Day 42: Signed My Life Away

Well, NOW my job is super official! Today I was given my Official Offer Letter, which has for sure made this whole thing feel real. Now I'm even more excited than I was when I was just getting the job offer by word-of-mouth.

I met with the 3rd and final manager this morning, he helped me cross all my t's and dot all my i's. Every single piece of paper is signed and I'm in the system! I swear to sweet baby Jesus if I have to sign my name ONE MORE TIME in the next week, it won't even be legible. Now, I'm just waiting for the food trying part of the job. They still do that stuff, right? I do love food...

Did I mention that they have already given me homework. HOMEWORK?! As soon as I thought I missed school, I was told that I had to memorize 3 of the longessssttt sentences E.V.E.R. in less than 48 hours. Not only do I have to memorize them, but I have to read them, out loud, at orientation. You know, in front of a ballroom full of heaven only knows how many people. Let's just say that I'm surprised I haven't typed those 3 sentences in this post yet because it is the only thing running through my mind. Yeah...I may or may not have already memorized them...

I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to things like that. Then you challenge me with the whole time limit thing? Oh, it's on.

Day 41: Growing Up So Fast

While I was home this weekend, I COULD NOT miss the celebration of one of my favorite little boys! One of my best friends from high school, Megan, threw her son THE.CUTEST. 2nd Birthday party today. Between the vintage decor, the oodles of sweets and the precious outfit of this little man, you could not have painted a better child's birthday party. I told Megan she's totally in charge of planning and executing my next birthday party. I want the sandbox and everything. That's not too much to ask for, right?!

Day 40: A Country Visit

As much as I complain about the town where I grew up, I have to admit that it does have its perks. Okay, our house and our property have perks. The town itself is still questionable.

I always love walking out on our dock because it NEVER fails to be a picture perfect opportunity. Today proved that, for sure. With it being a perfect 75 degrees outside, I couldn't help but sit out there for a few minutes and just soak it in. Being that I live with my Dad now, in a neighborhood, I have truly realized how much I love living on a huge piece of property out in the middle of nowhere. Let me tell you, I'm NOT cut out for neighborhood living. Nope, can't do it. The lack of respect that people have for others really shines light when you live in a neighborhood. I don't want to hear what song you're playing in your car, especially at 3AM when I'm STILL attempting to fall asleep. If I want to hear it, I'll ask. I'm not shy.

This lake front property is where I could see myself forever. Obviously not this EXACT one because I can't live with Mom forever...or can I? Haha! I'm still trying to get by with the whole "Broke College Student" status. Even though I graduated college...over a year ago.

Day 39: New Beginnings

Well, as promised, I told you that I would tell you when I heard news about my potential new job...

I GOT IT! Words CANNOT even describe how EXCITED I am about this opportunity. So grateful for the friends and family that have been next to me the last few months when things weren't the best. Goodness knows I need this job for my own health!

I will be working at Jack Dusty, a new restaurant that just opened at the Ritz Carlton! This has been a long awaited job option for me, and I can't believe that it actually happened...because IT'S THE RITZ! Being that I have been a broke college student for what feels like my whole life, I've never even step foot inside of a Ritz because I assumed that just doing that would cost me about $100 (Come to find out, it's free. Who knew?!) So, you can imagine my awe when I walked through the oversized glass doors and saw nothing but a row of chandeliers lining the ceiling, coupled with shiny, shiny, shiny marble floors. Did I mention the floors are shiny?


Let me tell you how B-E-A-UTIFUL the scenery from the restaurant is...BEAUTIFUL! But until I can creepily sneak some pictures to actually prove this fact to you, you'll just have to take my word for it. I was able to snap a picture of the hotel itself. HAVE MERCY. When I walk inside this castle, I feel like I'm in a totally different world that can't possibly exist 5 miles from my house. We basically share airspace.

Orientation starts on Wednesday, so I'm sure you'll be getting more pictures of anything and everything that is brilliant about this hotel. And that would LITERALLY be anything and everything.

