As I sit here on Sunday night, drinking wine, watching Arrival, and relishing the fact that I am finally over a 2 week mega-Cold, I can't help but think about how I always have to be *doing*. What's weird is that 90% of my *doing* on the weekend or in my free time is truly useless. Time spent pointlessly on social media, scrolling-scrolling-scrolling, and picking up new hobbies while easily tossing aside last weeks' ... I can't help but ask myself what is a really fulfilling way I can spend my time, what do I really want to do?

One of the hobbies I've picked up over the past couple of years is "planning." LOL. Yes, this is a real thing. The "planner community" is a real thing. If you search on Facebook you will find hundreds of planning groups. The biggest one I'm in - Planners Gone Wild - has over 30,000 members (!!). There is an annual planner convention - this year it's in Nashville - tickets are $435 to attend, and it includes tons of "planner swag." I wanted to go last year but didn't, and this year I told myself if tickets were still available the day after they went on sale, I'd go -- I think they sold out in like 5 minutes. Anyway, it was a sign, I didn't need to spend the money.

The reason I like "planning" so much (also, bullet journaling is included in this, and I love to look at bullet journalers on IG/FB) is because of the memory aspect of it. Then, like tonight, I was like, OK I'm gonna work on finishing our Honeymoon planning/journaling but then it just seems so exhausting to pull out all the (too-many) supplies I have, go through pictures, print the best, figure out how to lay them out, etc. etc.

I wonder how I was so in love with journaling and blogging for so long and then I just stopped. When bloggers I'd read would just stop I'd think, "How can they just stop? That'll never be me. I'll never run out of things to say." The truth is, I don't think I ever ran out of things to say, but I started doubted my ability to say them. Everything had to be thought through, all the pictures had to be perfect, etc. etc. (I never did and they never were).

BUT, Man, is it so great to be able to come back here and look at posts I wrote 5, 6, 7 years ago. It's awesome. Even the not-so-great pictures, they are great because they bring me back to that moment.

The posts I am like meh about, those are the posts that I wrote when I fell into the "blogger" hole. Here's a list of 10 ways you know it's Friday. Celebrities that look like animals. A bunch of random memes/gifs with no context. Hahah. I mean, it's fine if people write that, they definitely have a shelf-life though, and ultimately, that's not why I blog.

Why I blog is to remember, and, one day, to give a memory to my children. I see so many cool things parents do for their children - blogging, scrapbooking, opening an email address and sending them emails -- to be opened on their 18th bday - etc. etc. I would have loved  to look back at those memories. Of course, with social media, I think it will be easy to give those memories now.

So, here's an update: 

view from the conference hotel

February has been an over-the-top busy month for me. Despite the fact that my billable hours are still alarmingly low, I volunteered on the operations committee of a big law conference that took place this month. That meant I had to organize all the presentations, get food for volunteers, go on walk-throughs of the hotel, correspond with vendors, etc. etc. This was a really great opportunity for me to meet very well-established attorneys that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to meet, nevermind work with, but it really wore me down.

Then, amazingly, after not having any friends visit since we've lived in Florida (okay, I get it, noone wants to come to Tallahassee), we had three friends visit. It was so great but I feel kind of guilty bc I was exhausted from that conference, and still sick.

 While they were here we did a lot of very "Miami" things, including going to Wynwood (which I love), Lagniappe (very cool jazz spot with huge backyard garden), drank mojitos, ate cuban food on Lincoln Road, sat by the water, visited the Vizcaya museum, had a drink at Sugar (rooftop bar), ate seafood at the River Oyster Bar, and went to a super cute restaurant in out neighborhood. It's interesting because I feel like (and joke that) Felipe and I are so lame and don't do anything, but the more I thought about it the more I realize that we have done a lot of exploring, at least in our neighborhood and it honestly never disappoints. I truly cannot believe how much I love Miami. Such an unexpected (happy) surprise!

inside the vizcaya museum

built at the vizcaya house to break waves 

donuts from the salty donut - a miami legend - and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!! 

(when you think you look normal even though your sick but then your eyes give you away)

Work has been picking up for me. And by picking up I mean I will be relatively to mildly busy and then at like noon I will get an assignment that needs to be done ASAP and I will stay up till 1am working .... 😒 So, I guess that's to be expected but it's really stressful for me because -- as I mentioned above, "planning" is a new hobby of mine so I really don't like it when my "plans" get thrown. LOL. I guess I have to deal with it because it's just the nature of the job.

Coming up: 

We have more guests this weekend. Then, Felipe is going out of town the following week, then the following weekend is his bday, and then at the end of March we're going up to NY for my sister-in-law's wedding (she's marrying my former colleague-- they met at my birthday party! 💗).

