I have a love affair with sunsets. There’s just something about a sunset that puts me into a speechless mode.  Sunsets make me appreciate the beauty of life and how fascinating it works. The more length the sun has (like on the horizon during sunset and sunrise), the more red, orange, and yellow we see.  If I didn’t say this right, oh well, who cares, sunsets still ROCK.

Along with the amazing incredibles of Earth, we also need a bit of humor in our lives, such as this Giraffe at an amusement park. You can concoct your own explanation. Personally, it made me go, WTF, then burst out with laughter.

This was pretty neat – a pool in a garage! The pool was half indoor and half outdoor. When I was a teenager in California, me and my friends would often hang out in garages, just like the east likes to hang out in basements. So this was like a California type hang out, but pool style!

Of course, you cannot go to Ocean City without cracking them crabs! Gotta get that Old Bay all over your hands! Advice: do not crack crabs with a cut on your hand. Be sure to bandage yourself, or you’re in for a nasty sting.

You can’t see the Atlantic Ocean without seeing the sunrise! Lucky for me I was up early because of a nasty stomachache (too much Old Bay?), so I got to catch the sunrise. Look how quiet the beach is! Everything’s about to wake up and start the busy life once again.

It was hot & humid. The ocean couldn’t have been more inviting with it’s cold, fun waves.  The only caveat about Ocean City these days is that apparently there is some green laser fad going on. When night takes over, you see these green lasers shooting around on the sand and ocean from people on their patios. Really relaxing to see those…NOT. It was so ridiculous that at one point I was watching someone point the green laser to this truck that was driving on the sand, the whole way.  Kind of distracting and disrespectful for the driver, don’t you think? Eh, whatever.

By the way, running barefoot on the sand for a mile? Whew – calves!! That’s all I’ll say. THE CALVES!

I agree with these people, I FIST PUMP Ocean City (minus the green lasers)!

(PS: Every picture in this post was taken by the iPhone 4 without any adjustments, except the Tiger Woods picture of course.)

Just look at all these trees! I am constantly amazed at how many trees there are here! Talk about a major pollen festival.

If you’re bored one day, count the trees.

Alexandria, VA (I think).

I bought this “Chicago Mix” made by Nuts on Clark for my team at work while waiting for my flight back home.  The “Chicago Mix” apparently is a mix of caramel, cheddar, and butter popcorn.  I figured since I’m not a popcorn girl, I wouldn’t eat any. More for my team!

Crap, how wrong I was!  Around 11 this morning, just when my stomach was starting to make room for lunch, I opened up the bag to get the love going. The bag crinkled pretty loudly and the aroma of popcorn started to reach my nose.  Somehow I found myself popping some of those babies into my mouth. Imagine my surprise and eyes getting big when I thought, “Wow this is good shit!”

ESPECIALLY THE CARAMEL ONES!  GOOD SHIT! And get this, I am NOT a caramel girl either.  Sweet and cheesy, perfecto!

Only sold in Chicago, but you can buy it online!  I looked up about it online and apparently the stores in Chicago often have a line around the block! So glad I got it really quickly at the airport.  Had I known this would be so good, especially to someone who isn’t a popcorn girl, I’d have gotten 438957345 bags.

The reason I can’t stand popcorn because of how the corn thingamingy gets stuck in my teeth. But Nuts on Clark didn’t give me that problem. CLARK RULES. Too bad it didn’t come with a Clark Kent.

I’ve landed! I love me some Chicago.  Shi-Shi-Shi-KAAAA GO! I’m here to witness a badass couple tying balls and chains on, oops, I mean tying the knot! These two people really love each other and I’m looking forward to celebrating their love!

Love and Marriage,
Go together like a horse and a carriage.
This I tell ya brother,
You can’t have one or the other.
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage.
Try, try, try to separate them. It’s an illusion.
Try, try, try and you will only come to this conclusion.
Love and Marriage, love and marriage.

That was the Married with Children theme song! Remember the funny Al & Peggy Bundy based out of Chicago? The Buckingham Fountain!

Is this badass couple the next Al and Peggy Bundy?! YEAHHH! Let them have a fun, comical, loving and ROSEY marriage! Minus the wild Peggy hair of course!

In about 24 hours, we are going to live it up for these two!!  Congratulations! Ding, ding, ding, KISS!

Days like this, Washington DC isn’t too bad.

