Orlando Vacation: Stuff We Did!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you all had a great week. I'm ready for the weekend. The week after vacation is always difficult and I'm feeling it for sure. Anyway, I'm back with a fun post where I'll get to re-live all of the awesome things that we did while I was visiting my friend in Orlando! I have a lot of pictures to share so I'll get right into it.

The very first thing that we did on Thursday (my first full day) was head over to Blue Spring State Park early (while it was still chilly) so we could see the Manatees!!!! I took a panoramic picture so you can see just how many there were in this one little section.

The manatees like to go there during the winter when it is cold because the water is 72 degrees all year so they can find warmer waters in the winter month. I felt comfortable going here because they do not allow people to touch, feed or interact with them as it disturbs them so they just allow us to observe them in their natural setting.

For those of you that may be new here, manatees are my absolute favorite animal on earth. They are so sweet, kind, gentle and even playful. They are also freaking adorable and I always have a pretty emotional reaction whenever I am near them. I am so happy that we got to go and see them.

As you can see there were TONS there on that day. I think I heard someone say that there were over 400.

There is a nice little trail you can follow with viewing points along the way. It was a great way to spend the morning and I loved every second of it.

This viewing section allows you to get closer to them (still not close enough to disturb them) so I was able to get this great picture of them really close up.

After we went to the park we popped over to Cassadaga as it was only a short drive away! I have been there before and we always enjoy making a trip over. It is a spiritualist town full of psychics, mediums, spiritualists and have people doing readings, shops where you can pick up crystals, jewelry, cards, books, etc. and a nice area for you to take a walk.

We've been to Cassadaga before but I've never had a reading and I decided that this trip was the trip to do it. I scheduled my reading for 1:00 with April but I actually ended up being rescheduled for 1:30 with Gypsy because April wasn't able to get there in time. They say everything happens for a reason and I'm a firm believer in this because I had an AMAZING reading with Gypsy. I was really overwhelmed by it if I'm being honest. It was also really fun so that was an added bonus.

While we were waiting to have our readings done (my friend went right after me with Gypsy as well) we took a walk around the nice wooded area and I snapped a few pictures there as well.

Another picture from Cassadaga.

After Cassadaga we were both starving and that was the night we went to Loving Hut for dinner. It was a really fun day finished up with the most delicious meal!

The following day we decided to go to the outlets for a little shopping excursion. I took a picture of the Disney Character Warehouse because that was why I chose these particular outlets. I really wanted to see what they had since I had to skip Disney this trip (thanks to my budget, wah!) and it's interesting to see what they have and the prices. I did see a great set of dishes that I loved for only $10 but I decided I just didn't need them so I passed on it.

After the outlet shopping I was exhausted and not feeling great (I was on day 3 of a migraine, had a really bad travel day on Wednesday and a long day Thursday - all in the middle of a Fibromyalgia flare) so we went home and relaxed a little. I cooked dinner that night and made the pasta dish that you saw on Tuesday. It was the perfect meal to make because it came together quickly and required minimal effort.

The next day we met up with our friends for brunch after a quick trip to the farmers market and then decided to pop over to Michael's and Sprouts!! I've never been to Sprouts and have only heard great things. He told me it had opened and I knew I had to check it out! I didn't want to grab a lot but we did grab the Daiya Chocolate Cheezecake (on sale for $6.99!), the Sante Fe Burrito from Daiya, a Live Cola kombucha which I can NEVER find, some trail mix and chocolate almond clusters. I am SO JEALOUS that we don't have a Sprouts!

That night we decided to have a quiet night and the reason why we got the cheezecake was because we were going to play the Golden Girls Monopoly game that was part of my Christmas gift to him this year! We thought it would be hilarious to get the Cheezecake to enjoy while we played and it was perfect. As I mentioned on Tuesday it was so freaking delicious, I can't wait to enjoy it again!

Since I was flying home at sunset on Sunday (I landed at 6:00 because my timing is perfect for Superbowl Sunday 😂) I had to take this picture of the gorgeous sky! It was the perfect sendoff I think.

So that is what we did during my Orlando vacation! Have you ever been to any of these places? I highly recommend all of them, I had a really wonderful time and seeing the manatees was a highlight of my life. It was really magical for me because I love these animals so much.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here for regularly scheduled programming on Tuesday!

Orlando Vacation: Stuff I Ate!