Day 38: Adding to my Collection

I'll let you in on a fun, yet sort of embarrassing collection that I started a few years ago: Corks & Coozies. I have a jar full of both items. And I mean FULL. It's mostly coozies, because those are obviously more useful. Also, I collect a coozie from just about every place that I visit. If they sell them, I but them. I will admit that it the most creative thing that I have ever thought of (Don't judge).

Tonight, I added three more corks to the collection! Can't wait to throw them in the jar!

Day 37: Simple Sunset

Throughout this whole project, I always wake up every day and ask myself "What the heck am I going to take a picture of today? What if I don't do anything worth documenting? How is that going to help me to remember this day, a year from now?" But, when I walked out of my house today, I quickly realized that nature is the best backdrop for anything worth looking at. I know we can get creative and take pictures of something we did, something we bought or a cool object at a place that we visited. But, we forget that the location and the landscape itself often provide us with the most beautiful pictures.


Now, I know that I can't take a nature picture every single day, because goodness knows that I for sure won't remember it a year from now. But, for today, I couldn't help but capture this scene that I saw, and I will forever remember the 'light bulb' moment I had as I was taking this: although we all see the same sun every day, we see a different sunset. The scene that is painted for us is interpreted differently in each persons eyes. Just that thought it worth capturing, but I am so glad that I have an image to couple with it.

Day 36: Frozen Yogurt Addiction

I do have a frozen yogurt addiction and I don't care who knows it! When I lived back with my mother, just outside of Orlando, I used to drive about 35 minutes to get to my favorite frozen yogurt place, Menchies, even though there were two places less than 10 minutes from my house. But, as I've said before, when I find something new, I fall in l-o-v-e with it. When I moved in with my father, a Menchies had JUST opened less than a mile from my house, so you know where I was at least once a week. But, when this new place opened up, I had a change of heart.


Thanks to my wonderful friend Lauren for giving my Father and I a giftcard to Earth Fruits Yogurt! She knows us all too well; it's one of my Father and I's favorite places to go for a little late night sugar craving cure. I am so grateful that this place opened up right down the street from our house just a few months ago. I have to admit that every single time I go in there, I fall in love with a different flavor of FroYo. However, my father always defaults to the vanilla flavor, with some chocolate toppings. He's a simple man. This time I tried a blend of their Peanut Butter FroYo and their Oreo FroYo, topped with 2 vanilla wafers, crumbled graham crackers, granola (they have THE BEST), oreos and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (we'll discuss my cereal obsession at a later date)!! This has to be one of my best combinations to date. I know there are not too many Earth Fruits around, but if you have one, PLEASE go try it. You won't be disappointed.

Day 35: Just Be Yourself

My morning started off with the best advice you can ever hear, and it came from my wonderful Mother: “Just be yourself!”

Without going into TOO many details, because I don’t want to get excited just yet, I will tell you that I had a job interview today! When I find out the ‘results’, you know I will for sure spread the word! Until then, I will tell you that it went really well, I was in a super great mood for 10:00AM and the view from the interview spot was spectacular, sunny and bright. I’m praying that those same words can be used to describe my mood in a few days when I get the call!

Until further notice, I’ll leave you with these pictures from my day! I was super excited about this adorable, sheer peachy-colored shirt that I got for my interview, which turned into a casual shirt with shorts for my post-interview coffee and Skype date with a great friend!

Day 34: SuperBaugh

I’ll go ahead and apologize for the lack of quality and creativity that went into today’s picture. I had a lazy, stay in the house kind of day and the most ‘exciting’ thing I could capture was the Super Bowl, of course. Although I’m not a fan of either team, it is sports and I really wanted to see Beyonce, just to say that I saw it. I mean, let’s face it; I picked which team I was going to root for by which had the cuter coach. Being that they are brothers, I thought it would be a difficult choice, assuming that they probably look pretty similar. I was wrong. There was a clear choice, which led me to root for the Baltimore Ravens.

