I grew up in a tiny town in Illinois, left home at 18 after graduating from Zion Benton Township High School (Go ZeeBees!), joined the Army and moved to Missouri and South Korea, got out of the Army and moved to Chicago, went to college and became a grademonger, had two long term relationships, one bad and one good, broke my heart into 81,206 pieces and moved to Ireland, hated it and moved back to Chicago 4 months later. In my life so far I have been, among other things, a responsible oldest child, big sister, cheerleader, pissed-off nanny, housecleaner, lifeguard, depressed whiner, Girl Scout, third baseman, swim instructor, frustrated writer, heavy drinker, sometime liar, remorseful cheat, burger-flipper, college student, bartender, crappy friend, disgruntled soldier, property manager, and cocktail waitress. Oh, and I cry at the drop of a hat these days, even at commercials.
Now I live in a tourist beach town in Mexico and wish I could break myself of my 200 grams of gummy bears per day habit. Email me at: heatherinparadise@hotmail.com
Heather – I know where Zion is, my mom was raised there. My family lived in Winthrop Harbor for something like 10 generations. My grandfather was run out of Zion for burning down a religious billboard! They kicked him out of the church and out of town.
You write really well and I enjoy your blog.
Hey, I just discovered your blog.. I LOVE IT. I am an ex-pat from Los Angeles who has been living in Playa Del Carmen for about 3 years. Just wanted to say hi.
hi heatherinparadise,
my, but your quite the renaissance woman.
my complements on your blog. i’m not a big blogging fan and hardly ever find one that holds my interest.
i do empathize with your problems in the shoe department. i wear talle 31 and in ten years here i’ve never found a pair. it gets expensive traveling to the states just for shoes!
here’s to your unpretentiousness. =)
Hi Mike, I’m surprised I haven’t already met you, I’ve been here in Playa for about 3.5 years and it’s not THAT big of a town. Especially when you’re talking about expatriates! I just found your comment in the Spam filter section, I NEVER go in there, so not sure what compelled me to this time. Glad I did, thanks for reading my blog!
Hi Edward, thanks for the compliments! Where are you from, do you live here in Playa?
Hi Heather
need you personal e-mail adress, its Gabi – the German one, who went to your x-mas party. We saw each other on Sunday at Kool
Besos
Since you don’t seem to have an email posted I will try this. If you send me an email from my blog (not a comment) I can tell you how I set up my camera for night photos. It’s not that hard.
Hello Heather,
I have a blog with nice pictures from all over the world that people take when they are on holiday or just when they want to share the beauty of the place they are living in.
I saw some nice pictures that you took on whatatop, would you be ok to send me a few so I could add them on my blog?
I also offer you to put a link to your blog or any personal space before adding your photos !
My email is Yourbestworldspots@yahoo.com and the blog adress is http://yourbestworldspot.blogspot.com/, don’t hesitate to come and have a look!!
Hope to receive some news from you !
JB
Heatherrrrr I have been wondering if/where you blogged. ugh. A comment you left me a while ago made me laugh so hard but the link didnt work. So glad to have found your blog!
Heather,
Hi I don’t know if you remember me or not but I am Danny’s cousin Tonia. Pleaes contact me talked with your mom and she said you were a travel agent and our family would like to book a trip to mexico and we heard you were the one to talk too…Please contact me tsawertailo at coilcraft dot com
Thanks Tonia
I just wanted to say hello and if you ever want to chat just email me and I wil let you know how to contact me.
thank you
me
Holy crap Heather this is the first time I’m reading your “about me” section. Way coolio you are super special and shit! lol
Hedder….are you there? I am still here! Blog me a blog once in a while I worry about you. Gram
Hi Heather,
I would like to stay at Zafiro in Tulum but I cannot find any contact info at all! Can you help me out on this? Nice blog and beautiful eyes!
Thanks so much,
Katie
Hey, Katie, I had Yuri’s card for Playa Zafiro, but I can’t find it ANYWHERE. I put it in some “safe place” and now I’m toast.
I will keep looking and get back to you ASAP.
The wedding pictures are wonderful, and so is the picture of you and michael (a good looking couple)! I also enjoy reading your blog. My son’s girlfriend has a blog (frecklednest) and so that is two that I try and read every day!!!.
