Jenny Strozinsky

Lifestyle

Public School & Creative Kids

jennystrozinsky July 9, 2018

Growing up I was always a kid that struggled in school. Starting in middle school I really started having a tough time with my classes. I was the kid that would tell my mom everyday:

“I hate school.”

and she would always reply:

“Jenny, you don’t hate school. Don’t say that.”

What she didn’t understand, and what I didn’t understand at the time, was that it wasn’t “school” that I hated. It wasn’t learning that I hated. It wasn’t classes that I hated. It wasn’t the teachers that I hated, in fact I had some of the best teachers ever. It was the format of regular public school that just didn’t work for me. All kids learn differently. All kids learn better in different environments. I was not the kid that learned well in a 6 hour a day, class to class, typical school day.

I was always the kid that wanted to be doing something artistic. I love to draw, I love to write, I love to paint, I love to act. My mom jokes now and says:

“Who knew that all those notebooks full of doodles that Jenny would draw instead of doing her school work would actually help her in real life.”

THIS IS It. This is what people need to understand. I didn’t need A.P. biology, statistics or chemistry. I DID need A.P. literature and art class. I didn’t need economics or government class. I did need world history and english writing classes. I knew at a very young age what my strengths and weaknesses were. I knew at a very young age that I would never be a doctor or a lawyer. I knew at a very young age that I would use my creativity in a field of work that inspired me and kept me interested, which is what school didn’t do for me.

By senior year of high school I was done. I skipped more days of school than I can even count. Everyone around me was convinced I might not graduate, let alone thrive in college.

“If she can’t function in a high school setting with her parents watching her every move, how is she going to cope with the freedom of a college setting?”

My parents gave me one semester at Georgia Southern to prove that I could do it. Prove that I could go to class. Prove that I could make decent grades. I don’t know if they truly thought I would make it through that first semester or just wanted me the heck out of their house. The funniest thing happened when I transition into a college setting though. I thrived. I loved the freedom of scheduling my classes when I wanted to schedule them. I loved not having to take a class until the next semester if I didn’t want to. I loved taking classes that I was interested in. Yes, you still have to take a lot of B.S. classes in college that are a waste of money and time, but you can take those classes online and not sit for hours in lecture if you don’t want to, or you can mix the boring classes in with the classes you are excited about. I started really teaching myself how to paint, how to watercolor, how to draw. I began a blog and started writing on my OWN, because I WANTED to, not because I had too.

I chose a major I am passionate about.

I can truly say I’m graduating with a degree that I am proud of and that has taught me so much over the past four years. I’ve had professors that can relate to college kids and understand that these are the most stressful, exciting, tiring years of your life. I’ve been given more grace by college professors than I ever would’ve imagined and each one of my upper-level teachers have been impactful to my life in more ways than one.

So public high schools…..

Bring back the shop classes, bring back the art classes, bring back theater and acting classes, bring back the wood-working and welding classes. Maybe that kid that sits in class and doesn’t do anything would build beautiful furniture by hand. Maybe that girl that doesn’t want to go to school, a.k.a. me, would look forward to creative writing classes or art classes. Maybe that depressed 16 year old just needs an outlet to channel their sadness into, like theater.

I know this is ramble-y and a lot of people won’t agree with me, but my bottom line is don’t give up on your kid or student just because they don’t thrive in a typical school setting. It’s not always because they’re lazy or stoners, sometimes it’s because they truly can’t focus in a traditional high school. It’s the same with college, not everyone is meant to be a college student, or wants to be a college student. Some kids want to take time off before college and really think about what they want to do before they commit to all that money and dept. That’s perfectly fine and classes in high school that teach things other than math and science would help them find good jobs when they graduate.

My sister was the complete opposite of me, she loved school and thrived in a high school setting. Every kid is different, and every kid learns differently. I think if we understand that, and gave kids the option to learn differently, we would have a lot more successful people in this world.

And just for fun, here is a picture of me passed out in class senior year. Hey, it was a miracle I was even in attendance which is a win in my book.

