Aruba in 10 days plus job interview equals

[Cookies Galore]

F*** productivity today! Help! Tell me to get back to work! I'm sitting here writing my vacation list and looking at the tourism web site.

[sarcasticgirl]

that was me a couple of weeks ago...

now i'm hatin' everyone and everything! 

[Cookies Galore]

How was your trip?

I had my interview yesterday so I am hoping to leave for vacation knowing I'm coming back to a new position in my department!

[Bob Ross]

Is your job interview in Aruba?

Watch out for Dutch guys named "Van der something" (which is like, all of them).

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I've been looking at sites for a very long weekend in Cabo this spring. The more I look, the more I want despite the fact that we're looking at a very expensive trip to Turks and Caicos next fall. That's a LONG time away!

[whoisjohngalt]

Mar 13, 2014 10:13:41 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

F*** productivity today! Help! Tell me to get back to work! I'm sitting here writing my vacation list and looking at the tourism web site.

I think you came to the wrong place......

[Chocolate Lover]

I vote for finishing the list.

[sarcasticgirl]

Mar 13, 2014 10:21:41 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

How was your trip?

I had my interview yesterday so I am hoping to leave for vacation knowing I'm coming back to a new position in my department!

it was fantastic! relaxing and exhausting (in a good way) all at once. the weather was gorgeous, the island was as wonderful as we remembered.
I am cranky and depressed to be back home. 
We picked up a real estate book while we were there and have been day dreaming ever since.   

*fingers crossed for your new position- and a wonderful vacation!*

[imawino]

Mar 13, 2014 12:10:50 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

Mar 13, 2014 10:21:41 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

How was your trip?

I had my interview yesterday so I am hoping to leave for vacation knowing I'm coming back to a new position in my department!

it was fantastic! relaxing and exhausting (in a good way) all at once. the weather was gorgeous, the island was as wonderful as we remembered.
I am cranky and depressed to be back home. 
We picked up a real estate book while we were there and have been day dreaming ever since.   

*fingers crossed for your new position- and a wonderful vacation!*

ha!  I'm just back from a long weekend in Miami and I am cranky and cold and have been looking at Florida real estate!

[sarcasticgirl]

Mar 13, 2014 12:34:59 GMT -5 imawino said:

Mar 13, 2014 12:10:50 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

it was fantastic! relaxing and exhausting (in a good way) all at once. the weather was gorgeous, the island was as wonderful as we remembered.
I am cranky and depressed to be back home. 
We picked up a real estate book while we were there and have been day dreaming ever since.   

*fingers crossed for your new position- and a wonderful vacation!*

ha!  I'm just back from a long weekend in Miami and I am cranky and cold and have been looking at Florida real estate!

lets get a place and make it a YM timeshare.

[pinkbow832]

I loved Aruba so much that I talked my boss and coworker both into going.  Another coworker is now planning a trip   There are only 10 of us in my dept, so I feel like a 30% conversion rate should land me a job with the Aruba tourism board, right?

[imawino]

Mar 13, 2014 12:38:04 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

Mar 13, 2014 12:34:59 GMT -5 imawino said:

ha!  I'm just back from a long weekend in Miami and I am cranky and cold and have been looking at Florida real estate!

lets get a place and make it a YM timeshare.

Yes!  I'm in!  Can we get dibs on all the winter months? 

[Cookies Galore]

Mar 13, 2014 12:44:33 GMT -5 pinkbow832 said:

I loved Aruba so much that I talked my boss and coworker both into going.  Another coworker is now planning a trip   There are only 10 of us in my dept, so I feel like a 30% conversion rate should land me a job with the Aruba tourism board, right?

I want to hear how awesome it is! This will be our first trip to Aruba, first to an island together as well!

[tractor]

I got back from a week in Florida about two weeks ago, and I'm spending my time at work dreaming about my next vacation. So if you asked me, focus on having fun, work is overrated.

