VEGness: Florida

After spending a week with my grandparents, Nonny and Poppy, I realized that I need to make a better effort in communicating with my luved ones. Yes, I am the queen of Facebooking and can text all day but I have really started to lack in verbal communication. It is seldom that I pick up the phone and call a friend just to chat anymore!

Last week, while Nonny and Poppy were busy reading the newspaper and calling their friends to say hi and see how they're doing, I was checking Facebook to see what my 'friends' were up to and was updating my status so anyone who cared can read it, like it and comment on it. Can you say, disconnected?!

I got to share Nonny's 79th birthday with her last week. This was very special for me. On this day, I was getting ready and could hear her in the other room reading something. Curious (like always) I walked out and noticed she was reading a birthday card she had received. I sat down and listened; it was a really nice card from one of her friends. After she finished reading it, she picked up another card, opened it and began reading out loud. I looked over and she had about a five inch stack of cards that she had received for her birthday. All telling her to have a great day and that they luved her and appreciated her as their friend. I was blown away. I have never seen that many cards sent to one person in one day. Talk about inspiration.

I was asking her who sent her all these cards and basically you name it, they sent a card. Her kids, nieces, life long friends, new friends, neighbors - oh! and her neighbors were bringing her flowers and small little gifts - it was so sweet. It was like a world wide memo went out that it was her birthday and she was soaking it all in.

I was blown away by all of this. I started thinking about how detached I was from most of my friends and family. I have been totally absorbed in my own world and instantly wanted to reach out. I have made it a personal goal of mine to talk with my family more and pick up the phone to chat with my friends (yes, I will be calling you!), so be ready. I am going to be reconnecting with the outside world!

...is your phone ringing yet? :)

Long time no talk! I know, I know... I let vacation get the best of me! But, don't you worry - I'm back! And all I can say is vacation was awesome! We just got back from the Sunshine State... Florida; sunburns and all!

I moved to California five years ago (remember!) and when I left, one of my reassurances to my family was that I would be back for the holidays, no matter what. Obviously, now I am in a relationship; so Jams and I had "the talk" about holidays and we both found it important to be together. Since his work didn't allow him to take any time off around Christmas, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place to make the decision of maintaining that tradition or creating my own. It was a personal struggle of mine to make that decision. I came up with a solution that I thought would work for everyone. I would go home before Christmas for a few days so I could see my family and then spend the holiday with Jams! A win-win! Well, part of my solution was to also go visit my grandparents (let's call them Nonny & Poppy) in Florida sometime in the Spring. So... here we are!

All Jams keep talking about before the trip was how he couldn't wait to have a mojito. I swear as long as I have known him, I have never seen him drink one but he swears now that they are his favorite... he's so cute :)

It's always different when you spend time with family when they are in their element. We really got to capture the moments and see how they live day to day. I mean, come on! Look at my grandparents! Pushin' 80 and they are more active than we are. Riding bikes everyday, doing water aerobics in the pool... we realized that we definitely need to step it up!

When I would go visit as a kid, we would always go to the big Flea Market in Daytona Beach. Look at this place! It's HUGE!!! They have food vendors everywhere, and lots of little knickknacks that you impulsively need. They also have an amazing produce section with all the local fruits and veggies... YUM!!!

It's a good thing we only had one suitcase and hardly any room to bring home souvenirs because these were super cute... I would have bought way too many!!!

I was very spoiled growing up (yes, I said it) and we went to Florida at least twice a year. I take for granted the small stuff and probably don't appreciate things the same as someone who hasn't been as fortunate. This being said, Jams has never been to Disney World. Eeeek!!! We had to go.

And just to add... I definitely won on Buzz Lightyear! I never usually win so I was stoked! Look at that concentration!

I absolutely luv It's A Small World. I probably took 100+ pictures in there (I will spare you). We got lots of cool and unique arts and crafts ideas!

I thoroughly enjoyed Tom Sawyer's Island and the bridges I had to go across. Yes, I was acting like a five year old.

LOOK AT ALL THESE STROLLERS. Sorry to yell, but seriously?! No wonder Disney always seems so crowded... half the walk ways are taken up with them!

And finally, per my sister's request :) we got a caricature! It actually came out pretty cute!

Family, Disney and Valentine's Day all in one week! Woah! This was our first Valentine's Day together! *Aw* I made Jams a special breakfast with all his favorite things... onions, eggs, mushrooms and peppers. Can you dig the tomato heart?!

Nonny and Poppy took us to dinner at The Garlic which was a very cool and yummy Italian restaurant near their condo. We had many drinks and many laughs. It was awesome to spend Jams and my first Valentine's Day together with my grandparents who were spending their 64th together. Let this be a reminder to all of us that true luv is real.

It just so happened to work out perfectly that my Mom was in Florida too! Her and my step-dad Will have a condo down on Singer Island which happens to be just a few hours south of us. Road trip!

Jams made Will a "Work1n" tie to promote his new song Work1n... keep your eyes peeled for these, you might be seeing lots of them in an upcoming music video (foreshadowing...?)!

Anyway, the water was beautiful. It reminded me of Hawaii, you could see clear down to your feet! And it wasn't that cold either!

The last night we were there, we went to a restaurant called Seasons 52. It is an organic restaurant and the cool thing is that their menu changes weekly to highlight the freshest ingredients - brilliant! It was simply delish!