2013 A Review in Pictures Flipagram
In 2013 I welcomed my husband home after 751 days. Eight months later I kissed him goodbye for what should be 190 days. I kissed him... A lot. Said good bye to family and friends in Miami, fulfilled a life long dream of living in Europe. In Italy I've made some good friends who feel like family, climbed a mountain (sort of), read a ton of books. Wrote some stuff, including a letter to Juliette (and felt her up). I became a soccer mom, sent my baby to Kindergarten, drank a bunch of wine, and even more coffee and tea, and ate way too much gelato. My Gram gives the best hugs and slobbery kisses and I miss them. Oh and I still heart Mr. Darcy!I made this using the Flipagram app and the song is "Sway" by Blue October
Horizon Dream(s) [Typography]
You may get off track, loose focus and end up in a place you don't want to be. Have faith. Take a step back, evaluate your life, reconnect with the world, and the people who matter most. Find yourself again, look out to the horizon, your dreams may be far off, but they're there waiting for you to move toward them.
Photo: Taken Using a Nikon D3100 18-55 mm lens. One Sunday morning at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, FLquote: That was me too.
Ways To Save While On Vacation
Spring is nearly here and in South Florida it doesn’t mean the grass will be green once more, or flowers will be blooming. What it means is that vacationers will be flocking to our Sun and Sand and warm weather. It also means that many of us natives will be making our own plans for a get-a-way.
Taking a vacation, or even a long weekend, can get costly. I’m all for enjoying life but I don’t think a vacation should result in a person requiring debt consolidation to pay for it!Using credit cards while on vacation is sort of a given, however debt management must play a key factor when planning how and when you’ll use your credit.Using your credit card to pay for airline tickets is smart (especially if you pay them off quickly.) Using your credit card to pay for the $7 coke at an amusement park is probably not the best idea.Saving for a vacation is the smartest thing you can do. A well planned and well thought out vacation can help you determine how much money you’ll need to save. Once you’ve figured out how much you need, budget each month and put money away. Having a vacation savings account will help. Or, simply put away a bit of cash and don’t touch it. Many credit counseling services can also provide you with great tips on saving money for special things, like vacations, and other general items. Fiscal responsibility is so important, and a vacation that doesn’t end with you being in a lot of debt, will be a vacation much more enjoyed!Here are some ways I save while traveling.My best friend loves to stay at fancy hotels. I enjoy a nice hotel too, but I don’t enjoy paying for it. I often use travel websites to either “choose my own price” or find a bargain on hotel rooms. I usually get a much nicer hotel room this way.If you have small children, bring your own stroller. Renting a stroller at amusement parks is expensive.Pack light. More and more airlines are charging for baggage.I’ve lived in some of the biggest “tourist” cities in the U.S. including Las Vegas and D.C. Trust me when I tell you; a coupon is your best friend. Look for coupons for meal discounts, amusements, hotels, travel, etc.Also take advantage of any discounts you may be entitled to from memberships in things like AAA or AARP. My husband is in the military, one of the first questions I always ask is “Do you offer a military discount?” I’ve actually been given a discount sometimes when the business didn’t usually offer one just because I asked politely.Meals can get costly. Lunches are usually cheaper than dinner, so if there is a “fancy” restaurant you want to enjoy, opt to dine in for lunch instead of dinner. Having a kitchenette or even a mini-fridge in your hotel is a good thing. You can store breakfast-y items in it. If you’re traveling with children, see if you can find a place where the kids eat free or are discounted with a paying adult. If you’re not a “big” eater, share your meal. I do this a lot with my kids because I am never able to finish those large meals served at restaurants.If you’re traveling to a city where you know people, stay with them. Staying with friends, or relatives is a great way to save while on vacation. Even if your stay is for a night or two it can add up to some real savings.
The preceding was a sponsored post. All views and opinions are my own.
Some Alone Time
Yesterday I had a very rare treat...I spent the afternoon alone. I am the type of person who doesn't mind being alone. I actually enjoy it-I'm not saying that I want to be alone all the time, but each day I need some time to myself. Since having children getting out and doing things solo is about as rare as seeing a unicorn at your local petting zoo. It just never happens. Because my husband and I never lived close to our family before our children rarely left our supervision. We sort of have this motto, If the kids can't go-then we don't go.
Now that they boys and I are back home and surrounded by all sorts of family, I realized I'm going to have to "let go" and relax a little when it comes to leaving my children in the supervision of others. When one of my husband's cousins asked if she could take the boys for the day, I knew they would be in good hands. My son negated any reaming doubt when he asked rather exuberantly, if he was going to "have a babysitter?"
