Exploring Florida Once Again

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit some family in central Florida and discovered some lovely towns: Micanopy, Ocala and Tavares. And I mean old-americana kind of lovely. On Saturday we visited Coon Hollo in Micanopy which is about 30 minutes north of Ocala. Coon Hollo this adorable outdoor fall festival. They had a corn maze, fair games, a hay ride where you get to feed cows and an assortment of other games and play areas for kids. It was very cute and like nothing I had ever seen before. In Miami we may have a few pumpkin patches (tents set up on an empty lot with a lot of pumpkins lined out for you to choose from) and festivals of different kinds but I had never seen anything like this. I won't claim to have seen everything there is to see in Miami, but I've been here for over twenty years so generally, if it's in Miami, I would hope that I've probably heard of it. I'm not unfamiliar with farm animals though as we do have cow and horse pastures in more rural areas and I have been to quite a few zoos and the like.

A happy Micanopy cow

The next day, we traveled to Tavares which is about 20 minutes east of Ocala. I'm referencing Ocala because it's the largest town in the area where we were staying. The morning mission was to ride the Orange Blossom Cannonball, a 100+ year old train that's been featured in many movies, new and old. They told a Halloween story, gave a magic show and all the children got treats. The actual train ride was about 40 minutes long and we didn't get off, but I heard that during past Christmas rides, patrons got off the train and visited a magical Christmas village. Sounds too cute.  

The Orange Blossom Cannonball

After the ride, a few folks stayed behind so the kids could play in the most elaborate treehouse-looking play park. Wished I was 6 again just to get in on that action. It looked very cool. We drove back through the scenic rural roads and once we got back, I helped set up for a Halloween party. We made mummy dogs and taco salad. Once those were done, I left to get ready for mine and my boyfriend's debut as a dapper cat and mouse pair. He decided I should be the cat. I'm still figuring that one out. 

Hope you had a great Halloween holiday!

New To Me, Old To The World

On a recent visit (more like raid) to my mother's house, I collected a few things for my birthday party:

First, she's lending me two drink dispensers which aren't my favorite, but don't clash with the look I'm going for and are free to use.

Second, glassware. I borrowed (stole) a ton of vintage glassware that belonged to my late grandfather and his second wife. They immigrated from Cuba to Burlington, Iowa in the 50-60's and started quite a collection of fine household items. I was able to look into one of the sets of glassware because they had a name stamped to the side. Just after a copyright symbol it says, "Culver" in a cursive font then "LTD" in all caps. They're cocktail tumblers with a red and gold paisley print. I found out that they are made of 22 karat gold foil and red enamel, but because the set is missing one (seven are left) and they are not in great condition, they'd only be valued at about $10 a glass. They were made in the 40-50s in New York. Apparently, Culver made very popular glassware and some sets are worth a lot today. I was just excited to find something that was actually made in the era that my party is sort of themed for. Woohoo! I also found a set of four decorative champagne glasses with a gold rim, four water glasses with gold trim on bottom and top, and three coups that boast some beautiful floral engraving--stars of the show in my opinion.

Now that I have enough glassware, I'm thinking about decorations. I would love to have some kind of floral garland action in the room, but don't want to spend a lot. I also don't want it to look cheap. I'm considering making it myself, but the image I have in my head is very involved and I'm not sure I'll have time over the next two weeks to make it happen. Obviously, the garland situation will be a big point of contention. Wish me luck!  

Styling the New Apartment

I've been thinking about what the new place will look like with old and new things in it. One of my go-to shops is Ikea. They have great looking stuff at decent prices so I'm a big fan. Here are a few items I'm viewing as inspiration and possible future purchases. We already have some carefully selected items that I've found in an assortment of places. The inspiration is meant to keep me in the right direction. We really like furniture and accessories that are comfortable, functional and stylish. In that order. With that said, here's the list:

I love the traditional shape of this chair and would mix it up by using playful patterns and colors like the throw and cushions below.

Not too bright, not too dull. Just right for a throw.

 Such a fun color to contrast the ultra mature chair and couch colors. I would stain the legs to match the coffee table and TV stand just to keep some unity somewhere.

Love this mod pattern.

A great basic in a masculine shape and color. Hopefully, it's comfy when we go try it out.

Love, love bold colors.

Cute fabric to make cushions out of. I love cushions. My boyfriend has learned this the hard way.

A pretty basic solid wood coffee table with clean lines. We have a dining/living room combo and this piece is from the same line as our dining room table. I'm big on matching feet. My only exception in this post is the chair. It's too cool for me to care about the feet.

Fun rug to spice things up even more! You can probably tell by now that I'm not afraid of color.

This TV stand is also pretty basic and is also the same line as the dining table (Hemnes). Unity, people. Unity.

The packing starts tomorrow, but not before brunch at a place down the street from our new place called Route 9. Hope it's good!

-all photos courtesy of www.ikea.com-

Anxiety Over a Snack; Having One and Being One

Sandy and I went back into the wild yesterday. A trip to Everglades National Park hopefully makes for an entertaining and scenic post: 

Open road in Redland, Florida

We took the dark red road in the center of the map (the only road in this area).

Everglades National Park visitors center.

Beware of panthers crossing.

Vultures attacking their own reflections at the parking lot for the Royal Palm Trail. If there's anything you learn from this story, it's that vultures hurt cars and prefer the shade. You should leave your car far, far away and in the sun. Once our car was safe, we had to decide on a path for getting to the visitors center. The options were a) run through bee infested grass or b) run underneath vulture infested tree branches. We went with the vultures. I hate bees.

This decision was easy. The entrance to Gumbo Limbo was flooded with vultures flying around making barking sounds.

Royal Palm Trail visitors center

Where we heard the first alligator snort.

Taken right around the time we got attacked by wild and furious swamp flies.

First alligator sighting. I was filming the water rippling and trying to capture some wild sounds when I spotted him (for the purposes of this post, the gator is a male). Sandy was turned the other way, looking at an apple palm. Still filming, I turn to look at Sandy and whisper-yell, "Sandy, there's an alligator," as I point at him floating toward us. 

Just shy of the boardwalk that we're standing on.

Coming out from under it and measuring at least 9ft long.

Some underwater life.

Alligators resting in the shade. Another situation where a whisper-yell seemed like the best option for us as they were laying inches from our feet. This time it was Sandy who my smacked my arm and said something like "Oh no no no, ha ha ha, no. They are right there."

Thought this sign would help give context for the previous two.

As we're walking back to the entrance, Sandy warned a group of Asian tourists about the alligators under the boardwalk. Seconds later, you hear the woman scream and a splash. We laughed and ran through the swamp fly area so we wouldn't get attacked again. Once we were past the threshold, I took out my snack and asked Sandy if she thought I would get attacked by a bird wanting my food. This is where the title of this post was born.

Entering Mahogany Hammock Trail.

Attacked by swamp flies once again, we decided to run back and come back to the wild during the dry season (winter).

On our way out of Redland, we decided to stop in at Robert is Here. Family owned and operated for 60 years, the stand began as a vacant corner with a young boy selling his father's crop. Look it up. Highly recommend the strawberry key lime shake and local sauces/honeys/jams/juices/pies/you name it.