Painting with a twist

I know they are super popular right now and popping up all over the place, but, I had never been to one... until last Friday. Painting with a twist. A little paint, a little wine and a lot of fun! Why did I NOT think of this?! What a great idea. Perfect for a girls night out.

My friend and I got there a bit early to ensure we could pick out a good seat and warn the teacher that we have NO artistic abilities. Of course, she said she hears that all the time. I am so serious though, I can not draw a straight line so I was wondering how on earth I was going to paint an amazing picture. But, you know what? I did. And you can too. I LOVE THIS PLACE!

When I was invited by a friend for a group event, I was super excited 1) because I have never been and have been wanting to for a long time and 2) the painting we were set to paint was nautical and I love all things related to the deep blue sea!

 ^^ the twist, drinks :)

It got confusing at (many) times!

^^ Our group

I had so much fun doing this, however, I think my painting looked better at the half way point, before I continued to add to it. Haha. Once we added the highlights, I accidentally went a little dash crazy and it changed my anchor from black to grey, but, have no fear, the teacher saved the day and showed me how to fix it!

^^ Half way point, looking alright if I do say so myself

^^ FINISHED PRODUCT!

^^ the groups finished product

^^ making a mess but having fun!

All in all, painting with a twist was a wonderful laid back girls night. For someone like me, who is not at all artistic, to walk away with their very own masterpiece, I thought it was pretty awesome. The class takes about 2 hours, we were scheduled 6-8pm but left around 8:20pm. We wrapped the evening up at Chili's for some deliciousness. 

^^ their guac was okay, but I like mine better ;)

Wednesday Weekend Recap

One of my best friends came into town last week for a vacation and she stayed with me. It was a week full of shenanigans as you can imagine. You know how it goes when you get your closest girlfriends together, especially when you haven't seen them in awhile. Her trip was semi vacation/semi taking care of business as she is looking to possibly move back to Florida to finish college. She actually lived down here before while she was in college but that came to a screeching halt when she was diagnosed with APL Leukemia in 2007. Thankfully, God is good and she has been in remission since 2009.

Anyways, she flew in Thursday evening around 8pm. And that ended up being a fiasco as a friend of mine was working on my car and it was supposed to be good to go for me... Well, as he drove it to my work, the part failed and it was leaking coolant again. Now, I count my blessings that it failed on him and not me when I was on the interstate. It still left me in a predicament though as I was stuck at work with no ride and T was stuck at the airport with no ride. I didn't want to stress her out so I told her I was running late due to work (which was partially true, hectic night at work) and I worked to solve our issue. I have the best friends in the world and a friend of mine let me borrow her Yaris not only to pick up T from the airport but all day Friday as well, all I had to do was wake up early enough to take her daughter to daycare and her to work. This helped SO much. T & I were able to grab a rental Friday afternoon and we were good to go transportation wise.

We got SO much done in a short 5 days, 6 nights. I have been clean eating 5 days a week since June but I knew this week would be lots of cheating as she had many favorites that we needed to visit that she can't get in Virginia. We started off Thursday night with a bestie night in topped off with horrible food and a great chick flick. We got Hungry Howies subs and I made a pinterest recipe, smores rolled up pizza, which was amazing and we watched The Other Woman and laughed until we cried.

Friday we got right to business with taking care of her to-do list while in town. It was an early morning since we had to drop my friend off at work. We then ventured out to Lake H which is a popular workout spot so we could take a 3 mile stroll while enjoying the great outdoors. We followed that with breakfast at Fat Jacks, her all time favorite and a must visit every time shes in Florida. You can get 3 eggs, hash browns, grits OR home fries and toast for $2.99. You can't beat that! After that we headed to the local DMV so she could try to renew her expired Florida DL. I was expecting a hassle, but, we breezed through! She took that as a sign from God! We made a quick stop at Parkesdale Farms for some produce and dessert. She was in awe that I've lived here my entire life and never been. And boy was I missing out. Their strawberry milkshake was top notch. No wonder it has been voted best drinkable dessert by food network. Friday night we had a girls night out at a local hidden gem that plays live music in a great outdoor environment. This was a perfect evening with the bestest of friends, good craft beer, variety of food and a relaxing live band!

 Saturday we intended to wake up early and head to one of my favorite places, Anna Maria Island, but, we slept in. We finally headed that way around 11am and met up with a friend for lunch at Lobstahs which is a local favorite. We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun. It was a perfect Florida beach day! We ended our Saturday by cooking in, shrimp, grilled onions, corn on the cob & cilantro rice.

 ^^ do not judge my corn. I like it Mexican style ;)

Sunday was a fairly laid back day. We went to breakfast with friends at another local gem, The Ribhouse, and then met up with more friends for Church (which might I add, the praise was awesome and the word was amazing!). We hosted a little cookout by the pool at my house after church to give anyone who hadn't met up with T over the weekend a chance to swing by while she was in town. I missed the gym Friday and Saturday so was grateful to have time for a run on Sunday night.

Monday we headed out to the Webster Flea Market which is only open on Mondays oddly enough. We went out there with a purpose and our mission was accomplished. The rest of Monday was back to reality for me. I had to return to work after a wonderful 3 day weekend, and T had appointments at local universities on Monday and Tuesday while I was working. Tuesday was also pretty chill. I hit the gym in the morning and then bam it was time for work as I went in early so T could make an early appointment. We had a quick lunch date at Panera and a local cupcake bakery before I jetted off to work.

 

^^ look at this cutie I found at the flea market! He just wanted some kisses!

