Back to life, back to reality!  We had a wonderful 9 days in the Dominican Republic.  We spent our time in the beach town of Las Terrenas on the Samana Peninsula.  It’s a beautiful place that is a bit off the beaten path; not the typical US “all-inclusive” destination that tends to be sanitized.  As such, Las Terranas is a working town were you experience the locals living the island life.  In fact, we didn’t run into any American’s on our trip except for one restaurant owner who grew up in Brooklyn, but went back to the island to live with his relatives.   Coming back makes you realize how sterile of an environment we live in…I could live there in a heartbeat.

Once we got settled in, we forgot what day of the week it was.  Mornings started off with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel (where we made friends with 2 cats which we decided to name Bonita and Plantaina), then a walk on the beach, then lazy time on the beach or by the pool and then afternoon exploration.  Then finally, a wonderful meal in town (we didn’t have a bad meal anywhere we went).  And we did eat and eat and eat.  Where else could you get a full lobster for lunch for $10!??  Living was real hard as you can see.

Here are just a few of my observations from our trip:

1. We need to learn Spanish.  We always seem to go on vacation to a Spanish-speaking country.  Our resolution for this coming year is to learn the language!
2. I want to be exotic.  The Dominican people are beautiful and have wonderful dispositions.  Being from the midwest doesn’t lend itself to being exotic.
3. Chelsea Handler is the funniest damn writer.  I read 2 of her books on the beach.  They’re easy reads, but it’s been a long time since I have laughed out loud while reading a book.
4. I must have a kind face.  If there was somebody selling something on the beach, they would come to me and not my husband.  And one afternoon we were having a drink at a bar on the beach and a very attractive prostitute asked me if I wanted company.  Of course, I told her no!
5. I love being a princess.  We went to the hotel’s spa and treated ourselves to a Turkish bath and body scrub, facial and massage.   I’m ready for doing that again a week later!
6. Fragrances are very different in a tropical environment.  I have to admit since it was so hot (but not horribly humid), I got lazy with my fragrance application.  I brought a lot of samples, but really only tested one, Reflection by Amouage.  It was OK, but to be honest did not really leave me with an impression.  Other fragrance observations include:

• My signature scent at the beach was Azemour les Orangers; the lovely orange citrus worked very well in the heat.  I wore it almost every day.
• Two of my other Parfum d’Empire favorites did not fare as well.  Eau Suave became horribly heavy and cloying and Iskander just fell flat.
• Amouage’s Dia was worn once and all I got was leather, which I didn’t when I tested it previously.  The leather was not right for the beach.
• My hubby put on MFK’s Lumiere Noire once night and it smelled incredible.  I liked it when I tested it, but on him it was magnificent.  This might be on his Christmas list!
• I wanted to find a great buy at the Duty Free shops, but all of the offerings were the standard department store fare.  Boring.

Getting back into the swing of things since the trip has been challenging at best, but I am slowly getting back in the groove.  Today however, I took off work so I could go to the doctor to get all of my shots for African Safari trip scheduled for February! Yea! (that yea is for the trip, not for the 5 shots I received!)