Ever since I’ve heard of Chicago, I always called it Chick-ka-go. Imagine my surprise when I learned it was really pronounced Shi-ka-go!   ShiiiiiKAAAAAgo!! Ya hear me? Sheeeeeeeeeee Kaaaaaaaaaaa Goooooooooooooooooo.  Okay, I’m done being a retard now. Here’s a photo that shows how “Chicago” is cued in Cued Speech.

What an awesome city! The weather was definitely in our favor. We had constant sunshine with great temperatures.  Chicago didn’t even live up to it’s name, “The Windy City,” because there was barely any wind! All the while, Washington DC had constant rain, which was nothing new. DC’s been rained on so much this summer, it’s ridiculous.

We took the Metra into Chicago to the Taste of Chicago festival (and to see the city in general). This was awesome, because I felt like I was in the movies. I’ve seen these types of trains before. Not quite a subway, but a much extended suburbs train! Very convenient for those who live farther out!  The Taste of Chicago festival was definitely satisfying. Why? We got tons of good food samples, especially Hot Asian Buns. Yummm. Tons of laughter, tons of goofy moments, and tons of fun! There was a WiiFit on display where you could try it out, a Karate show, and a concert that was actually good: Ash Avenue. The music was pretty good, and it prompted one of us to buy their CD.

The Cloud Gate (Aka “The Bean”), made by Anish Kapoor, was marvelous! Sitting right in Millennium Park is a 110 ton elliptical sculpture that boasts a reflection of the Chicago skyline. Not only do you see the reflection of the Chicago skyline, but also the sky, clouds, and a million reflections of people. Ultra cool!

Here’s some useless information (which I find important as I get older!). Taking a picture of the Bean wasn’t free before. You had to PAY to be able to take a picture. Not surprisingly, because the Bean is one of the best architectural achievements for 2004, according to Time. Twice a day, the Bean is wiped down by hand and cleaned two times a year with detergent.

“Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage,
This I tell ya brother, you can’t have one without the other.”

In Grant Park, surrounded by the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan, you’ll find the Buckingham Fountain, which was donated by Kate Buckingham.  This is the fountain that is in the introduction credits of the Married… With Children TV show.

By looking at the fountain, I would have never guessed that it was built in 1927! Every hour, the center of the fountain shoots water up 150 feet into the air. The fountain holds four sea horse statues that spit out water to the fountain, and those represent the four states that touch Lake Michigan: Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

See the Navy dudes? Yes, I know they look hot and all, but there’s a funny story that you would have laughed at if you were there.  Jeff asked, “Why is the navy in Chicago?  Are they here to defend us from Canada?” We were all, “Well if that is their mission, it’s failing, because there’s Canadian bacon here!”  And, “Our friend here is French Canadian, and she is in the USA!”  For you all that were there with me, I’m sure you’re giggling now!

We took the Water Taxi to get over to the Navy Pier, which was a total blast! Why? Because we got wet.

While we were on the Water Taxi, all of a sudden the boat came to a halt. So of course that got our attention. We noticed a big spray shooting out of a wall! Us girls got all reactive. One friend took cover, another was going “It’s raining!” And I was going, “Oh my god, a PIPE BURST!”  The boys, on the other hand, were completely calm:

Apparently the water sprays every 10 minutes. For fun, I guess, and indeed, it WAS fun! Whoo! $3 bucks for a water taxi ride, and a water spray!

The Navy Pier was absolutely too crowded because of the 4th of July holiday.  The women’s bathroom at the Pier was a mile long, but guess what? So was the men’s bathroom line!  So, we just had one beer and got the hell out of the Pier. Luckily, we caught the last Water Taxi and we were pretty much the only passengers, which made the ride worth it again.  The fireworks started going off right when we were on the boat, so that was cool to see it from the water.  Yep, we got wet again, probably more than the first time. We got to see more fireworks on the Metra going home.

Other than the city, we got some great chill time at the pool, playing games, and just hanging out.   If only we all lived close to each other!

Chicago, you bet I’ll be back.

After an exhilarating day of ATV riding, Jeff and I saw this Mickey Mouse painted on the wall of a mini-mart store in the alleys of Aruba. That alley was definitely not censored! The painting definitely gave us a laugh, especially after a long day of nearly getting killed on the ATV (or at least me, because you know, Jeff was a pro).