Lifestyle

My Summer Essentials

jennystrozinsky June 29, 2018

“Burnin’ up, burnin’ up, for you baby.” – The Jonas Brothers.

It is heating up down here in Florida, and when I say heating up I actually mean I’m surprised the whole state hasn’t burst into flames. We’ve had “real feels” of over 100 degrees everyday for the past two weeks, our pools feel like bath water and the ocean is not much of a relief from the heat either. When you live in the south in the summer months everyone has their own list of crucial items they need to survive. I’m going to share mine with you, plus a couple other fun things for summer just because they’re fun.

Skin Care & Hair Care

Skin care is so important when you are baking like a batch of cookies under the sun. Here are a couple of my favorites.

1. Solar Recovery Spray – This stuff is unreal. I’ve been using it since high school and I keep multiple bottles in my house at all times. Not only is it awesome for a bad sunburn, it’s great as an everyday moisturizer as well. ** Pro Tip: Keep it in the fridge. **

2. SunBum SPF 30 Spray Sunscreen – I love all SunBum products but this sunscreen is my O.G. sunscreen. I’ve been using it forever and it is awesome if you have sensitive skin like I do. I don’t burn too easily but sometimes I need a little protection and I feel like 30 SPF does the trick perfectly.

3. SunBum Pomegranate Lip Balm – Have to protect those lippies! This lip balm has SPF in it which I love, and this scent is my favorite.

4. Lush Ocean Salt Scrub – The best face exfoliator in the world. I use this all year round but it is especially nice in the summer months because it smells just like the ocean. It is a little bit of a splurge, but I have a really hard time finding an exfoliant that is gentle enough on my skin but does the job well. ** Pro Tip: Hide it from your brothers, fathers, boyfriends, husbands, roommates etc. because they WILL use it all – point being, this is a great gift for a guy in your life and something they’d never buy them self! **

5. Lush BIG Shampoo – Don’t be scared of this stuff just because of the chunky sea salt in it, it’s incredible. It gives your hair mermaid waves every time and tons of volume. It also smells SO GOOD.

Clothing

6. Birk Arizona Oiled Leather – My mom would kill me if she saw that I included my Birkenstocks in this post but I love them okay??? Seriously though, I’ve been living in these baby’s all summer long. Hardly ever take them off my feet.

7. Urban Outfitters Denim Shortall – I love these “shortalls” (overalls with shorts,) because they are so easy to throw on and go… usually with my Birks… sorry Mom. I love these with a little crop top underneath because it just shows a tiny bit of your stomach.

8. The Happy Sea Beach Tank – I love all my Happy Sea tanks but I’ve been wearing my yoga frog tank so much this summer. He just makes me happy every time I put it on. I love this company so much because they give back on every purchase to ocean conservation and the mom/daughter team is also pretty great too.

Fun (but useful) Stuff

8. Hydro Flask Water Bottle – These bottles are the best water bottles I’ve ever used. They keep your water (or margarita) cold for 24 hours. I’ve left mine in my boiling hot car while I was in class all day and it still had an entire bottles worth of ice when I got done. A miracle.

9. Stainless Straw – We are drinking so much more in the summer because we are dehydrated. Drink out of a reusable straw because the world throws away 500,000,000 straws a day. Save the oceans people.

10. CleverMade Cooler – If you’re cheap like me and don’t want to buy a Yeti this cooler is a great option. I’ve used it a ton in the last year because it’s the perfect size for the beach or pool. Plus it collapses for easy storage. Another cooler I love is the IceMule Cooler which keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and can also be used as a dry bag, which means it floats. **Pro Tip: If you are a lake person or a river person the IceMule is awesome because you can clip it to a float or inner tube and have your drinks accessible at all times.**

11. Avocado Float – I don’t own this item, but I need too. Fun floats in the summer are so FUN… plus they make the best pictures for the #gram.

So there you have it. My favorite items from about March to November in Florida. Below are a few of my favorite pictures from this summer so far. Stay cool friends!

