bahia honda state park

First let me say that my mini vacation with my best frand's was amazing! Mostly we just took it easy - going out to dinner and spending way too much on delicious food, but on Sunday we hopped in a rental car and headed three hours South to the keys!

Working at the University of Michigan gives me so many discounts and offers. Some are totally awesome and some are just completely random so I thought I would double check to see if there were any for rental cars and sure enough every company you can think of offered some incentive. I was able to get a one day rental on a Dodge Dart for $50! I don't know if this is going rate or a really great deal but I was happy about it!

Also, looking at our driving directions to the keys I thought were going to be on a bridge surrounded by water the entire time. I felt like a moron when we were driving through small coastal villages where the ocean wasn't always visible. But hey, can you blame me?

Does it not just look like a road in the middle of the ocean?

The entire route was a single lane "freeway" with speeds maxing out at 55 mph; this is why it takes three hours for sure but the sights along the way were not too shabby (especially all the fun mailboxes that were manatee's painted bright colors holding the boxes in their hands).

And finally, we arrived in Big Pine Key for a lovely afternoon/evening.

Live. Laugh. Love.

We got these tattoos in 2009 I believe? Angelique was living in Washington, or Las Vegas or SOMEWHERE when we made the decision and this was the first time that all three of us have been together since. We've all hung out with each other individually, but living in three different states makes it hard to coordinate plans. So, needless to say it was an exciting time and we absolutely had to document the moment and I don't care how lame you think it is.

When we found our spot on the gorgeous beach, we inadvertently setup shop next to a protected sea turtle nest. 

To get to the water you had to either walk through or ridiculously jump over the washed up sea-grass. I obviously did the latter while juggling my phone and camera. Ummm, sand fleas are a real thing and they freaked me out. I imagined they would be like bed bugs and hitchhike on my body if I stepped through their home. Yuck.

  

 

And obviously when a group of three grown women come across a climbable rock wall it's appropriate to stop for photos and you'll try to set a timer to get a group photo and maybe do a decent job.

"Laugh for me." - Angelique. 

Every time it turned into full on side splitting laughter. Oh, friends.

After swimming (let me say that the water was as warm, if not warmer than the air and yet it was still refreshing) and exploring we decided to hop back onto the Bahia Honda Bridge Trail so we could make it up by sunset. While leaving the water we saw this sign.

Basically we were lucky as all hell not to have been swept up in the current.

Another sign that I spotted from the bridge. They were very discreet which I found to be a little alarming; maybe it was just the paths we took and we happened to not come across a noticeable one.

"Look what God did." - Frances

"A rich ass dude built this bridge to help his oil company."

I can't wait to go back!

Leia

home sweet home

This chick is back in Michigan and let me say these kids have been on their worst behavior! Popsicles should not have been given (I'll be the first to admit), but it was the only thing to distract them from their world. For that, I am thankful. 

Now to unpack. 

Leia

average mom takes a vacation

Miami here I am! Here's to a wonderful reunion with great friends and what's sure to be an amazing weekend. 

Missing my babies!

Leia

conversations with kennedy

*watching The Little Mermaid*

Kennedy: "Mom, how old do you think Ariel is?"

Me: "You know, I'm not too sure Ken."

K: "Well, I think she's 8."

M: "Oh yeah? She might be 8."

K: "But I can't really tell because I can't see her feet."

Logic; it's there.

Leia

mid-week meal share: garlic lemon shrimp pasta

When Beyoncé gives you lemons you make lemonade garlic lemon shrimp pasta. This task is best completed while staring at a picture of Jay-Z because you not only need to cut lemons but you need to juice them and zest them; this will give you the adrenaline boost needed to reach your goal.

Is this recipe a refreshing one? Yes. Does this recipe yield any other flavor besides garlic, lemon, or shrimp? No. Unless you put cheese on it, too. Even after going through the ingredients and cooking everything up I was still somehow shocked by the 'lack' of flavor. Still very delicious, though and everyone loved it.

Easy to concoct: shell(fish) yeah!
Cost effective: ~$15 for seafood at home? I think so.


You shall hunt for these ingredients:

12 oz angel hair pasta
1½ tsp (3 cloves) minced garlic
1 shallot, minced
1 lb raw shrimp; peeled and deveined
'kosher' salt
pepper
¼ cup lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
*chopped fresh basil for serving
*parsley
*2 tbsp butter


1. I started with all my prep work. Food processing the shallot, juicing and zesting the lemons, 'de-icing' the shrimp to avoid excess water and boiling/draining the noodles.

2. In a saucepan melt butter and add in your shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. I simultaneously added everything instead of waiting for the butter to melt. The goal is to cook until shallots are soft and 'fragrant' (as if they weren't immediately after they were pulverized).

3. Add in your shrimp and cook until pink, then add in your lemon juice and zest. I let mine simmer well after they were pink because seafood gives me the heebie jeebies and I am always so nervous it will serve them under-cooked. YES, I know there is such a thing as sushi but this is not a food inspected restaurant folks.

4. Combine your sauce with your pasta and voila!

5. Enjoy!

Let me tell you that this one a somewhat wacky recipe to follow. Not that it was hard, but the ingredients and instructions didn't line up. When it comes to me and trying a new recipe, I tend to follow along like a sheep and I'll adjust the second time around if there was something I didn't quite like. It says that you need basil for serving. While cooking it says that you need to melt the butter but doesn't tell you how much and finishes by saying "garnish with parsley". Y'all, can you stick to the script please? One other problem I had with this meal was that I used too many noodles and not enough shrimp.



Shrimp not on the barbie.
Leia

happy father's day!

Today we celebrate dad's and how wonderful and amazing they are. Brendon is a great one and his two little daughters are wrapped so tightly around his finger there are few things that will shake them.

I unfortunately had to head into work today but I was able to get a nice breakfast on the table.

Piper was boogery and Kennedy was fevery. While I had originally hoped that they would help me with food preparations I truthfully just didn't want to deal with the germs getting into my.. I mean, Brendon's delicious Father's Day food. Brown sugar french toast, turkey bacon and some cheesy scrambled eggs. Truthfully I thought I had regular bacon in the fridge for him but lo and behold I did not.

Originally I saw a recipe for chocolate babka french toast. I thought babka bread could be easily obtained the night before at Meijer, but I was wrong. Maybe next year or in the upcoming weeks after scouting out a bakery?

Sending out a chocolate babka bread SOS!

Leia