Cabo Wabo Baby!

Andy and I recently got back from 5 days in Cabo. This was an awards trip from Andy's company because he had a great year in 2009. We left the kids for the first time and they did great with my parents. I am still in denial about being back home and wish I was laying out by the pool at the resort in Cabo. I wanted to capture every moment of our vacation so I apologize for the over abundance in photos. This trip was so incredibly fun because it was 100% free and his company did everything first class. We did a whole lot of eating and eating and more eating...I refuse to get on the scale but Andy did and he gained 8 lbs on this trip to give you an idea of how much we really ate. It was the best! The food was insanely delicious and this was my definition of a vacation.  

this was the view from our balcony

The rooms were so nice and colorful and the decor was awesome, I loved all the vibrant colors

The first night there we had an opening reception with all the other award winners and it was a dinner to die for. It was pool side/beach side and buffet style with a large selection of delicious foods to pick from. For example: beef tenderloin, fajitas, fish, grilled chicken,  tamales, salads,  ceviche ahi tuna/mango salsa style, fruits and deserts galore, just to name a few. Even though it was our first night there we got a glimpse of what the week would be all about...DRINKING! From the moment the dinner started everyone was waiting on you hand and foot with margarita's, wine, beer, tequila, you name it. For us this was only the beginning of "SIN ALCOHOL POR FAVOR" and crazy looks in return. I promised my friend Liz that I would drink some pina colada's for her, or as they would have me say "pinada's" which is their term for virgin pina coladas.  I'd say I had 3 a day at least and Andy had more like 5 a day!

The tables were beautifully decorated with very colorful linens. I picked the pink table of course but there were yellow, red, blue, green, orange, and turquoise tables as well. I wish I would have gotten pictures since it was very pretty. My food doesn't look that good in this photo but I promise it was amazing!

This is a picture of the reception dinner from our balcony, they had a guy playing acoustic guitar which created a very enjoyable atmosphere.  You can see it was a gorgeous evening.

When we got back to our room that night, I saw that they had turned down the beds but almost didn't notice this little paper on the bed of sunglasses. It was our first gift and the best one if you ask me. It was to be redeemed for a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses for each of us. The timing couldn't have been more perfect b/c Andy lost his sunglasses in the airport in Las Vegas and was devastated about having to buy new ones. I have always heard great things about Maui Jim's and if you go to your eye doctor they will always recommend them since they protect your eyes better than any other sunglasses out there, so it was really cool to get some for free since they are around $200.00!

Day 2 we both went to the spa courtesy of his company, Andy got the massage and I opted for the facial. I love spa's...it was so relaxing and just the perfect way to start out our vacation. As soon as we were done we hit the pool. This is the only picture we got at the pool and I was especially excited to just lay out and work on a tan.

Andy couldn't handle the heat like I could, he was always covering up his face!

That night we were all shuttled into Cabo San Lucas, the hotel we were at was in Los Cabos which is about 25 minutes out of Cabo. We went to dinner at a place called Mi Casa and from the outside you would think it was tiny but it fit approximately 300 of us very comfortable. The food once again was delicious. I have never had such good guacamole, and chips and salsa. I would fill up on that before the meal even came. We ate family style at each table and on the platter above there was steak, shrimp, and chicken tacos. There was a great mariachi band that livened up the place too...no details were spared.

At first I wasn't sure what to think about these two little clowns...luckily they ended up being very nice and made balloon hats for everyone at our table.

We all waited in suspense to see what they would come up with for each person and it looks like they wanted to take Andy's height to a new level.

My hat is a halo making me an angel ;)

Probably the best tres leches cake I have ever eaten in my life!

The scenery at Mi Casa was really fun

This gives you a better idea of how this tiny restaurant from the outside accommodated everyone, it never ended once you got inside, it kept opening up from one room to the next! 

After dinner, we walked over to the famous cantina, Cabo Wabo. Andy's company rented it out for a private party...drinks, drinks and more drinks plus a live band. It was awesome! It felt so college!

I was dying to try and get Andy to dance but he just wanted to people watch which was very amusing as well. Nothing like watching everyone get drunk and start acting crazy, it was pretty funny.

