Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! I'll give a weekend recap tomorrow, but I thought I would share an old home video of my 2nd Easter. Know that most of you aren't going to be interested, but I thought it maybe fun anyway (also because I know my grandma is biggest blog fan, and she'll love it). There is nothing better on Easter than a pretty dress, new toys, family, and wrestling...well, that's how we did it!

 Fun Fact: My mom is this video is younger than I currently am. I think it's crazy to think my mom in this video is only 26 and that curly headed baby is has now is all grown up. Oh how time flies..

Happy Easter!

My Weekend through my IPhone

With the weekend is coming to a close, here is a quick photo recap of some of the highlights!

I visited my sister at her cosmetology school and got to be her first pedicure. 

Spent time with a fur baby. Isn't he cute? He is such a sweetie!

We helped our college roommate moved into her first after college apartment.

And of course this happen!

We all saw that coming!

The very happy apartment renter! Congrats Jen!

 

A random stop because we have both never been. It was very interesting.

They even sell food. Like I said- very interesting.

 

Spent time with the in-laws. 

 

And now blogging about my weekend. 

Well, you are all caught up. Off to bed with me. I hope you all had great and relaxing weekend. Good night! 

It's Spring!

Happy Hump Day! We've made it to the middle of the week!

So it's the first day of Spring and if you live in the mid-west, you have been fooled by mother nature. Currently my phone is telling me it's 21 degrees outside. So I know for most of you, you are saying "What the heck- it's Spring". However, not me. Here is what my desk thermometer is reading currently-

That's right - 87.2! Have I ever told you I work it a hot box. Because I will not turn on the air conditioning when it's 21 degrees outside- I opened my window.



Even though it can get deadly hot in my office, I realize that I'm one of those very few lucky people who get a window it their offices (that even opens). And my view isn't bad either.



(Yes I realize you can kind of see me taking the picture- I tried from other angles- it didn't work.) Clouds are very pretty today!  Well, even if it's cold out- I hope you are having a great first day of Spring!

Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 4- The Final Chapter

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Thank goodness I'm out of my crabby mood I was in yesterday. By the time work was over, I was feeling better but I still didn't feel like blogging. The hubby was even nice enough to clean up around the house before I got home.

Well, we have finally got here- to the final chapter of Float-A-Palooza 2013. And as I promised- we saved the best for last!

The final stop of our trip was Key West, FL! I have to say Key West is my favorite stop for a few reasons-

1. You can use your cell phone without international charges
2. You can use your credit card without international charges
3. It's always a good time!

Sam has been to Key West in the past, and has never seen a sober noon- and he had a tradition he needed to keep alive! So our first stop was (after pre-gaming shots on the ship) Captain Tony's.

This was very much your dive bar, but it was a good place to start off our Key West experience. Sam bought around of shots, and he toasted to "Tradition".



We didn't spend a lot of time at Captain Tony's, but we did leave our mark before we headed to our destination.



While we were at Captain Tony's the bartender gave us a mission- to go to Hog's Breath and give the bartender Stephanie a hard time because "she was leaving". So off to Hog's Breath we went!



When we got there, we did find Stephanie and found out that she was leaving- for vacation! We were under the impression she was leaving Key West- like forever- which totally wasn't the case. Oh well, it still was a great place to check out and to try pickled green beans (looking at you Alison- according to her they were awesome!).

After doing a little wandering around we ended up at Tattoos & Scars. This is when things got a little interesting. This was the bar that Alyssa met "The Slurricane".

You know you should be worried when a drink comes in a bucket with a handle. You can look up how to make a "Slurricane" but this wasn't the same as what you'll find online. This Slurricane had the whole rail of flavored rums that the bar had (which was about 6 different kinds- but all tropical flavors) and little pineapple juice and grenadine (I think). Either way- it was tasty but deadly.

Feeling the wrath of the Slurricane! Sam snapped this great photo at lunch. By this point in the day everyone needed so food.  After some much needed lunch, we did a little more walking around and stop at our final bar of the day- Irish Kevin's!

Sam and I had been to this bar before and I knew it would be a get way to end our day at Key West.

The first time we were there, they had great live music and this time around didn't disappoint. The bar was very busy with a brunch of the Spring Break crowd, but it still was a good time. I think it's important to leave on a high note, and I think that was achieved.

Once back on the boat, we only had a few hours before we were back in Miami and back on the road to our normal lives.

Now that we are two trips in, I think that next year we'll probably do somethings a little more low key and closer to home. As we are getting older, people are having more life events that take priority- getting married, buying houses, or having babies. So even though I think a really good vacation is important every so often, I think if we want to really be able to get all our friends together that a smaller vacations are more feasible.

