I Went to Punta Cana + All I Got Was Some Mamajuana

…and some pretty decent tan lines, too.

Snapped mid-blink, because that’s how things tend to work over on my end.

Pardon the radio silence.

I’ve been on withdrawal from a number of things. Caffeine (until a few days ago, for better or for worse); sun (I’m back at the office); and the peaceful calm of island life. Dearest New Jersey, I am not happy to be back, and I will continue to stomp my size-five feet about it until the next time I can actually see said feet in the water. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m working in an office all throughout this sunny, 90-degree-plus weather, then: no one has to hear my complaints about polluted sand and water.

There’s certainly something to be said about living by the ocean, though. Four, five days seaside and there was not a single negative thought in my mind. Maybe it was the miles of separation from my Macbook and the isolation from an iPhone on airplane mode? Perhaps, but let’s be idealistic romanticists for a second, here. Humor me. Whatever it was—salt, H20, shellfish aphrodisiacs, men in little swim briefs, a useless phone—it worked. There I was responsibly sunbathing and listening to e-books and, for once, not preoccupied with work/school/whether or not I should be in this new bikini. Funny how modern-day media infiltrates your everyday life and dictates your psyche, no? If only I were immune.

I’m not superhuman, just plain ol’ human.

And when on vacation, plain ol’ humans like me keep things simple. Everything’s at the bare minimum: it’s all about skin, skin, skin. Which means wispy maxi dresses with exposed backs and thigh-high slits, cropped tops with floral pants, and lots of bikinis—after all, less is more, no? Needless to say I doused myself with SPF protection from tip to toe, and after a day at the beach, slathered on some homemade concoction of coconut oil and jojoba oil. I overpacked in the makeup department. No glamour for this girl even on fancy nights out—just the usual. Eyelash curler, mascara, lip balm (with SPF, duh), lip liner. After all, you can’t expect a girl to work on vacation now, can ya?

.   .   .

xx