let's go to the beach

Winter. Blech. I’m not a fan. I try not to use this blog as a platform to do a lot of whining, but I allow myself one post a year to rant about the weather. And it’s that time again! January in general (and particularly last night’s snow dump) makes me wonder why on earth we live in the midwest when there are so many other nice options where you don’t have to deal with cold and snow and boots and everyone you know having the flu. Places like Florida. Last week, I had one of those crazy lucky experiences where I got to piggyback on a friend’s vacation to Florida and enjoy the beach for a few days while everyone here was struggling to keep their space heaters turned up high enough at work. So let’s all pretend that’s where we are again today, instead of trudging around in the snow. Here’s a before and after:

Florida is also a place where people won’t judge you for building a pink hotel.

My wonderful friend Katie who invited me to go and who obviously tans WAY faster than me.

Our room with a spectacular view, my very very green rental car (it was the only compact left, seriously), and chocolate cake to-go, eaten the very best way (with feet in the hot tub).

This is the first trip in a WHILE for which I did not bring along my DSLR. I missed it, but it was kind of nice not to worry about pictures much. So I hope you enjoyed what my crappy phone has to offer. Florida, I miss you. Thanks for warming me up for a few days.