Five on Friday: Florida Getaway

Happy Friday, friends.  We are expecting Hurricane Florence to hit us today, so much of this week has been about prepping and waiting.  I've seen a meme a bunch of times on social media that says, "waiting for a hurricane is like being stalked by a turtle."  So true with this one moving at 10 mph - haha!  It was supposed to be here yesterday morning, but it's kept slowing as it approaches the coast.  

For my Friday post, I thought I would throw it back it last weekend, when we were visiting my aunt in Florida.  Her back porch looks out onto St Pete Beach, and it is seriously my happy place!  Here's what we were up to during our long weekend.

1 ||| On the way down, we stopped in Orlando at Disney Springs to see all of the Halloween decorations.  They now sell Dole Whip in Disney Springs, so that was a must as well as the "millennial pink" champagne at Amorette's Patisserie.  It absolutely lived up to the hype! 

2 ||| While in St. Pete, we visited a couple of breweries: Green Bench Brewing and Cycle Brewing.  Cycle was definitely known for its stouts, which I appreciated but aren't quite my style, while Green Bench was more about IPAs.  They do a rotating FLIPA (Florida IPA) series, and when we were there, they had the Key Lime Pie version: tart, citrus, and a little cinnamon. So good! 

3 ||| On our way back from the brewery, I spotted the cutest mural!  Sunshine is so perfectly Florida, so of course we had to stop for a photo!  I decided to Google and see if there were others in the area, and it turns out that St. Petersburg has an awesome outdoor art scene.  We stopped at a couple more on the way back, and we will definitely make a whole tour of it next time we're in the area.

4 ||| Of course, we also made a stop at my favorite Italian market ever: Mazzaro's.  It's a cheese shop, wine shop, coffee bar, bakery, prepared food and deli counter; and they make their own pasta, pastries, and mozzarella.  I brought home some of my favorite cookies (rainbow cookies - in the bottom corner in that case below), a few dinners for the weekend, and my aunt bought an entire pastry bag filled with cannoli cream to pipe our own cannolis all weekend.    

5 ||| Last but not least, we visited another new ballpark!  This was city #11 for us, and we were excited that the Tampa Bay Rays were finally in town on one of our visits.  Tropicana Field is a dome and just turned 20 this year.  Nothing really stands out in terms of food or atmosphere, but the Mister Softee was really good, they have a sting ray touch tank, and I got a photo with their mascot, Ray!  Plus, there was no one there, so we were sitting in the fourth row by the fifth inning.  I was so excited that my parents could finally join us for one of our stadium adventures, too.

A Weekend in Cooperstown

Last weekend was a special one for me. If you've been following this blog for a while, you might remember the yearly pilgrimage I make every year to Cooperstown, New York for the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction. It's become a bit more of trek since moving from New England, but I'm lucky to have a husband who knows how important this weekend is to me and makes sure that we are there every year.

Well, this induction was #30, and with my 30th birthday in a couple of months, that means I've never missed one in my life. Over the past few years, it's been even more exciting, because while I love seeing the old timers who come back year after year like Hank Aaron and Al Kaline, I have loved watching guys get inducted who I watched play ball in the 90s, when I was growing up.

This year was the largest class of living hall of famers ever: Trevor Hoffman (whose holographic baseball card I vividly remember getting in Cooperstown about 20 years ago), Chipper Jones, Vlad Guerrero, Jim Thome, Alan Trammel, and Jack Morris.

We did all of our usual things: walk up and down Main Street 100 times, shop at all the baseball stores, visit all the same displays in the Hall of Fame, drink cider slushies and feed the ducks at Fly Creek, eat all the Sabretts hot dogs, take photos in front of Doubleday Field, and, of course, get sunburned.

Our "something different" this year (in the past, it's been trips to go berry picking, visit Brewery Ommegang, sample at Cooperstown Distillery, and take a walk down to the lake) was watching the award ceremony for the sportscaster and baseball writer being honored this year.  Bob Costas was the announcer recipient, and he's been my favorite sportscaster for years!

The next 2 years will (hopefully) be the best inductions to date. Yankee greats Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter have their first years of eligibility in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Can. Not.  Wait.  Cooperstown really is my happy place, and I'm already dreaming of our next trip back.

Red, White, and Blue For You

Only ten more shopping days before Independence Day!  When I was little, wearing the brightest red, white, and blue clothes I could find (usually with wildly different patterns for shirts and shorts) was my favorite on the 4th of July.  Not a whole lot has changed, and I always love seeing what fun screen-printed designs stores have for the summer holiday.  I've rounded up a bunch of my favorites, whether you need a colorful tee for the beach or a clutch to match your picnic look!