Travels

Lake Rabun.

jennystrozinsky June 20, 2018

Long time, no blog post. Also, if you ever followed along to begin with, I changed platforms… again. I really like the new set-up and I hope you do too. I’ve decided that my first post on this new blog of mine would be to talk about a place very near and dear to my heart. Lake Rabun is a tiny piece of heaven in the north Georgia mountains that I have been lucky to vacation to for the last 22+ years. My grandmother owns a lake house there, and my parents both being teachers, took my sister and I there every summer, for the whole summer. I realize this is not a normal childhood, and I feel incredibly lucky that I got to spend 3 months surrounded by family in one of the most beautiful places on Earth…. in my opinion 😉

Our lake house was built in the 1920’s and is a gorgeous old farm house tucked into the mountainside overlooking Lake Rabun. Tyler and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip up there last week and we’re so glad we did. We didn’t get much sunshine but we did get to hike to Minnehaha, a really short, easy hike to a pretty waterfall only about 15 minutes from the house. Another hike we did was down Tallulah Gorge, with its 2,000+ steps down into the gorge it is quite the workout but well worth the view. My dad also came up for a few days while we were there and it was fun getting to hangout with him. Our water comes from a spring on the top of the mountain, so Tyler got the lovely job of helping my dad clean it out so it would be good to go for the rest of the year. I hiked up to the spring with them and it was cool getting to see where our water comes from, and the hard work it takes to keep it flowing.

We also got to spend time downtown Clayton, the little town about 25 minutes down the mountain from the lake house. I haven’t been to Clayton in over 3 years and I was shocked over the amount of changes that have been made there. Where there used to be absolutely nothing downtown there are now cute boutiques, coffee shops, trendy restaurants and bars and really nice outdoor stores. We had dinner with my dad at Universal Joint, a really cool restaurant in an old gas station. They have an awesome selection of beer and really good burgers. Another place we loved was The Famhouse, a beautiful new donut shop downtown. Their miniature donuts are made to order and so good. The last restaurant I have to mention is Clarks on Main, an awesome sports bar that is currently getting a roof top bar built on top of the restaurant. I can’t wait to go back and hang out up there.Finally, our favorite spot downtown. Wander North Georgia, the COOLEST store, the website is worth checking out even if you don’t plan on making a trip to North Georgia. I could drop some big bucks in this place.

Lake Rabun is the most charming, beautiful place. I am happiest booze cruising in the old Ski Nautique, or having dinner at Louie’s on the Lake, the pizza place just a couple steps from our house. If you ever want a place to relax, to breathe some fresh air and to really get that old-school lake feel, Lake Rabun is your place. Lake Burton is also connected to Lake Rabun and seems to have better options when it comes to AirBnB’s, I would check both out if you want to plan a visit!

Sorry for the photo overload, it’s just hard to take a bad picture up there.

**Side Note** We went through Athens, GA on the way home and stopped by Mama’s Boy. OH. KAY. This was one of the best meals I’ve had in a LONG ASS TIME. The biscuits were perfect, the fried egg was perfect, the breakfast potatoes were THE BEST I’VE EVER HAD. If you are ever in Athens you HAVE to eat here. Hell, I’d detour off the highway for this meal. So. Good.

Travels

Palmettos, Peaches and Atlantic Beaches. A guide to a long weekend in Charleston, SC.

jennystrozinsky June 20, 2018

Tyler and I have been dreaming about a road trip to Charleston, SC since we started dating. The beautiful buildings, unparalleled shopping, and endless dining options were just a few reasons that Charleston was on the top of our list. My birthday is on December the 14th, and this year it happened to fall on a Thursday. Ironically, it also fell on the week in between my fall semester, and the start of my holiday hours at work, and during Tyler’s “long-off,” (his week off every month.) We threw a few different options around… Asheville… too far (still on the top of our list,) Disney…. too expensive for such a quick trip, and we finally landed on Charleston. Charleston is just a short three hour drive from Fernandina, so we dropped Olive off with Tyler’s wonderful parents and hit the road on Tuesday morning, the 12th. We stayed at the most adorable hotel in Mt. Pleasant, right across the harbor from downtown, and a short ten minute uber ride to King Street.

