Cruise fun and Cozumel, Mexico

The last week of January my family went on a cruise. It was amazing and so much fun. Here are the pictures from the day we left and through the first port of call. Warning: Due to the nature of my singlehood the following images may contain a large number of selfies. 

We left on Sunday from New Orleans, Louisiana. This is the view of the back of the boat while we were still in NOLA.

 My brother's family was able to upgrade their room to a suite with a balcony which was so nice. This is the room I was going to stay in but we did a switch-a-roo so all the boys could stay together and the girls could be together. 

 From the private balcony looking into the suite. I loved sitting on that balcony and looking out over the water!

 This is looking at New Orleans from the boat before we left on Sunday.

 As we left the port. We were parked or docked right behind the other cruise ship. As we were turning around and heading down the Mississippi River. I learned later that it takes the cruise ship 8 hours to exit the Mississippi River from NOLA. 

 The first night of the cruise we got a bull dog towel animal. 

 Monday we were at sea so we spent the day running around the ship and eating a lot of super yummy food. Tuesday we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico. We were docked right next to a Disney cruise ship. 

 This picture is my first steps off the boat in another country. Prior to this I had only ever gone to Niagara Falls on the Canada side. "Yay! I'm in another country!" 

 I have some friends who are Mexican but they have never visited Mexico, so they requested that I take a lot of pictures of Mexico so they could see it. This was one that I took for them.

 This was my first ever taxi ride. This is my sister and her family.

My brother told us about a great beach in Cozumel so that is where we headed.

  Isn't it so beautiful?! I loved all the Palm Trees so close to the water. They also had hammocks on the beach where you could swing and look out at the water.

 I ate chicken quesadillas on the beach in Mexico and boy were they delicious! Looking at the picture makes me want more.

 I was amazed that there were no waves. Every beach I have been to has waves crashing on the beach. 

 There was also a pool right next to the beach because the beach was not the best for swimming. The bottom was very rough with lots of rocks which hurt to walk on but I did swim in the ocean.

 You can see the ocean just beyond the trees in the back ground. It was such a beautiful place!

 On the way in at Paradise Beach. I love that you can see the hut in the reflection in my sunglasses.

 I thought it was funny to see the line of taxis on the road back to the boat. Everyone was getting ready to get back on board.

 I think these are faces of exhaustion after a fun day swimming.

 As we pulled out of Cozumel. Having never gone on a cruise I thought it was super cool to watch us pull away from the pier. We went out completely parallel to the other ship and pier. I didn't know that cruise ships could move like that. And look at the color of that water. Just gorgeous.

 That night we got an Elephant towel animal.

Roatan, Honduras

On Wednesday we arrived in Roatan, Honduras. We met that morning in my brother's room, so our first view of Roatan was off his balcony. WOW! It was breathtaking. We could also hear a local group down below playing music and it felt like we had arrived in Paradise. It was gorgeous. I am now a believer in love at first sight because I fell in love with Roatan in that moment!

These pictures don't quite do the place justice because you can't see it all in one picture but you can see part of the gorgeousness of this place. 

 Look at how blue the water is!! The water was so clear and blue I could hardly believe it. I had heard that the water here was clear and blue but seeing it for myself was still totally different.

 My family as we gathered on the balcony looking over Paradise.

 The kids wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a great shot with the background exposed as well but I still thought this was cute.

I was so in love with Roatan that I took a ton of pictures. And now as I look through them I can't decide between some of them. So you get lots of pics. 

 We decided to go shopping this day. So we wandered around the different shops and saw a lot of great stuff. 

 Isn't this just charming. I was so charmed by this place.

 It was very warm in Roatan the day we were there. Our other stops were all really perfect weather in the high 70s. Not too hot but warm enough to get in the warm. But in Roatan it was HOT! And it was January. I am glad I didn't go there in the summer. 

 You can kind of see on the right shore in this picture a little sandy area. After lunch I walked down to this little beach area and went swimming in the water. It was so pretty. It was funny as I swam around there would be warm patches of water and then a cold patch and then warm. It was hot enough out side that both the warm water and the cold felt refreshing. It was AWESOME!

 This was our cruise ship, the Norwegian Dawn. 

 I liked this sign and had to take a picture.

 We decided to go get lunch on the  boat because we were still close by and it was free on the boat. As we were waiting on the balcony we saw my brother and his father-in-law coming back on the boat. 

 Us on the balcony and them way down below.

Roatan was amazing. I didn't get to see much of the island just the part near the port but I loved what I saw. Maybe someday I will get to go see more of it. This was my favorite port as far as views and location. I loved it there!

Dickens on the Strand 2015

'Tis the season for Dickens on the Strand again. 

I found this Fashion plate last year and fell in love with it. This became my inspiration for my dress this year. It is a 1876 Paris Fashion Plate featuring the square overskirt. The square overskirt was very popular in 1875 and 1876.

Here is my dress. I chose to go with red instead of blue because I already have several blue dresses.

For easier comparison, here is a side by side. I tried to stay as close to the fashion plate as I could. The only thing I chose to change was the neckline. I did not make mine as high because my other dress has a high neckline and I wanted to do something different.

 My favorite part of the dress was the cuff. Just look how gorgeous they are. This took a lot of thought and time to replicate this style but I love the finished product.

A few shots of the front of the dress.

 And some from the back.

 Yes, there are 9 rows of 1/2 inch pleats on that train. You might be able to imagine how time consuming that was.

My friend Chandler and I. She is wearing my Regency gown that I made a few years ago.

This was a practice shot. Chandler was learning how to use my camera but it turned out well.

This is Lucinda (on the left) and Jane (on the right). They are the descendants of Charles Dickens.

The Thrift Entourage with all the gorgeous dresses.

Cheryl and I. You can blame her for introducing me to Dickens on the Strand.

Do you think this fan goes with my outfit?

I couldn't resist taking a picture of my shadow. Doesn't it look so Victorian? Yes, I may be a nerd but am proud of it.

Some strangers with awesome costumes.

This is the Costume Contest. We are waiting for the judges to make their decision. Number 12 and 13 are my new best friends. I think we had way too much fun in the contestant line than should be legal.

 Kitty Watts (number 13 above) decided we should become Sewing Best Friends, which rapidly became SBBBFs (Sewing Bustles and Buttons Best Friends). Kitty has quite the entourage. She made all of these dresses (except mine and the gentleman's).

Another stranger with an awesome costume. I love how much this blue pops!

 

 This was the winner of the Costume Contest. I heard that this was hand beaded. Amazing.

 One finale picture with the Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas All!