Gasparilla 2.0

Ahoy, Mateys!

I can’t believe it’s already Monday again! The weekends seem to fly by while the work week tends to go super slow. This past Saturday, Sam, Dan, and I hit the road and headed to Tampa to meet up with our friends for Gasparilla! What a day that was. If you live in South Florida or near the Tampa area, I highly suggest you make it to Gasparilla at least once in your life.

                                    

We stayed at an Extended Stay so that all of us could stay in one room off of Westshore. While it was about a 20 dollar cab ride for all of us to get to where Gasparilla was, it was well worth it to stay off the “beaten path.” We were in a good location and close to a lot of other restaurants and things. We started off hanging out in the hotel room playing card games and enjoying ourselves before the actual Gasparilla parade. We got down to see the parade around 2pm and it was so crowded! I’m not one for hanging out in a big crowd and having to stand in the hot sun. So, we stayed down there for about half an hour and then it was off to a side street party for the rest of the day. Epic fail.

            

While we weren’t at the actual Gasparilla festivities for a long time, it was definitely worth going being with friends and just all having a good time together. Even though I wasn’t feeling well towards the end of the night (I had a little too much fun, perhaps?) we headed to the Green Iguana for a night out. The live band was great playing covers of even pop songs! We finished the night there and finally headed back to the hotel. It was a great time, and everyone needs to experience it for once in their life!

Wedding Gift Ideas

Being in a wedding as a post grad trying to get settled on her own two feet, it got a little pricey for me. I started brainstorming ideas as to what would be a good wedding gift that looked expensive but really wasn’t. I came up with the idea of a gift basket that Dan, his sister, and I would split!

The inside of the basket:

All tied together:

Ok, so it definitely looks better in person. The cellophane was a little shiny, but the gift itself looks nice and well put together. The best thing was that it only cost a little under 100 bucks for everything! (Shh, just don’t tell anyone!)

What Was Included:

- Bloomingdales Towels part of their Wedding Registry

-Bloomingdales $50 Gift card

- Yankee Candle cotton scented candle

- Mr. & Mrs. Coffee Mugs made by US!

- A card for the bride &  groom

 

What cost friendly wedding gifts have you ever given?

Monday Munchies

Happy Monday, Everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I know I was trying to post this every Monday, and I already slipped last week. Woops. Lets try this again!

Sunday Night- “Best Burgers Ever” w/pasta salad

Thank you Little Miss Momma for posting this delicious recipe!! These burgers were amazing and I highly suggest anyone to try them. Note: In the recipe itself, Little Miss Momma states the burgers will fall apart on a grill and she was right! I made mine on my George Foreman grill which was a little bit more messy, but made the burgers stay together.

Monday- Simple Chicken Pot Pie

This was a pretty good and semi-healthy meal we had tonight. While I didn’t leave the table feeling like I had eaten a whole lot, Dan loved it. Yes, it was simple to make, but not my favorite.

Tuesday- Leftovers! We have so much food in the fridge right now, we gotta get eatin!

Wednesday- Dan’s Fried Chicken (Hoping to share the recipe once I can get it from him!)

Thursday- BBQ Chicken Wraps

Friday- Crock Pot Meatballs

I’m hoping to share my own recipes as the week goes on! Like I said before, my recipes are simple to make and quick and easy for all people my age (and older) to try. No one should be afraid to cook! It’s easy and I love it!

All About the “Dealz”

Has anyone ever shopped on GroopDealz.com? I’m in love with it! The best part of it is that it has knock off designer jewelry for really cheap as well as other crafty items. I highly suggest you check it out!

My obsession has become big chunky necklaces. I got my first big necklace from BaubleBar, but then GroopDealz ended up having the necklace for half the price! And they even look the same! See below:

Necklace from Bauble Bar:

Necklace from GroopDealz:

See the similarities?? GroopDealz has a lot of items that copy the original for half the price are are just as good in quality. I highly suggest everyone check it out! Has anyone else bought anything from GroopDealz?

A Day at Disney Quest

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

After last weekend’s wedding festivities, I have been looking forward to a relaxing weekend full of nothing.  And so far it’s been just as that!

Friday night looked a lot like this…

Today Dan and I headed down to Downtown Disney for a little fun at Disney Quest! If you haven’t been there and you love video games, this place would be a must-do for you. While I’m not big on all of the virtual stuff, I do love competition and some old school video games as well as the fun interactive stuff so it made for a fun afternoon!

One of the attractions was part of the magic carpets of Aladdin where you had to put on your “safety turban.” Naturally we had to get a picture with our “turbans” on. Safety first!

While I had complimentary tickets to Disney Quest, I could not imagine actually paying full price for that place. I’d rather go to a theme park instead. However, if you are a huge gamer, this place is for you. I could go back at some point in time, but for now, I’ll stick with the Disney parks and their amazingly tasty popcorn!

Ditsy Duo Designs

Look out world, I have partnered with Dan’s sister to start our very own Etsy shop! This has been something that I have wanted to do for a while now and I am so excited that we finally went through with it! Hopefully we can add more to our shop as time goes on, but I figure we have to start somewhere!
Check out our shop HERE!
Please let me know what yall think and what we can do to only make it better! Below are some of the products we’re offering::

See anything you like??

Wedding Bells

Yesterday Jacqueline and Omar because Mr. and Mrs. Hutton. It was a beautiful service and I was happy to be a part of it.

Friday evening the rehearsal took place at St. James Cathedral. The church is beautiful and if I were to get married in Orlando, I would highly consider this place. After the rehearsal, we headed to the rehearsal dinner at Café Murano. I had never been there before, but the food was excellent. And boy, Friday night is the prime place for old folks to break it down. If you’re ever in the Altamonte area, this place is great to go and have a drink be entertained. And, as usual, I forgot to take pictures until it was too late, but I did make sure to take a picture of dessert...molten cake & an Espresso martini! 




Saturday morning we got to the Embassy Suites bright and early to start getting ready. Being a bridesmaid tough work.. Sitting there while someone does your hair and makeup, phew! Hehe. The most important job is to keep the bride calm. I was so excited for her to get married! After the ceremony, we headed to The Mezz for the reception. It was a nice size  and all around a good time.  They had an ice bar that would chill the liquor for your drink. It was so cool!

Dan and I after the ceremony <3

We drank and danced the night away and even continued the celebration at 310 Lakeside. Now I’m relaxing working on some different projects for myself that I have in the works so stay tuned for that. Oh and munching on some wedding take home M&Ms. They’re even personalized! How cute is that??