One thing I do regret is the documentation of the overzealous look on my face when I witnessed the mini Destiny’s Child reunion. I relived 1999 right from my very own couch, 14 years after the fact. I have got to find that CD somewhere…

Day 33: Take Your Pick, Wineo

Again, I realize I'm continuing on my adult beverages trend, but I still don't mind. I have also realized that I have become a wineo, yet I am still not well versed on wine knowledge. Mainly because the knowledge isn't the fun part, right?

Have I ever mentioned that I have some pretty great friends?! Two of the girls that I hang out with in town are two people that I have grown to really respect because of the way they have 'taken care' of me since I've been in this town. Tonight was nothing short of the great things they involve me in. We all three ventured to a wine bar in downtown called 'Sarasota Vineyard'. Having been to an actual vineyard, I know this place fell short of being anything close to the actual thing, but it was 100% one of the coolest places I have experienced. Upon walking in the doors, you are greeted by the most anxious wine-giver-outers ever! First, you have to put a personally selected amount of money on a plastic card, which you'll use to pay for the endless samples of wine you'd like to try. Once you fill your card, you are given a wine class and free reign to sample anything they have in house (so long as you have the correct amount of funds. Situations like these come at a price, hello!) Thing is, the wine is dispensed like soda. I can't even make this stuff up. You insert your card, then proceed to put your wine glass under the spout and select a sample, a half glass or a full glass. Being that I love any and all white wines, I stayed towards that side of the selections.

After finally picking out my favorite (Riesling!), we each filled our glasses and sat down for some weekly catch-up. Again, I'm so thankful for nights like these and friends like this.


Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

Day 32: New and Old Friends

I seem to have made a Friday night routine of venturing to Downtown, and I feel like I am faced with a completely different crowd every time I walk into bars there. Needless to say, it proves for interesting stories. I have been making these Friday adventures with my friend Catherine who just moved to town a couple of months ago. We met at the University of Florida in Geology Lab quite a few years ago. We still share the embarrassing stories from that class, because a majority of them are worth repeating. Tonight, she invited out some of her friends, hence the new friends that I met! We all had a blast dancing to a live cover band and watching the prime of this town shake their groove things.

Day 31: Wine Thirstday

Every Thursday, my friend Lauren and I like to gather for the not-so-typical 'Wine Thursday'; way better than 'Wine Wednesday'. This Thursday was no different than others, complete with watching 'American Horror Story' and 'Glee'. Yes, we are slightly obsessed with the mastermind shows created by Ryan Murphy. This week I was in charge of finding us some new wine, and I must admit that neither of these bottles were disappointing. And, they were only $4 each! You can't beat cheap, good wine. The bandaid...well, that would be the result of pitifully attempting to open a bottle of wine. I'll leave the task to Lauren from now on.

Day 30: Heavy Reading

Every time that I go back to my hometown to visit, my Grandmother (I call her Mama) LOVES to give me her awesome collection of magazines. And I'm not talking about old magazines, I'm talking about hip, up on the times kinda magazines. Yes, she's that cool. I have collected quite a few, which you can see, but I haven't taken the time to actually sit down and read them. So, that's what I'm doing tonight! I realize that a few of these are dated back a few months, so I may JUST be catching up on some not-so-new gossip! Also, I've never read 'Redbook' before, which is what this collection is. Have any of you read it? Do you like it?! I guess I can give you my own opinion once I leisurely browse through them!

Day 29: Way Up There

It was a great day in the city of Sarasota! My Dad and I got to witness SUCH a breathtaking, nerve-wracking (for me) event at the Bayfront, about 7 miles from our home. After eagerly driving around Downtown Sarasota, impatiently looking for a parking spot, my father and I just stopped the car in a turn lane, hopped out and witnessed this daredevil stunt.

Nik Wallenda, a famous high wire artist, who happens to be from this beautiful city, performed a no nets, no harness walk, high in the sky above one of Sarasota's busiest roads. After being hoisted up by a crane, he proceeded to walk the 600 foot long high wire, that measures no more than a nickel in width. Oh, and did I mention he was 180 feet in the air!? This whole event began at 11:00AM this morning, and I was for sure this was going to take at least 30-40 minutes to complete. Much to my dismay, he completed this walk in 15 minutes! I can't speak for him, but I can say that it was the longest 15 minutes of MY life. Local news stations reported that AT LEAST 10,000 people showed up to witness this act. I'm SO excited that my Dad and I were 2 people that can say we finally saw him...LIVE!

