2016 Year Recap: Part 2

Life got very busy in May and June because we were in the midst of selling our house and purchasing a new home. Things went pretty smoothly with purchasing but we had a bit of a nightmare selling since three buyers went under contract and then for one reason or another backed out so it took about 3 months to sell. But there were tons of fun moments tied into the angst of selling our home.

If you missed it, here's my 2016 Year Recap: Part One.

May

I got lots of bestie time on the weekends while she was in town visiting. We most often went to Cocoa Beach but we also tried new things like Yoga in the Park one weekend and walked around the huge Farmer's Market Downtown Orlando.

I spent a lot of time browsing for home furniture and decor for the new home although we were waiting for our house to sell before making these purchases. I shared some of my favorite decor in this Home Edition post.

K and I traveled to Colorado at the end of May and I did a quick recap of our long weekend trip exploring Denver.

I apparently shared quite a few Fashion & Style inspired posts in the month of May.

Crochet Dress Under $50

Satin Sleepwear

Scalloped Style

Lace Looks

I talked about my US Cities Loves and Lusts and got to cross quite a few lusts of the list including Denver, Nashville, and The Florida Keys. We have a trip booked for Boston early next year and I'm working on crossing the final city lust off my list which is Charleston.

June

I got around to sharing all the details of our Denver trip which was such a fun city to explore.

The bestie and I did a girls weekend getaway to Cocoa Beach with Lola in tow. It was the perfect vacation refresher before starting a new job.

We moved into our new house and I started the new job right around the same time so things were busy settling into both new environments.

I attended Kate's Gender Reveal Party and wore pink because I "knew" it was a girl! Funny enough more people at the party wore blue.

The Pulse Nightclub shootings happened here in Orlando in June which rocked our city in a bad way but it was heartwarming to see our community come together to support the victims and the LGBT community. I talked about my love for the city I live in ~ The City Beautiful.

I shared the recipe for one of my favorite Italian dishes - Chicken Marsala - but slow-cooker style. It was my first attempt at making it in a crockpot but it came out so much better than when I tried the traditional recipe as a novice.

July

We traveled to Jamaica for my cousin's wedding and I did a quick recap of our time spent there with my family.

Clearly my fashion posts slowed down but I talk about some of my Faux Fashion favorites.

I shared a recipe for Festive Rice Krispies Treats which I decorated in pink and blue for Kate's gender reveal party. I also made these for 4th of July in red, white & blue so you can really make them work for any "festive" occasion with the topping colors.

August

I got around to sharing the full details of our family vacation in July to Montego Bay.

I shared some of my favorite Girlfriend Getaway Destinations along with some cute gift ideas for the Fashion Forward Ladies in your life.

I attended my first Blogger Tasting Tour and got to try different dishes and drinks from 3 amazing local restaurants I had never eaten at before.

The event was hosted by Order Up Orlando which is a food delivery app for your phone and they really did a spectacular job with picking the restaurants and getting some food bloggers together to do the tour.

I capped off the month with a weekend trip to Canada to spend time with my family and attend our Family Reunion in Toronto.

Looking back, I clearly kept super busy but got to celebrate so many fun occasions and fulfill my passion for travel.

Company Holiday Luncheon

I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas yesterday or however you celebrate the holidays. Last week our company took us out for a surprise holiday lunch at one the best Italian restaurants nearby.

I work for a small company so there was only 22 of us and we got seated on the upstairs balcony overlooking the lake. I had never eaten at this restaurants before so I was excited try some of their dishes and everything we had from the appetizers to the entrees and the dessert were scrumptious. I can't wait to go back again with K or friends.

We shared some Bruschetta, I chose Veal Marsala as my entree and then finished with a Berries & Cream dessert.

 

There was a gift waiting for us at each table setting and when we all opened our gifts at the same time I was blown away by the beautiful Citizen watch they gave us which had an engraving on the back.



 So sweet and thoughtful....and definitely unexpected!

It's great working for a company where you feel appreciated and where you are treated like family not just a bunch of coworkers running a rat race.

More fun weekend and holiday happenings coming soon!

Merry Christmas!

Some of our holiday decor this year

Enjoy and be safe!

2016 Year Recap: Part 1

January
Ashley from Wandering Weekenders visited from Texas and we organized a blogger dinner and drinks meetup at Universal Studios City Walk. It was a chilly night, as you can see we were all bundled up in coats and scarfs, but it was a fun night meeting Ashley and her husband while they were in Orlando.



I started off 2016 on a roll with making new recipes and sharing on the blog although that seemed to slow down as the months went on. I shared some of my favorite recipes for easy meals I created in the kitchen and a delicious recipe for homemade Moscow Mule cocktails.