Question: What are your favorite places to vacation? 

Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 3

Hi Everyone! Hope everyone had a great weekend. My St. Patty's Day weekend turn out more eventful then planned. We had friends over last night for a last minute gathering. I almost always prefer to having friends come over compared to going out because it cheaper, more relaxed, and no driving home!

Now back to our regularly schedule post... Check out Part 1 or 2 if you missed them.

When we last left off, we were on our way to Coco Cay! If anyone has ever been to Coco Cay, you know it's a private island own by Royal Caribbean. So all and all it's just a preplanned day at beach. What's a vacation without a day at the beach.

However, before we could get on the beach, we had to to get to the beach. Being that it's only a small island, you have to take a small boat from the ship to get on the island.

The boat ride to the island wasn't bad. (But coming back was a different story- Big Ocean Waves + Little Boat = Wild Ride)

It was in the low 80's that day. We did little bit of hanging out in the water, but for the most part this is what we did for the majority of the day...

I know that tanning isn't great for anyone, but it felt so nice to have that sunny beating on your face. And in retrospect we really should have enjoyed it because at home they got 8 inches of snow dumped on them. That is why I believe a vacation in the winter is a great idea.

After we got back on the boat, it was "Formal Night". If you never been on a cruise, on "Formal Night" everyone gets dressed up for dinner. We had a great looking group if I do say so myself. 

While we enjoyed our dinner, we were sailing towards our next and final stop- Key West! You know what they say, "save the best for last" and we totally did!

Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 2

I hope everyone is having a great St. Patty's Day weekend! No big plans (yet- we'll see what today brings) in this Irish girl's life. Maybe just some corned beef tomorrow, that's about it.

I can't believe that's it's been over a week since we got off the boat, but we still have some recapping to do. If you missed Part1- check it out here! So when we left off, the boat was sailing out to sea for our big adventure.

 

One of the things I really like about this cruise is that it made a stop everyday of the trip. Being that it was a smaller boat then last years, it was nice to be able to get off and explore everyday. Our first stop- Nassau, Bahamas!

Sam had done some research before we went on the trip and he found a place he wanted to check out call the "Queen's Staircase". If you are going to visit Nassau, I would highly recommend checking this place out. It was pretty cool. Here is a link to some information about it.

Not only do you get to see the stairs (which some how we didn't get a picture of) but there is this cool man-made waterfall. Additionally, we were lucky to be stop by Tony, a park worker, who gave a us a get history of Nassau and the "Queen's Staircase". He was super funny and spent about hour talking with us.

Tony, the boys, and the "Bahamas Mama's"!

 

Just a few steps away from the "Queen's Staircase" was the water tower and Fort Fincastle. To visit the fort it cost a whole whopping $1. It wasn't a big place, but for a dollar it was worth it.

The fort sits at the highest point of the island, so we got a pretty cool view and a great place to take pictures. 

 

We could even see the boats from there. After the visit to the fort we walked around... we walked a lot... I mean A LOT! I don't think it would have been so bad if I was wearing my own sandals, but a good friend takes one for the team. After a long fun day, it was time to get back on the boat.

Our next stop... to the beach at Coco Cay!

Float-A-Palooza 2013 Recap! Part 1

So now that I back into the swing of things at home, it is time to finally get around to writing my vacation recap posts! I tried out the Blogger App while on my vacation, that's why you got two short posts last week; however I have to say it's a lot easier to write on post on a good old computer. Smartphones are nice but can't don't something as well as computers (well not yet at least).

Our vacation started off with a 24 hour straight road trip down to Ft. Lauderdale. I've never done a long ride like before and I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. It wasn't so bad because we had 6 drivers so we could keep switching off, but it still was rough. However, we rode in style...

That's one sexy set of wheels right?

After relaxing at the hotel for a bit we went out for dinner. I thought it would have been fun to go to the same place we went last year but no one could remember of the name of it, so we found a new place to try.

The food was pretty good, but our server wasn't. He just totally didn't care and you could tell he didn't want to be there. I order the burger and I thought was an interesting touch...

After dinner we were pretty lame and went to bed early because we all were still very tried from that long ride.

Come Monday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road again to get on the boat. Once on the boat the first order of business...

Somehow I was talked into drinking Long Island Ice Teas. Let me tell you that only lasted one day. The bartenders on the boat were very heavy handed, so no matter what type of drink you got, it was pretty much straight booze.

 Do you like the shirts? Jen was sweet enough to have her sister make us all shirts to wear!

I think one of my favorite parts of the cruise is the take off. This year we left from the port of Miami and you get a great view of the city as you sail away.

Another Float-A-Palooza was under way! We were off to our first stop- Nassau, Bahamas!