The next day, Jeff and I decided to chill on the Renaissance Island, because we had an early dinner reservation at the Flying Fishbone.

The Renaissance Island has two divided beaches: Flamingo Beach and Iguana Beach. By chillin’ on the island, I mean slathering lots of sunblock on us, lying on a hammock, watching iguanas and lizards slither by quickly, chatting, people watching, and laughing at flamingos that seemed to be on crack. Watch this video until the end.

Should I be worried Jeff might leave me for a flamingo on crack? Hmm. Seriously, though, I’d never seen a pink flamingo before, so it was a pretty neat moment watching them flock around. The flamingos never went over to the Iguana Beach, and I wondered why. Maybe they were taught by the staff to stay on the Flamingo Beach? Or perhaps something in the Flamingo Beach sand makes the flamingos addicted to the Flamingo Beach! Oh the conspiracies!

While in the midst of chilling on the beach, Jeff kept biting his fingernails as if he was thinking. I asked him what he was thinking about, but he kept insisting he wasn’t thinking about anything. I was all, “Bullshit! You’re biting your nails and acting like something is on your mind.” He was not thinking about the proposal that he would do that evening at the Flying Fishbone. He was thinking about how to scare me with a fake iguana!

Apparently Jeff had devised up this prank while at home before going to Aruba, because the so-called fake iguana was purchased before the vacation. He knew there were many iguanas in Aruba and that I was uneasy about the whole iguana thing. Yay for Jeff – another successful prank for his books!

Renaissance Island had other animals, such as parrots. These parrots were bickering, then turned their backs on each other, kind of like siblings:

In the same area (or cage, but that’s an awful word!) as the parrots, there was a pink duck or something. I had never ever seen a pink bird or a pink duck other than a flamingo, so I have no idea what this was. Perhaps someone thought it would be funny to spray paint the duck pink to match the flamingos?

Put simply, Renaissance Island was my favorite beach spot in Aruba. Palm beach was cool, but it was busy. Eagle Beach stank, literally. I needed nose plugs there. But the Renaissance Island? Pure relaxation. In fact, I don’t think I knew what relaxation meant until the Renaissance Island came into my life. Plus you had to take a boat to get there, and the wind while speeding to the island was bliss.

]]> http://www.sazzybamm.com/2008/05/16/best-memories-of-aruba-part-three/feed/ 5 http://www.sazzybamm.com/2008/05/07/atv-in-aruba-%e2%80%93-a-matter-of-life-death/ http://www.sazzybamm.com/2008/05/07/atv-in-aruba-%e2%80%93-a-matter-of-life-death/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 03:31:28 +0000 Sazzy http://www.sazzybamm.com/?p=123 Second installment of the “Best Memories of Aruba” collection!!

ATV riding on the east coast of Aruba is NO easy feat! All the photos and movies I will show about my ATV adventure don’t do justice in explaining how crazy the ride was. No way could Jeff or I take pictures of the actual scary part, because we had to hold on for dear life. There’s nothing I can do or say to prove to you how scary this was, unless you go yourself.

An employee of Rancho Daimari picked me and Jeff up at the Renaissance Hotel, and we went through a major maze of roads to the ranch where our ATV tour would begin. Our route took us through crazy roads that were bumpy as hell. Our heads were bobbing and our jaws were clenched shut as we tried to prevent our teeth from breaking. The pink cross on the rear view mirror says it all about how jarring the drive was!

Once we got to the ranch, we had to sign legal papers to release the ranch from being sued if something were to happen. My signature on the release of liability papers probably had evidence of a shaking arm. Those legal papers SCARED ME, especially after seeing how bumpy it was on the way to the ranch. Even the rules scared me.

I was ready to go right back to the hotel and kiss an iguana instead. Jeff reassured me and said everything would be fine.

Not even a quarter mile out on my rented ATV, I already got stuck on a rock, scared shitless. The tour guide had to come down the hill and help me get back on track. He told me that the rest of the tour wouldn’t be as hard as the beginning hill. I believed him and went on. Our tour had two major stops: the Natural Bridge and the Natural Pool.

The Natural Bridge was fairly easy to get to, no major mishaps or any heart attacks. I felt good, ATV riding was easy after all!

The bridge wasn’t that awesome because it collapsed in 2005 and ruined the little pool that it used to have.

