Showing posts with label Orlando. Show all posts

Friday Favorites

With Monday being a work holiday, this week seemed to just fly by which is always a great feeling! After the busyness of the holidays, I'm welcoming a fairly relaxing weekend which is perfect since the weather forecast isn't looking good!

 
On Fridays I usually post about some favorites from the week. Today I wanted to change it up and share favorites that are relevant to the theme of my blog (all listed in my navigation bar above).

Martinis & Bikinis is a Lifestyle Blog so I talk about a hodge podge of things which inherently means these are the things I love and enjoy doing.

Orlando Living

I talk about my weekend whereabouts and all the things I love about my city including my favorite sushi restaurants, happy hour hot spots...and other fun things to do.


Travel
I have a huge passion for traveling so this comes in 2 parts...

Travel Planning
The only trip I have signed and sealed for 2017 is Boston in the Spring and I'm super excited about planning out the details of that trip!

I'm sure there will be other travel adventures throughout the year once we figure out our work schedules.

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Travel Recaps
A recent one was our company Cruise to the Bahamas last month and how much fun we had exploring Nassau.

That's me learning how to use a selfie stick. Still don't own one.

Style & Fashion

I'm a shopper at heart but I like to find the best deals and stock up when things are on sale. I mainly share fashion and beauty products that are very affordable, not that $3000 purse that nobody can afford. 


Recipes

I love cooking and sharing new recipes. Sundays are usually when I have time to try a new recipe and share the details on the blog. My recipe posts have slowed down recently but I do plan to share some healthy new recipes for 2017 such as this Jalapeno & Swiss Stuffed Chicken dish.

My Life: Family & Friends

With all of the fun things aside, I don't share too much details of my family life to keep a level of privacy from the internet creepers.


What I can tell you is....
- K and I have parents that are still married (40+ years)
- We both have one sibling - both sisters
- Our extended family is huge on both sides & very close knit
- We have no kids but Lola is the love of our life (and a handful enough)
- We have a great group of friends in Orlando 
- Both of our best friends are from childhood days

Happy (almost) weekend and I hope the weather treats you better wherever you are!

Christmas Vacation Scenes


Our house was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. K and I spent weeks decorating and organizing the house for the arrival of my parents and sister to spend our first Florida Christmas together until we got the news that my dad was in the hospital. So to make a long story short, only my sister made it to Florida. I was really upset at first but we made the best of it and decided to take a road trip to K's family on Christmas day.


 We celebrated early at home on Christmas Eve opening gifts with my mom via FaceTime and cooking a smaller version of Christmas dinner.


 
  
I wanted to get that out of the way before backing up a few days when my sister arrived in Orlando. We were all disappointed by the news but decided to make the best of it and planned a few extra things to keep us busy.


Last week Friday we visited the Pulse Nightclub memorial site and then went to see the Christmas lights at Wall Street downtown Orlando before heading to the Amway Center to watch the Magic vs Lakers game.









I'm happy to report the Orlando Magic won and my sister had a blast at the game!


On Christmas day, we made our way to Florida's west coast with my sister to spend Christmas with K's extended family.




My MIL absolutely spoiled us with gifts but most of all she spoiled me with 3 gorgeous Pandora charms to add to my small yet growing collection.


We stayed Christmas night at a hotel near the water and woke up to beautiful weather on Monday so we walked around the riverfront before grabbing lunch and making the road trip back home.




On Wednesday night we had tickets to go see Dancing With The Stars live at the new performing arts theater downtown. My cousins drove into town (to take my parents place) and we all went our for some dinner before the show.

 

We had amazing seats quite close up to the stage and they put on a fantastic show staring Laurie Hernandez the winner of Season 23 (also US women's Olympic gymnast).




It was pretty difficult snapping any quality photos with the fancy lighting and the movement of dancing but I'll share some more of the fun details next week.

To wrap up, it was a far from traditional Christmas this year but it all worked out. My Dad is doing much better and technology helped us stay connected with my mom all weekend long. 

Today we are on to another adventure.

Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Weekend Happenings


I love when the season of pumpkin everything and fall colors rolls around even though the weather takes a while to get the memo in Florida. This weekend was actually quite low key with no major happenings since I was recovering from a nagging cold and didn't have a ton of energy.

Last week was a mad rush preparing for a seminar we hosted on Thursday and Friday so by the time 5 o'clock on Friday hit, I was exhausted and ready to relax. All the hard work paid off as we got really great feedback from our attendees and speakers!

My newest pumpkin candle burned throughout the house over the weekend. This is one of Bath & Body Works newer scents so I wanted to try it. While I love the scent of berries, it doesn't blend perfectly well with Pumpkin so it's not my favorite but it's not terrible either.


Most of Saturday was spent cleaning around the house and doing laundry before some of K's friends came over to hang out. We grilled up some Bratwurst hotdogs for lunch and they watched football while I tried to get some blogging done.


On Saturday night we had Magical Dining reservations with some friends but unfortunately had to cancel because I still wasn't feeling too great.  I'm not sure if other cities run this type of special but every year Orlando has magical dining month where several popular restaurants offer prix fixe dinners (usually 3-6 course meals) for $33/person. Unfortunately this was the last weekend to take advantage of the special so I'll just have to wait until next year.

On Sunday morning, we relaxed at home and K put on Saturday Night Live's skit of the Presidential Debate which is absolutely hilarious.


I got to catch up with a couple friends from back home over the phone and then ventured out of the house for the first time to do some shopping and a grocery store run. The rest of Sunday was spent blogging, food prepping and more laundry! So not the most exciting weekend but I welcomed all the relaxing before some busier weekends ahead with travel plans and my SIL's wedding.


Joining the lovely Biana.

10 Girlfriend Getaways


We all know adult life gets busy but one thing that makes me ecstatic is spending time with my closest girls. The whole process of planning a trip is exciting and then all that anticipation leading up to it. I just love it.

The bestie and I recently took a long weekend trip to Cocoa Beach where we just relaxed and spent time catching up. While we were lounging on the beach, we started chatting about doing a couples trip to Europe where we would explore a few countries and then take a cruise through the Greek Islands. This is a dream trip for the both of us and something we hope to make happen when finances and the time is right.

Until then, long weekend getaways and smaller trips are still in the cards so I was researching some destinations that would be fun to visit with your best friend or even a group of girls - whether it may be to relax & unwind, explore the food scene, or take in some good old nature.

San Juan, PR

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Savannah, GA

   
Nassau, Bahamas 






Sonoma Wine Country, CA

 
Treasure Island, FL


Bonus Road Trip to Tampa: 
Tampa is only a short drive away from Treasure Island so if you happen to visit in late January hop over to check out their annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival. This is one of my favorite street festivals in Florida and Tampa goes above and beyond to put on a fun show.

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Charleston, SC

New Orleans, LA



New York City


Orlando/Disney





San Francisco, CA





I'd love to hear your recommendations for fun/relaxing girl friend getaways!

I can't end this post without saying:

Happy birthday Kate!
2016 is going to be an extra EXCITING year for you and I'm looking forward to celebrating your birthday when I return from my trip this weekend! xo