We are the new store on the block here in the  5 de Diciembre neighborhood so naturally we wanted to put on our best face to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. After a few hours of googling and checking out the local artists we decided to go with Misael Ivan Lopez, a very well known local graffiti artist. I've yet to see something of his I don't like, so really it was an easy choice. If you have a minute you should google him and check out his other work, I promise you it's worth your time. So anyhoo Misael loved the idea of skeles on the beach and accepted the job. We are thrilled with the final result and are hoping to have Misael back to do the inside of the store in the future after we start making some money. He was thinking it would be cool to continue the beach scene from the door on into the store with more fun things happening. And I'm thinking somewhere in the middle of that scene it would be great to have a naked skeleton streaking running through the scene. So many possibilities, I can't wait. - Nolan

This post is a lil late, but I didn't wanna let this holiday slip by without sharing a few thoughts, especially since this is our first year in Mexico celebrating Dia de Los Muertos. 

We got a car! She's a 2006 Honda CRV, and Bridget couldn't be happier. Personally I never pictured myself buying such an old car, but things are a lil different here in Mexico. Especially when it comes to cars. Here cars are surprisingly more expensive, and even older cars cost more than they would in the US. Anyhoo with us preparing to open the store, and moving further from city center it became clear that we needed to get a car. Uber has been great but just didn't make sense for us anymore. So meet Selena, we named her after the previous owner who just could not have been sweeter. I'm glad she's a Honda because Honda's last forever, and Bridget loves that is practically identical to the a CRV that she had and loved so much. And we both love that now Bolt came come with us to the store, and we can take him anywhere. - Nolan

So this post is about a month over due, but with so much going on I have just kept putting it off until now. Anyhoo after a long long year of going through three facilitators, two immigration lawyers, and a ridiculous amount of international mail and paperwork I finally have my dual citizenship with Mexico. I am now officially a Mexican citizen and I couldn't be prouder.

Dia De Los Muertos Oct 27, Day of the Pets

Fun fact about Mexico, well Puerto Vallarta at least. You can grow your own pineapple plant/s here! The climate is perfect for it. The warm sunny days and constant humidity make great conditions for growing lots of fruits. What we learned about pineapples is that all you have to do is twist the top off, then stick that sucker in some water til it gets roots, or even pop in straight in the dirt. Then just water it once or twice a week and boom pineapples will grow. It is kinda a bummer that it takes at least two years to actually get a pineapple off it, but still very cool that anyone can actually grow them. The most popular fruits that you'll find people growing in their yards here are pineapple, avocado, mangos, papayas, and bananas. All easily grown because this is the perfect climate for them. At this point our pineapple plant is about two months old. Only 22 more months til we can take taste sweet sweet fruit lol. - Nolan

Playa Listo (or Beach Ready) is our newest adventure!

It's crazy the way life works sometimes. Not even two years ago I'd never have even imagined we'd be living in Mexico. Ten years ago Mexico wasn't even a place I wanted to visit lol. Now here we are living in Mexico for the last 9 months, and we just moved into a more Mexicoy part of Mexico lol. We are still technically in Puerto Vallarta, but we are now out of the city and into the jungle! It's all kinda crazy the way it happened. Bridget met a guy on the plane on her flight back from the US, they made friends, he invited us to breakfast at his house, he happened to be renting the lower half of the house, and now were we are living in a Mexican jungle lol. 

There is a local volunteer group here that helps shelter dogs. They go to the shelter twice a week to walk the pups and they hold adoption days at a nearby mall. They needed more volunteers for an adoption day event. Their ask was for people to come and "sit with one of the dogs up for adoption" for 3 hours. Santi and Osa were the names of the two dogs Nolan and I were paired with for the day. There was precious little sitting that day. This sweet, but rambunctious, duo were so fun to spend time with. For dogs that have spent months in a shelter, they were remarkably well behaved. There were a couple of times that a mutually loved toy caused a skuffle between them, but other than that, they were total loves. There was the unfortunate incident (despite us taking them outside a couple of times) that Osa pooped loud and proud and Santi created an impressive puddle; all in the middle of the mall. Best part of that was the volunteers that weren't manning dogs themselves, ran over to clean the messes up while we all got slink away. Hehehe The day was long, and we were as worn out as the dogs by the end of it, but 10 out of 10 I would recommend. Great way to spend an afternoon. ~Bridget 

For anyone who knows my struggles with spelling, it may surprise you to hear that I was just a judge at a spelling bee. How did this happen?!? The teacher Nolan and I went to to learn Spanish also teaches English at a local university. He was running a spelling bee and needed judges. When he asked us to help out, my only thought was “I will do it if we get the answers”. Nolan and I show up to the university and oooo and aaaah over his students decorations of the hallway and entrance to the room. The room was a mock courtroom they use for their law students. We met the other judge (who had done this before and gave us the lowdown). I was so nervous! Knowing they could ask for the word to used in a sentence, I felt the panic set in. What if I can’t think of a sentence on the spot? Or worse, what if the sentence I think of is inappropriate?!? Then I remembered that the students were far more nervous than I was and I got over myself. We took turns picking words and saying them as clearly as possible. One by one they fell. It was heartbreaking every time. They were trying so hard. Down to the last two, and it was a nail-biter. They went back and forth thru 10 plus words until end. Afterwards there were lots of pictures and everyone got a certificate (even us judges!). All-in-all it was an unexpected way to spend our morning and I would totally do it again. 

We have been living in Mexico six months now. It's a different life for sure. I never would have guessed that life would lead me to Mexico of all places. Up until just a few years ago I never even wanted to visit Mexico. I had never even been to Mexico until we moved here lol. Things I miss most from the US are friends, the PNW, Made in China products, and a good steak. Mexico has amazing food on every corner but we just have not been able to find a decent steak, it's crazy! 

Her name was Ava. She was the sweetest little street pup in Puerto Vallarta. She had a seedy past on the hard, gritty streets of Puerto Vallarta but a kind organization found her and took her in. They administered to her veterinarian needs, had a little photo shoot, placed her pics on the interwebs, and she was adopted by a lovely couple is Seattle. Great, right? Well, no, they still need to get Ava to Seattle. Turns out you can’t just put a dog on a plane by itself. That’s where Flight Angels come into play. The organization then has to find someone who will fly from Puerto Vallarta to Seattle while being responsible for the pup and get the pup and the pup’s adopters together after the flight. I jumped at the chance once I saw the post looking for Ava’s Flight Angel. It was so easy and watching Ava and her new family meet was more touching than I thought it would be. I will be sure to let them know the next time I’m flying north. I would love to do this again. - Bridget