Vacation 2014 Part I

Our 8 day vacation came to an end last night and I'm a mixture of feelings about it. I was begging the time to stand still in the middle of last week, but I was also longing for our lives to get back on track again, but mostly begging the clock.

It's been about 2 years since we had a "real" vacation. I'm not counting last years vacation because Ryan and I were sleep deprived zombies and learning how to be parents. I barely recall anything from that week and relaxation was the last thing on our minds.

So that is why we made sure to fill this week with everything a vacation recipe calls for. 

Our week started last Sunday, after dropping little hunny off at my parents house. We have been anticipating the new expansion to Harry Potter World since the commericials started airing on TV. The last time we explored Universal Studios, Harry Potter World was in an itty bitty corner of the park, but it was still just like walking into pages themselves, so we started planning immediately and next thing you know we became annual pass holders to both parks. Now we can jump into the book whenever we feel like it. 

So we made the short 2ish hour drive and spent the whole day, just the two of us forgetting about all the responsibilities of our lives, sipping on butter beer, and exploring Diagon alley and the rest of the worlds in both parks. Since we wanted to go a little crazy since we were on vacation, we got a super fancy shmancy hotel (I hardly knew the real name of it so fancy shmancy hotel was a great substitute). This hotel put any hotel I've ever stayed into shame, it had a gigantic kitchen, the nicest balcony and view, a bed that slept probably the seven dwarves and a jacuzzi tub.....WITH JETS. 

Home was a distant memory at this point. Park Place who? what? where?
And then we quite literally sunk our heads into pillow heaven and slept like champions. In the morning we made our way to the cafe connected to our hotel, got Starbucks, and tip toed back to our room and enjoyed the sunrise and breakfast on our balcony.

It was the life.
We spent the next few hours back at the 2 parks until our feet were bubbling with blisters and we couldn't take the heat anymore.
We arrived home probably limping toward the door, but it was all totally worth it, if only we could bring home our own personal butter beer keg, I think our lives would have been completely complete.

The Knights at the Rectangular Table

Why is sitting around a table of people you love so heartwarming?

Ever since I can remember, I sat at the table for dinner with my family. As I got a little older though I always wanted to branch out and go finish my dinner in my bedroom, in front of the TV or laptop. And when Ryan and I moved into together typically the place to dine was seated on the couch or our bed (back in the real old days, when we lived with roommates eek).

Not until becoming a parent did I realize how essential it is to have this time together. Sharing a dinner behind a table was such a huge staple in my childhood and I never understood why it was such a big deal. I think it may be because the action of sharing food with the people you love will always be the number one thing that brings you closer to them. It's also a break from the world for a bit. Everything is so fast pace most days and this small endeavor slows the clock a bit and forces us to rewind with one another.

When Ryan and I moved into our very first apartment together, we collected A LOT of odds and ends. Mostly from garage sales and big thrifting adventures. We even found a table in the midst of everything and we thought, "well, we have a dining room...so why not?" It was a decently sturdy piece of work with a coat of solid black paint (not stain, mind you) with iron black poles from legs. It was a stunner. It did come with two chairs though, so that was a score. I got super crafty and reupholstered the stained cushions and was quite proud of us for even having a dining room table to begin with.
Until, we never used it. Well, no...we DID use it just not for the food eating part. It was a catch all for groceries and bills, a table for doing late night homework, an extra counter top (have I mentioned how tiny Park Place's kitchens really are?), and my sewing and cutting table when I taught myself how to sew, OH and we must not forget, it was the cats favorite napping spot.

That table followed us to the apartment we are currently in, and I despised the thing and ONCE again never used it. We were ready for an improvement, and just in time because Lola was beginning to eat table foods, which would in turn mean she must eat the food from the table!
Ryan set to work and crafted my dream table, and I might have fallen in love with him a little bit more because of it. I love when my pinterest fantasties actually come true.

