Epcot's Food & Wine Festival

Bonjour! I just returned from three trips around the world in one day.  Amazing!  Last week I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival from Shelly Ballestero.  She was sweet to think of the T-Tapp staffers and all the hard work we put in at the last two Retreats this year, and thought we needed a day to enjoy and have fun together.  Teresa gave us a 1/2 day off paid, and we took a quick trip over to Orlando for the day. Thank you Shelly and Teresa!

Forgive me for the delay in blog posts.  I had about 275 photos from my day at Epcot.  Lots of editing!  And I've been feeling under the weather these past few days too...

I was starving by the time we arrived.  First stop for me was Greece where I picked up this yummy chicken soulvaki.

Hola, Puerto Rico!  My next stop...

This was the most amazing Chicken and Rice Soup!  Perfect for a cool rainy day.

Then on to Mexico...

I spotted the Day of the Dead skulls pretty quickly.  Would have bought one if they weren't $30.00 each!

And more Day of the Dead skeletons on the Mexico ride...

Here's Norway...

 And France...

I ate this cheese ravioli in Italy.

And drank some South African wine.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Blue Cheese from America... just about the ONLY veggies in the whole place.

And a Purple Haze beer.

Epcot was celebrating 15 years of their Food & Wine Festival.

Soda from China is TOO sweet.

I had a few bites of Jen's sweet pretzel.

Epcot is beautiful at night...

I got home just before midnight with soggy feet and frizzy hair.  We walked about 5+ miles and my legs were feeling it.  What a great day with the T-Tapp staffers!

Au revoir!

Road Trip!!!

The reason for the interruption in blogs is... a Road Trip!

We left Tampa Bay on Saturday the 22nd with a final destination of Austin, Texas. Made it to Austin yesterday a settled in to our hotel (right in the middle of all the action).

I haven't found the time to blog, obviously. Been driving a lot and soaking up the time I have at our few stops along the way. Have lots of great photos to share!

Here's a quick list of my plans for Austin...

• Eat Texas BBQ!
• Visit the original Whole Foods
• Experience the music scene on 6th Street
• Relax and get some sun at Barton Springs
• Visit the Austin Museum of Art
• Shopping! Can't forget to do a little of that on vacation.
  
• Concert at the Mohawk on Saturday... Chaos in Tejas with Ume
  

I will post later to catch you up on my adventures so far, but for now I must seize the day.

Au revoir!

Time Lapse: May & Mercury's Madness

WARNING: This post is PART 2 of an incredibly long recap
of the past two weeks and what's to come!
{ PART 1 }

Mercury was in retrograde from April 17th until May 11th. Believe me that this time around I really felt the effects of planet Mercury - emotionally and physically. I am SO glad Mercury has gone direct, but it will still be a while before things are totally back to normal because the planet is moving very slow. My mom recommends doing everything slowly... walking, driving, making decisions... just to stay cautious during the month. I think that's great advice!

Saturday, May 1st: Sami's Graduation Day

I missed the actual graduation ceremony and brunch because I was sleeping off the night before.

Eddy, Sami's dog, was a nice snuggle buddy in the morning. We left Roxy with Aunt Lolly, Ava and kittens for the weekend... and I really missed her!

During the day Marcel and I did a little shopping and site seeing around Tally. I found my favorite pizza place -- Decent Pizza! So we ate there for lunch.

Then we had a fabulous dinner out at Andrew's 228 (where my step-sister worked in college) with the family as a graduation celebration.

Breakfast: I think I ate a small organic apple, but my memory escapes me.
Lunch: Veggie Pizza

I mean look at this slice!!!

And my leftovers plus a Mt. Dew (gasp!)

Dinner: 2 Blue Moons, Eggplant appetizer, Caesar salad, a few slices of warm fresh bread, Grouper Piccata, a few glasses of wine
Dessert: the best bite of I don't even know what at this point, and a few bites of espresso crème brulée
Drinks: more Yuengling and Blue Moon (not pictured -- hey I did we partied college town style!)

Click the links to view the food photos.

After dinner we headed back to Level 8 at Hotel Duval to hang for a bit before going to the Engine Room to see the band Soular System.

Lighting at Hotel Duval

The elevators frequently got stuck on Level 8, so we took 8 flights of stairs instead.
Great little workout!

