I took a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

Hey everyone! I feel like I've neglected my blog, but with good reason. Through ripping and running and preparing for my birthday, there was just too much going on for me to keep track. Not to mention, I was also on Christmas break from school so I was in total relaxation mode. However, I'm happy to return and bring you everything you need from the Life of Jordie.

I went on my first girls trip to Mexico and it was great. Well almost 5 out of 5 stars but I give it 4.5 because, well, I'll tell you later. Let's start with the fun.

Four of my friends: Amber, Essence, Keana (my cousin) and Stanzza accompanied me to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for my birthday celebration. This was a big deal for me because it was my first time being able to travel and do my birthday my way without track season being in the way (side note, I used to run track and indoor season begins on my birthday weekend).

First day (Thursday): Our flight landed in Guadalajara instead of Puerto Vallarta because there was an oil spill in PVR and blah blah blah, we ended up in Puerto Vallarta 2 hours later. We were greeted with margaritas though, so hey Partaaayyy! The hotel condo we stayed in was in Nuevo Vallarta so that was about 20 minutes or less from the airport. We booked with AirBnb, absolutely loved it!

Upon arrival, we put on our swimsuits and sundresses and headed to dinner at La Barracudas and ate some of the best spicy salsa, shrimp tacos and enchiladas. The food was great and drinks were amazing, service was awesome and we left with full tummies. 5/5 stars.

That night, we went to a club called Strana. Literally, they had to have soundproof walls because from the outside you couldn't tell that it was even jumping in the inside. We found some nice friend's section to join. By friend I mean complete stranger. They were sharing drinks and were all good with that. Essence told the DJ it was my birthday and they sent a complimentary bouquet of shots. I'm not sure what it was but I think we all had 3-4 each. Downed it easily. None of us knew the words or the music we were dancing to, but we worked our hips and kept it grooving until about 2 am and we were dog tired. We tried to leave the club and our new found friends wouldn't let us.

Friday morning we all slept in. That was not the plan at all. Once we all tidied ourselves up for the day, we headed to another restaurant Marisco 8 Tostadas. I give it a 3/5 stars. While their food was very fresh, it didn't hit like the first place. I had authentic tortilla soup that tasted pretty good but my shrimp tacos tasted like the fish jumped out the sea into the tortilla. Very fresh, very fishy.

After we ate, we headed to the beach to hang out and relax. I expected the water to be extremely cold but it wasn't so bad. We also sat by the pool for a while and just soaked in the sunset before heading up to shower and get ready for the nightlife.

That night we took a taxi to downtown Puerto Vallarta. We caught it on a good night because there was a central market shop-type function going on where there were about 20 vendors selling homemade food. Everything Mexican you name it! I ended up getting a spicy chicken taco from one stand and a blue corn quesadilla from another and it was great!

The clubs downtown that night were also really fun. First we went to this restaurant for drinks called Señor Frogs. It has a party atmosphere and the staff are all very energetic and friendly. After joining a kongo line for free tequila shots we ended up putting on a show for the other customers and ended up on the bar, haha. We found two other fun clubs that night, Mandala and one with a giant cow hanging from it, can't remember the name, and we didn't get home until about 4 am.

Saturday we woke up early to take a boat trip to an Island off of the coast called the Marietas. I'm not sure that we were given a proper rundown of what type of boat we'd be on, etc. because we were told there would be music, dancing, open bar, open food. There was none. The boat was going 2 miles per hour, the music was extremely retirement home elevator music, the food was not bottomless. We were given continental breakfast and weren't allowed lunch and drinks until after the activities at the island.

We did see whales and that's cool, I suppose. When we arrived at the island, we were on the side thats all rock and I was looking around like soooo we're not going to go to the beach side... ok. We tried snorkeling, that wasn't all that fun. So we ended with paddle boarding and kayaking. I also saw plenty of crab and sea urchins near the reef. Yay, marine life!

The rest of the trip was spent at the beach and going out. It was really fun and I'm glad I got to experience it with my best friends. Aside from almost getting kidnapped one night and becoming a Lifetime movie, the trip was great.

Juuuuuust kidding. Everything was all good. My friends and I were safe and made smart decisions and all returned back safe and healthy.

Until next time Mexico!

Live life,

Jordan