You're on the Mayan Riviera in Mexico!!! Plenty of sparkle here....the water shimmering in a manmade cove at sunset, the light glinting off the pool and through the ice in your glass, rain drops dripping off palm leaves like little jewels.... mmmm. This is my kind of 'bling'. I really didn't think I was a jewelry and sparkle kind of girl. Still, when I see some something sparkly that I like, I sound a little like my 4-year-old, Ella....."ooh...pretty".  And so, it's hard for any woman, really, to keep from gasping an audible "ooh" or "ahh" when she first sets her eyes on the showroom at Lapis Jewelry Factory in Puerto ...

I think it's fun to flip through travel brochures and "imagine the freedom". In which part of the picture do you most imagine you'd be? Where would you go? Who would you take? How would you tell them? The modern version of travel brochures comes courtesy of the internet...websites for resorts, like the Occidental Grand Xcaret where we are in Riviera Maya, offer virtual tours of rooms, grand lobbies, and the grounds.It's as if you're standing in the lobby, doing a 360 degree turn, and seeing everything you would if you were right there. Tour companies show online highlights of ...