Phuket, Thailand

First of all - thank you all for the kind birthday wishes, texts, videos (HOW adorable are my nephews, seriously) and Facebook posts. My first birthday abroad was great. On my actual bday, Michael and I both had respective holiday outings with our office so I spent it celebrating with my new girlfriends from work. Cheers! 

Extra special shout-out to my FIL (future family in law) and super sweet friend from afar for sending me flowers and cupcakes :) 

Michael on the other hand, no idea what they were up to, but he is now famous on the Singapore outdoor lazer tag scene. Normal. 

Anyway, my Singapore bday was super, then I woke up the next day and it was my bday in the US, so I got to celebrate all over again! 

Now to the good stuff. As an excuse To officially celebrate, we went to Phuket, an island off the west coast of Thailand. We stayed near Nai Yang Beach, which felt small and quaint and the perfect balance of busy and quiet (also lots of Russians, which we found kind of odd, but apparently is normal for Phuket?). 

It. Was. Awesome. Friday we were sitting at our desks at 5:30pm - hopped on a 7:00pm Tiger Air flight - 90min flight time, 10min car ride (you have to hire a car service from your hotel, the Thai taxi mafia will rip you off and then some) from the airport to the hotel - boom, we are sitting at the resort with a cold drink by 8:30pm (1hr time change) The rest of the weekend was the perfect mix of relaxation and fun. We went for a run along the beach (which is in fact  much less tranquil then they make it appear in the movies), snorkeling (my first time ever), paddle boarding, and lots of lounging, eating local food & drinking responsibly. 

^^ Classic 'views from the room'  

^^My favorite pic from the trip (our snorkeling guide, Sen)

My first time snorkeling! (Micheal is an old pro) It was absolutely terrifying at first, but really incredible once I got the hang of it. We saw all the fish from Nemo (except the Nemo fish) That was what my very limited knowledge of tropical fish was based upon. 

Fresh watermelon + gin = surprisingly tasty drink

 ^^ hi! self-timer

 ^^ be still my heart...

You regret 100% of the bikini shots you don't post. 

- Wayne Gretzky

Fun fact: I also saw my first real life jelly fish! and promptly decided I would paddle board the rest of the morning and forgo swimming. (jelly fish not pictured - even if it was, it was clear) 

^^ because, I mean, why wouldn't the tilapia have a full face

 Would You Rather: suburban dog or island dog?

Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas! Kidding. 

Sort of.  

Our hotel was nice, the beach was pristine, the people were friendly, the drinks were great and the food was AWESOME. Well done Thailand. Until next time...