Our first night there was a wild one, one of Tyler’s best friends took us out for a night in Charleston. It just happened to be the end of finals for College of Charleston students, so downtown was crowded. We had a great time, and one too many Moscow mules later, we woke up a little hungover ready for our first real Charleston meal. Our first breakfast in Charleston was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip, however it is hard to have a bad meal in Charleston. Meal one was at Poogan’s Porch, in a beautiful old home with, you guessed it, an expansive wrap around porch which I am sure is enjoyed on warmer days. We had chillier temps, and loved the roaring fireplaces in every room. I was quick to get my hands on fried chicken and sweet potato waffles, while Tyler loved his pulled pork eggs Benedict. Yum, yum, yum. We headed out for shopping on King Street, and took an uber straight to Skinny Dip Charleston, an adorable shop that we have been dying to visit for a long time. Skinny Dip has lots of local goodies, as well as an adorable coffee and Frose (frozen Rose) on the top floor. After shopping, it was time for meal number two, lunch.

The same friend that took us out on the town, Blue, took us to lunch on Sullivan’s Island. Tyler’s two requests for Charleston was good drinks, and good barbecue. Home Team BBQ is another Charleston favorite, and man was it good. I had the dry-rub wings with white Alabama BBQ sauce. You also CAN NOT MISS THEIR QUESO DIP. I could eat that dip everyday until I die. After lunch, and a strong cocktail, we took a drive around Sullivan’s and Isle of Palms. One special thing about Charleston is that Tyler’s mom grew up on Isle of Palms, so we got to see the house she grew up in.

My only complaint about Charleston so far was WHERE IS THE STRONG COFFEE?? Plenty of strong cocktails, plenty of wonderful food, but this girl needs her caffeine in the morning (also my sweet boyfriend doesn’t play when it comes to his “large coffee. black.”) We tried Black Tap Coffee on our second day in Charleston, and even though I was informed by the hipster barista that the cups “ONLY come in ONE size,” (this size was a smidge larger than a Starbucks “tall,” *eye roll*) I at least started my morning off on the right foot with a delicious lavender latte. The adorable old purple and pink building that Black Tap is nestled in only added to my good mood.

After coffee, we set off in search of the infamous “Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit.” I am a HUGE biscuit girl and I’ve had some good ones in my day, but none of them have beaten “T-Rays Burger Station” on Fernandina Beach. So I had high expectations when we walked through the doors of the tiny little shop that supposedly pumps out the best biscuits in Charleston. In my opinion, they aren’t wrong. Now these biscuits aren’t a T-Rays biscuit, but they are pretty dang good. Let me put it this way, they forgot my Bacon on my Bacon, Egg, and Cheese and I didn’t even mind. The fried egg was perfect, the biscuit was fluffy and delicious. I was satisfied. Also, their fresh-pressed lemonade is nothing to scoff at either.

That day was mostly spent outside enjoying the sunshine, and ended at my most favorite restaurant of the whole trip. This one you absolutely can’t miss, no matter if you are only here for the day. Leon’s Oyster Shop. Holy. Freaking. Moly. This place is SO COOL. There’s no reservations so make sure you get there early especially in the warmer months. We were lucky and traveled to Charleston at a slower time of the year so we didn’t have to wait! Leon’s is in an old garage sort of building, I was told in the summer that they open up the huge doors that lead onto their sprawling patio. Leon’s is famous for their oysters, fried chicken, soft serve, and rose on tap. Sold. We stuffed our faces with baked oysters (me) and fried chicken (Tyler.) We were not disappointed. After dinner we headed down the street to Jeni’s Ice cream right on King Street. This place is another really cool stop in Charleston that you shouldn’t miss. I love that even their cups of ice cream come with a huge piece of waffle cone. This was my last night as a 21 year old!!
We were supposed to have a quick breakfast the day of my birthday and head home, but for some reason Charleston got the best of us and we decided to stay an extra night. We made it to “The Darling Little Oyster Bar,” on King Street for lunch which was on the top of my list. The Darling was adorable, and the oysters were wonderful as well. They give you an al la carte oyster menu where you can pick the exact style of oyster you want and from which region. I thought this was such a neat concept. We sat at the bar and the bartender brought us out raw oyster shooters for my birthday (cocktail sauce, vodka, and a raw oyster at the bottom.) Quite the experience. We traveled to Boone Hall Plantation that day, which is a beautiful old manor home with slave houses from so long ago still standing on the property. Boone Hall is also Ali’s summer home in “The Notebook,” one of my favorite movies. We explored the plantation and had dinner that night at a pretty restaurant near the hotel on the water.