 

^^ I got a reeses cupcake and T got a mini creme brulee

We definitely did not accomplish everything that she wanted to do while she was in town, but, we knocked out a big chunk. The most important part was of course getting answers about finishing her degree, which she got taken care of, so I would consider this a successful trip for her. She wanted to end out her vacation by going to her favorite spot, so we grabbed breakfast at Fat Jacks on the way to the airport.

When I say I am blessed in the friends department, I am not lying. I am so thankful for each and every single one of my friends. They truly are my family.

<3 you T, thanks for spending the week with me!

4th of July 2014

Hi Friends!

I hope your Independence Day was as blessed as mine.

I debated what to do for the 4th of July as I  started the week off thinking I would be having a 3 day weekend. By midweek, it was clear that our clients weren't budging and I would indeed be working my normal schedule which involves Sunday. And then my boss texted to see if I'd work on Saturday. Of course, it was optional, but, I said yes. A little over-time couldn't hurt. So, that made making plans easier, instead of debating on a weekend away, I knew I would stay semi local for my one day off. 

Thursday my Dad and I got a taste of what traffic would be like for the holiday weekend as we headed to Florida Hospital in Orlando to visit my cousin who had been admitted. If you aren't aware, my cousin is in end stages of renal failure and desperately needs a kidney... you can find out more by learning about Kidney for Kristy. She was actually released from the hospital that day only to be admitted again on Sunday. This is a vicious cycle and I am so hopeful she can get the kidney she needs so she can live the life she deserves.

A friend of mine just moved back to Florida from Iowa so I invited her out on Friday, and we ventured out with another friend to Haines City's Thunder on the Ridge to meet up with yet another friend. I may have a fairly small family, but, I have been fortunate enough to have amazing friends that have turned into family, and that's what these girls are! My friends family does BBQ competitions and they were vending at the event, so, we set up shop right in front of their area. The weather was perfect. When we 1st got there it was still typical Florida, hot and muggy, but, within an hour or two it cooled off much to our surprise. And there were no mosquitoes which is always a blessing. 

^^ Red, White & Blue! Proud to be an American.

While we had yummy food at the event, my body definitely noticed the difference since I have been eating clean(er) the last month or so. They had my Elote which is corn on the cob Mexican style with mayo, Parmesan cheese and chili powder. There was NO WAY I was passing that up. And of course I had to have some BBQ from my friends family. Pulled chicken isn't that bad, right? 

Saturday was my Mommy's birthday, so, I wore her favorite color,  yellow in memory of her <3

After I got off work I made a visit to the cemetery and then met up with a friend to get ready to go out as we had plans to go to  local beer/wine/cigar bar for some yummy pretzel pizza and Framboise.

^^ All of the above girls are pretty much amazing!

It was back to work as usual on Sunday. I actually had to be in early so I didn't get to attend church in person. I had to settle for a sermon online. Either way, I can not complain. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

Road trip - Port Saint Lucie, West Palm & Jupiter

This past weekend me and one of my best friends ventured down to Port Saint Lucie, Florida to visit a good friend of ours. Usually when we go down there, we go to the beach and relax for a few hours, but, this time, our friend decided to be our personal tour guide and take us down to West Palm Beach and Jupiter.

E & I headed out on Friday afternoon, after a quick stop at WaWa - because it's still new to us, and, I may or may not have a slight addiction to their fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, that, might I add, THEY WERE SOLD OUT OF! That's okay, I didn't need it anyways!

We arrived Friday night and just hung out. Watched a little TV, played around with Candy Crush and pinterest, and had a midnight snack of fruit and banana bread, yum! E & I got a little adventurous in the middle of the night. We were hot and realized the AC vent was facing away from us, so, we busted out some moves, and turned the vent towards us. To do this, E had to get down on all 4's and brace herself for me to climb on her back. But hey, it worked!

We were all up bright and early (like 5:30 in the morning for me, and I am NOT a morning person) and headed out around 9:30am. Our 1st stop was the Riviera Beach Marina. We had a great view of Peanut Island from the pier. While the view was gorgeous, I was personally more amazed by the friggin' huge lizards in the area. They were not iguanas. Apparently they are called curly tail lizards, and they can get to be massive. Not your typical backyard lizard, that's for sure

^^ the view from the pier

From the marina, as we were about to go over that beautiful bridge in the above picture, we had to take a total detour because we passed a Publix that had a parking garage on top, and the store on the bottom, meaning if you bought groceries, you had to put your cart on an escalator to get it to the top where you were parked at. We don't see that every day in the more rural areas of Central Florida. We ran in for a quick restroom break and then left without buying anything but we did send an empty cart up the escalator for the full effect. Shh - don't judge.

We eventually made it to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company for lunch and it was a perfect choice as we got to see a manatee swim by as we enjoyed the beautiful day on the patio. We also had a nice view of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. We ended up ordering fried shrimp, jambalaya and a fried mahi sandwich, all of which were delicious. 

We headed to the Blowing Rocks Preserve after lunch, and I think this was my favorite place of the day. It was breath-taking. And the weather was perfect. If I had a good book and a chair, I could have stayed out there for hours just listening to the waves and relaxing.

 ^^ truly breath-taking. 

 ^^ my pocket is bulging because I found a ton of great shells for my step babies! <3

We ended our day by driving by and admiring stars houses on Beach Road, as well as going under some beautiful trees that led us to Bridge road.

I had to head back into work on Sunday, but I had a great weekend with great friends and I feel so blessed for any time I do get to hang out with them!