spring break part 1: st armands, anna maria donuts and the tree graveyard

i'm sure you are all wondering: what in the world is julie doing now?! so, i'll tell you!

so...i was a little worried on friday night, when i hadn't heard from nicolette, because she had agreed to take me to the airport for my spring break trip, but i'd not been able to touch base with her, because i had to leave early to drop the boys off with mom and dad...and then when i did text her (around 7:30pm), i didn't hear back; i was worried about a delayed messaging, or that she might have had something come up last minute...but at the same time, i didn't want to keep texting and drive her nuts--#nottheannoyingperson so instead, i thought of a couple of different possible scenarios just in case. you can imagine my relief when i got her text the next morning around 4:30, asking what time she should come over.

and then on the way to the airport, i (always the one to be too literal and mess up directions by actually looking at the finer details of the signage-and analyze them) steered us wrong..fortunately the airport toll-area has a u-turn station, because we definitely passed up the first entrance to AA terminal C- #mybad. beyond grateful for the ride.

the flight itself was nothing out of the ordinary-got in a little coloring, and everyone around me pretty much zonked out-love the early morning flights! (i may have started with a little snooze as well). then i watched a little bit of the movie a guy sitting kitty-corner (nic, it really is a variant defined in the dictionary!) from me, because it had sub-titles, and seemed to be an oldie.

upon arrival, i was greeted by my personal greeter/driver, with a sign, no less!

i even moved closer to try to get a good angle on the sign- JROB! she did a great job pretending not to know me #jobopportunities

 my vote was to come straight back to the house and see the new place, and get started on unloading and sorting through her items that were in a storage pod. i love the new place! what a beautiful home! so we got the kitchen supplies out and sorted through them-washed a couple of loads and shea hand-washed several pieces, but now everything is in its place, and she can figure out what else she needs! the best thing we found: the QUESADILLA MAKER!!

and we opened the patio pieces! 3 pieces of choice furniture-the LEGIT OUTDOOR HAMMOCK, the bench (until the couch arrives), and the fire-pit...life is good and the place is coming together! this thing is going to be great for sleeping outdoors at night...just sayin'.

it's big-which means it's just right!

 and of course, the first things that she ordered had already arrived-and some of her friends who live in the same neighborhood had come by to help get the pool floats ready and mount the t.v. before i got here-

are these two great, or what?! they still need names, but it's like a stinkin' amusement park! 

 when we finished doing most of this, we took the short trip to st. armands and walked the loop, grabbed a little dinner and mojitos at the columbia- beyond filling and delicious! we tried a new salad with artichoke hearts and avocado-yummers! i will need to be stocking up on some of those for my own salads! we found the spice store (not that it was ever lost, or we didn't plan on going there anyway, because we did!) and of course, we had to hit up the samples at the nut shop-i love all of the samples! shea may or may not have eaten 4 malt balls...but that's nothing, because she saw an old lady grab a handful; proud of that old lady, LIVIN' the LIFE!! and while we were there, we saw that crazy lady with too many dogs!

there were about 7 or 8 of them, and she drew a crowd. they were so well trained

DAY 2
we decided to go hammocking-to find the perfect hammock-set-up! but first, of course, we had to stop at the donut experiment on anna maria island! always a must. so we got our amazing donuts-fresh and light--again, the donut machine and process reminded me of the homer price story we read in elementary school-a classic!  omg, the raspberry, though... and just walking down to the pier was the most relaxing thing; i could do that often. bad day? walk the beach/pier, it changes everything! it changes the mindset, and without exception, soothes the soul.

i haven't craved donuts in awhile, but there they were-we will go again!

not an easy feat in flip flops-

shea, the animal whisperer-this pelican was a star

then we took a short drive to longboat key, a turn-off into a neighborhood where there was a beach access that led to a trail where, as shea said, the perfect setting for a movie! we made our way through the trail to the "tree graveyard" as shea dubbed it so perfectly. there are so many trees downed on their sides with the roots sticking up. we found one spot to set up, but it only fit one hammock.

excellent place to set up 

and then we found a place to hook up both hammocks! the second spot was a little more difficult, but we did it (and by we, mostly shea-she's become a hammocking expert) some tall boys came by to offer help-but by then, it was almost all done, so we used them to take pics the next time they swung by!

while the place was perfectly ideal, we really needed to get the hammocks up a little higher, as about every 7th or 8th wave was big enough to break against the bottom of the hammocks-they're nylon, no big deal, but the water is still a little cool! so after being beaten by the water for awhile, we pulled it in and went for a walk around the point to where the boaters were partying by the bridge/near the sandbar, until we stepped in some prickly spurs, and had to pull spikes out of our feet-not the most pleasant part of the walk! then we got back to our stuff and laid out to get some sun (as if we had not already gotten some).

we'll have to keep working to get the perfect beach pic, bummer.

traffic was backed up-good thing there wasn't an emergency evacuation! when we got back, we ran some errands and grabbed some grocery necessities. salmon and veggies for dinner! delish! and a movie!

yum! hard to find the veggies you like in the quantity you desire at a restaurant-sometimes it's just better to make them yourself!

 let's see what today will hold!

 julie

florida part 2, weekend 1 part 1: food, friends, fun, food

it's impossible. impossible to be on a diet and enjoy yourself on vacation with friends, because there are so many amazing restaurants, and so much socialization happens when you break bread...especially when it's coconut bread!