After doughnuts and a little souvenir shopping in the morning we started the drive home. Charleston is such a magical city and clearly the food is something that should be talked about. We can’t wait to go back when it’s a little warmer.

Poogan’s Porch.

Leon’s Oyster Shop. Our favorite restaurant.

Boone Hall Plantation. Ali’s summer home in “The Notebook.”

Skinny Dip Charleston, King St.

The Darling Oyster Bar, King St.

Travels

The Scenic Route.

jennystrozinsky June 20, 2018

On June 25th, 2017 Tyler York and I packed up his (ex girlfriend) Miss Toyota Tacoma… which has been recently traded in for a Subaru (different story,) dropped our sweet pup off at Grandpa Stro’s house, plugged “Tomah, WI” into the GPS and took off on the 1,044 mile road trip to see ALL THE FAMILY. My dad has five sisters and two brothers and that means any excuse to get together, in this case a wedding, is one big party. Tyler and I originally planned to fly to Wisconsin but after calculating how expensive it was to rent a car being both under 25 we decided to put on our big boy pants and drive 22 hours. We left on a Sunday at 8:00 PM and arrived Monday afternoon at about 5:00 PM. We took shifts and drove in intervals of five hours each, zipping through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and finally arriving in Wisconsin (almost) a full day later. Thank you to all our family and friends that called and checked on us throughout the trip to make sure we hadn’t killed each other, fallen asleep at the wheel, or just flat out lost it (which I ended up doing driving through Chicago traffic.)

We arrived in Tomah to 72 degrees and about 2% humidity waiting for us and MAN was that a difference from the Florida heat. We spent three full days playing with my sweet Habelman family at one of my favorite places in the whole world “Hickory Hill,” which is my Aunt Kris and Uncle Ray’s “hunting cabin.” My cousin R.J. and his wife Staci just built a beautiful home right down the hill from the cabin so we got to spend a lot of time with their kids, as well as my cousin Holly’s family and of course my Aunt Kris and Uncle Ray. We spent a rainy afternoon in Lacrosse, Wisconsin visiting my Grandma Val who turned NINTY this summer, since I haven’t been to Wisconsin in four years it was really special to get to spend time with her and for Tyler to get to meet her.

After those days running around the cranberry marsh, riding fourweelers in the woods, cooking breakfast for my sweet cousins, watching fireworks set off by my family and eating way too much food, we got back in the car (reluctantly, I admit) and headed to Milwaukee for my cousin Anna’s wedding. We drove three-ish hours to our hotel on the river in Milwaukee, got ready and zipped off in an Uber (what the hell did we even do before Uber????) and headed to Miller Park for a Brewer game!!! Miller Park is so beautiful. I’ve never been to a MLB game and this was definitely a park everyone should try to go to at some point in their life. It’s so clean, breezy, organized and Miller Lite is the best light beer so that just about settles it in my book. The next day we woke up super early and took another Uber (surprise) and headed downtown Milwaukee for brunch at Cafe Benalux, which was suggested by a couple sitting next to us at the game. Oh…. my….. GOSH. Cafe freakin’ Benalux. First of all its has a beautiful rooftop deck overlooking the city where they serve you fantastic breakfast food and endless mimosas…. if I had to eat one meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner it would be brunch food. I had the “belt and a” which was a breakfast sandwich on sourdough with fried egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and basil aioli, and Tyler had the “hodge podge” which was basically a big plate of everything breakfast. My God. If you’re ever in Milwaukee, please do yourself a favor and just go. I love a good souther brunch with chicken and waffles as much as the next girl but MAN the yankees know what they’re doing at this place. After brunch we walked around the little area of town we were in then headed to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which was absolutely stunning. We really enjoyed it, definitely a “must-see” if you ever find yourself in WI. Moving on we found ourself at City Lights Brewing Company where a full-on soul band was blessing the new beer of the month. Only in Wisconsin would they bless the beer, but a really cool thing to see none the less. Then jumped into another Uber and went back to our hotel to get ready for the wedding. After we got all spiffed up we met up with my Uncle Ray and Aunt Kris and drove to the really awesome wedding venue Anna picked for her big day. It was so much fun getting to see all my family and celebrate my sweet cousin and her new husband. I hope my wedding is half as fun one day.