February
Coincidentally we had another blogger meetup when Meg from Borrowed Heaven came into town for a Disney Run. Kate and I met Meg for lunch along with the husbands at Sea Dog Brewing Company which was such a great time meeting in person.



In February I also posted about some beautiful Caribbean Homes I visited while traveling in the islands.

I shared one of my favorite party-pleaser recipes called Bite Me Dip and featured some of the best restaurants in Orlando (according to me).




March
K and I went to St. Augustine for a weekend getaway to explore of one of my favorite Florida cities full of history, shopping and great restaurants!



I posted about some of the Best Happy Hour Spots in Orlando (according to me) on the blog.

We also threw our annual Easter Dinner for friends and shared some fun Easter Entertaining Decor & Recipes.



April
I tagged along on one of K's work trips to Miami. We stayed in Coral Cables which has a cute downtown area so I had a day to myself to walk around Miracle Mile and browse through the shops.



I was all about healthy eating and shared some fun springs salads along with sweet & savory salad recipes perfect for the warmer months.



I talked about shopping for a new home and weekends spent with my BFF.



We went to Cocoa Beach one weekend and then ventured to Wekiva Island the following weekend to enjoy the great weather and the "greater outdoors".
 

At the end of April we found our dream home and started the paperwork process while also trying to sell our current house.



I found that dream kitchen and it become ours.

It's always fun looking back at the year to reminisce and remember milestones, accomplishments and all that happened during that time. This is probably while blogging is perfect for documenting your life because, otherwise I wouldn't remember half of these happenings.

Happy Holidays my friends!

Cruising on The Majesty of the Seas

My company took us on a 3-night Royal Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago and it's taken me some time to get a recap of the trip rounded up but here it is today!

The Majesty of the Seas ship leaves out of the port near Orlando so I've gone on this cruise a couple of times before but this time it was all my new coworkers.



Friday
We boarded the ship on in the afternoon and got settled into our cabins. My roommate/coworker and I had an outside-view cabin which means one round window allowing you to see out. Very basic as it comes but definitely a step up from the interior cabins with no windows or sunlight so you have no idea what time of day it is.

Leaving the port in Florida on Friday evening we caught a beautiful sunset and set sail south for the Bahamas.

Saturday
Cruising into Nassau, you get a beautiful view of the island and the huge Atlantis Resort in the background. While a few of us were on the deck watching the views, the CEO of my company offered to take a photo of me and I commented that "he was way too close to my face with the camera" but he snapped it anyway and one doesn't complain to the CEO. So there's that.

We had an excursion booked to go jet packing in Nassau on Saturday but the company cancelled that morning so we Plan B was to explore the island in groups depending what you wanted to see/do.

The events of this day were definitely the highlight of my trip!

We walked around downtown Nassau by the port area and did some local shopping. After a couple hours we took a taxi and headed over to the Fish Fry restaurant strip on Bay Street where you can get some of the best local food from a variety of different small restaurants/vendors.





- We listened to local music at a cute waterfront restaurant
- We tried some local beers and cocktails
- We had some conch and crab cakes which were amazing
- We walked on the beach and got some selfies of our group
- My boss asked the Jerk Lady to marry him (her food was amazing off the grill)
- The rest of us offered to take her back in our suitcases
- We tried the world famous Sky Juice
- We chatted with the locals and enjoyed the scenery

 Although most of us split up during the day to explore our different interests, we met up every night for dinner to regroup and eat together. The dinners are the best meal on the ship so you don't want to skip it plus our CEO requested that we all attend.
 


Sunday
The cruise ship docked at Coco Cay which is the private island owned by Royal Caribbean. It's a beautiful small island but I've been there a few times before so I opted to stay on the ship and relax/be productive. That's my favorite thing to do on Sundays plus I needed some "me time" after all the different activities and chaos that comes with large groups.

 
I grabbed a frozen cocktail and lounged on the upper deck of the ship overlooking the ocean and did some blogging/work.
 
 




In the evening we gathered again for our last dinner and shared our highlights of the trip. Other than the fun-filled day in Nassau on Saturday, the nightly dinners together was a close second favorite.

Monday
Monday morning comes quickly and it's a "get the hell off the ship at 7am shuffle" (not by choice but by schedule) and then to stand in line behind 200 people to get through the different security checkpoints. I should have thought to grab a coffee to get through this debacle.



All in all, it was a wonderful trip filled with so many fun and funny memories with my team and all the coworkers since we're a small company to begin with.

My #1 Tip:
For a short cruise like this: The night before you leave, be packed up and prepared because you need to be ready to go first thing in the morning, and in my case, have some time to get caffeinated enough to drive an hour straight into the office to start the work day.

Here's a recap of my trip to Nassau back in 2013 where I explored different parts of the island (and had a much better tan back then lol!)