Sometimes when the scenery is as exotic as this, it makes more sense not to get dolled up for date night. Have you ever tried walking on cobblestones in the dark while wearing heels? Sprained ankle waiting to happen. I almost full out face-planted several times in the streets of Antigua because of the uneven sidewalks, but I digress…

Back to the exploring scenery thing.

Date night while travelling in Central America consisted of workout clothes, sweaty hair in a bun, and no makeup. On this particular night in Antigua it also consisted of our last hike together, a troupe of clowns, sushi, and sangria.

My husband for some reason always wants to work out together so we decided to walk through those picturesque cobblestone streets then hike up to Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross) which overlooks the city. We saved up our appetite to splurge on sushi afterwards, which we figured was totally worth it as it was M’s last night in Central America. 

The middle of the woods is always an appropriate time to strike a pose, right?

Overlooking the city of Antigua

I love his freckles

When we were getting ready to walk back down the hill we noticed a bus full of clowns had arrived. What the heck were 20+ grown ass adults in costumes, wigs, and facepaint doing at the top of this hill and why hadn’t I seen them on the way up? AND WHERE WERE THE CHILDREN? There were no kids around! Naturally I had to go find out what was what.

I greeted one of the clowns and he started speaking to me in Spanish. Realizing he mistook me for a local (I mean, look at that tan) I replied, “I’m from Canada, and I must ask, what is up with all of these clown costumes?” 

The look of confusion that quickly crossed his face was something I’d started getting used to when we left Honduras. It dissipated quickly though, and he called two friends over to tell me about how they were Patch Adams volunteer clowns. How unexpected! They were on a trip to Guatemala to visit children’s hospitals and orphanages. 

“Jean Pierre! There’s a Canadian here, you have to come meet her!” the first clown called out (for some reason he thought we would know each other). 



Sadly M wanted nothing to do with the clowns and went roaming with the camera elsewhere, so I have no photographic proof of being surrounded by a group of them hugging and kissing me. It somehow started because of the French-Canadians tradition of bisous (kissing twice on the cheeks) and kind of went from there. The only picture I snapped of them was from when I first noticed the group hanging about.

All in all it was an out-of-the-box date night and a memory that’s pretty sweet to look back upon. You never know what to expect when travelling, right?

Linking up with A Compass Rose.

PS: The Lifestyle Project is going through a redesign this week and there are a few kinks here and there. Don't worry, we're working on it!

Due to some very sweet comments on last month's confession post, I've decided to come back for round two. In no particular order, I confess:

• Last week I binge read The Fault in Our Stars. I totally got sucked into the hype and borrowed my sister-in-law's copy. The book absolutely lives up to its reputation and had me completely wrapped up in the story!  In fact, if this were not a confessions post, I wouldn't admit that I had to stop reading on three separate occasions because I was crying so hard the words on the page were swimming in front of me. Have you seen the movie yet? What did you think?
• I've been watching House Hunters and Property Brothers wayyy too much, especially for someone that doesn't have close to enough money to buy a property of her own. Also, on PB, do the buyers not know what show they're on? How are they always surprised that the first house is way over budget? And why do they always doubt what a paint job, new counters, and new floors can do?
• I've gained back any weight I lost in Central America and more. Why do I love to eat all the things I should not be eating?

• I really hate sticker decals on the back windshields of minivans and SUVs (if you have these I'm probably about to offend you). Look at what you're driving – obviously you have a family. Duh. But thanks for spelling it out that you’re married with three kids, two dogs, a cat, and (gasp!) enjoy playing soccer. Never would’ve guessed
• I drink probably more than my fair share of wine. This is especially due to the fact that we received a coupon for $100 off a case (that’s 12 bottles!) and now there’s always wine on tap
• I was absolutely baffled the first time I saw a drive-thru with suction tubes at the bank! What the wha? We don’t have this in Canada. Apparently you just put your documents in there and it gets sucked up to the teller inside the building

via

• I’m terrified every time an automatic toilet flushes itself. It scares the shit out of me would be the appropriate expression. Why can't those things wait an extra 30 seconds?
• I found a tick that was trying to burrow its way into my stomach this morning! So gross! They seem to be everywhere in TN
• I told my friends I would rather skip out of movie night than watch a horror film and this is the reaction I got:

A little while ago we decided to take a spontaneous day trip to Paris in pursuit of the world's biggest fish fry. Sadly I'm referring to Paris, Tennessee and not Paris, France, but still... good food is good food! 

It was one of those days where nothing was planned. Though we knew the general direction of where Paris is, once we got into town we had to stop and ask for directions to "this fish fry thing that we heard about." The beauty of small towns is that (most) people are super friendly and were able to give us perfect directions to a local fair where the fish fry was taking place. What they neglected to tell us was that the event didn't start until the next day! It was likely the first time in my life I'd been early for anything. 


In the end, we left without being able to satisfy M's fish craving that he's been chasing since Guatemala. Instead we ate greasy and fattening delicious handmade burgers and milkshakes at this ma and pa joint then drove to an elk and bison reserve in Kentucky because why not. 

The reserve was surprisingly beautiful so we took a bunch of pictures of ourselves with my tripod and remote and sometimes I turned the camera on the animals too. We had a frighteningly fun encounter with this beast when he decided to cross the road two feet from our car, which made us realize he was way bigger than our car. I popped out of the sunroof to capture a shot as I figured it was less of a risk compared to sticking my head out of the window and M had his foot poised on the pedal in case we needed to gun it. 


All in all, I'm loving my time here in the States and all the randomness that comes from it! Have you ever driven for hours in pursuit of food? I know I'm not the only one...

Linking up with Style Elixir / Walking in Memphis in High Heels / A Compass Rose / Because Shanna Said So / Get Your Pretty On / The Pleated Poppy