Hey everyone! I hope that all is well! I'm back from Florida and have two awesome posts planned for you :) Today I'll be sharing some of the delicious meals that I ate on my trip and on Friday I'll be sharing some of the stuff that we did.

I tried to photograph and much as I could so you could get a good idea of some of the deliciousness that I ate. Here it is!

One of the first things I consumed when I got there was this Basic Bitch Starbucks 😂 I got a tall soy hazelnut latte and it was delicious.

For dinner Thursday night we went to Loving Hut and it was AMAZING! We were starving, I actually had only had the Starbucks and a banana that day and we got to Loving Hut at about 5:15. We both got the same thing and started off with this seriously delicious wonton soup. This is the only way I'll eat cilantro because it doesn't taste soapy in this for some reason. Anyway, it is delicious and was a perfect way to warm up a little and satisfy that hunger while waiting for my dinner.

For dinner I got my usual which is the Combo #1. It is so freaking good! They changed up the rice a little since the last time I was there but it was still delicious. This meal was exactly what I wanted and I love getting it every time I'm in Florida.

I was really craving some fruit so I got this little fruit cup from Wawa (NY get your shit together and get some Wawas!! They are awesome!). It had mango, pineapple, apples and grapes.

I usually cook a meal when I visit so this time I made this yummy pasta dish. It is whole wheat pasta with some asparagus and tomatoes roasted in garlic and olive oil and some spinach. It was in garlic and olive oil and was really good.

This is my plate. For serving reference I used a salad plate for my meal so I had some pasta with some vegan cheesy garlic toast that I made to go along with it.

On Saturday we met up with some other friends for an awesome brunch at Ethos Vegan Kitchen! This is another must when I go down there because Ethos makes the most delicious vegan brunch. Just like with Loving Hut I have my favorite there that I don't stray from and that is the Breakfast Burrito. 

I took a pic once I busted into it. It had tofu scramble, potatoes and vegan sausage in it and it is smothered in an amazing white gravy. It's so freaking good.

This was a random meal I threw together. I found the Daiya burritos in my trip to Sprouts (more on that on Friday!) so I had that with some chips and guar and some of the leftover fruit from my snack. It was really good.

Finally for something sweet (there was also a reason we picked this particular thing) we got the Daiya Chocolate Cheezecake and you guys. This is GOOD. Like I was completely shocked by how good and authentic it tasted. I am so glad that we tried it because I know it'll be a great dessert option for a holiday if I need something quick.

So there you have it, lots of delicious meals enjoyed in Orlando! I'm really excited to share all of the fun things that we did in Friday's post! I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you on Friday!

Orlando Trip Recap!

Hey everyone! As promised, I'm back with a recap of my trip to Orlando! This one will probably be a bit longer because I have A LOT of pictures but I figured that there is nothing wrong with that :) I have a combination of meals I cooked, meals we had in restaurants and some pictures from our activities. Hope you like them!

My friend had to work from home on Thursday so we just hung out for the day in the house. This was before we had gotten groceries so for lunch I made a bagel with peanut butter and banana and it was delicious.

After we went shopping I made my Vegan Chick'n Ranch Pasta Salad for dinner. This one was a twist on my Chick'n Caesar Pasta Salad since we could only find Just Ranch. I added some cherry tomatoes and it was so good. We also found this amazing fresh roasted garlic bread that had super soft and delicious chunks of roasted garlic dotting it. Seriously delicious.

The following day was my birthday and we went to Magic Kingdom! The very first thing I did was get my birthday button and my Minnie Ears :)

Here is Walt and Mickey hanging out in front of the castle.

And of course the castle.

I had an amazing time! It was crowded and VERY hot (90 degrees and blazing sun) but we still had a really fun time, rode a few rides and checked out the shops. If I could make any changes I would have made sure to be more hydrated and I didn't eat anything all day which was stupid and terrible. Still a wonderful time!

That night we were STARVING so we had my birthday dinner at Loving Hut! We started with this amazing wonton soup. The broth is really light and delicious and the wontons are yummy too.

For my main I had the combo number 1, my tried and true favorite. The soup was filling so I didn't get through the whole thing but it was amazing.

The vegan bakery that we had gone to in previous years closed down so the options were limited for vegan birthday dessert. I found this Rice Dream Mocha Ice Cream Pie and it was really yummy!

The following morning we went to Ethos Vegan Kitchen for brunch and I got my absolute favorite breakfast burrito. This beauty is stuffed with faux sausage, potatoes and tofu scramble and smothered in delicious gravy. Seriously one of my favorite meals ever.