Me & Marcel

Lisa (Sami's step-mom), John (Sami's dad) and Sami

Sami & Nicole (her roomie and best friend since grade school)

Soular System @ The Engine Room

Sunday, May 2nd: Home Bound

After sleeping in a bit we packed up the car and headed back to Tampa.

Breakfast: Organic Gala Apple
Latte: Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Lunch: Cracker Barrel Grilled Cheese, Salad with a few fries
Snack: Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dinner: Buffalo Wild Wings Chicken and Celery
Dessert: nothing like enjoying a Klondike Bar while watching America's Next Top Model

Once we got back from our weekend getaway we picked up Roxy from her Aunt Lolly's house and headed home. The next few days were spent slaving away in the apartment preparing for the move on May 4th. I'm in this strange intermittent time right now. We're temporarily staying upstairs at my Dad's house and will get an apartment closer to my office the first week in June. All of my stuff is in storage, except clothes and essentials. My life feels like it's in this huge upheaval right now! I can't wait to get settled in my own apartment again.

The reason for this delay is because tomorrow my boyfriend leaves for a 6-day trip to visit his sister in Atlanta and then on May 23rd I'm going on a 10-day road trip vacation with my boyfriend and puppy, so we didn't see much sense in getting into a new lease for the month of May. I'm so thankful that my Dad and Mary (my step-mom) are allowing us to live under their roof. It gives us time to save a month's rent and figure out what our next step will be. It truly is a blessing to have this time to recoup... but I still feel kind of like a gypsy.


Monday, May 3rd

Breakfast: Green Monster (the last one I've had!!!)
Latte: Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Tea: Iced Venti Passion Tea
Lunch: Kashi Coconut Chicken Entree
Snack: Chobani 0% Plain Yogurt with Kashi GoLean Crunch
Dinner: Kashi Cinnamon Crunch (can't find the actual name of this cereal, but its just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch)


Tuesday, May 4th: Moving Day

I had to take this Tuesday off of work so we could get everything done. I was up until about 2am the night before and woke up early to get started on moving. We worked ALL day long. Then Margie came to help us after 5pm. We didn't finish until almost midnight. I was exhausted, but the apartment was empty, clean and ready for the next tenant.

This move was more emotional than the past few because we've had so many good times in that apartment. I really miss it and will always think fondly of that time in my life.

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs
Latte: Iced Venti Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Snack: Sabra Hummus and Pretzel pack
Lunch: Publix Turkey Sub on Multi-grain
Dinner: I have no idea... all is lost.


Wednesday, May 5th

Breakfast: Kashi cereal with frozen blueberries
Lunch: Publix Turkey Sub on Multi-grain
Dinner: NO idea.


Thursday, May 6th

Breakfast: Kashi cereal with frozen blueberries
Snack: Chobani 2% Pineapple Yogurt
Tea: Iced Venti Unsweet Green Tea
Lunch: Publix Turkey Sub on Multi-grain
Dinner: Amy's Organic Burrito, Organic Edamame, String Cheese, Yuengling
Dessert: Lollipop


{ weekend}

Friday, May 7th

Breakfast: no idea at this point!
Tea: Iced Venti Unsweet Green Tea
Lunch: Eggplant Marino
Drinks: Dunedin Brewery Apricot Beer and another
Dessert: Cookie Cake

We went to The 8th Avenue Pub in Safety Harbor to celebrate Shannon's birthday.

Blurry photo, but you have to check this cake out. It was supposed to be a peace sign and turned out to be a Mercedes logo. Crazy, right?

I really miss that girl, like tons! She's Lauren's little sister who moved to Albuquerque last year. Her boyfriend was so sweet and bought them tickets to Florida to surprise her. I wish she could stay forever.

Me & Shannon


Good times with awesome peeps!

Saturday, May 8th: Yard Sale Day!

Breakfast: Chick-fil-a Egg and Cheese (no photo because I devoured that sandwich) and a Iced Venti Nonfat Vanilla Latte (also not pictured)
Lunch: Greek Salad and a slice of Pizza
Drinks: a few Bud Lights and a Bud Light Lime

I know I ate more than that, but I really can't remember what.

We spent the morning selling off as many items as we could at the garage sale. We ended up making almost $400!

Marcel played cover songs for Bronson's 10th birthday. Bronson is my step-mom's ex-husband's new wife's sister's son... if that makes any sense!!! They are all awesome and everyone hangs out together and has a great time.