disclaimer: i may get some of this out of order, as i've been blessed to experience so much! my friends are amazing hostesses!

i got back to bradenton on friday. i arrived at the house fairly early in the afternoon, and i just hung out in shea's room while she was at work and took a nap and i think i may have written a letter or something. when she got home for work, we went down to sarasota and walked around st. armands-some of the cutest little shops..spices, trinkets, and nut-shop among the mix. the nut shop was fabulous, mostly because they had free samples everywhere! ah-the malted milk balls...the size of jupiter...

saturday was THE BLOCK! this is a group that shea and her roommate, brooke go to on saturdays as a way to minister to the kids in one of the local neighborhoods-lots of playing going on! it was so fun to watch them interact with their kiddos! they have so much fun and make those kids feel so loved on! #rolemodels

shea as the artist of the day, modeling poses 

they gravitate toward her and she gives them some big-sista love!

using the bubble machine! they are fascinated by that thing!

all kinds of games, sporting, and lizard hunting...thank goodness it got away! #whatpetadontknow

then we walked the crew home!

after that, we dropped brooke back at the house and made our way to anna maria island. first stop, and most important...anna maria island doughnuts, aka: the doughnut experiment. woah! so these are custom-made donuts. we walked in and the place was full of people, but the process went fairly quickly. step 1: get the form and make your choice of donut glaze, then one topping choice. so we got maple bacon, vanilla raspberry, chocolate heath bar, caramel sea salt, and caramel delight. only the two of us (don't judge). split them and it was amazing! the donuts are small-ish. they kinda' melt in your mouth. the machine in the back is kinda like the oldie in the book homer price, only a little different...fun to watch them grab the donut and dip-it was phenomenal!

get 'em while they're hot!

from the top, clockwise: caramel delight, maple-bacon, caramel seasalt, chocolate-heath, vanilla-raspberry...#meltinyourmouth

dear donuts, you can't hide from me just because you spell your name with the 'ough' ! nice try!

we took a walk up to the pier, and on the way we saw a little historical house. i pointed at it and read the sign that said: fell into the ocean in 1926. the little house by the sign was interesting, so we went to check it out. the guide was still there, and he told us the story of the place. it had been built at the end of the pier, and a family lived there. one night, the pier gave way and the house fell into the ocean, with a couple of people in it. fortunately they were able to get some help to get it out and it was relocated inland and eventually became a part of the historic society. it was really quite interesting. then we walked down to the pier. then we made our way back to the other side of the island, where the beach is.we took off around the bend and found a couple of rescue folk trying to save some turtle eggs-as the nest had been compromised and was about to be completely washed out. it was really interesting. (i had a pic i wanted to post, but i promised not to, as it is a controversial issue...integrity) hopefully the little guys hatch. we kept going, but the tide was way up and there wasn't really anyplace to walk, so we went back.

we ended up making our way to the beachhouse restaurant. there was a bit of a wait, so we walked a little ways on the beach, then sat on the deck until we were paged. once we were sat, we got to partake of the amazing coconut bread. yum. it reminded me of HONDURAS, because whenever we used to go to the beach, we would get a bag of coconut bread-rolls. they were a little lighter in consistency, but the taste was comparable. the coconut shrimp and fish dip with bread to dip. it was just what we needed before going into the ocean and playing with the go-pro and wiping out. sacrifice the body for the pic...that's what i was told.  then there was a little laying in the wind/sunshine to dry off. on our way out, there was a guy who was just standing there looking off into the horizon and i had no idea what was going on. i think i may have been in their wedding pics. #photobomb

patriotic- duh.

love the lighting-fine line between the sun colors and the grays in the ominous clouds!

coconut bread! we should have pulled a shea and "eat-a-half, pack-a-half" as they keep bringing more-don't want them catching on! (or just buy a bag to go, but that's not nearly as adventurous! :))

that evening, we went back to sarasota-st. armands and we walked down to lido beach for the sunset-everyone was watching the sunset; such a popular event-and the great thing is that God keeps doing it over and over and over again, and it just never gets old! as we were returning from the beach, we saw an older gentleman (not a surprise around here), but he looked like a santa clause. shea said she thought he was one of the drum-circle hippies. and there he was with a clip board on a corner talking to someone. 'hmm...maybe he's recruiting people and advertising for the drum circle sunday night', was our thought (we'll get back to this). when there is a kilwins ice cream shop in the area, you are wise to just go ahead and start there, and then decide if you have room for dinner...which is just what we did! just thinking of it-i exhale and almost forget to inhale because i'm savoring my first taste of caramel sea salt ice cream in a waffle cone! move over DQ, you're outta' your league!

kilwins-can't be beat!! i cannot believe i've never experienced this yummy-goodness!

so..this is supposed to be my LO,WISH YOU WERE HERE! look.

we then made our way to columbia restaurant (don't be confused, it's not columbian food, it's cuban). they had the signature 1904 salad-huge, so we split that and a mojito pitcher. both excellent choices! the waiter left the remainder of the seltzer water that he didn't use, and shea may have decided it would be best to take that with us, and scoop out some of the mint leaves that were remaining in the pitcher to take home and re-create..worth a try! E for effort?




up next, alligators and wolves!
julie