After a long night of dancing, drinking and eating we woke up to a full day of driving on the horizon for us. Ten hours later we found ourselves in Naaaaaaaaashville, Tennessee. We stayed at The Hutton downtown Nashville and was immediately greeted with a vodka and sweet tea in the lobby. Yes please. We got ready and headed to broadway and partied the night away downtown Nash, Tyler sang karaoke at 3 AM, we rode in a tricked out Uber that had Mario Cart, we ate hotdogs from a cart on the side of the road, it was iconic. We ended up staying one more night with Tyler’s brother in Nashville and man was I ready to be home when we finally arrived back in Fernandina on the fourth of July. I’m so happy that we drove instead of flew to Wisconsin because we proved to ourselves that we could do it. It was such a wonderful roadtrip and I can’t wait for the next one. Tyler did such a great job keeping me sane while we were in the car together and we honestly do travel really well together. We ate a lot of food, drank a lot of beer and arrived home really achey and tired but we did it.

Tomah, WI.

Brewer Game, Miller Park. Milwaukee, WI.

Milwaukee Museum of Art.

Anna + Carlos Wedding. Milwaukee, WI.

Nashville, TN.

Lifestyle

Olive.

jennystrozinsky June 20, 2018

Meet the newest addition to Tyler and I’s crazy life. We are obsessed. Tyler adopted her from the Humane Society in Kingsland, GA this past week and we couldn’t be more in love. We were told she is a “coon-hound/lab mix” I don’t see any lab in her besides maybe the giant paws so I’m calling her a Camden Hound.

When Tyler went to adopt a puppy last Monday I was working and we had our hearts set on a puppy from an Australian Shepherd/Husky litter that the shelter had just received…. little white puppies with bright blue eyes. When he got there they took him back to see the puppies and in the middle of all the white was a little black and white puppy. He scooped her up and held her for a second before the employee whisked him away to sign adoption papers for one of the little husky mixes. They told him he wouldn’t be able to pick him up until the next day because he still had to get fixed and vaccinated. He said “ok” and went and sat in his truck for 20 minutes because he couldn’t stop thinking about the little black and white girl pup. He got about halfway home before he called the shelter and told them he had to change his mind.

Don’t worry! The little husky mix was in high demand and was adopted that same day! I was in shock. What do you mean you didn’t get the little boy pup your heart was set on?? But he had me convinced that this was the dog for us and he was so right. I met her the next day and instantly fell in love and didn’t want to leave her another night in the shelter but she was going to the vet the next day to get fixed so I had too. Tyler picked her up the next day from the vet and took her home. She’s such a little snug. Tyler’s mom and dad have been helping us with her a ton and we’re so thankful. I can’t wait to be done with school and out for summer so I can walk her on the beach everyday. We’re so thankful that she just fell into our laps the way she did. Adopt don’t shop my friends, I promise you’ll find your dream pup/kitty.