So, that's where I'm at. And I'm SO SAD about Bill Paxton, star of my first real horror movie: Twister.

xox

NYC Halloween

Travel Throwback Thursday: Akumal, México

In anticipation for my week-long beach vacay in Turks & Caicos (leaving Saturday!), I thought it would be fun to do a little Travel Throwback Thursday (maybe a repeating trend while I get my travel page fattened up!) on one of my favorite beachy vacays: Akumal, Mexico.

We (my three girlfriends and I) went in October 2011 - over Columbus Day weekend. We got a living social deal and it worked out to $90 for each of us for THREE NIGHTS stay in a BEAUTIFUL condo, right on the water, in México! Those deals are no joke!!

We flew into Cancun, rented a car and drove about an hour to get to Akumal. It was pretty painless. One caveat though, and I'm sure if you've ever rented a car you know this, but ESPECIALLY if you are traveling just females, make sure you make note of any problems with the car beforehand. They basically tried to tell us we had to pay for four new tires when we turned the car in because one tire was flat. I was like, NO. Put air in it! But the rental place is not attached to the airport, it's down a dirt road and you have to take a shuttle there, so you could be screwed getting back to the airport if they really decide to be jerks.

It was pretty easy to check in, and we also got a day-trip to some "eco-adventures" thing. I've gone ziplining in Costa Rica and Panama, I've done the rapelling thing and all sorts of stuff, so I think in retrospect I didn't need to do this tour. I should've just stayed on the beach all day. The other day we did go snorkeling (I got seasick), then hung out on the beach all day.

The town was ABANDONED because it was October, and October is low-season for Mexico (everyone from up north wants to escape the cold winters!). We went to "our" restaurant - La Buena Vida (The Good Life) and ordered guac every day. YUMMMMM.

It was just a really nice, relaxing long weekend getaway with girlfriends and I'd love to go back! Now, some pics!

 the view from our back patio!! unreal!!

 getting dragged over the rocks. -_-

 a view from inside our condo. there were two bedrooms - one with two twin bed, other with a king.

 back patio

 "our" restaurant. blurry, but the floor is sand, and swings for seats!

 nom nom nom get in my belly!!

Have you ever been to México? I really want to go to Cabo!!!

xox, kimbo

downtown disney weekend

Is Thursday too late to publish a post about the previous weekend? Let's go with nooo because blogger effed up when I was doing this Sunday night and then it would not let me write a post or get back to edit this one until today! So, without further adieu . . .    I had the best weekend!   i have been so overwhelmed the past few weeks with working + summer classes and just so much going on, so I was looking forward to heading down to orlando, but also it's annoying to have to drive 4 hours, but, whatever.    we left here around 330 on friday and got down there at 8 (including a stop for food!). we stayed at the buena vista palace and it was close enough to walk to downtown disney -- where I haven't been for YEARS.    it's fun because when you walk in you can buy a ($7!!!) beer and walk around with it.    We went to Splitsville to bowl and I made Felipe buy this water bottle because I really wanted it but, let's face it, I ain't 22 anymore and I just cannot deal with fruity frozen liquor drinks . . . lucky for me, my BF can! :)

 I forgot socks (we didn't plan on bowling!) so I had to buy some there. Lucky for me -- only $6 for a pair of socks! At least I was representin' U-S-A!

 He loves me even though he hates the headband :)

 At the Irish pub in downtown Disney. Just ask expensive as Dublin, but smaller glasses -_-

 The view from our hotel room on Saturday. Thanks Orlando for the beautiful weather!

 We went to Medieval Times for my bestie + her fiancé's bday. One word of advice: bring your own plastic cutlery if, like me, you are totally horrified about eating with your hands!

 I was *very* excited about this green goblet . . . which I paid $10 for and then left in the hotel bar later that night . . . and I DID realize before we got on the road, but the bar didn't open till later on a Sunday -_-.

 

Besties for 17 years and counting! 

  Oh, and doin the tall girl slouch with my boo Mr. Potato Head. 
A really great weekend, so nice to disconnect from all things school! Of course, I forgot my contact solution and I HATE SLEEPING IN MY CONTACTS so I didn't get any sleep Fri --> Sat night and then on Sat morning I woke up at 7am and went down to the in-hotel Disney store, and surprisingly, they had it. Thank yuhhh Jesus!
This weekend I'm going down to St. Pete Beach for my sister's friend's 30th bday celebration! Should be another fun one, then time to buckle down and study for finals! #whenwillitend

Weekend Shenans

I had the best weekend!

My parents came up Saturday and left Sunday. I decided to get domestic and got some flowers (which I didn't have vases for) from club pub. 

 

My moms brought me a housewarming gift of a pretty big canvas pic of times square. I mean, times square is my LEAST favorite place in NYC (rivalled maybeee by China Town) but, it was still really sweet, and I can appreciate times square when I'm not trapped behind a slow-walking tourist who cant stop looking up. 

