Tag Archives: lifestyle

The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival: Rain or Shine!

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If you were lucky enough to have attended the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival this year then you certainly had a real treat!  The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival went on Rain or shine this past weekend, bringing an incredible crowd down to Mamitas Beach Playa del Carmen to enjoy great music on the beach; all for free!

The main headliner of the whole Jazz Festival was, ever so popular, “Earth Wind and Fire”! They brought us three of the basic elements while nature brought us the fourth…Water (rain)!  Although the rain delayed the performance just a little, nothing could scare away the crowd who stood tight with their blankets and picnic baskets full of snacks, wine and other beverages!

Besides Earth, Wind and Fire there were many other spectacular performances, over the three day event, by artists such as Frank Gambale, Brent Fischer and many many more!

A well-loved and enjoyable occasion!

It was certainly an enjoyment to be a part of such a well-loved and popular event in Playa del Carmen!  Many expats made the journey down to Playa del Carmen specifically to attend the Jazz Festival that brings more and more Americans and Canadians down to the area every year!

If you are not familiar with the occasion, it is one of the best events hitting the Riviera Maya every year!  Many come for the music but also because the setting brings an extra charm to the event.  You can show up to the beach with your blanket or chair, bring your own drinks, and take your whole family or group of friends with you to enjoy the show.

 
The setting of the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival kind of reminds me of going to the drive in movie theater, with your whole family packed in the car and all your own goodies, to enjoy a major motion picture outdoors.  If you are part of the baby boomer generation, I’m almost sure you can relate with that feeling!

The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival is for the young and the young at heart!

What made the festival even more remarkable was that among the great turnout, there were people there were people of all ages joining in on the fun together!  Whether you are 20 years old or 65 years old, the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival brings music into the hearts of everyone!

I found that some people were just content relaxing with their wine and enjoying the music; while others were dancing the night away underneath the stars!

Start Planning for next year!

If you did miss the Riviera Maya Jazz festival, be sure to add it to your calendar for next year!  It is such a great time of year to come to the Riviera Maya, due to the beautiful comfortable weather temperatures and the variety of November events such as the Jazz Festival, Taste of Playa, and of course the beachfront Thanksgiving celebrations!

I should also mention that if you purchase plane tickets for November you can take advantage of generally low prices. right before the peak season starts in late December!

This is certainly an exciting time in Playa del Carmen!  The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival is always the very start of snowbird season here in the Riviera Maya!  Many expats who come for the event will remain here at least until April to escape those cold winter months!

To showcase some of the fun of the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, I would like to leave you with a short video of the excellent performance by Earth Wind and Fire!   Enjoy and see you next year!

 

Happy 111th Anniversary Playa del Carmen! #ThrowbackThursday

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I love you now like I loved you then!  Happy 111th Anniversary Playa del Carmen!   Life keeps moving and changing but the beauty of Playa del Carmen’s amazing beaches have remained.  Let’s continue to keep Playa del Carmen clean and beautiful for years to come!

A Sweet Treat – Why expats are raving about Café Martin!

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Meet Lesley and Jody; the owners a charming café, new to Playa del Carmen, called Café Martin!  This very friendly Canadian couple moved to Playa del Carmen in 2005 with their 2 children!  They settled quite nice in Playa del Carmen and quickly felt that they were right at home.  They love living in Playa del Carmen and especially being so close to the beach.  So it was not a difficult decision to stay and live their lives in Playa!

Since then they have found their passion in cooking and baking and have wanted to share their creations with the whole community.

 

Sometimes if you want something done you have to do it yourself!
Playa del Carmen offers many options for delicious treats but Café Martin offers a special shine for the expat community.  When Lesley and Jody arrived, to live in Playa del Carmen, they found it difficult to find the things that they missed and loved to eat.  Lesley had a determination to still enjoy her favorite foods.  She said to herself “If I can’t find it, then I will learn how to make it”.  And that she did!

Lesley, and her husband Jody, starting experimenting cooking their favorite foods from back home in Canada until they got it all down to perfection.  Some of their favorites were pirogues, lasagna, meatballs, spaghetti sauce, shepherd’s pie, pizza, muffins, bagels, cookies, flavored cream cheese, and even ice cream!

 

Making Café Martin a reality!
They were soon to realize that they weren’t the only ones who were missing those delicious meals from back home!  Other expats from all over town started to contact Lesley to ask her to cook for them.  The excitement drew from the fact that they were making dishes that could not be found in other restaurants or cafes in Playa.  Some items like lasagna can be commonly found but other items like Pirogues or classic bagel breakfast sandwiches are unlikely to be found!  And with that, they started their delivery service!  The couple started to cook food in large batches and freeze them.  Then when and order came in they would have it on hand in ready for delivery!

Their delivery service became so popular that the demand for opening up a store was obvious!  They never had any intention to come to Playa del Carmen to open a business but after finding out their passion in food they knew they had to share it with the whole town.

 

Lesley’s theory – “Happiness is Homemade!”
We got a chance to try some of their delicious treats and I must say they have a gift!  We sampled cookies, muffins, bagels, pizza, lasagna, cheesecake and of course a Canadian loved dish, Pirogues!  YUM!  We took some items home to feed the family and it was a hit.  Fast, convenient, homemade fresh food made with love!

Café Martin opened its doors at the beginning of September and is very popular among the expat and local community! They are open every day at 7am serving excellent coffee, baked goods, sandwiches, and have a full freezer stocked with your favorite home cooked meals to take home!

In this video Lesley and Jody share their experience about living in Mexico, and give us a firsthand look inside Playa del Carmen’s newest food lovers craze, Café Martin!

Watch and enjoy!  For more information about what café Marin can bring to your table click here to go to their website or find them on Facebook!