So it took a while of adjusting to, and I sure did miss watching HGTV and chowing down on some grub, but the first night we sat down, all three of us at the table it was bliss. The TV was muted, our phones were somewhere else in the abyss and all we had was each other and our food, laughs, and empty bellies. We have made it a part of our week, every week to sit down at the table together at least 3 nights out of the week. This has also forced us to get back into a cooking routine, which is amazing because home cooked food will always win over take out.
 This table also brings back frequent memories of the last table. It still is a place that I use as a desk every once in a while when I don't feel like blogging in the bedroom, and the cats are in paradise since all three can basically fit on top for nap time now, and the catch all thing is pretty much a given....but it's wonderful and it's lovely how a piece of furniture can accomplish so many things.
Three cheers to conquering the mainstream routines of the folks in this day and age. I'm okay with living in a half old fashioned way once in a while :)

Patches of Nature

After buying our new car we were so antsy to take it anywhere and everywhere, so a few weeks ago we headed out in search of a new journey with Lola. It was a Sunday evening and the sun was melting into the clouds as the day was soon coming to an end. We found ourselves at The Florida Botanical Gardens. There is something about gardens in general that make me feel so alive. Maybe it's the unconscious feeling that all the surrounding plants are actually living and breathing just like us.

Maybe it's my forever dream to own a garden of my own, with paths of flowers and tomatoes and citrus trees. Anywho, this place was magical in it's own little way and made us feel like magic.

The place was so empty of people and the hustle of the city life surrounding it. We took our time.

We raised our heads to gaze at all the different banana trees and we traced each and every plant searching for the charms it held within. 

We pushed forward to the flowers, the trees and even the several ponds that were scattered about the Gardens. Lola adored being surrounded by so much nature and even being one with it while she sat upon carved out tree stumps made especially for little tushies. 

The sun was just about gone when we decided to leave this humble patch of nature and escape back into the real world. I think the next time we embark on the Botanical Gardens it will be with picnic basket in hand. 

A Little Scorching Hot Mermaid Birthday Party

We decided to celebrate Lola's birthday on the Sunday before her actual birthday because we like to live our lives rebelliously. No, but really we did it because we were trying to escape the crazy Fourth of July freaks on the weekend of her real birthday.
Ultimately this means that we got to celebrate her birthday twice, which turned out being the best part of all.

I was super overly prepared for this day. I had like four big reusable bags filled with decorations that were packed a week in advance, we got the food and cake ordered on time and got all the drinks and food nicely set up in the car the night before so there would be no mishaps. My parents watched Lola while Ryan and I headed to Phillipee park to start the decorating process like 2 and a half hours in advance. I WAS READY.


But not really.
After an hour of being out there I was drenched in sweat (it was 11 AM people). My forever hatred of Florida remains deep deep in my soul. Also, after an hour of decorating, getting it all cute and super decked out the ferocious wind starts gusting through blowing all our hard work to hell. Literal hell, because it was 100 million degrees outside. sigh.
And to top off all that lovely excitement I go to take pictures and forgot my memory card at home, lost in the wilderness. Instead of having a mental breakdown, I sat down with my best friend and stuck a super fancy paper straw in a cup of Hawaiian Punch and let it all happen.

Guests start arriving and so does Lola with my parents. Everything is going peachy until all our guy friends start trying to wish her a Happy Birthday and the world probably ended just right then. She cried...and cried...and cried some more. And if any guy (yes only men) of any sort looked in her direction she started crying alligator tears. We scooted the guys off, with all their dreams of being Lola's favorite, to go play some sort of sport so Lola could actually some what enjoy her birthday party. And that she did, with sweat running through her wisps of hair and being held by Mommy or Daddy the majority of the time.

The last half of the party ended up being a whole lot better, thanks to melted cake smashing and icing face painting. She went to town on that cake and the world kept on spinning even with all the men spinning with it, and she started to be somewhat okay with that.
I was so happy to throw her a party and get all her family and friends together to watch her turn One (kind of). All the people that have been there for us this whole year and supported us through it all. You guys are truly the greatest and I can't wait for Lola to grow up knowing such wonderful people.
^ yep we got a play kitchen for a 1 year old. I couldn't contain myself.



Now as far as next year goes...I'm not too sure yet, but I have eternally vowed to never allow an outdoor party involving Lola's birthday ever ever ever again. Unless a pool is thrown in the mix. Time to get creative from hear on out.

A Car Journey

When Ryan and I first started dating we both were car-less. It was funny because we would literally walk to most of the destinations we desired and were perfectly okay with it. I still would walk everywhere around the world as long as Ryan was my walking companion, but a car was like a far far away fantasy 4 1/2 years ago. Every once in a while we would snag a ride in his brother's car to go to who knows where and we were all lame about it and thought we were so damn cool.