Here it is from the inside. Seriously, how good does this look?!

The next morning we went to the farmers market at Lake Eola. Their market is amazing and huge and I love going there when I can. I picked up a beautiful necklace which I'll show you in another post. After the market we walked around the lake and I grabbed some scenic shots for you.

They painted the amphitheater as a rainbow after the Pulse Nightclub Shooting and I think it looks amazing and is a beautiful tribute.

After the market I made us some brunch. I made a very sad loaf of banana bread (the texture was off and the bottom was soggy because he did not have a cooling rack) but redeemed myself with one of the best tofu scrambles I've ever made. It had tofu, spinach and grape tomatoes and was seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. So simple but so delicious.

That night I made a "Sunday Dinner" with one of my favorite foods ever. My mom makes these roasted potatoes in French Dressing and I know it probably sounds weird but it is so damn good you guys (just make sure the french dressing doesn't have honey in it). I made some baked tofu with the same dressing (I also added salt, pepper and garlic to the potatoes and tofu) and we had some delicious roasted asparagus. It was a really amazing meal.

So that's pretty much everything! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe got some meal ideas out of it. I cooked a lot more this trip and I think we had some really great vegan meals. I had an amazing time and a wonderful birthday weekend and I'm so grateful to my friend for making it special!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well <3

Orlando or Bust

Hey guys! I know I've been bad about blogging but truthfully I just had too much to do over the past week. I'm getting ready to leave my for trip to Orlando tomorrow so I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you and I'll do the best I can to make sure I get fun pictures to share from my trip!

There will be no posts on here Friday or Sunday but I hope to be back with a recap post on Tuesday! I hope you all have a great week and enjoy your weekend! <3

My Orlando Vacation!

Hey guys! I'm back from Florida and excited to share the pictures I have with you. I didn't photograph a ton of food but I did get a few pics of some drool worthy meals to share. I also have some pictures of a few things that we ended up doing. We mostly had a really mellow, relaxing staycation and it was just really nice to get to hang out with my best friend again.

My flight took off 45 minutes late heading out there (and an hour late coming back) so this is the beautiful sunset picture I got while we were sitting on the runway.

And this is the even more beautiful sunset picture I got in the air. Sadly it didn't do the real thing justice, it was AMAZING.

The first day I was there we ran a bunch of errands. One place I specifically wanted to go to was a store called Chamberlin's Natural Food Market. They have TONS of amazing vegan products as well as vitamins and supplements and a smoothie/juice bar. It's not all vegan but they have a huge vegan presence for sure. Anyway, I photographed my haul. I loaded up on the Thai Peanut flavored Primal Strips vegan jerky because it is the only flavor I like and I can NEVER find it near me. I also got some Cinnamon Apple Spice herbal tea, some Vitamin D supplements and he got some chocolate that I decided to share in this haul :)

On Saturday we went to the Farmers Market in the morning (sorry no pics) and then we walked over to Ethos Vegan Kitchen for brunch. I got my favorite meal which is the breakfast burrito (so freaking good!) and a fruit cup on the side.

I photographed my friend's brunch as well and he got tofu scramble with oatmeal (the little cup in the back is brown sugar for the oatmeal) and a fruit cup.

On Sunday we made brunch at home and we had avocado toast, peanut butter toast (banana on mine) and some fruit on the side.

We decorated his Christmas tree while watching Pitch Perfect which is one of my favorite movies ever. 

Here is the finished tree. He is clearly a big fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

I LOVE this gorgeous cat ornament. It was my favorite.

On Sunday it was football day and I didn't really care about the game but I did enjoy this amazing Woodchuck Amber Hard Cider. I hate beer but I do enjoy cider so it was really yummy.

And here is a picture of this adorable fur baby! He is so sweet and loves eating my hair, ha!

I didn't photograph it but it is now tradition to have a game night with some friends when I come down to visit so we all got together on Saturday night to play Cards Against Humanity. It was so fun and I'm proud (or maybe not so proud) to have gotten second place by a close margin, ha! The whole point of the game is to be as vile and inappropriate as possible and it is just hilarious and a really fun time. We also played the Seinfeld Scene It game on Sunday and I was the proud winner of that :) I'm just a wee bit competitive, ha!

So that was my trip! I hope you all liked the pictures. I wish I would have gotten more but I was feeling really lazy and trying to be in the moment. I hope you all had a great weekend!

<3