Lucky, the dog Lisa just rescued, was guarding the pizza boxes

We hung out in the shade most of the afternoon, but it was still very hot out so we all kept drinking beer after beer to stay cool. Fun party to say the least!

Sunday, May 9th: Mother's Day

I miss my mom! She's living out of state and I can't wait to see her again. Gave her a call, a spa gift certificate and mailed off that glamorous sun catcher mobile I made with a card.

I really have no clue what I ate on this day, but...

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs (not pictured)
Drinks: Enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir at the film
Dinner: Pizza!

After dropping off the rest of our unwanted belongings (some very cool stuff, btw) at the Last Chance Thrift Store we ended up driving to St. Pete to see an animation film hosted by Jodie Mack. Jodie is a long-time friend from waaaay back. She's an animator and also a teacher. The films she showed were Helen Hill's Animated Wonderland as a fund-raising event.

The films were super cool, all handmade and entertaining. Helen Hill was killed several years ago and her husband is continuing her dream by making the films as she intended. It happened to be Helen's birthday, so Jodie brought a cake and sparklers to celebrate. She's such a sweetie!

Monday, May 10th

Breakfast: Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal and Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte (not pictured)
Lunch: Jimmy Johns Turkey Lettuce Wrap (holy yum!)
Snack: Organic Gala Apple and Almond Butter
Dinner: Mac & Cheese and salad from The Ozona Pig (not pictured)


OMG!!! I'm done!!! Sorry that was really, really long but I just had to complete this time lapse in my blog entries.

Au revoir!

Time Lapse: End of April

WARNING: This post is PART 1 of an incredibly long recap
of the past two weeks and what's to come!
{ PART 2 }

I promise I'm trying ("Do or do not. There is no try.") to get back into my blog routine! After such a long hiatus it feels a bit off because there's now a HUGE gap in my posts. I do have some pretty pictures to share and will dedicate this post to that missing time period.

Have to say that pretty much all my healthy habits have gone out the window. I did do Primary Back Stretch and Hoe Downs a few times over the past few weeks, but no real workouts other than moving boxes and going up and down stairs. I've been exhausted to say the least. By the end of the day I have not had enough energy to make myself workout. I just crash. I'm in desperate need of quality sleep deep hibernation for about 24 hours straight in the dark and silent cold. Although I didn't get a chance to blog, workout or keep up with other healthy habits, I have (for the most part) taken photos of my eats.


And Now For The Recap...

I spent every waking moment when home during the last of April getting ready for the move. Not a whole lot going on otherwise.

Click the links below to view the food photos.

April 28th
Breakfast: Purple Monster
Lunch: Kashi Sweet & Sour Chicken
Tea: Grande Iced Green Tea
Snack: String Cheese
Dinner: Tuna Steak, Red Quinoa, Broccoli and a Blue Moon
Snack: Kashi GoLean Crunch with Original Almond Breeze

April 29th
Breakfast: Kashi GoLean High Fiber with Original Almond Breeze
Snack: 1/2 GREENS Chia Chocolate Energy Bar (photo 2)
Lunch: Pacific Butternut Squash Soup and String Cheese
Latte: Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Dinner: Purple Monster (I remember my jaw really hurt that day. Can we say "stressed"?)


{ weekend }

On Friday, April 30th we drove up to Tallahassee, Florida for Sami's (my step-sister) graduation from FSU. The last time I was up there was for Abbie's (my little sister) graduation in 2004. Tallahassee is fun and lively, like any classic college town USA. The weekend was filled with plenty of college-style partying (aka beer drinking and pizza eating).

April 30th - on the road!
Breakfast: rest of that Purple Monster from the night before and Boiled Egg with BVI Seasoning
Snack: String Cheese and Multi-grain Pita Chips
Latte: Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte while syncing my iPod for the road
Dinner: 1/2 Lenny's Turkey Sub (shared with Marcel), a few chips and sips of root beer soda (gasp!)
Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookie
Snack: V8
Drinks: several Yuenglings (Real American Beer!)

Here's Sami...

She let us crash at her place. Thanks chica!

We went out to Bullwinkles and saw this band play.

Then back to Sami's place. She graduated on Saturday morning and we all enjoyed a big family dinner out that evening at Andrew's 228. More on my college town weekend tomorrow!

I'm off to finish today's post...

Au revoir!

P.S. I am kind of in shock that it's May 11th already. These past two weeks have flown by!