Vegas!

Birthday gift from Shelly to our Annual Girls' Weekend in Vegas was upgrade to First Class on Virgin America to Vegas! If anyone ever has the ability to upgrade on that particular flight - do it! We drank mimosas, ate cheeses, fruits, nuts, salad until our hearts were content all while sitting in our super comfortable and ultra cool seats.

The annual girls' weekend in Vegas started because of a work related conference when I was in commercial real estate. Then some friends came out the following year for a bachelorette weekend. The rest is history.

Second year - Shelly and I













This year we stayed at the new Cosmopolitan. They gave us a junior suite which was perfect for us and done with great taste! Even the wallpaper with b&w faces all over it in the closets was tres chic! No matter how you look at it though, little time is spent in the room when you are in Vegas.

Lots of food, drinks and laughter. One night we had a table and went dancing at XS Nightclub at Encore in the Wynn and the following night was Marquee.

The weather was hot and perfect for the pool in Vegas. Bizarrely enough, the last day I stayed waiting for my flight which was much later then everyone's, and the weather was chilly. Lots of wind gusts had me covering up with a towel and the pool.

All in all - great weekend.

Back from Madagascar

Madagascar was truly an amazing experience!  I was lucky enough to not only start with a cross country tour doing lots of exceptional hiking but then spend the remaining six weeks volunteering in a region and village (Andavadoaka, Madagascar) for a cause (marine conservation) that I care about while doing a hobby (scuba diving) that I love. 

It doesn't stop there:

* Volunteered in the school teaching English (or in my case simply helping out)
* Was part of a local team that competed in and won the pirogue race during Blue Ventures' Open Day.
* Participated in a guest for a homestay in a nearby village of Tampolove where I learned about various land initiatives like sea cucumber farming.
* Helped a PhD candidate with his research regarding reptiles and deforestation...
* And in the last few days we went on a camping trip to dive in another area about 1-2 hours away via pirogue. Speaking of pirogues - most all trips involved them with one particular incident being similar to the movie "The Perfect Storm".

In all honesty, at times I felt guilty because I was receiving so much that I felt like I should be giving even more.

The cherry on top was that I formed some life long friendships....

...and found myself in the start of a new relationship with an incredible man....or did it find me?  I guess it is true - when one least expects it, it happens while you are doing something you love or in the least likeliest of moments.  For me - in a small fishing village thousands of miles away from home. 

I wrote more about my trip mostly discussing the principle about doing what I loved while giving back.  I hope to circulate it before posting on here for others to read.  For those of you interested to learn more about the NGO - Blue Ventures - I went with and possibly join an expedition, the website is www.blueventures.org