Happy day of thanks! I forgot to defrost the turkeys… so we’ll see how they turn out :o)

EDIT, MORE PICS: This is 4 of 4. Click here for the first, second and third of the series.

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Here are 1/2 of my favorite images from the model shoot at the Jose Villa Workshop. The models are from Citro Modelos and Megan Ortiz modeling agency with Mar from T.E.A.M. hair and makeup making their hair and makeup flawless.

Anna Paola is the model with the red lipstick and hair feather and Gladys is the one with longer hair and softer makeup. I loved them both… they were an absolute delight to work with and very sweet natured.

An interesting part of the shoot was finding out Mexican customs of being modest in your actions toward members of the opposite sex. There was a male model with Anna Paola that was very reserved in how he’d pose with her; no kissing or sensual poses, not even almost-kissing. I wasn’t in the group that took pictures of the couple, so I don’t have any to show you :o( But here are some of the girls…

I used my white shirt as a reflector for this shot.
Love how the wall is 1/2 yellow and 1/2 pink.

Reminds me a bit of Angelina Jolie in this one.

EDIT, MORE PICS: Here is the first of 4, the second and the next one after this one.

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The all-white peacock that isn’t albino – kinda ghostly.
Did I show this already? Amazing architecture.
I was DYING when this mariachi player was serenading my sweet friend, Elisa Cicinelli. Not that he was singing to her, but that it was EXACTLY like Jack Black in Nacho Libre when he’d flatten his lips against his teeth, almost like he was getting ready to play the trumpet, and sing the “O” in Nacho for a reeeeaaaaly looooong time. This guy held his note FOREVER (and I’m thinking that they haven’t seen Nacho Libre, the movie)! Speaking of Nacho Libre… there were guys in the masks along the roads holding up signs for wrestling matches. Alison‘s beau, Nate, snagged three masks at the fiesta we attended in a non-touristy town. I’m jealous, a little.
Here’s a little statue that kept us company during lunch and dinner.

The model pics will be coming… I’m pretty proud of them so maybe they should hang out over the Thanksgiving holiday for me.

Did I tell you that I’m hosting Turkey Day at our place this year? We will have 11 adults and 5 children in our 1700 sq ft hut (it’ll feel like a hut with that many people here). The last time I cooked a turkey was over 12 years ago when I got one free from work. Not wanting it to go to waste, I started cooking it when I got home from work and figured I would refrigerate it overnight and use it for sandwiches the next day. Well, the next day rolls around and I wake up to the most delightful scent of roasted turkey.

“Mmmm, that smells good. Wonder who’s cooking this early in the morning?”

Um, yeah. It was ME. I accidentally left the turkey cooking OVERNIGHT. Luckily nothing caught on fire. I pulled it out and set it on top of the oven, not sure what I’d find beneath the tired foil. I slowly pulled the sides up to find all the meat had fallen off the bone and all I was left with was a sad carcass staring at me in disgust. What a waste of a huge turkey!

I tried salvaging it, hoping to use the meat in turkey salad for sandwiches. But no amount of mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip, thankyouverymuch) could bring that turkey back to life. Sad, I know.

Wish me luck this year since I have 16 people counting on my culinary skills hahahaha!

EDIT, MORE PICS: Here is the first post, the next after this one and the last of the trip.

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From the inside of our room looking out the back door at one of many orange trees in the morning (we had fresh squeezed OJ all day long; sometimes they’d switch it up and make lemonade or watermelon juice too).

Our main dining crew (I just know the guys names; what’s with me and male servers, eh?… Carlos on the left is about to be a 1st time daddy any day to daughter Scarlett and Chepe in the middle). They were VERY gracious and extremely accomodating to our large group.
This was our classroom… yeah, freakin’ sweet! There was a beverage bar off to the side that was constantly stocked with fresh made cookies, coffee and hot cocoa (yummy).

On the top of the hacienda looking toward the outside of the gates. It was really neat to hear them worship in their church Sunday morning. The songs could be heard outside the brick walls.
Our classroom was on the right, the steps went up to a VERY narrow edge that the peacocks liked to climb. Through the gate is where the center of the hacienda is, where we’d eat and get to some of our rooms.
Cute little statue that seemed to be central to a garden.
Inside the center of the hacienda toward where they did the wash, BY HAND.
The center of the hacienda. The office hall is at the middle and we ate on the right side (inside for breakfast and outside for lunch and dinner – the food was included in our room rate and was absolutely excellent as well as beautifully presented).
Check out the oranges in the tree and on the ground. They’d gather these all day long as they found them and squeeze them into the juice containers.
On top of the hacienda in the morning.

Looking out the front of our room at the constantly running fountain. We could hear it through the open window above the shower that was covered in screen to keep out the bugs.
Looking out the back of our room during the day.
The mariachi band arriving to entertain us one day. This is the front of the hacienda. I should’ve framed this better so you could see the tops of the arches upstairs. Dangit.
The front porch of the hacienda. Those ferns, as well as all vegetation on premise, was real and just mammoth compared to any ferns I have seen before.

Hope you enjoyed some images from my trip to Mexico. I have some more of the roaming peacocks (none in full spread, sorry, but I do have a complete white one), in town, of the other attendees and the model shoot. You’ll have to hold your horses for those :o)

EDIT, MORE PICS: Here is the next post of pictures from our stay, the third with brides and fourth with brides.

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