Being that we were somewhat limited on our drink choices we had to start maximizing our selection and we fell in love with "Miami Vice" which is a strawberry daiquiri and pina colada  in one glass. SIN ALCOHOL of course. I love having the best of both worlds! In this picture you can see the wonderful Miami Vice!

The hotel grounds were beautiful, this is the front desk area at night all lit up. I would highly recommend the Hilton Los Cabos resort and spa to anyone going to Cabo. After a fun night out I was anxious to see what gift they had left us. We got a bottle of tequila from Cabo Wabo and a painting of Cabo on a small canvas. I loved how everything was so thought out according to what we were doing, it was as if they were buying our souvenirs for us. The tequila was the only bummer gift. 

Every morning we got to come and eat outside with this view. It was a breakfast buffet with a million things to choose from. Aghhh...I'm still longing for that breakfast!

On this particular morning I opted for an omelet and it did not disappoint. The fresh fruit was also very good! I don't normally like papaya but I have never had such sweet papaya so I ate it every day! I couldn't resist my pan chocolate either. The fruit juices were yummy too, fresh pineapple juice, watermelon juice, cantaloupe juice, orange juice and cactus celery juice...I'm telling you, it was delicious!

 For our next activity we decided to go snorkeling.  We were shuttled to Cabo San Lucas again and hopped on a catamaran and sailed out to a reef. This was definitely one of the highlights. Imagine setting sail to Jimmy Buffet, Sugar Ray, and Bob Marley songs while having crew members trying to get you to do tequila shots...quite the experience! One thing I have learned is that in Cabo they think Tequila is the answer to everything!

After snorkeling they put out quite the spread on the boat...they never stopped feeding us on this trip. Unfortunately for me, the waves were super rough and I got pretty sea sick while snorkeling so I skipped out on this meal. I did enjoy seeing all the pretty color fish though.  One of the guys on our boat would paddle out on a surf board, dive into the ocean about 20 ft deep and drop bread and all the fish would come to eat the bread as it floated up so we were able to see a ton of them.

I loved seeing all the little towel animals they'd come up with once I came back to the hotel room

We had another reception that evening which meant more miami vices of course, and then a free night out off the property. We chose to go to the quiet town of San Jose where all the municipal buildings are for the Los Cabos area.

We ate at a great authentic Mexican restaurant with a live mariachi band. I loved hearing so much music while we were there. The band also played a lot of Gypsy King songs which I love!

Again we ordered some of the best guacamole, and delicious ceviche and a pot full of beef/chicken/sausage/peppers...a house speciality.

I kept teasing Andy and calling him "my Champion" since this whole trip had signs for us to line up, meet etc..with champion of sales signs. This is where we had to meet to catch the bus back to the hotel while visiting San Jose. I was bummed b/c I wanted to pick up some talavera pottery while in San Jose and when we got out of dinner everything was closed. Lucky for me, I had a gorgeous talavera plate waiting for me in the hotel room as our next gift when I returned. They really hit it spot on with the gifts! 

The following day was our leisure day at the hotel and we didn't even get one photo...we layed out all day long and visited the hospitality suite for unlimited drinks and appetizers such as chips and salsa, fruit, vegetables, cookies, sorbet, to name a few...have I mentioned how much we ate??? :)

Thursday night they did a great awards ceremony to honor the sales reps

This is when Andy got called up, he is dead center in the group

After the awards ceremony we had the awards dinner on the beach, it was absolutely amazing!

Once more, a live band to rock the night away!

I had to post this picture of Miami Vice again since it was the last one I had :(

The awards dinner was spectacular and very fancy, and we always enjoy surf and turf!

This box of truffles was made of chocolate...it's all about the details! Our last night there we came back to a beautiful solid silver frame with a picture of Andy and I that was taken our first night at the reception dinner. I loved all the surprise gifts each night. It made the trip that much more fun!

Friday afternoon came too fast and I was not ready to leave this little paradise. I felt like I was spoiled rotten! It has been a very long time/years since I was able to not worry about anyone but myself and just relax. This trip was heaven sent. I still find myself singing Margarita ville and wishing I was in Mexico. A special thanks to Andy for working so hard last year to win us this trip! Way to go sweetheart!