I realize that it is so difficult to see him in the pictures that I have, but that just means you'll have to look extra hard to find him!


This stunt was a plain Jane kind of act for Nik, being that last year he completed a walk across Niagara Falls. Click here to read more about Nik and find out about the WILD things he has planned for later this year.

Day 28: Poolside

I know it's January, so this might seem strange. Wait, no, it's Florida so nothing is strange. I laid out by the pool today for the first time in awhile! It was such a beautiful, hot 80 degrees outside which I know I shouldn't complain about. So instead of complaining, I embraced it. I will admit that I enjoyed the sun time and will be taking in as much sun as I can get while we have these scorching temperatures.

Day 27: Delayed Presents

So, I got this AWESOME bottle opener from my Brother and Sister-in-Law before I left for vacation two weeks ago, but I never got to brag about it! I love, love , love (obsessed with) Fleur De Lis's! This has a huge tie-in with my love for the city of New Orleans. Being that my family knows me so well, they knew I would put this to good use. Lets just say, I'm keeping it in my purse because you never know when you might need one.

Day 26: Paid Advertising

When I discover something new, or have a liking for something, I don't just like it. Most of the time, I become obsessed with it. Just like the first time we all tried Starbucks. You don't just like it, but you want a personal barista at your house to home brew you coffee that is ready when you wake up. Okay, maybe that's just me? Anyways, when it comes to "likes", Coca Cola tops my list. I have a legitimate obsession with Coke Zero (insert fancy trademark logo here). I love it in a can, in a bottle, in a cup, from the fountain (Oh my gosh, I just envisioned a large Coke Zero fountain...), etc. You get the point. This brings to me to the reason that I bought this shirt in the first place. Although I bought this over a year ago, I still wear it with the same excitement as if it JUST came off of the shelf at Target (another unhealthy addiction of mine). So today is dedicated to just one of my many addictions, the type in the liquid form. I may have to frequent these types of posts, because I surely have enough obsessions to take up a good months worth of posts. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Day 25: Pro Painter

When I got up this morning, my father had already started this project, but I had to document that I helped! A few days before my father had a stroke, he had started building a fence in his yard. Now that he is well enough to finish it, he jumped right on the opportunity to do so. These are just a small portion of the pieces of wood that I painted for this fence! After many hours of painting and nailing, we realized that we are short a few boards, but the fence WILL get finished this weekend. I'm so proud of the work Dad is doing and I couldn't be happier to see him returning back to his old, handyman self!

Day 24: Shore Thing

I decided to take a random trip to the coast today. Which is all of 5 miles from my house, which I couldn't be more thankful for. We all know that Florida in January is hardly winter-ish, and today was no different. Being in a place where it's a comfortable 72 degrees throughout most of the day is hardly anything to complain about. I feel like I've said this before, but I'll say it again: this city takes my breath away every time I venture to its shores.

Day 23: A Few of My Favorite Things

I went to go grab my wallet earlier and I witnessed this picture perfect opportunity. In one picture, I captured the simple, materialistic items that I can't leave my house without. Actually, I would need to add a ponytail holder to this image to make it complete. No matter where I go, I never leave without putting on my watch. It's a habit that I got from my father, who has that hilarious wrist imprint because he has the same tendencies. My sunglasses seem to ALWAYS be on the top of my head, regardless of the weather. I've grown into an addiction of my Pandora bracelet that I got for my Bachelors Graduation. When I first got it, I wore it all the time and was terrified of losing it. So I gave it a break and now I'm right back into my old habit. My orange bracelet was a gift from 'My Favorite', which happens to be exactly what is etched into it. My best friend and I have always called each other 'My Favorite' so of course we had to have our own bracelets made! And my wallet, well...that's self explanatory; IT SPARKLES!