It’s not a bad day when you can say you met some cool new people from around the world, enjoyed a short celebration at Casa Picasso and attended a poolside BBQ, as was the case for me last night. Plans magically came about hours prior which is a common phenomenon of Island Life – short notice fun and too many choices at the same time.

Another great thing about living on a tropical island that everyone loves to visit are vacation party invitations. Many repeat visitors will host a party every time they come to town because it is an easy way to get everyone in one place and a more intimate setting than a bar. This time the fiesta was thrown by Leahann and Rick who are staying at Paradise villas. They are long time repeat offenders and often turn up on the island unannounced and surprise “gift bomb” their friends.

This time around Leahann gave me a week’s notice and asked if there was something I was looking to buy but could not get it here or she could find cheaper. My wish list included both thoughts so I asked for 4 flash drives as they make great gifts and I also asked for a crystal and a roll on rock salt deodorant. I ended up with two 8 gig and two 16 gig for $24 USD. She gifted me the rock salt deodorants. Since Kendall had asked his visiting friends to bring one also at my request, I got to pay it forward gift x 2 – Shirlee was extremely happy with her crystal and Kendall got the roll on. (If you have not tried this stuff consider doing so, it is environmentally friendly and healthy. I swear buy it and have not used traditional deodorant in at least 15 years.) Muchas gracias for the gifts guys and being my personal shoppers. Paul has said to put him down for an 8 gig drive so the tech toys are also getting gifted already.

Leahann and Rick are very gracious hosts and they always have room for one more. So when I told her I had plans to go with Shirlee, Aimee and Walter to Casa Picasso for a drink, she said “bring them along and show up anytime”.

Jackie and Adam are also very gracious hosts and they do a great job of making sure everyone who sets foot through the door of their restaurant has a great experience from start to finish. We enjoyed sitting at the bar chatting with Nicolai and Jackie and Adam when they were not attending to others. Our reason for going to Casa Picasso for a drink was to celebrate and collect a check for $302 dollars for the San Pedro Belize Red Cross. Casa Picasso has generously agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds from Group Volunteer dinners and individual volunteer meals.

Thanks to our last two volunteer vacation groups Johnstown United Church for having their welcome dinner there and FAVACA who opted to have their goodbye meal there. I attended both and without a doubt had very two delicious altruistic moments. Enjoying fabulous food with big groups of people who came to help our community become more resilient and a enjoy a Belize vacation – very rewarding.

After a couple of drinks we were off like a herd of turtles to find supplies to finish off our group party contributions. Of course it was pretty much guaranteed we would not get one stop shopping. We stopped at Island City for drinks, chocolate and marshmallows and did slow drive by’s at the shops along back street till we saw one that had bananas and the veggies we wanted. Our destination was  just north of town at Paradise Villas – a very cute long and short term condo rental option.

After parking the cart all we had to do was follow our noses to find the party, we could immediately smell tastiness in the air. Sometimes I like being early and watching people arrive and sometimes I like walking in to a good party already in process. The latter was the case and by the time we got there the BBQ, it was rocking.

Although everyone had already eaten, both our dishes were a big hit. We whipped up mini sausage veggie kebobs and a dessert barbecued banana and plantain with chocolate and marshmallow. It was a great party, intimate and fun, with both familiar and new faces. We ate, drank, swam and shared stories.  There were a couple of good six degrees of separation folks in the crowd.

After my Wednesday night sunset cruise and a Thursday night like last night it reminds me of how blessed I really am. This island takes good care of me.

Watermelon Cooler – My favorite Virgin drink at Casa Picasso – regular one has vodka

Handing over the check

Pool area at Paradise Villas

Swim up pool bar

Pool Bar Party