Fast forward about a year later. Ryan's dad found us a beat up old Ram van and we paid like 500 bucks for it. Big spenders. It was THE best thing since sliced bread. We went mostly everywhere in that van. He would come pick me up from my Mom's house and we would cruise around and take our mini adventures around town and the sidewalks didn't miss us much at all. So just picture a big black and aqau van, that has only a driver's seat and a passenger seat. The whole inside was empty except for a bunch of weird stains on the carpet, carpet on the sides and pretty much everywhere and little aqua velvet curtains on the windows. The curtains were my favorite. We named the van Jeb after our big fat black cat. We brought Jeb home in that car, he was the babiest kitten then and we let him roam in the back the whole ride home. We spent a lot of time in the back of the van just getting away from the world for a little bit. Then poor 200,000 mile Jeb the van broke down.

Back to square one. We didn't have a vehicle for about another year-ish. Until we decided to make a rash decision and go to one of those hick used car lots that nobody really knows about. Bobby J's. This is where we got The 1999 Chevy Cavalier. This car was a literal hell on wheels. Not in a good way whatsoever. It has spent countless days in the shop fixing all it's insides. The engine blew and we were without a car AGAIN because it took a while to get it fixed. It's been a good year and a half since that happened and it's still running....sort of, if that's what you wanna call it. We never knew how much gas we had because our gas gauge was possessed along with the speedometer that would sometimes go wacky crazy while you're driving down the road. This car had it all.  Anyway aside from all that we were all happy slappy and then our air conditioning broke completely which wasn't so bad in the fall and winter, but the summer....don't even get me going especially with having a baby. It was just becoming unrealistic. Sigh. Around this time last year our car also got badly BADLY infested with german roaches. YAY. So not yay. We still managed to go on all our adventures and we made so many amazing memories in there don't get me wrong, it's just it was time...

Friday night. It was a casual Friday. My mom had actually taken Lola for the day so I could get some much needed deep cleaning done in the house. Ryan came home and immediately jumped on my laptop. After about 2 hours of his face being planted on the screen. He closed the laptop and we drove to the Toyota dealership down the street. We drove up in our Cavalier, surrounded by nice shiny, bugless cars. We met our sales guy, he pointed straight ahead to what was going to be our future car. I think we were both in straight up awe over this thing. So sleek and black and gigantic on the inside. It was time. We have needed this for a long time coming, especially with Lola coming along on all our adventures. We knew we needed something reliable and strong enough to endure the future unlike our past cars. So without further ado say hello to our 2011 Toyota Camry....

Dad's Day

He wrapped her in his long arms, so tight and trembling that I think the world shook a little. She squealed the tiniest of squeals while she was being passed, but the very millisecond that she rested her tiny head against his heartbeat, the storm passed.

The whole storm passed. 

The next few days he was tested. He was terrified, but calm. The first night was easy, but the second night was a doozie. Her cries could have broke down the strongest of people, but not him. He scooped her up into his long arms and made a song from the wild ramblings in his head. 

The whole storm passed.

He packed the car with everything in the world, and the fear and anticipation in the back of his mind. He didn't pack the "how to be a dad" manual though, he didn't need it. No one really does. 

Leaving the hospital was bittersweet and the next few weeks were trying. 

I was a disaster and he knew, so he swooped down to the rescue. He stayed locked beside the both of us, keeping us both steady and at ease. We were all scared, and he was there. Always there.

He went back to work, a 60+ hour a week job to shelter us and feed our bellies. He never complains, and every single day he walks through the door, snatches us both up and never lets go. 

If I'm stressed he shoo's me away to go let it out on some piece of art. If Lola is stressed he plants huge kisses on her and tells her stories as he does continuous laps around the house. 

He always lets the storm pass and he is always the umbrella.

He takes care of us, and he never feels bad about us taking care of him. 

He supports all my crazy ideas, he's not afraid of a giant diaper filled with the good stuff, and he always makes time. Time for making up songs, time for cuddling on the couch, time for evening walks when the witching hour hits, time for mommy and daddy time, time for taking me to all the places I want to adventure to with our little trio, time for being the ultimate "dada" of all time. 

He may mismatch her pajamas every night he's on bedtime duty, he may lose a pacifier every once in a while, he may even lose track of his senses from time to time. 