 

 

-By Bea Lozano
Mexico Real Estate Testimonials

Enjoy your Bikini Freedom Girls! #throwbackthursday

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This may come as a shock to most of you but choice of clothing or lack thereof was not always a free choice! Imagine getting ticketed for wearing your shorts too short! YIKES!  Today we make fashion and expression of who we are no matter how we choose to express it!  Be happy and be who you are!

-By Bea Lozano

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How One Baby-Boomer Lived Her Life-long Dream

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Remember the old Map Quest joke where if you asked for driving directions overseas it gave you all the necessary directions to bring you to the shore line and then told you to swim across the Atlantic Ocean?

Very funny huh?

Well, until someone actually did!  It’s for sure most of you have already heard of the courageous Diana Nyad but if not you are in for a story!  This 64 year old woman took on the challenge of swimming a complete 53 hour swim from Cuba to Miami!  Battling Jelly fish and salt water effects she made it through with an incredible team of people who kept her safe and motivated through her 3 day, 2 night journey!

Why did she do it?

Probably not because she wanted to risk her life in shark infested waters battling jelly fish and to end up with lacerations on her face from the salt water!  Rather because it gives an incredible feeling of success!

This was a dream of hers that she was persistent in pursuing as this was not her first attempt to make it on this particular route.  It was actually her fourth attempt!  Her first try came early on in her 20’s but she held onto that dream for the next 40 years and continued trying three more times in her sixties with the last attempt obviously being her victory.


Follow your dreams

This just shows that when you have a dream and your mind set on something, even if it seems wild or painful, you can do it with a strong will.  And this is exactly what she directly points out when she said:

“The people who follow me aren’t sports hounds.  They’re human beings who are dealing with their own heartaches and their own obstacles in life.  And they want to know how to get through.  And I think I’m a person who represents, A, never give up.  You find a way if something is really important to your heart, you look and see what’s inside yourself and you find a way.”

“Never give up”

This statement holds a wealth of meaning for many people!  Remember when we wrote recently about the Neon Race in Cancun (click here if you would like to read about it), we quoted one of our team members who started off by saying she doesn’t actually love to run but there is a bigger purpose and a bigger picture which makes her to continue on pushing her body to the limit.

It’s really all about pride, success, achievement, and making seemingly impossible things come true.  And that is an important lesson for everyone to learn.  Whether you are running a marathon, pursuing a new job, relocating to Mexico, changing your life, having children, or swimming from one country to another you can achieve whatever it is that is in your heart!


Baby Boomers are still booming!

But let’s not forget there is another very important lesson that Diana Nyad has left for everyone, whether she intended to or not; at age 64 you still have plenty of life ahead of you.  Your body works, your mind works and your dreams are still in-tact!  She totally beat the notion that moving into your 60’s means you have to sit in your rocking chair and knit sweaters!  Baby Boomers, this is your time to rock!!

Follow your dreams…

-by Bea Lozano
Mexico Condo Hotel Kit

Running the 10 Kilometer Cancun Neon Race

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For all you runners out there!  We wanted to draw attention to the great race opportunities that are being offered here in the Riviera Maya.  Like other major cities all across the world, the Riviera Maya is joining in on this much participated trend. Last month we told you about 5k and 10k (3 and 6 mile) race that was held right here in Playa del Carmen and since then we have traveled to Cancun to participate in the 5 and 10 k Neon Race in Cancun.

A Family Event

This turned out to be an incredible event for runners and also for supporters who were cheering on their friends and family!  The event started at 6 pm where runners got themselves all decked out with Neon Paint and glow sticks!  There were other items for sale like funny colorful hats, sunglasses and glowing headbands!  It was a chance to express yourself and be creative while you run!  We saw people all dressed up with neon colored wigs, body paint, crazy skirts and stockings and bright colored running sneakers!  It definitely brought personality and fun to running!


Neon Night

As soon as the night sky came along the sky was lit up with Neon colors and it looked awesome!!  There was a slight hiccup when a huge raincloud made its way through about 10 minutes before starting but that didn’t stop the runners.  The race went on!  Thankfully the rain stopped shortly after and the runners had a dry run!

Why Pay to Run?

But what’s with the trend?  Why would someone pay money for a number for something they can do for free every day in their own neighborhood?

One of our team members who ran the race says:

“I don’t necessarily love running but I am addicted to the feeling you get when crossing the finish line!  It’s amazing to see all the people out there cheering you on!  It’s invigorating and exciting and gives you adrenaline!

“Nobody actually wants to run a 21k or 42k race but they want the feeling you get from surviving it and accomplishing the seemingly impossible task of pushing your body to the limit and fighting through to the end.  It makes other things seem less impossible in life. 

“We all run for different reasons and all of them being great ones and healthy ones!  You can run because your happy or maybe you need to burn some anger, or maybe you just want to let your mind be free for each step you take towards the finish line; it could be as simple as running for a cause like breast cancer or other wonderful organizations where your efforts will be appreciated. 

“I have good strong legs!  When I run I remember the people who don’t have legs and wish they could run.  This is why I run and why it feels good!”
As the Good Feeling catches on we will likely see more and more of these races popping up and definitely more contributors.  If you are looking for other race opportunities close to Playa here are a couple recommendations:

“The running Dead Cancun” https://www.facebook.com/TheRunningDeadCancun coming to Puerto Morelos on September 22nd!  You may choose to be a runner having to escape the zombies or twist it up a bit and do a monster chase to scare away the runners.  Sounds like a super fun haunted house type event to me!

Then there is the Annual Marathon Riviera Maya coming October 27th right in Playa del Carmen! https://www.facebook.com/maratonrivieramaya

 

-by Bea Lozano 
Mexico Condo Hotel Kit