Chit Chat: Beach Vacation

Tracy and I have been back from our Florida beach vacation for a week now. For the past three Summers now, we have left to spend over a week in Florida as soon as my school is out for Summer break. Tracy's boss has a house in Fort Myers there that she lets us use for free, which is fantastic. Honestly, by then I am so in need of a relaxing beach vacation. The last month of school is so stressful. My students are ready to be done for the year and the beautiful weather outside has them longing to be outside having fun not in a classroom learning. Then there are so many meetings after school to discuss upcoming testing, to make plans for the next school year, and to complete all of the end of the year stuff. Then everything in your classroom needs to be stored in drawers or cabinets, because over the Summer everything will be moved out so that some major cleaning can be done. So by the time that bell rings to dismiss school on that last day, I am exhausted mentally and physically.

Our Florida vacations are the perfect way to recharge after that last day. We aren't rushing around trying to do and see everything like we are when we go to New York City. Instead, on these trips we are really taking it easy. We are spending the early morning hours until noon at the beach where we are kicking back and relaxing to the sound of the ocean waves. We are having fun in the water and then taking it easy on the beach to dry some before we head back to the house. Then back to the house for lunch and to clean up. After lunch we spent time enjoying some shopping, going to the movies, or just hanging out about town having fun. Evenings were spent lounging by the pool or going on a boat ride. This was truly the best way to unwind at the beginning of Summer break.

While going to Florida was not a first for me, I did have several new experiences on this trip. Every morning, not long after we made it to the beach this dolphin would show up and swim around the pier for about an hour. This would be early and only a handful of people would be at the beach yet. Sometimes he would come way closer to the beach than I thought a dolphin would. After several mornings of this I was like I am going to make a dolphin friend. That morning I went out into the water and swam with a dolphin! For about thirty minutes this dolphin swam around me and the few other people in the water. Sometimes he would swim so close that I could almost touch him. Dolphins are such beautiful creatures and they swim with such grace and spunk. In a playful mood sometimes dolphin would use his tail to splash water at us. UNBELIEVABLE! I was in awe with this dolphin that I named Bartholomew. I never realized how quick dolphins could swim. One second he would be really close to me and then dive down and the next second he would be quite a ways away from me. It was an unforgettable experience that I will always cherish. What's one of your unforgettable experiences?


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Home Again!

Tracy and I are home from our 10 day Florida beach vacation. Other than a small case of sun poisoning that I got near the end of our trip, we had a great time. We spent relaxing mornings, until lunch time, on the beach watching the waves and listening to the sound of their music as they crash on the beach. It was just so relaxing and beautiful. Also while at the beach every day a gorgeous dolphin would come visit us and swim around for about an hour. He would come way closer to the beach than I thought and even swim around people. After several days of this I finally decided I was going out there to swim with that dolphin. On this day too, the beach was not crowded yet and the dolphin swam so close that I could almost touch him! It was so exciting!

We also went on a boat cruise one evening to see wildlife and more dolphins. Tracy and our brother had a blast, sadly this was when I was sick and I didn't get to enjoy it. We saw around a dozen or so dolphins who loved jumping around our boat, a couple of manatees, and a lot of beautiful birds. Other than this we did some shopping and spent evening lounging poolside at the house we were staying at. We had a great trip, but are definitely glad to be home.

We have a lot of emails to go through, but do plan to get through them and respond in the next few days. We are also going to catch up on your blogs and leave comments. So you will hear from us soon!

Be Back Soon

We are heading out of town today on a road trip to the beach. The next week and a half will be spent relaxing and being so lazy. We are staying in a house a few minutes from the beach. We have planned our trip to have largely unstructured days that include little more than relaxing on the beach, spending time by the pool, eating delicious food (and a little too much ice cream), doing a little shopping, and watching some good movies. This trip to the ocean has became a tradition of ours and I look forward to it each year. It is hard to spend a week on the sand breathing in the salty air and not come home with a much better perspective on life.

Jessica and I have opted to not take our laptops so we will be taking a little mini break from drafting blog posts. Keep up with us on twitter and instagram were we will try to share some fun details from our trip.

P.S. If you are planning a road trip of your own check out our summer road trip playlist.

image via: gary pepper

Escaping To The Beach

Jessica and I didn't intend to miss our usual weekend posts but over the last few years I have discovered that each year around the end of April or the beginning of May we really begin to struggle with keeping up. We have been working months since our Christmas break and fatigue and exhaustion have started to set in. We add to that that I am usually juggling several things at once and Jessica is caught up in end of the year activities at school where she teaches before jumping into taking her own classes and we both really struggle with feeling spent.