Our world is still spinning because of him and he's the best role model for Lola in every single way. He keeps me grounded and keeps Lola on her toes. 

I've fallen in love with a whole new person now. The person he was before was the most beautiful thing on this earth to me. Now that he is the father to our daughter, I've fallen just a little bit harder, but it's okay because he still has that umbrella to save me from the fall. 

The storm always passes because of you.

We love you Ryan a.k.a "Dada."

Happy 1st Father's Day hunny.

Coffee Table goodbyes

So we made peace with our coffee table. It was a sad goodbye, but we are coping. Our coffee table was actually our friend's coffee table hand me down type thing. It was wonderful it had these gigantic built in baskets and it was pretty big which I loved because I got to throw a bunch of cool stuff on there and gawk at it every time I watched bad television.

Our love for our coffee table ended when Lola just recently got sick, like terrible sick last week. We like to camp out in the living room when she is sick so we can keep a close eye on her in the middle of night. Not to get off track or anything, but this is always the best because we get to snuggle our hunny in the middle of the night and living room camp outs are simply just the best thing ever.
Anyway, so since our mattress takes up our entire living room, moving the dreaded coffee table out of the way is a must. The next morning when Ryan packed up the mattress and all, Lola and I spent the whole day exploring this new found space that once was home to our coffee table.

She was able to move freely around the living room and honestly so was I. I never realized what a nuisance the big block of wood was. It also was becoming a catch all to just about everything and it wasn't in the best condition possible when we got it. So that was irking me relentlessly.

Our solution? A nifty behind the couch table. It's literally genius and I am in so much love with it. Ryan got like 2 pieces of extra thick extra long wood, got them cut into three pieces, slapped some orange (yes, I said it: orange) paint on them and pieced them together. It fits so snuggly behind our couch and it's hidden. We have a place for things upon things, and it doesn't get in the way. Hopefully this means less forehead bruises for Lola and more simplicity for us.

Ryan's next challenge...a dining room table to rule all dining room tables.

Year 22

Here's a huge shoutout to birthdays that fall on Monday. This year I got a birthday weekend, I'm talkin' Saturday-Monday people! All because my birthday fell on a plain jane Monday.
So here's 22 (in honor of yours truly) reasons why I'm giving two thumbs up to my birthday this year:

1. Ryan decided to blow my mind and bring me to see Disney on Ice this year.
2. This means, I got to be a four year old again and sing every song at the top of my lungs.
3. Buzz Lightyear and Woody on ice....enough said.
4. Meeting friends at Applebee's at the only appropriate time...after 10pm.
5. The lovely creation of BOGO drinks and half price appetizers.
6. Ryan decides to be a hero and steam clean all the carpet in our apartment.
7. I get front rows seats to the madness.
8. After our carpet is a wonderland, he rolls out the giant rug I've been swooning over at Home Depot.
9. We lay on it together and make rug angels if those are really a thing.
10. My family takes us out to Kobe for the second weekend in a row.
11. I smother all my food in yummy yummy sauce because why not?
12. Birthday cake for breakfast on your actual birthday should probably be a tradition everyone follows.
13. My best friend, my Lola, and I take a trip to the Florida Aquarium.
14. It's like the place was rented out for us because who actually goes to the aquarium on a Monday? WE DO.
15. Lola was completely in love with just about everything and was excersizing this new pointing mechanism that she has learned recently.
16. I took too many pictures for my own good. Scroll down.
17. Ryan surprises me yet AGAIN with the kitchen aid pasta attachment that I could only dreamily stare online at until now. I was in total shock and I think I hugged him about a hundred times.
18. A trip to a giant walmart garden center.
19. Came home with a Roma tomato plant and a Bell Pepper plant WITH baby tomatoes and bell peppers! There's something about baby produce that makes me impulsive.
20. My lovely parents took the little hunny for the night and Ryan made reservations for The Melting Pot.
21. The melting pot was the best experience I've ever had as far as restaurants go. Dipping things in
22. cheese and chocolate can always always be a thing for me. They also sent me home with chocolate covered strawberries for my birthday because the manager loved us so much. What gets better than that?

This year I can say I have a clear head and this year so far has been nothing shy of amazing and this birthday is just the beginning to many more to come. I think I've finally started accepting adulthood...in my own way of course. Things are changing and I actually like it.