Yesterday while my boys had a ball at the park with their big cousins, I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon by myself at one of my favorite places in Miami. The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.
For the last two years I've recalled this area in particular from my memory hundreds of times; because it is where the opening scene from my novel takes place. I can't tell you how exciting and inspirational it was to finally walk exactly where my character does. To compare notes from those in my mind's eye to the reality was exhilarating in a way I never thought it would be. I struggle to explain how I felt as my heart beat quickened as I walked down the nature path to the museum's entrance, or how I felt when I finally laid eyes on the stone barge.
I took a ton of pictures that you can view in my Flickr set: Vizcaya Museum & Gardens some of them are blurry and lopsided, I've got a new camera (insert big ***squeee*** here!) In case you're wondering it's a Nikon D3100 and I'm trying to learn how it all works...this was certainly a great place to practice.
Miami Twice Vintage
Yesterday I took a little mini-excursion into a shop I'd not been to in over ten years (since I moved away), Miami Twice. I would go there when I was in high-school and just get all googly eyed over all of their antiques and retro pieces. Yes, I was into vintage when it wasn't a cool or hip thing. It was so great to go back and find the store still carried all the fun stuff. I could literally spend the entire day-but since I had the little guy with me, that wasn't feasable.While there I fell in love with this green 1950's number-went and tried it on only to find that the zipper wouldn't go past my rib cage. I wanted to cry because it was actually really affordable at under $50. The second dress I tried on was so cute, and totally me too. It was a magenta polka-dot number that I just may have to go back and get! 
I think, if I could I would probably fill my entire wardrobe from the pages of Vogue magazine of years past (mixed in with some contemporary pieces too of course!)
We Made It!
We made it to Miami...way back on January 16th.
Just after a surprise visit to Disney World. Our boys hadn't been and we hadn't been back since our honeymoon (today's my tenth anniversary by the way) so it was really fun. Crazy hectic and completely exhausting but totally worth it!Boy I've missed blogging and just sharing my day to day. I never intended to stay away from my blog for so long-but we only just got access to our household goods this week and my laptop has been on the skits, add in being crazy busy trying to get one kid enrolled in school and another baptized-plus a slew of other things and my hiatus happened organically. That's not to say that I've not wanted to blog-on the contrary I've probably written 100 blog posts in my mind...As I write this, I'm not even sure I'm able to promise to be back to blogging daily just yet. My husband departs in less than two weeks and family time is going to take precedence. Then after that...I really am going to play it by ear.
I do however have a slew of Project 365 photos to share with you and I will just as soon as I'm organized!
xo,
I'm Going Home...
I can't believe in less than a month we'll be on our way "home".
Miami is where we (my husband and I) grew up and ultimately it's the place we still think of as home. Even though we've not lived there since we were married nearly ten years ago.I've got so much to do. I haven't started packing yet. We just moved into our current residence last September and the very thought of packing up and moving again is daunting-especially around the holidays. I am focusing on the positive, (if you don't know this about me I am nauseatingly optimistic) I am very happy we managed to get our home sold this summer-so we're not having to deal with that stress-now that we have real live official orders. Most of our stuff is still in storage so what I will have to pack up will very much like a warm Spring breeze off of the Biscayne Bay instead of like tropical storm force winds.There is a very small...minute really, problem.I'm not exactly sure how I feel about living in Miami again.That's not to say that I'm not happy my boys and I are able to be in Miami with family and friends while my husband is off on the other side of the world, serving a two year remote tour. It's just that it's Miami. It's a wonderful city in so many ways and in a thousand others it's not. On the top of my reasons why it's not the greatest place to live. Miamians tend to be rude. And as I'm sure you know rude people suck. My friends tell me Miami has changed in many ways-unfortunately the people haven't become politer.I'm not going to let that get me down though. Nope. Not I. I'm going to be back in Miami-the shopping and food alone are reasons to put a smile on my face. Add in the fact that I will get some time to my self now and again (we'll be staying with my in-laws which is the equivalent to a live in babysitter and chef). I will get to spend some much needed girl time with my good friends, I'll get to take my little cousins (who aren't so little by the way) out and at the top of my list- I will get to spend spend lots and lots and lots of time with my grandmother-which definitely puts big smile on my face and is way better than all of the awesome shopping...and food!love and salsa music,
P.S. Consider yourselves forewarned...Once I am back in Miami I can't promise you that I won't write in Spanglish.