It has become a yearly tradition for us to escape for a beach vacation each year as soon as Jessica's school year wraps up. We are heading out midweek this year so the last few days have been spent getting prepared to leave. Friday evening and Saturday morning were spent running around in a rush to check off a long list of errands. I finally upgraded my iPhone after 5 years! Saturday evening I sat down on the sofa with Tiger to prepare a post for yesterday but fell asleep and took a 3 hour nap.

I am expecting long days at the office this week as I try to keep from falling behind at work while gone. I also have to finish laundry and packing in the few days before we leave Thursday for 10 days ocean side. Do you have any vacation plans for this summer?

A few favorites to pack for a beach getaway:

image via: smitten studio

Vacation Jewelry

Knotted Tassel Necklace / Double Gem Stone Hammered Hoop Earrings (love these!) / Cape Town Bracelet Set / Dreamcatcher Bib / Stud Earrings / Fringe Earrings (only $28!) / Enamel Ring / Dual Stone Bracelet / Major Cord Collar
In less than two weeks Jessica and I are headed to the beach for 10 days. I have a lot to do between now and then but I cannot wait. Usually for vacations I like to head off and spend a week or two exploring some busy, full of energy city but sometimes my body and mind just need some time to relax. That is exactly what this beach vacation will be. Other than lazy days spent on the beach or by the pool we have very little else scheduled. Above is an ideal list of jewelry I would love to pack for my beach getaway including these pretty earrings and this fun assortment of bracelets.

A few more favorites:

Florida: My Beach Vacation

At the end of May Tracy and I are taking out brother and going to Florida. We will be in the Fort Myers, Sarasota, Sanibel Island area of Florida. We have gone the past two summers because Tracy's boss lets us use her house for free there. We will be spending the morning at the beach. We, all, are so fair skinned that we burn so easily when we are out in the sun. We put SPF on before leaving the house in the early morning hours and reapply every few hours while we are at the beach. Around lunch time we will leave the beach to go in search of some food. Other than spending our mornings at the beach, we want to go on another dolphin watching cruise. We love boat rides and seeing the dolphins and manatees.

Do you have any suggestions for how we can spend our evenings?

Spring Break Beach Bag Essentials

Stripe Beach Towel / Sunhat (pompoms!) / Family Pictures / Elephant Bag Charm (adorable!) / Tassel Dress / Scallop Bikini / Face Sunscreen / Body Sunscreen / Lip Balm (with SPF) / Hair Ties / KIND Bars / Sunglasses / Tote / Sandals (love these) / Water Bottle / Evian Mineral Water Spray

If you are lucky enough to be heading to a sunny beach somewhere soon on spring break I am so envious of you. After winter days filled with so much snow that have turned into gloomy days where it refuses to stop raining I could definitely use a little time in the sun. Although I am only left dreaming of a beach vacation for the time being I have rounded up a collection of my favorite beach bag essentials that include the perfect beach towel, a a coverup that can also be worn to casual lunches, a pretty beach tote that is roomy enough to hold everything to get you through the day, and sandals that have just the right amount sparkle.

What items do you include in your beach bag essentials?

Destination: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

After having a wonderful beach vacation earlier this Summer, I can honestly say that taking off to the beach is one of the most relaxing things you can do for yourself. What's not to love about the beach? I would go back in a heartbeat. A new beach destination that I have discovered online is Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The pictures make it look like a beach paradise. This place seems perfect. I've already added it to my Must Travel Too list, what about you?

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Chit Chat: Vacation Personality

There are few words that sound sweeter to me than the word vacation. Everyone I know looks forward to getting away from reality for a few days me included.

There are a lot of different types of vacations: relaxation, adventures, family fun, etc. I tend to be someone who gets stressed often and who worries about everything so it would make perfect sense if I planned vacations around relaxation but that is totally not the case.

On most days my life is relatively mundane. I wake up at 5 am, go to work, get home around 6:30 or 7, make dinner, hopefully carve out a little time for blogging, and then go to bed so I can repeat in the morning. When on vacation I go in with the mindset that I can rest later and that I want to fit in everything possible during the next few days. I want to explore, I want to see, I want to eat at new interesting places, all the things that I cannot do at home (like feed flamingos).

