My mom turned the big 5-0 this year. So we celebrated the best way we know how, by taking an epic trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I started planning this trip last October, knowing this would be a surprise for her birthday in March. Now let me just say, keeping secrets is hard, especially a big one. A lot of planning went into this trip, the location changed MANY times, but ultimately Cabo won.
The trip included of course me, my mom, my grandma (mom’s mom), my aunt (mom’s sister) and my mom’s best friend. We all decided that Cabo was the perfect destination to celebrate her 50th. When researching I wanted some place that we could have fun, do a little site seeing, but also relax. No kids or boys allowed on this trip, so relaxation was of course in the cards.
We flew American and we left around 7 AM eastern time, and got to Cabo around 10:30 AM mountain standard time. It took us about 5 and half hours via plane to get to Cabo from Indianapolis so it wasn’t a short trip. We had about an hour layover in Dallas, which was a perfect amount of time for us to grab a bite to eat and hop back on the plane. On our way home we had a stop in Phoenix, which was interesting. I have never been to AZ, and even though I only saw the inside of the airport, it was nice!
My grandmother had never been out of the country before, and got her passport specifically for this trip, how exciting for her right! Cabo was a great place for her first taste of Mexico.
Now I have been to Cancun before, but Cabo is NOTHING like Cancun. A couple of the most notable differences, the weather. Hot yes, humid..no. Cabo was a lot cleaner, and the travel by car didn’t feel like you were getting into a death cab each time you went somewhere.
My prior experiences in Cancun vs this trip to Cabo is that Cancun is also a lot more of a younger crowd, more centered around the parting and drinking (of course this also depends on which resort you stay at) and all of Cabo seemed more laid back and mature. I also didn’t spring break it up in Cabo, but I am sure they can throw a party, come on..it is Mexico.
I researched a few resorts, and they all had something to offer, but one thing to note, there are not many swimmable beaches in Cabo. The surf and undertow is so strong and swimming isn’t recommended.
After all the research, we decided that The Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos was the best fit for us. The grounds looked beautiful and the reviews were great. After spending 5 days there, I can say I would go back in a heartbeat. The resort was perfect! The staff was so friendly, helpful and attentive. Everything was always clean and the food was very good. My aunt even made a point to mention that it was the best food she has ever had at an all inclusive resort before. I have to agree, all the food was great and there were a lot of options.
Below is a picture of the Ocean, while technically it is the Pacific Ocean, it is shown on the map as the Gulf of California. In the photo it is hard to see but the edge of the sand there drops off about 5 feet down. If you want to put your feet in you have to carefully go down the sand wall. The high tide created this wall and often the waves crash against it. The crashing sound is very loud and can be heard even on the opposite side of the hotel.
This is a view of the resort early in the morning, sitting by the ocean.
The Hyatt Ziva had great seating and cabana options, they also had activities like sand volleyball and at night they had bonfires.
Early morning view of the pool. This place is a hot spot during the day. The photo below is of the main pool, they also have a adult only pool as well as a kids pool that has a large water play set. The Hyatt was very family friendly!
I snapped this picture on the way to the coffee shop one morning. This is a view of the pool from the main lobby.
My view outside waiting for the elevator. The weather every day was amazing, full sun, no humidity and upper 80’s low 90’s.
The next two photos are from the balcony of our room. 
Evening view of the beach. This shows how tall the waves are, remember there is a 5 foot naturally made sand wall where the sand meets those waves
One day we ventured out to the touristy part of town. It was a $40 cab ride there and $40 back. It took us around 15 minutes to get there. There is a marina with large yachts and lots of restaurants and shops with local goodies. There was also a mall with more high end shopping options.
We took a $20 per person glass bottom boat ride out to lands end. I would highly recommend the boat trip if you visit Cabo. It was really cool, but the water was really rough the day we went out, so we couldn’t get as close to the landmarks as they normally can. I really wanted to go up on lovers/divorce beach but it was just too rough.
Below is a photo that I took of Lands End. This location is rich in history and is a great spot to see marine life! We saw quite a few sea lions sunbathing and whales can be seen during mating season.
Below is a photo of the “keyhole” to the Pacific Ocean.
Rock that represents the southern most point, and also ironically looks like shape of California.
My aunt, mom and her friend on the boat out to Lands End.
Another photo from our balcony of the resort in the evening.
There were a lot of merchants on the beach, so you could get some handmade souvenirs. 
Since you really can’t swim in the ocean, the pool was packed every day. You had to go down early to get a good seat!
A few things I loved about the resort:
- The food, it was all great! I also loved that all the restaurants had outdoor seating. We didn’t go to the Spanish restaurant so I am not sure if it had outdoor seating, but I am sure the food there was also great.
- The service. It has been a while since I have been to an all inclusive resort but this place had by far the best service of any all includes I have been to.
- The extras. The resort had a coffee shop and snack bars so if you didn’t want to do a sit down lunch you could just get a quick bite, or order something from your attendant and they would bring it to you pool side! They also had a 24 hour lounge that had snacks and drinks. Everyday they also had a pool side lunch that was served fresh. One day they had chicken and pork with veggies. Another day they had paella. The pool side barbecues were alway a hit!
- The size of the rooms. Since there were 5 of us, we got 2 rooms with ocean views. Our rooms were located on the top floor overlooking the pool and the ocean. The rooms were very spacious, they had 2 beds, a desk and a couch. The bathrooms were also very spacious which is always appreciated when you vacation with all girls!
- Cleanliness. The whole resort was always clean. Even the public restrooms were always clean and well kept. I was also surprise at how into recycling they are there. The resort didn’t have straw for use except for in the coffee shop for frozen coffees, they served all drinks in washable cups and had recycling containers everywhere.
If you are looking to go to Cabo anytime soon, I would totally recommend the Hyatt Ziva! Cabo was amazing and their motto is “No Bad Day” and I would have to agree. If you are looking for your next vacation spot, look no further, Cabo should be your choice!
If you’ve been to Cabo let me know some of your favorite spots to visit and your favorite place to stay!
Ok, so this product is no secret, I think a lot of people use this, but if you don’t, you should. Just think of this as the adult version of the detangle spray that your mom use to spray in your hair when you were a kid. This nourishes my hair without leaving it feeling oily. It also helps control the frizz! I would recommend the original formula, I didn’t like the keratin or silk express formulas.
This product should be applied into damp hair around the root before drying, this helps give your hair volume and texture. A little of this goes a long way, I use this in the back of hair around the crown to give my hair more body. The heat from the hair dryer really helps activate the product. You can immediately tell a difference. I wouldn’t recommend if you are letting your hair air dry, if you don’t blow dry it then it makes your hair feel crunchy.
I originally bought the small travel size of this to see if this product really worked like it claimed to (cut blow dry time). This works, I think my hair does dry faster when I apply this thought my hair. I spray it though the middle and on the ends of my hair. It also acts as a heat protectant which is an added bonus. This line also has other products that I really want to try.
I saw a girl on instagram talk about how great this product was, so I decided to try it out. This does really hydrate my hair and helps repair the damage. I do just apply this though the hair and at the ends, I leave it on for 5-10 minutes before rinsing. Since I have an oily scalp, I do try to stay away from applying any kind of deep conditioner directly to it because it just makes my hair look oily right away.
I am a bit of a dry shampoo snob. I don’t know if it is because my hair is so oily but most dry shampoos don’t work for me, but I love this stuff. This helps absorb the oil, doesn’t leave any weird build up or residue in my hair, and helps give me texture.
Living The Ki Life 