Francisco in March for my husband's conference and for my birthday.  Oh how I love San Fran, like so many others!  Here are a few pics from my travels there...my best tip: Go to Buena Vista near Ghiradelli Square to have some Irish Coffees!   Not only did we visit San Fran, but Mike surprised me with a Birthday trip to Napa Valley to of course taste some wines!

And here is one of those famous Irish Coffee's! Actually, a little tip that we got from our new found friend Jean, was to order a Venetian, it's made with Brandy instead of Irish Whiskey...so smooth...I got given the special little glasses for my birthday, so I will be serving up some of these bad boys very soon!

My Birthday with my Husband Mike and of course another special boozy milkshake...oh sooo good, my favourite ice cream is Mint Chocolate chip. I sure got it in this shake! Had these at the Burger Bar in Macy's on Union Square!

Every year after the conference there is a fundraising dinner called Augie's Quest.  This is for ALS research and every year it is a tear jerker.  Augie Nieto has raised millions for ALS research and has been living with it for 6 years.  This is unheard of and his quest is incredibly inspiring.  This is Mike and at the Fundraiser.  Checkout www.augiesquest.org for his story.

At the fundraiser is usually a fairly big singing act.  Can you guess who this is? Looks like a young Jack Nicholson to me! Haha It's Sugar Ray! Was lots of fun to dance the night away to the old Songs like "Fly Away"

Mike booked us in for a library tasting at Chateau Montalena.  I've always wanted to go here after watching the movie Bottleshock.  If you haven't seen it and you are a wine drinker, check it out.  I loved it.

The famous front of the residence for Chateau Montalena

Although the weather wasn't fabulous...we had a chance to capture some rainbows over top of the "wine vines" as Mike and I call them...so beautiful

Time out from the wine tasting to go for a little beer tasting at the Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa.  Although we love beer, it seems as though these 16 samples didn't tickle our fancy, we were stuck on vino!

Who knew there were wild turkeys in Santa Rosa!

We discovered a new Vineyard that we fell in love with...not only with the huge winery itself, but with all 85 varietals of wine!  If you like wine and love variety they've got it.  It's called Ledson and the owner actually built this house himself (contractor) and was going to live in it, but decided it would make too nice of a winery! 

And of course the Golden Gate bridge...driving back the sun finally came out!

Let me know if you want any tips on travelling in Napa, favourite vineyards, where to stay etc.  

Creativity, Colour & Carnaval!!

It's cold....really cold and that's all we seem to every talk about, think about, experience, complain to others about...it's time to snap out of it and dream of more colour and warmer climes!  Here's what I have done to add some colour to the house, while the outside stays white and cold...

Vase with a little bling!

Spiced up my poor lonely guitar, I figure if I put a bracelet on it, I will be more inclined to pick it up more often!

I was flipping through a few magazines last week and came across some articles in Food & Wine (my fav) and Oprah (second indulgence).  Food & Wine talked about a woman who sees art in everything even her fridge!  She uses her "perfectly lit and cold frame" to do art installations in.  Instead of tupperware pieces, she uses beautiful old tea cups, pitchers and pots to keep her food in and then displays them as an art project in her fridge.  I thought this was an amazing idea...then in Oprah they talked of using different spaces around your house to show off clothing, jewelry, accessories etc.  And I thought, what another great idea.  Now I will get to the point and to the pics of what I came up with during my afternoon full of creativity...

You all have probably heard me talk about the Beadtree before...www.beadtree.net One of my favourite artists is Carrie Hamilton as she makes the most amazing glass beads you will ever see.  Her Mom, Judy Hamilton who is also a painter (and it's her B-day today! Happy B-day Judy), makes the jewelry from Carrie's glass beads.  These two make up the most beautiful pieces a woman could have.  I decided that they were too beautiful to sit in my jewelry box.  So I have dressed up the house and with the ones that I didn't spread throughout the house, I draped lovingly over some bottles I had hanging around and put them on my dresser.  Now I can see them every morning when I wake up!  Got lots of scarves?  Drape them from curtain rods or use them as tie backs!  The possibilities are endless!

My bathroom towel gets to wear my beautiful necklace this week

Now speaking of art, colour, warmth and just plan beauty...I will take you to my second favourite place on earth.  

