one of two

We convinced my sister to drive back to Orlando with us after the holidays. It was so great to have her here! Sauce was in heaven. We brought her to all of our favorite spots ... in hopes that she would immediately move here, obviously. I'm still hopeful (just kidding ... no pressure ... sort of). We love you Kaitlin!

a year's end

I can't jump into the new year without taking a minute to talk about 2013. It was one of the most significant years for us.

Last winter I was sick of complaining and (we) knew it was just time to go for it. 2013 was the year of selling the house, quitting our jobs, and moving to the tropics. It was the best thing we could have done.

Moving was so empowering, that this year I stopped worrying so much about pleasing people, obsessing over "doing the right thing", and made leaps and bounds to live unapologetic-ally. I'm not trying to say that I'm trying to live like an asshole, but realizing that our happiness comes first, so that we can really love other people and make them feel great.

All in all, I've let things roll off my back way more. This is huge for me. If someone was upset with me (personally or professionally), I would obsess over it and get so upset. I was so afraid of doing something wrong! Now, I'm less hard on myself. In general I just don't care that much. Mistakes happen ... conflict is normal ... it is all apart of being human. And I need to just roll with it.

This biggest thing I have learned is that happiness is within reach. Always move towards what you want. I always thought that reaching for things was a sign of not being content. This is so not true ... we learn as we get older and I can always make my (our) life better. It has been so amazing to watch Josh here -- he is so happy, too. I feel like we are "back".

Our jobs are stressful. Really stressful. But I can leave, roll my windows down, and put on a good song. We can come home and go on a run. Meals are eaten outside. Life is lived outside ... which means the world to us. Thank you 2013 for teaching us so much. We will never forget ya.

favorite gifts-to-give this year

Happy Christmas Eve! Now let's talk about gifts ...
We bought a ton of local goods including hot sauce, tomato sauce, pickled veggies, etc. And Lush is obviously not local but their products are amazing ... and we will always support a company that works hard to fight animal testing. The "Sisters Night In" was a little DIY gift for the cousins in our life. Gifts this year were so much fun!

weekends and wekiwa

I still can't believe we are doing things like this in December. December! We are totally going to take all our out-of-town visitors here. It's like a natural swimming pool!

holiday wrapping!

It's no secret that wrapping is my FAVORITE part of gift giving. This year I went pom pom crazy. They make the best "bows"! Also, Target had this polka dot brown paper which couldn't be anymore perfect. I refuse to pay money for gift tags. Enter black paper (with rounded edges!) and a white gel pen.

That is all.

Happy wrapping!

mom weekend!

This weekend my Mom came to visit. We were beyond excited to see her and show her around our new home. She's here until Tuesday so we tried to pack just enough into the weekend. I want to remember all the little things we did -- it was so much fun to experience the city with my momma! 

After picking her up from the airport Josh made his special crepes that she loves. We drove over to Winter Park, walked around, and of course made a stop at La Empanada and Le Macaron. After dinner we checked out the jazz festival that just-so-happened to be going on down the street from our house. Sunday morning started off with Christos, our favorite breakfast spot in College Park. Next came Leu Gardens which was more beautiful than we could have imagined! It was so crazy to see all the tropical plants ... such a relaxing place. After walking a few miles it was cocktail time and Stardust's fresh cocktails never disappoint. Tomorrow night we plan to take a walk around Lake Eola ... too pretty not to see on your first trip here. The best part is we didn't go more than 15 minutes from our house. This was actually the most beautiful weather yet -- we basically lived outside and got to open up all our windows in the apartment.

This weekend really hit home how amazing/different it is to have family visit when you live far away. It is such relaxed, quality, focused time. So much better than a rushed dinner here or there.

We hope you had as much fun as we did, Mom! I (we) love you so much!

fall: part two

Randomly throughout the city there are trees that look fall-ish. The rest are thick, green, huge, and tropical. This weekend we picked out some plants for our front stoop. Josh couldn't believe that I wanted a mum -- I guess he is right. Why have mums when you can grow lemons and limes? It is so much fun to be outside at our house. I never wear shoes ... even though there are lizards and bugs everywhere. We hung out at Stardust for a little and it seems like the best place to get good drinks.

On another note ... this has actually been the worst week ever. I had some major tooth stuff going on (what else is new?!) and was in major pain constantly. Josh was basically an angel ... doing everything for me and generally putting up with the drama. By Thursday I had two root canals and thankfully, this weekend feel mostly normal and can get back to life. 

On a happy note my mom is coming next weekend! We couldn't be more excited. It's going to be such a great weekend ... and Sauce is going to go nuts when he sees her.