Month In Review

Ever since moving, I feel like I've been in a whirlwind. Life has been so busy, but in a good way...pool parties and cookouts, beach time, beach 5k's, hikes...so much to do, so little time. The result is that I still have boxes in my guest room to unpack, but I'm not in a hurry. I'm having too much fun!


I hosted a pool, paint and pizza party at my new place. Painting and hiding rocks is so much more fun than I thought. There's something about getting the creative juices flowing that is really fulfilling and relaxing at the same time. Couple that with potentially making a stranger's day and that's a lot of positivity, right? I realize that these aren't good, but who cares. :-) It was a great excuse to get together with friends, drink sangria and log some pool time.

Then, two of my besties made a visit. First we toasted our blueberry margaritas & prepared for a fun filled weekend!





We had plenty of time by the pool: 

 

Logged some substantial beach time:

 

Went to a brewery at the beach for the release of new margarita beer, Island Lime. I have a gluten allergy, so I had sangria, but encouraged my friends to try the special beer. It smelled like nair. I'm told that it tastes a lot like you would imagine nair to taste. No bueno.



 

And we made time for silliness on the way to dinner.

 

It was a great weekend and wonderful to spend time with such close friends who (sadly) I rarely get to see!

Daily Smiles

Several years ago, I started seeing "901 Rocks" all over social media. People colorfully & creatively painted rocks and hid them all over the City of Memphis (901 area code) and I loved the concept. Recently, the trend has made it to St. Petersburg. I've been seeing "St. Pete Rocks" popping up more frequently. There was even a rock painting party at a local art studio. I couldn't make it but a friend of mine and I made plans to make our own...which we did, yesterday afternoon.


In the morning, while jogging, I found this little nugget:

How can you look at that little face and not smile?!


Painting the rocks was much more fun and relaxing than I thought it would be. Here are some of our masterpieces. Ok, so it might look like a child painted these. It can be our secret that they weren't painted by 10 year olds, ok? Cool!

After we painted our rocks we hid them...mostly in a nearby park. What a great time! I think there will be some painting parties in my future. :-)




Here's another smile from this weekend. Fresh flowers..my favorite, gerbera daisies scattered all over instantly raise my mood!

The New Pad

Today, I returned the keys to my old place. It was really sad, I loved the location and the eclectic nature of the building as a whole, but it was time to move on. I wouldn't say that I LOVE my new place, but it definitely has it's perks. Driving time out of my neighborhood, especially if I find myself stuck behind a garbage truck or "grandpa", isn't one of them. One perk is that it's so very quiet. When I'm inside, I can't hear my neighbors at all...something that is very different for me. At the old place, I could practically hear my neighbors breathe. The grounds...that's undeniably the best part of my new place.


The complex backs up to the water and there's a wide walkway around the perimeter with benches, cooking grills, hammocks and docks. If you follow me on social media, you've likely seen most of these gems, but here they are again!

The Brady Brat loves her view...so many birds, so little time.



 Dolphins!! Ok, that picture only shows one, but I promise, there were more.

My new morning ritual involves drinking my morning coffee on the dock. Sometimes, I see fish...wonder if these are delicious. If I fished, I'd have it made!

Lately, I've been seeing sting rays. It must be the start of "sting ray season."



 

 

Not too shabby, eh? I certainly can't complain. Even if my closets are minuscule, look at this view! It's totally worth it!

Weekend Fun: Seafood, Music and Soccer, Oh My!

Now is the time I feel lucky to live in Florida (although, not when I turn on the news...people in FL are cuckoo). The weather is amazing...beautiful, sunny days that aren't too hot but not too chilly, either.


This past weekend some of my friends and I went to the Seafood and Music Festival that was practically in my backyard. It was such a great time!

A little kid, maybe 5yrs old, started the Bob Marley song, "One Love," acapella and it was so cute, I thought my head was going to spin right off and explode. Then, he proceeded to sit at the front of the stage and play a bongo drum, LIKE A FREAKIN' BOSS! The picture doesn't show him, but just trust me...the cuteness was completely overwhelming.

Then, as if I didn't already have enough fun for one human in a day, I went to the season opening game for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Not only was it the season opening game, but it was the first game in their new conference. The stadium was as packed as I've ever seen it and just as fun as every other game I've attended. It helped that the Rowdies won, too!!


I'm a lucky chic...I realize...

De-Cluttering

It's been a while & much has happened. I've experienced some significant transitions, recently. The most significant is that I moved from the first place I ever lived in FL. I only moved about 3 miles (stay tuned for pictures from the new place 😊) but it was still oddly emotional. I was extremely confused & taken aback by the emotion. I've lived in different States before, moved a ton, but never had this sort of reaction when moving. It was super weird.




Over the past few years, I've wanted to rid myself of "stuff." In every room, I have so much that I don't use or need...but I tell myself, I *might* use it one day. Well, I have a job, if I need it one day, I can go and buy it; it'll probably be a better model or product by then, anyway! So, I've been slowly de-cluttering for a while, but REALLY got brutal about tossing/donating/selling things when I began packing to move. Now, as I unpack, I gave myself a goal: toss/donate/sell 2-5 items from each box I unpack. So far, I'm exceeding that goal and it feels pretty sweet...not gonna lie.




Today, as I ran across this information about donating clothing.


http://www.purewow.com/fashion/clothing-stores-that-recycle-donations


Did you know that retail stores will take your donations & reward you? H&M gives you 15% off! Levis will give a $5 to the Salvation Army and there are others, too. How amazing is that? You can rid your life of clutter, get perks and potentially, help others? That sounds like a solid win/win to me kiddos!!