 

We went out to dinner, then to a bar where my parents made friends with these two guys and proceeded to play pool, darts, and beer pong with them all night. The guys were like, "Your parents are so cool!" and apparently they said to my parents, "I hope I'm still partying when I'm old like you!" hahahaha. But yeah, and then a bunch of my friends met up with us and they were like, yeah your parents are cool. #duh. 

I posted this pic on IG and I knew my moms hand looked wonky but I didn't know people would start texting me, having seen it and mistakenly believed that felipe popped the question, HAH. 

On Sunday we went to ross and bealls and my mom get me an area rug for my living room and helped me pick out stuff to decorate my bathroom! I had been wanting to do my downstairs bathroom beach themed and bealls had the BEST stuff!!

 

I also watched ALL of House Of Cards. I went from Bored - to intrigued - to angry - to intrigued - to bored. I'm sorry people, but it is WAYY OVERRATED. It's like a mix of Scandal and West Wing, but Scandal and West Wing both do it way better. If you want to be crazy conspiracy -- Scandal. If you want to be political -- West Wing. If you want a little bit of both, but not as good -- House of Cards. But, whatevs. I did NOT recognize that Claire was Jenny! And I was totally uncomfortable (TINY SPOILER ALERT) with that weird little threesome with Meechum. Like, is this what people do?? I'm not judgy, but I just can't believe that people are jumping into threesomes like that. 

I also finished editing all the pics of the wedding I photographed a few weeks ago. 

Trust me, I know it's not the best wedding photography you've ever seen, but I only charge $100 for one hours of photos + basic edits + disc with photos mailed to you. Considering I spent close to 7+ hrs editing the photos, I'd say that was a fair price!! I do think I'm getting a little better though. This wedding was tough because although originally I was so excited because it was at 11 and SUNNY, I didn't realize how fucking annoying shadows were going to be!! UGH! But, the bride saw some pics I posted on FB and loved them, sooo... yay!!

How was your weekend??

 

Weather, Wine and War

Happy National Championship Day! 

G O  N O L E S ! ! !

I don't normally care about sports, but being that I'm back at FSU and I hate Alabama fans so I really need us to win. (P.S. I do realize we're playing Auburn, not Alabama, but my 'Bama friends on the 'book talking about how FSU will never win because SEC is so much better than ACC)

I'm in NYC for the game though so I'm going to a NYC Noles bar to watch! It's fun because there are a lot of FSU alums up here so it's almost like being back in Tally...but it's soo cold. 

So yeah, I guess if you're anywhere "north" you probably have been living through this hellish weather right along with me! I lived in NYC for six years and I SWEAR to God it was NEVER as cold as it has been! Also, Felipe doesn't have heat in his apartment (this is not a joke or exaggeration) ...ONLY a space heater in his bedroom. It actually works really well but it takes a long time to warm up. I can't talk about it. 

I really did want to see snow when I was here, and I got my wish.   

The problem was that it was SO COLD out that I almost couldn't bring myself to go out in it (the windchill was -10 or something.)

I managed to huff it down to Central Park in all of Felipe's ski clothes (yeah, I was looking gooood). But my face was burning off so I didn't go that far in. So you just get some generic pics of the snow that might not even be from Central Park. 

I didn't do anything on that day - my friends all got a snow day from work (#teacherlife) but I was exhausted and cold...and SORRY but that's one thing that was always true for me ... I HATE going out in the cold...it doesn't matter if I'm gonna be inside in the heat, I just effin hate the cold!

So, on Saturday we went to a bar/restaurant we really like on 106 & B'way...they have THE BEST buffalo chicken mac & cheese. But, my stomach had been weirdly gurgling and upset so I didn't feel like I could do it. I decided to order water, ginger ale, and then for good measure: red wine. I just had a feeling red wine would settle my stomach. I'm not sure why because I've never heard this before, but it just seemed right. Red wine is good for us, right?

 thirsty much?

It was a fun night and we stayed out a lot later than I'd anticipated.

Sunday, GROSS GROSS GROSS day.

I met D-nice & Baby K to see Lone Survivor (which I guess isn't out everywhere until next week).

I hate to say a movie like that is "good" because it's so sad and horrible and a true story, but I think people need to see it. It gives you perspective and also makes you realize you have nothing to complain about! & also I just want to thank every person who has served in the military or family members of those people because jesus! I just can't imagine the stress!

A great weekend... I'm getting sad as the countdown to back to Florida is quickly approaching! I go back Thursday and while I seriously am SO EXCITED for highs in the 70s, it's gonna be really hard to leave Felipe and all my friends up here again!

Just gonna make the most out of it while I'm here!

xox,
kimbo