Brasillllllll!!!!

This week is Carnaval and if you are a reader of my blog in the past you will have seen some video from the Sambadrome in Rio where the main festivities take place.  For the next week I will be putting up some beautiful pics and videos of Brasil, so that we can all focus some attentions on a warmer place...

Enjoy!

Beijos, Tricia

My Favourite Place in the World

Hi everyone,
I have been MIA for a little while, still recovering from our fantastic event at Hotel Arts.  Thank you all who made it out for a some Glamour & Gold!
To continue on with my Travel pic challenge, I have picked a place that is my most favourite location in the world.  I was going to leave this one until last, however it has been in the news so much lately, I wanted re-live the experience I had there.  And also send some positive energy to the people of the country.  Now being an archaeologist by education and at heart, you may be able to guess where I am talking about before I show pictures...

No....nothing?

Okay....it's of course Egypt...
This was the ultimate trip for a passionate archaeologist and wanna be Egyptologist... I am only hoping that the change of government does not affect the protection of antiquities and preservation of the most amazing, beautiful ancient sites.  I wish the best for the people of Egypt and I hope that democracy is the saving grace for all.

Now, if you happen to travel to Egypt, which I'm guessing won't be anytime soon, however I said I would give you a little tip for each place I have travelled:
If you go to Cairo and are in the mood for some great shopping, bargaining and food...head to Islamic Cairo, where the huge markets will blow your mind and if you are not careful your wallet too!  My favourite place to eat was a little cafe at the entrance (sorry cannot remember the name...it was almost 9 years ago already!) it had a huge, amazingly delicious falafel that weighed over a pound and only cost 1 Egyptian Pound.  Now, I hope it is still there because I will never forget that falafel!

We also met at random, an awesome cab driver that we stumbled upon who has been featured in Lonely Planet and has albums upon albums of letters, signatures, pictures etc. from all of the people he has showed around Egypt.  This guy was amazing, we did not get to travel too far with him as we were leaving Cairo...I am still searching for him and will give you an update if I find him online anywhere.  Such a happy man...I hope that he still tours the city collecting stories and making friends.

Well, I'm out for now...let me know where your next trip is...I love to hear stories!

Super Bowl Champs and Glam!

Hi Everyone,
Well, my Green Bay Packers did it!  I am so happy!  I hope you enjoyed the game if you watched!

Now it's back to business with blogging, blinging and bathing suit (ing)!? I'm putting out another reminder about Belo Sol Swimwear and Beauty Uncovered's stellar evening called Glamour & Gold!  Ladies, come on out for a fabulous Girl's Night Out in Style!  Check out the poster below and make sure you RSVP ASAP!!  Would love to see you there, heating up the winter blahs!!  RSVP to tricia@belosol.ca or info@beautyuncovered.ca

Arizona and The Green Bay Packers!

Hi everyone!  To carry on with the travel picture challenge that I started last week, I'm going to post a few pics from Arizona, the reason I picked this blog to show some Arizona pics is because last year in Phoenix I went to my first NFL game...now if you know me or are getting to know me...I LOVE Football and I love the Green Bay Packers even more!  And to make a connection with the Super Bowl that is happening this Sunday (4:30pm MST) I thought I would post the pics of me at the Packers game!  I hope everyone enjoys and remember, send me your pics...I want to know where you travel!  Post on the Belo Sol Facebook Fan Page too!

 University of Phoenix Stadium...it's amazing and there's my boy Aaron Rodgers!

 Ok, so there are wayyyy bigger fans then me out there...This is outside of the stadium, great tailgating, shopping and bars.  An awesome place to hangout on game day!

 Yuma, Arizona has amazing little hidden spots, like the date farms (actually they are in California, but essentially on the border!) Sun Garden Date Farm makes amazing date shakes and you can try 6 different types of dates.  Sooo good!

 Although it is hard to see, there are actually miles of rock writing in the desert.  People have been writing their names in the desert using dark lava rock since 1960.  It's a pretty amazing site to see, the only type of graffiti that I can handle!

Yuma is surrounded with mountains, desert and every fruit and vegetable crop you can imagine!  It's truly a beautiful place to travel to.
Beijos,
Tricia P.S.  Go PACKERS!!!