[pinkbow832]

Mar 13, 2014 12:54:44 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Mar 13, 2014 12:44:33 GMT -5 pinkbow832 said:

I loved Aruba so much that I talked my boss and coworker both into going.  Another coworker is now planning a trip   There are only 10 of us in my dept, so I feel like a 30% conversion rate should land me a job with the Aruba tourism board, right?

I want to hear how awesome it is! This will be our first trip to Aruba, first to an island together as well!

Oooh well how much time do you have?  We went for a wedding and stayed for I think 9-10 days.  I have never been that relaxed in my entire life!  If you let me know which hotel/beach area you'll be at I can give you a rundown.  We snooped around in a lot of the hotels while we were there, but stayed at the Renaissance (with it's private island) and at a Divi timeshare with my in-laws.  The wedding was at the Radisson and most of the family stayed there.

[Cookies Galore]

Mar 13, 2014 12:59:06 GMT -5 pinkbow832 said:

Mar 13, 2014 12:54:44 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

I want to hear how awesome it is! This will be our first trip to Aruba, first to an island together as well!

Oooh well how much time do you have?  We went for a wedding and stayed for I think 9-10 days.  I have never been that relaxed in my entire life!  If you let me know which hotel/beach area you'll be at I can give you a rundown.  We snooped around in a lot of the hotels while we were there, but stayed at the Renaissance (with it's private island) and at a Divi timeshare with my in-laws.  The wedding was at the Radisson and most of the family stayed there.

We're going for a week. Using my dad's time share at the Marriott Ocean Club.

[sarcasticgirl]

Mar 13, 2014 12:44:37 GMT -5 imawino said:

Mar 13, 2014 12:38:04 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

lets get a place and make it a YM timeshare.

Yes!  I'm in!  Can we get dibs on all the winter months? 

that goes without saying. I'm not interested in snow outside of maybe December 

[pinkbow832]

Mar 13, 2014 13:03:59 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

We're going for a week. Using my dad's time share at the Marriott Ocean Club.

That's a good location- lots of shops/restaurants were moving from the downtown area to Palm Beach when we were there.  Tons of restaurant options, bars, etc. and you're right next to a lot of the other big hotels for some restaurant/pool hopping.  Each hotel has a different color towel for their guests, but if you manage to snag one, you can trade it in for a clean towel without needing to give a room number   We were hanging out with family that stayed at the Radisson, but spent some time strategizing on how to pool-hop along that strip.  Not sure about the Marriott, but it's probably like a lot of the other hotels that do 2 for 1 happy hours, which are great.  Are you doing an all-inclusive option?  If not, there's plenty of good food nearby.  We had a prix-fixe on the beach dinner at the Hyatt and the food was great.  I had a list of restaurants that were good, but it looks like it was deleted from my phone  

There were 2 things we did that were awesome- rented a car and went to Baby Beach and did a snorkeling trip.  Baby Beach was awesome, shallow and calm, no waves.  It's on the other end of the island, so you need to rent a car to go there, but it's worth the drive and fun to see the rest of the island.  We did our snorkeling trip with Red Sail Sports, which had 2-3 different snorkeling sites, one of which was a shipwreck site.  It also included "all you can drink" and some snacks, and I think we paid about $50/person for a 3-hour trip.

If you want to sample/buy local rum, stop at the Palmera factory shop.  It will be on your way to the hotel from the airport along the main road.  If you're renting a car to go anyway, you can combine it with a day trip to somewhere else.  The shop is super tiny and they don't offer factory tours, but you can sample a bunch of different types of local rum.  We just finished a bottle of spiced rum we bought there and still have some coconut rum.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but I should probably get back to work since I still have a few weeks until vacation!

[Cookies Galore]

Thanks! The time share has a full kitchen so we will be going to a grocery store to purchase breakfast foods and lunch/snack stuff. And booze. I'll need some wine when we're enjoying our balcony! I want to put our money toward great dinners.
We are planning on a snorkel trip (love that they include drinks!), I want to go to Baby Beach, and check out the natural bridge and other sites. Hubs wants to rent bikes as well.