The dirt area is where the pool used to be. Next to the Natural Bridge, we saw the Baby Bridge, which was pretty cool, but nothing that makes you scream OMG!

After the Natural Bridge, we all ventured to the Natural Pool. Remember how the tour guide told me that the beginning hill was the hardest of the entire tour? WELL, HE LIED TO ME. And, remember how I said ATV riding was easy after all? I FOOLED MYSELF! Getting to the Natural Pool was scary! Keep in mind that I went skydiving before, and the Natural Pool route was SCARIER THAN JUMPING OUT OF A PLANE! There were big rocks everywhere and the hill was just as steep as it was to get to Stinson Beach, California by car. One of my tires even got flat, and the tour guide had to pump air back into the tire. That’s how jarring the rocks were on parts of the route!

Once we got to the bottom to the Natural Pool, I allowed myself to take in the beauty with Jeff, taking pictures and all. The ocean and rocks reminded me of Northern California, while the cacti and desert landscape reminded me of Arizona. So, as a result of my observations, I dubbed the east side Arizfornia.

Once it was time to leave the Natural Pool and go back up that crazy hill with a million rocks, my eyes welled up with tears and I said, “Jeff, I’m scared of dying, and if I don’t make it back alive, I love you.” I’m sure deep down he thought this was funny, but he kept a cool face and again assured me that every thing would be fine.

After the Natural Pool, we went back to the ranch. I stopped right before the ranch while nestled in the hills to take pictures. Everyone was way ahead of me and had already parked at the ranch. By the time I got back to the ranch, I couldn’t find everyone and got lost. I kept going and going, until I got stuck on another rock, with YET ANOTHER FLAT TIRE. All I could think was, “Good Lord, I’m glad this tour is over and I’m on the ranch!”

I googled the link for Rancho Daimari to include in this blog, and I found this thread about a woman who died on the same type of ATV tour. All I can say is I am glad I did not read this while standing at the bottom of the Natural Pool hill, because I would have FREAKED about going back up the scary rugged hill and would have been so determined that I would die.

I must emphasize, the Arizfornia coast was SCARY AS HELL. All the peeing I did in my pants (kidding) and close heart attacks were worth it, because I couldn’t ask for a better accomplishment than yelling, “That wasn’t so bad after all!” and “I’M STILL ALIVE!! TGALJC!!”

]]> http://www.sazzybamm.com/2008/05/07/atv-in-aruba-%e2%80%93-a-matter-of-life-death/feed/ 14 http://www.sazzybamm.com/2008/05/03/pre-trip-comedy-relief/ http://www.sazzybamm.com/2008/05/03/pre-trip-comedy-relief/#comments Sat, 03 May 2008 21:17:37 +0000 Sazzy http://www.sazzybamm.com/?p=118 If I told you everything I did in Aruba on a daily basis, I’d probably make your head drop right onto your keyboard and you’d forever have a keyboard imprint on your forehead. So, I’ve decided to make a “Best Memories of Aruba” collection.

Let’s call this first set the “Pre Trip Comedy Relief.”  Here goes!

While I was frantically packing and running around like a chicken with its head cut off, Jeff was scheming a prank. He downloaded Firebug, a Firefox add-on that allows you to edit a website without going live, and did this:

CANCELED!? I was shocked and was all, “How the hell are we going to get to our layover to get on that flight to Aruba!?” A few minutes later, I decided Jeff was bullshitting. He continued to play out the prank, and pulled up the airline contact info so we could call and figure out what to do. I started to believe that the flight really was canceled. He eventually admitted he was bullshitting, but then I thought he was bullshitting about bullshitting. I know it makes no sense, but that is exactly what happened until he showed me how he did the prank. I could have smacked him, but he makes my life fun.

Proof that I’d never been out of the country (or that I’m an airhead!):

Hi, my name is Sazzy and I’m from White! Where are you from? Jeff found this so hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing. I was puzzled and looked over at his Aruba immigration sheet and saw that he wrote “USA.” Oh. Right.  I’m from the USA. Nationality and race, how did I confuse those two? Please excuse me while I go figure out how I graduated from college!

However, Jeff turned into the butt of the joke:

His iced tea spilled all over his shorts and he looked like he wet his pants. Now that was hilarious.

All in all, this was a great beginning to our vacation. Even if Jeff had wet pants.