A few weeks ago I went on a cruise to Mexico with some wonderful lady friends. We booked it for two reasons- it was super cheap and we thought it would be fun. After we booked it some guys at work were all "who do you think you'll hook up with on a cruise??" all incredulous like. That had not occurred to any of us. Ahhhhh, the differences between men and women are so crazy. Women are so from venus and men are so from mars. Also, unless we were looking for a dad in mandals or an 18 year old on vacation with his family, we would have been mightily disappointed.

But oh, it was fun! Number one- we won the cruise. We won medals! No one will ever take those away from us. Not even the british guy with the faux hawk who gave them to us begrudgingly. He hated us but had to admit that we won.

IN YOUR FACE!

When we won these Kelley Q said to the crowd "get used to seeing these, everybody!" and boy did we make that happen. They were worn from then on.

There was also karaoke and eating, and soft serve ice cream and people watching and we often played hannah montana uno in our room. In fact, Rachel created a drinking game about Hannah Montana Uno- I don't remember how it went, I just remember that practically everything involved having to take a drink and then I was tipsy and on a rocking boat and I ran into a wall by accident. These are the memories we make, kids.

The actual day in Catalina was beautiful and the pictures really show it. We took a "submarine" ride and I put that in quotes because we never submerged, but it was pretty cool to see the fish. Also, it was half price for some reason. Which also made it more enjoyable. In fact it was a prize on Hell's Kitchen season 5- my life is one big circular event.

The day in Mexico appears to be very magical in photos but in reality there were a lot of people trying to rip us off and a lot of dirty little kids being used as pawns to get money. At the blowhole this guy kept trying to get me to look at his "jewelry, ladies love jewelry!" and I told him that I wasn't in the market for anything and walked past without looking. Later, a guy came up to us as a group and said "Oh, I know you" to me. Then he said "you're the one who doesn't want anything." Yup, that's me! Then he offered to sell me some lingerie for my boyfriend/husband. Thanks dude. I walked away again. Then Kelly S bought a blue ukelele and I bought a bracelet for ana and a turtle for grandma from people who were not pushy at all.

It was certainly pretty to look at though!

Rachel found a husband:

Then we went into town and did some shopping and sight seeing. More children followed us around but then we found the holy grail- the best store ever. I had to stop myself from buying everything in sight. I will have to go back there someday.

We also ate lunch in a bar where everyone was watching a soccer game, so I was psyched and no one else in the group cared. Except for Rachel who would yell whenever the crowd did, despite having no interest in the actual game. We ate the best nachos ever there, even though nachos are a texas invention, right?

On the cruise one night was elegant night. Thankfully Rachel has cruised before and warned us so we packed for it. Then we drank a bottle of champagne and got dressed. Somehow we all wore something either black, green or black and green. It was not planned. Our dinner waiter asked why we were all matching. I'm sure everyone was wondering.

That's when we took our elegant look to karaoke night. Kelley and I did the best ever duet of "I've had the time of my life" with me singing the man parts and her the lady. Once we were at a bar and a couple sang it and butchered it and had no idea how it went and it drove us insane and we vowed to do it better some day in the future. During the interlude she pretended to do the lift and the crowd went wild. These people were ready to be entertained and were also all awesome. Then Rachel went and did Rock n' Roll suicide thinking the audience would hate it and they went nuts. Also, the comedy audience had moved in since the stand up was about to go on and they were more drunk and therefore loving everything. The next day a few people complimented our performances around the boat and that's when I realized that on a cruise it's like living with 1000 strangers for a week. They remembered us! I mean, it's nice to get compliments- but if you're a jerk people will remember you too. Lesson learned.

This comedy had to have been awesome, but we left (it promised to be racist and we were warned not to be offended in the day plan, so you know it's good.):

We also saw a show and went to the casino and watched the newlywed game. Rachel and Kelley were going to try and compete as domestic partners but they didn't ask for any same sex couples.

It was certainly something I would do again with friends. If you decide that you're going to have fun and love all the cheesy crap and not complain, then it's totally fun. I can't imagine it as a couple trip or as a family trip quite as much- but with a group of friends it was certainly not a bad way to spend a week. However, it turned cold just as we left so we did no swimming and got no sun. That was the one bummer.

My medal is still in my bag in case I need to put it on at a moment's notice. I accidentally wore it to lunch with my friend Julie when I got back and it was the first thing she noticed. It lends a certain quality when you wear it, definitely.

The rest of the photos can be found here: http://flickr.com/photos/jettrocks/sets/72157613851328400/