2015 Year Recap: Part 1

January:

Rang in the new year with good friends.

February:

Traveled to Trinidad to attend my best friend's wedding and got to catch up with all my girls at brunch before heading home.

 

 

March:

Traveled back to the Caribbean for another girl friend's wedding in Tobago. Both weddings I was a bridesmaid so let's just say the beginning of the year was expensive!

Soon after returning home from Trinidad, I flew to San Francisco for work. While I was there, I made some time to spend with friends and we headed over to Sonoma Wine Country to explore

April:

Hosted an Easter dinner party for friends at our house.

Went to Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival to celebrate a friends' birthday.

May:
We to my first Orlando City Soccer game with Kerri.

Attended Kate's summer BBQ pool party.

Went to Siesta Key beach for Memorial weekend.

June:
One of my best friend's from high school and her boyfriend came to visit us for the weekend and we had an amazing Sunday brunch downtown at Spice.

Went to Cocoa Beach with friends to celebrate another birthday and had dinner at Rusty's waterfront seafood restaurant.

Clearly I kept myself very busy in the first half of 2015 and definitely had a great time doing so!

Part 2 coming next week.

Let The Holidays Begin

Another warm and sunny weekend in Florida. We thought a cold front would be coming through but no such luck. The weekend was pretty relaxing and I only ventured out on Saturday to Kate's annual holiday party which was a blast. She really did it up with great food and drinks plus a photo booth and white elephant gift exchange which is always entertaining. So here's Saturday in photos...

The host and hostess.

I scored a pack of Cards Against Humanity from the white elephant gift exchange.

Festive Roxy

Lots of fun was had and I'm ready to take on more holiday parties ahead.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Friday Favorites + $325 Nordstrom Giveaway

Can you believe Thanksgiving is already next week? My favorite time of year is about to kick off which means many busy weekends ahead until the end of the year. We have our first Holiday party to attend on Saturday night but otherwise it should be a fairly low key weekend.

ONE:
This week we had our annual potluck at work and there was over 20 dishes plus the dessert table was out of control. It was hard deciding what to chose! I made a delish broccoli salad (recipe coming soon) to add to the spread. I posted some potluck dish ideas yesterday if you didn't catch it.

TWO:
I was putting my wish list together for the Holidays and my birthday in December and stumbled upon this 2016 Blog Planner from Amazon. I know they have free printable ones but it would be ideal to have everything recorded in one book and you can always go back and see what you've done in previous weeks.

THREE:
On Wednesday I went out for a happy hour girl date at our favorite sushi spot downtown to celebrate JQs birthday. It was fun catching up and getting our sushi fix.

FOUR:

We received these Wellness Petite Treats from Chewy.com and they are probably my favorite treats to date. Turkey, pomegranate and ginger are a unique blend plus they're healthy and grain free which is important when choosing treats for Lola.

FIVE:

For the next week, I'm teaming up with Pamela from Sequins & Sea Breezes and 20 other fab bloggers to give away a $325 Nordstrom Gift Card right in time for the holidays! The more ways you enter, the more chances to win! The giveaway end on Friday, November 27th at midnight and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 30th. Good luck!

Hosted By:

Sequins & Sea Breezes

The Gorgeous Co-hosts:

Cheshire Kat Blog | B Loved Boston | Champagne & Suitcases | Going The Distance | Love & Bellinis

Green Fashionista | Kids & Cabernet | Pink & Fabulous | From Here To Eternity | Martinis & Bikinis

Pink Persistence | Miss in the Midwest | A Memory of Us | The Sequin Notebook | Birdie to Be

MakeupHER | Christina Lea Loves | The Wandering Weekenders | Medicine & Manicures | Meet @ The Barre

$325 Nordstrom Gift Card Giveaway

Joining my fellow Floridian blogger Amanda from Meet at the Barre for some Friday Faves.

Disney Blogger Fun

Good morning pretties! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Can I begin by saying how devastating the news on Friday was about the turn of events in Paris and the amount of people that suffered. I just can't believe these things keep happening. They definitely need lots of prayers right now. I had a drink in Epcot's France pavilion for them this weekend and said a prayer.

This weekend was the perfect mix of catching up on some sleep and having fun out and about with friends. K and I had a low key Friday night after a busy week. We went to Ale House for some dinner and a quick drink before spending the rest of the night relaxing at home.

Saturday was a fun filled day at Epcot for the International Food & Wine Festival.  I met up with Pamela and Kerri to explore some food and wine booths and we had a surprise visit from Kristen who also happened to be at Disney with her hubs. It was so fun running into her and meeting in real life. 

Sunday was all about relaxing and getting things organized for this week. 

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup. 

My Role Model

November has always been extra special because it's the month we've always celebrated my grandmother's birthday. I don't talk about my her often enough even though I think about her almost everyday and still follow her words of guidance. She was my role model and there's no doubt I am who I am today mainly because of her. She just understood me and we had this incredible bond I've never had with anyone else.

Even though she left us 5 years ago, I can't let November come and go without honoring and remembering my forever best friend and role model.

Some random memories and things Granny Helen taught me:

~ that ice cream is much better topped with chocolate chips, sprinkles, coconut flakes (basically any of her random baking ingredients).

~ how to give a good back massage or scratch while we watch movies during one of my many sleepovers.

~ how to be empathetic, loyal and loving and the importance of helping those in need.

~ how to host a "high tea" party. She hosted tea parties for her group of lady friends up until her last days. I would often help assist with odds and ends.

~ my love of accessories and dressing up every outfit with different earrings or necklaces is definitely because of her.

~ to have a sense of humor and be silly sometimes. You can see her trying to get the last drop of eggnog in the photo below just to make us laugh. 

My favorite memories of my Granny could go on forever but I'm not a mushy person so those things stay in my heart. The holidays will never be the same without her though. She made it special.

xoxo