Parade stripe dress and white sneakers

Meowica tank - If you buy this, you clearly also need the Americat leggings!

Tassel tote - Your perfect beach bag!

Tie-front crop top and skirt set

Woven striped pouch

Barbie halter - I love this entire Missguided collection (check out the jean dress and swimsuit, too!)

Earrings

Jack Rogers - These were just released, and they look perfect for the occasion! 

Baseball tee - I don't care if it's a million degrees out, I love comfy baseball tees!  If you aren't a MLB fan, here's this simple striped one, too. 

Adventure Planning: 2018

Thinking about how much fun we had on our first trip of the year last weekend (here's the link to the blog post recap, if you missed it!), I thought it was time to start planning the rest of our year!  We love traveling and have some ideas for the rest of 2018:

In terms of our baseball bucket list, we are one-third of the way there!  Our remaining MLB cities (East to West) are: Boston (we've been separately to Fenway but have to check it off together!), NYC (Mets), Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Seattle.  Yeah, that's a lot, but we will make it happen...eventually!  Any suggestions where we should hit first?

Our friends are all getting married this year (and Mike will be the Best Man twice!) - April, June, and October in Boston and August in New York City.  Would you believe that none are when the Red Sox or Mets are home?!  Seriously, friends, plan better - haha!

It didn't take much convincing to get Mike to agree to go to London this fall - the Eagles are playing the Jags!  We don't know exactly when yet, but we will be there in October for it.  I need all of your recommendations for the cutest spots for afternoon tea, the best views of the city, the most colorful Notting Hill homes (#doitfortheinsta), and the most delicious food!

Emily gave me a link to an awesome cruise from Tampa to Key West to Cuba.  I'm not sure if it'll happen this year, but if there's any place I want to visit more than anything, it's Havana!

And, of course, we will be making our annual pilgrimage to Cooperstown, New York this summer for the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction.  This will be #30 for me!

A Weekend in Dallas

Howdy y'all! Happy Humpday! It's officially baseball season, and if you've been following this blog for a while, you might know that Mike and I love taking trips to new stadiums. Our life bucket list is to visit every MLB stadium, and last year, we got to 6 (here is my recap of the first 5), including a surprise for my birthday to a playoff game. I loved his surprise idea so much, that I stole it. In his birthday card last month, I told him to save the weekend (April 6-9) but didn't tell him where we were headed. Well, it was Dallas! After having a blast at Daytona last year (here's that recap), I looked for race weekends with a hometown baseball team and found Texas Motor Speedway less than an hour from Arlington where the Rangers play!

We stayed in Dallas at the Adolphus Hotel. It was seriously gorgeous! We made sure to visit Dealey Plaza and see the 6th Floor Museum, on top of all of our "usual" things. In every city, we do 5 local things, and this weekend was no exception: coffee shops, donut shops, murals, breweries, and sports.

Coffee: Magnolias and Weekend - both beautiful, modern shops just begging to be photographed!  Both photos below are from Magnolias.

Donuts: Glazed Donut Works (more modern and funky donuts - left photo - like the donut grilled cheese with bacon we devoured!) and Mustang Donuts (everything delicious and traditional you want in a donut shop - right photo, including free donut holes!)

Murals: Deep Ellum was ah-mazing! So many colors and beautiful art - here's where I found the addresses of some of my favorites.

Breweries: Turning Point Beer, Collective Brewing Project, Deep Ellum Brewing, and BrainDead Brewing - my favorite was Collective (some of the best sours I've had), and Mike loved Turning Point for their New England-style IPAs.

(Turning Point and Collective above; Collective below (just look at those sour varieties!) and Deep Ellum below that!)

Sports: Texas Rangers vs Toronto Blue Jays and O'Reilly Auto Parts 500!

Globe Life had some of the best food we've ever had at a stadium: Doritos walking tacos, barbecue, and donuts on a stick FTW!

 NASCAR is the best and lets you bring in your own beer.  We went to Spec's (new favorite package store ever - check it out if you're in the area) and stocked up on a bunch of local beers (in addition to Bud Light tall boys!).

On top of that, I also made sure to scour Eater before our trip for some delicious food ideas. Going to Dallas, we had to get some barbecue and Tex-Mex! Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum was so good (pro tip: sit at the bar so you don't have to wait in the hour+ line!) and Manny's Uptown was our favorite Tex-Mex (with Herrera's in close second). Oh, and of course we had to get In-n-Out!

Have you ever been to Dallas?  What did we miss this time that we need to go back for?!  You KNOW we will be back!