Travels

Seattle, WA.

jennystrozinsky June 20, 2018

Since I’m just starting this blog I didn’t have the chance to document one of my favorite trips EVER, EVER, EVER. I grew up on the east coast and never did much traveling towards the western side of the country. My grandparents own a lake house in north Georgia and the rest of my family is from Wisconsin, so as kids our summers were mostly split between these two places. My parents, being teachers, have the summers off, obviously, so we were really lucky to be able to spend months at a time on vacations and on trips. My parents, being teachers, were also broke so we traveled places that were (mostly) free. Fine. With. Me. I’ll have an entire post dedicated to my love of the lake house. When I got older I started venturing out to more “exotic” places. I skied in Colorado for the first time in eighth grade, and traveled to Europe when I was 16, but still never really had the opportunity to head alllllll the way over to the west coast.

Tyler’s brother and his girlfriend live in Edmonds, Washington, about 45 minutes from Seattle. I knew we had to take advantage of this awesome place to visit (thanks Britt and Nicole!) Tyler and I started planning our trip to the PNW in the Fall of 2015, and flew out of Jacksonville on Christmas day. I love airports. Granted, I’ve never had a really bad experience in an airport where I’ve been stuck in one for days like some of my friends and family have- knock on wood, but in my experience I just love airports. I don’t know if its the excitement about the trip, or the people from all over the world, or just the abundance of Starbucks and magazine stands, whatever it is I just get so excited about flying because I love airports. I could hardly sit down that morning. We took the cheapest flight we could find so we flew out EARLY. 5 a.m. early. Poor Tyler. I was buzzing around, probably hitting his knee over and over, “We’re going on a trip!! It’s our first big trip together!! Aren’t you so excited!!?? Why aren’t you bouncing?? Let’s get more coffee!!!” I’m five. It’s fine. Anyways, we flew out of Jacksonville had a short layover in Atlanta, and arrived in Seattle in the late afternoon their time. Now I’ve never dealt with a drastic time change except in Europe so let me just tell you, three hours is a huge difference, also it was freezing!! We got our bags and picked up our rental car (#adults) and drove on the most beautiful expressway to get to Britt and Nicole’s apartment. “Babe do you see IT???? IT LOOKS STRAIGHT OUT OF TWILIGHT!!! I’m going to cry it’s so beautiful!! Let’s move here!!!” That was me while Tyler tried to navigate through a new interstate we’ve never driven on. I was just excited okay?? We got to their apartment and was greeted by sweet Owen, their pup. Britt and Nicole’s apartment is straight out of a freaking HGTV show. It is so cozy, and beautiful. Nicole had it all decorated for Christmas and it was so festive and sweet. They made us feel right at home.

During the week we were in Seattle we ate a lot of really awesome food. I’m telling you I did not have one bad meal the whole time we were there. I didn’t even have one meal that I was like “Eh that was okay.” All of the food was phenomenal, 5 stars phenomenal. I would move to Seattle for the food alone. A few of my favorites were the Commons for brunch in Woodinville, Cutters for lunch downtown Seattle (try their open-face crab sandwich,) and Heart coffee in Portland. I also love how dog friendly the pacific north west is. You can literally bring your dog everywhere! I loved taking Owen to the dog park close to B&N’s apartment. It was right on this awesome rocky beach- that again looked right out of the Twilight movies, not kidding. We also went to a few really cool breweries, and even got to meet up with my cousin Emily, and her boyfriend (now fiance!) at an awesome little spot downtown Seattle where I had the best mussels and local beer. We also did a night in Portland, which I absolutely loved. I want to do another trip of just Portland, hopefully in the summer so we can hike! Since we didn’t pay for a hotel in Seattle, we splurged on a really beautiful hotel for one night downtown Portland. If you are ever visiting that area and want to spend a little extra money I highly suggest the Hotel Lucia downtown Portland. We had the best time.

Normally at the end of a trip you’re ready to be back home in your own bed. Not this time. I could’ve stayed in Seattle forever, and I know Tyler felt the same way. The entire city is just full of greenery, everything is so lush and fresh. The food is spectacular, and the entire vibe of the area is unlike any other place I’ve ever been too. It’s such a special place. I can’t wait to go back one day. Maybe even move there, who knows!