Vacation 2013

I just spent a glorious two weeks in Florida with my husband, brother, and brothers girlfriend. Actually, the 2+ week trip started as a night in Tampa to see a Rays baseball game at Tropicana Field then continued down to Sanibel Island after picking up my bro and his lady. Sanibel is a touristy but not busy island in the Gulf not too far from Ft. Meyers. It's known for its shelling and we found lots of sand dollars.

After a week spent hanging by the pool and the beach and reading, we drove up the cost to the Tampa area and spent another week on Anna Maria Island. We shared the first 4 days there in a house off the beach with my brother. The sunsets over the gulf were beautiful, and we saw a lot of sea life like rays, star fish, and fish. We spent the end of the week with some rugby friends and then celebrated the wedding of 2 close friends.

After leaving Florida, we spent a few nights visiting my awesome aunt in Atlanta. We got to have lunch with my sorority sister, Rachel which was awesome. And we also went to this fantastic market and the Georgia Aquarium.  It was a busy almost-three weeks and as relaxing as it was to be away, it's also nice to be home.

 

Left: Crab in the Georgia Aquarium (no wonder humans are afraid of spiders!); Right: Sunset on Anna Maria Island

 

Left: Jellyfish at Georgia Aquarium; Right: Beach at Sanibel Island

Left: Whale Shark at Georgia Aquarium ; Right: Starfish found on the sandbar at Anna Maria Island

Three of the best things I ate on vacation were:

Frozen, Chocolate Covered Key Lime Pie on a Stick

Anna Maria Island Donuts

 Banana's Foster Crepes

I didn't completely forget about baking though, and now that I'm back I definitely feel like I went through a little bit of withdrawal. While on vacay I still pursued Pinterest and these are a few of the tasty recipes I found:
Peanut Butter Crunch S'more Bars by Baker Girl
Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream by Cooking Classy
Buttered Popcorn Cupcake with Salted Caramel Frosting and Sauce by Moira Crooks

While on vacation, I also read through many books, which included:
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
Sugar and Spice (L.A. Candy book 3) by Lauren Conrad
The Infamous Series (three books) by Lauren Conrad
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This put a nice dent into my summer reading list, but I still got a long way to go.

Now that I'm back, I'm ready to get back into the kitchen.  Pop back in a day or so to see the delicious Burnt Caramel Bourbon Heath Ice Cream I made (no ice cream maker required!)