Almost every time I visit NYC I sleep less than 4 hours a night (there is just so much to do). Even when taking beach vacations I am constantly on the go. I am not someone who just wants to sit still enjoy the sun and the sounds of the waves. I do this for about 15 minutes at a time and then I am ready to continue exploring the beach or splashing in the water.

How do you vacation? What types of activities do you look forward to?

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Vacation Snapshots

Going back to work after 8 days on the beach has been rough. I have gotten so far behind at the office and to make it worse I am spending today and tomorrow at a conference out of town. Who knows if I will ever manage to catch up but it was totally worth it. Even though it was only a week the time spent by the beach and pool was so relaxing. We spent hours exploring the beach, collecting seashells, and watching dolphins play. We rounded out our time shopping, catching a couple summer blockbusters, cruising in boats around the gulf, and even feeding flamingos. Plus, we had so much delicious food. This week we will playing catch-up but hope to be back on track soon. Check out our Instagram for some more pictures from the beach.

Getting Back into the Routine

Yesterday was our first day back from vacation. We had a great time. I have to say that my very favorite part of the vacation was just going to the beach. It was so beautiful and relaxing. This week though, it is back to work. I know it is going to be very difficult to get back into the work routine. While on vacation we woke up early every morning, so at least that part won't be hard to do. After waking up we would have a relaxing breakfast and then get ready for the beach. At the beach we would enjoy the water, the sand, and the breeze. Tracy even found a starfish one day close to shore. Two days we had a pod of dolphins frolicking in the water in front of us. Evenings were spent doing various activities like shopping, taking a boat cruise, or going to the Sarasota Jungle Garden.
It was great getting to try and see new things. Having a week to kick back and just enjoy life was amazing. In Florida we had an awesome time, but it is nice to be back at home. Hopefully, we will get back into the swing of things and find time to catch up on all our favorite blogs!


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Taking Off

We actually left for our beach vacation on Friday after work. We wanted to spend this week relaxing on the beach and enjoying the sounds of the ocean, so we are taking a break from the blog. See you all next Monday!


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Chit Chat: Vacation Plans

The last few months have been very hectic for me. I just keep telling myself that I just have to make it through May and then I am off on a beach vacation for a week. Sure these next few weeks are going to be amazingly crazy busy, but when it's all over with I can lounge on the beach and listen to the relaxing sound of the waves. I can make it a few more weeks, right?

With the end of the school year approaching, work has been really busy. I have been working with students after school and during my planning time to help them meet their goals and improve their grades. I have had a lot of meetings after school to get ready for testing and any last minute thing that needs to be done. Plus this year I have been a senior sponsor. So the last couple of months have been hectic with them to get everything ready for prom and for their senior trip. Prom is now over with and everything went great. The other senior sponsors and I have received numerous compliments from the students because they absolutely loved it. It really makes all of the time and hard work we put into it worth it when the seniors had a blast and couldn't stop talking about it afterwards. The seniors leave on senior trip this week, I'm not going with them, but I think they will have a great time. Other than work, I have been really busy with my own college class. It ended last week and we had several assignments and presentations to give before it was all done with. Now that it is over with I am already getting ready for my next class (and last class for getting my Masters), which will start right after I get back from vacation.

At first I wasn't sure if my schedule would allow for me to have a vacation this summer, but I am so glad that things have worked out the way they have. My school ends the last of May and my college class starts the second week of June, so I have 10 days in between that have allowed me to go with Tracy and our brother to Florida. We went last year and absolutely loved it. I am very much looking forward to the beach, the waves, the sand, and the dolphins again. What are your vacation plans this summer?

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Where the Heart is

We are back from our Florida vacation. It was a lot of fun. We were able to kick back and relax while enjoying some beautiful beach scenes. The drive back was exhausting though. Hopefully Tracy will be more in the swing of things tomorrow. As for me, tomorrow I am off to Knoxville, TN for six days.
I hope you all had a great weekend and a great Monday.




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What To Wear: Beach Vacation

When this week's #whattowear is posted I will be relaxing on a sandy beach listening to the waves of the ocean. The bikinis from Reis are so pretty, including this ruffled one which I think may be my favorite. My sister purchased this and this. Both of which I love.

Coverup / Bikini Top / Bikini Bottom / Tote / Wallet / Necklace / Sandals / Earrings

Maxi Dress / Bikini Top / Bikini Bottom / Bangles / Earrings / Sunglasses / Tote / Sandals

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