{recap} around the world in eight hours–epcot food and wine fest

Every fall as Labor Day passes and Halloween approaches another festive occasion also comes along….Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. I haven’t had the joy of attending in the last EIGHT years, way too long, and was super stoked when some of my co-workers scored some tickets. So, off we went…

You can get into Epcot at 9am, but the “world showcase”, where all the different countries are and all of the delicious food and drinks as well, doesn’t open until 11am. With empty growly stomaches we stopped at the first country that came our way…Mexico.

I kicked off the eating with this shrimp taco. And it did not disappoint. It was crispy and perfect with pico, habanero sauce and pickled onions. I wanted another on our second way around the world, but the line for tacos had become rather outrageous!

The next country to feel our wrath was Norway, and we stopped by the Farm Fresh food station that had local (I guess?) Florida provisions and libations. Being good Floridians, we got a little of everything…

I only had a bite or two of this bacon jalapeño hash with hollandaise so I can’t say too much about it, but the beer flight was pretty well laid out. All Florida beers with a little something for everyone. And they were decent sized cups.

Epcot’s Norway is small in size, so in no time at all we had made our way to China. We reveled in China for a while. Aside from finding an off the beaten path beer purveyor with no line, and maybe getting kicked out of their pavilion area for carrying said beers inside, we also ate the festival food. Dumplings!!!

Dumplings are kind of a thing between my friend Lynda and I. We both love them and have very stringent standards for dumplings, and these hit the spot. They were made with well-seasoned chicken and the wrapper was crunchy, chewy perfection.  The sauce that was served with them was the perfect balance–not too sweet, not too spicy. Well done Epcot, you make some tasty dumplings!

After venturing around and through Africa and playing around with all the toys in Japan, we arrived in the mother land…ITALY. It is was all pizza and prosecco here, and none of it missed the mark. The heat was wearing on our tender sensibilities, and so was the alcohol consumption.

We stopped in Germany to enjoy some bratwursts. They were so legit, on tiny pretzel buns! (Insert an “ask me about my wiener” comment here). And we were off to France for an abbreviated spree of croissant/ham and cheese baguette/champagne consumption that may or may not have resembled a feeding frenzy. We left the mainland of Europe for the United Kingdom where a drink at the Rose and Crown Pub is ALWAYS in order. Then it was on to Canada.

Things got a little dodgy in Canada. We maybe got in trouble in Canada. The movie Epcot shows in their Canada ISN’T THAT GOOD. Was it really necessary for some member of our group (cough cough, Cory) to sneak in?!? We followed that all up with popcorn and waters and started off on what was probably an ill-advised second spin “around the world”. There were churros, more dumplings, and eggrolls had by many. Not to mention beers and cocktails.

At the end of the day, the inevitable departure and return home to the little lady was bittersweet. The rest of our party went on to scream and freak out (Maria) at the Tower of Terror. And we fell asleep at 8:15. Thank you Epcot Food and Wine Fest (and Crystal and Lynda for procuring the tickets!) you were properly eventful, boozy, and delicious!

Until next time!

ugly duckling

I love swans. I’ve previously posted about how much I enjoy our neighborhood park, Lake Eola, and its collection of swans here. This park also has swan boats. And I mean, I realize I am an adult woman, but take me “swoating” ANY DAY…

So, now that we are on the same page about the swan fixation, I’ll move on to my current problem. It’s late late August. September is imminent. Summer is for all intents and purposes…over. And last week, this image fell into my conciousness and wrecked havoc on my fall plans–

Awesome, right???

Clearly, as any rational responsible person would decide, I need this in my life. A little internet research told me said swan float could be purchased at Urban Outfitters (of course), so off I went. With Lo and a friend who was fully capable of enabling my obsession with this swan in tow, I found the object of my desire. I had it in my hands.

And then, like with every awesome idea that I have, the nagging reasonable voice of my sister entered my head. And I was forced to recall her line of questions from the previous night when I excitedly showed her my swan discovery–

“1. How are you even going to blow that thing up…it’s six feet wide?!

2. Do you have an air compressor?

3. You realize you don’t have a POOL, right?

4. What are you going to do with it once it’s inflated, like how will you move it from place to place?”

And slowly, reluctantly–I put the swan float back on the shelf. I left it there in all its white magnificent glory. Just waiting to be plucked up by some hipster in leather suspenders, 3/4 length jorts, and maryjanes on their way to a pool party.

But, the dream hasn’t died. I live in Florida. It’s summer forever here! I have friends with big garages who have room for giant swans! So, I’m putting it to a vote–Do I invest $43 in the swan float of my dreams? Or do I walk away?

Give me advice, tell me what to do!

{recap} summer’s last weekend

Summer is dark wizard, alright. Teasing us with the occasional perfect weather. Making us believe in its magic. Always disappearing faster than I would prefer. And so it has been with the summer of 2014 as well. Somehow it is already the first week of school. Enough uniforms bought so that I’m not doing laundry 18 times a week, an exorbitant amount of supplies, and lunchbox/backpack are all ready and stock piled. Bring it on second grade! But instead of talking about my excellent organizational skills and preparation ability, I’d rather sigh and think back on this weekend…Lo’s last of the summer. This was one of those weekends that is like a warm perfect hug where the other person doesn’t let go before you want them to. We decided to do it up right and enjoy as many summer things as possible.

We spent a decent amount of time right in our neighborhood. Walking to the park, scootering, getting froyo and popsicles.

 

We set off with a peaches and cream and a John Daly pop (yeah…it’s exactly what you think) from Pop Parlour to cruise around Lake Eola. Between baby birds, turtles, and the new found knowledge that scootering is ALLOWED at our otherwise wheel-free park Lo was pretty smitten with this outing. And the sunsets we’ve been having have stolen my heart. The more it rains, the more beautiful they get. Just vibrantly golden and then changing to lavender, pinks, and peach.  Is there anything that beats sunsets on the water? I hope our summer sunsets bleed into fall. I’m not ready to break up with them yet.

After some last minute school shopping on Sunday morning, we took off with some friends to enjoy our paddleboards at Lake Ivanhoe. Damn, I underestimated the heat!!! It was crazy, hazy white hot outside, so we spent most of our time in the shade. But I got out for a couple paddles with Lo on the board. And I imagine that is the life. Lounging, soaking up the sun while someone else does all the work. This whole childhood thing seems like a real rough gig. I can’t imagine her hardships.

But joking aside, it was exactly what I wanted for her on her last days of summer. No worries, no cares, everything being what she wanted it to be. We ended our day at the playground with a laid-back walk home together. It was the best weekend I can remember in a while. Any parent who doesn’t have a constant flow of gratitude coming into their life might not be doing it right. Kids force you to enjoy life in so many ways. And make you see all the beauty around you and realize how lucky you are to be a part of it. Because, no matter what you have going on…life is pretty sweet. So thanks, Lo…you are the brightest star in every dark sky, the rainbow after a rain. I’m not sure what I’ve done in life to deserve you…

❤

the city beautiful

Having rain every afternoon in the summer can be a bummer in Florida. But the beautiful sunsets after the storms have a way of balancing things out.

Happy hump day!