Heather, Isn’t the blood rushing to your head?
well, you know who i`am…
jejejjejejjej
and i hope to see you whe you get back from
chicago…
te mando mucho abrazos y besos…
bye….
Hi there,
I actually stumbled across your blog, and glad I did. Very fun! Me and my wife had toyed with the idea (okay me mainly) of moving down to Mexico and after visiting Playa a few years back loved it. Anyways we too are avid VW fans (we have a 82 Diesel Westy). Take care, we really enjoyed the site!
Corey & Courtney (I know cute huh)
Hi Corey And Courtney: That is cute, but I have married friends who are both named Dana, so it’s tough to top that! Are you a member of any Westy forums? I just joined one but haven’t spent too much time on it yet.
That is tuff to top both witht he same name!!
I tried a Northwest based Westy club (wetwesties) since we live in Oregon, but mainly for the older group… Not that we have anything against that just not our style! Anyways, keep up the writing we have a good time looking through your site!
C & C
Hey there great blog I am comming down 10/23 till 11/02 staying in cancun whats the weather like? Glad I saw your halloween stuff wasn’t sure about bringing costumes. I am feaking about the place I am staying (oasis cancun)read bad reviews but the stay is free won a contest. Can you give me any insight on this palce?
Hi Al,
Thanks for checking in! Sorry, I’m not sure about Cancun, never stayed there in my life! You should be able to find some information on some of the Cancun message boards, I know there are some popular ones! Good luck and have a great trip.
Hi! I love your blog. I have been following it for a couple of months and even my husband (who always thinks he’s too busy to read blogs LOL!)enjoys your writing and finds it very entertaining. I’m so happy I finally read your all about you so I know why I relate so well to your sense of humor…..we have alot in common. Keep up the great writing. I enjoy reading about your fun adventures and maybe one day I will get the courage to make a big move too or at least the mental ability to convince my husband.
CHEERS!
Hi Brandlynn! Thanks for taking time to comment and for the kind words about my blog.
Since we have so much in common, I can only imagine that you’re hilarious, stunningly beautiful, and staggeringly talented, too.
(wow, I kept a straight face while typing that!!)
Welcome!
Hi Heather!
Its Nancy Kyd, from Playa (La Santanera – DJ). I am home in Vancouver since early november…and my mom had returned a week or two ago and mentioned she had a nice dinner party at my brother Dave’s house with lots of nice people but one girl in particular she thought was special…that was you! Apparently you perhaps wanted to adopt my mother…well she has room for another daughter! Beware though…you will GAIN MANY POUNDS in her presence…her cooking is amazing…I’ve gained around 8 lbs…hahahha Small World….I guess you never knew my brother is Dave (with Claudette) from Royal Palms.
I am returning to Playa for NYE – and to play for a while longer + Dr. Jorge will do some dentistry work on my teeth. Come by Santanera anytime…or call me on my cell 984 134 4303!
Cheers…i added my moms email as well (smdjoric@hotmail.com) Her name is Marijana she would love to stay in touch with you …Im sure she’ll visit soon again!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Nancy Kyd
Hey there! I saw a comment you posted on Char Marie’s blog, thought you might be a Playa gal. I think Josef and I met you (he’s Mastequilapf on playa.info) two summers ago. Thanks for blogging! You’re very entertaining!
A quote from Heather’s Blog: ” started playing with one of them, saying, “What the hell are you doing here, little guy?” and hugging him.
All of a sudden, he turned into Dustin Hoffman in a penguin suit and explained that as a method actor, he was simply researching a role.”
LOL!!!!!! That made me laugh out loud.
Thank you for your very strange dream. I needed that laugh.
Hi Heather,
I’m not even sure how I ended up at your site, but I’m glad I did.
I’m trying to convince my wife that it IS possible to pack it all up and head to Mexico… her powers of resistance are huge however.
We’ve got a little house south of PDC (Chemuyil) and we’re looking to rent it out ~ possibly long term. If you know anyone working down that way (10 minutes north of Tulum) who needs a place send ‘em my info.
We’ll look you up in June!
Hasta