I was on vacation!

Hey everyone!

Sorry about no food posts over the last week. Kieran and I went on vacation to visit family and attend a friend’s wedding in Florida. Flying across the United States from Florida to Oregon is a time-consuming endeavor. We had 1 layover to Florida and 2 layovers on the way home!

My dear friend Heather asked me to be in her wedding on April 9, 2016. The ceremony and reception were located 2 and 1/2 hours away from my Dad’s house in Fort Meyers, Florida. Since moving to Oregon, I haven’t seen my family nor friends much, so this trip gave me the perfect opportunity to see everybody! My Dad generously hosted Kieran’s Mom and Dad at his house too, so luckily we had the chance to visit with Kieran’s family as well!

Upon landing in Florida I received a voicemail from our real estate agent that set the mood for our entire vacation. To refresh your memory, Kieran and I are trying to buy a house in Portland, Oregon, but so far we’ve been outbid 11 times. We put a bid on a 12th house days before our vacation departure and were awaiting the seller’s response. As our plane was taxiing on the runway and approaching the jetway, I noticed a voicemail from our agent. I took a deep breath and listened. Our offer, ladies, and gentleman, was ACCEPTED!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!

FINALLY!!! After 12 attempts our offer was FINALLY ACCEPTED!! I SQUEALED in my seat next to Kieran on the plane, who understandably had a confused look on his face. I could barely get the words out as I frantically bounced up and down in my seat with excitement. Once Kieran figured out our offer had been accepted, he couldn’t contain his excitement either! Both of us bounced around in our seats giggling, hugging, and laughing (the folks seated around us probably hated us at this point) as our plane parked to let us off at the jetway. We collected our luggage and practically skipped through the airport with ridiculously wide grins plastered across our faces. Nothing could bring our mood down.

The line for the car rental was an hour long? WHO CARES! OUR OFFER WAS ACCEPTED!!

We forgot to eat before our flight and we were starving? WHO CARES! OUR OFFER WAS ACCEPTED!!

We found out the window was broken in our rental before driving off, so we had to wait an additional 20 minutes for another car? WHO CARES! OUR OFFER WAS ACCEPTED!!

Realistically, we haven’t officially purchased the house until we close, so the inspection and appraisal could throw us out of the running to become Portland’s Next Homeowners. I’m a little nervous about the inspection because the seller said she would not fix anything, we have to accept the house as is. In her defense, she’s put a LOT of structural type of work into the house over the last 3 years. She’s updated the roof, the electric, the plumbing, the water heater, the gutters, refinished the basement, ect. She’s put at least 10K into updating the house in 3 years, so neither of us blames her for not wanting to contribute more. We’re assuming the inspection will find additional work needing to be done on the house, but we’re hoping the work will be nonemergency jobs we can handle (and afford) over time. If the laundry list of house repairs is too long or too expensive, we’ll have to pass on the purchase and get our earnest money back. We’re not 100% out of the woods yet, but we’re inching closer and closer to owning this house!

We finally arrived at my Dad’s house ready to celebrate with copious amounts of rum. And celebrate with rum we did, because I don’t remember the majority of that night.

During the family leg of our vacation, we had ample relaxation time, but we also made time to exercise too. Kieran and I love to play tennis, and so does Kieran’s Dad, Owen. All 3 of us packed our tennis rackets and managed to spend hours on the court together throughout the week. Along with tennis, we spent hours swimming in the pool. All the extra workouts allowed Kieran and I extra calories to splurge on some great food and boozy drinks! See, my friend’s wedding was at the END of our vacation and I was in the bridal party. My dress was gorgeous but a bit too tight around the waist, so I had to constrict my vacation eating throughout the week to ensure I would fit into the dress for the wedding. My Dad is a food pusher, he’s not satisfied until ALL the food on the table is gone, even if you’re stuffed. It’s easy to overeat when my Dad is around, but I managed to make my calorie intake reasonable with the help of playing tennis almost every day. I’m thrilled to report my bridesmaid dress was still snug, but I managed to lose weight during the vacation so the dress fits better than ever for the wedding!

At the end of the week, Kieran and I packed up our car, said goodbye to our folks, and drove off to attend our friend’s wedding 2 and 1/2 hours away. We thought it would be fun to splurge on a convertible for our road trip, I mean, if you have to spend 2 and 1/2 hours driving around Florida, a convertible is the way to go. Unfortunately, I didn’t think through the convertible, since we had to depart at 7 am in the morning for the wedding, it was too cold to put the top down the majority of our ride! DOH! Oh well, at least we looked like ballers for awhile.

The wedding and reception were held at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in North Redington Beach near Tampa Bay. The hotel was adorable, once you gazed upon it’s kitschy beach decor you instinctively wanted to throw on a grass skirt and order up a Pina Colada at the hotel’s outdoor tiki bar. The hotel was situated on the beach facing the Gulf of Mexico so gorgeous sunsets were plentiful during our stay. The weather while visiting Florida was glorious with temps in the high 70’s with low humidity. Heather’s wedding weekend was no exception, I’m happy she didn’t have to deal with high humidity, that would have sucked for her and the bridal’s party hair and makeup!

This was our first visit to North Redington Beach and we loved it. Very touristy but let’s be real, which part of Florida isn’t? The main strip was littered with beachy looking restaurants, mini-golf, and hotels. Near where we stayed was a charming area called John’s Pass. John’s Pass sits on a boardwalk lined with ice cream parlors, boat /fishing tours, clothing, and souvenir shops. We didn’t have much time to spend in John’s Pass, but our brief visit was fun. If you’re vacationing in the area, this section of town is a fun way to spend the afternoon. John’s Pass caters to children too, so it’s perfect for a family vacation with those toting kids.

The wedding was spectacular and my friend Heather was a vision of beauty in her dress. Heather has an amazing sense of whimsy about her personality and style, she ROCKED her white polka-dotted wedding dress only in a way Heather could. All the maids gathered in her suite the morning of her big day as we laughed, cried, and celebrated Heather’s momentous occasion. Heather’s Mom, Susan, kept the cheer ongoing as she popped champagne bottle after champaign bottle for us to sip on. How in the world we made it out of the hotel for wedding pictures, without being drunk off our assess is beyond me! Hahahahahaha. Getting ready for the wedding was delightful. Watching Heather get emotional as she cheered with glee, seeing how her hair and makeup turned out, was special for me. I’ve known Heather for over 10 years and to know she found the man of her dreams fills my heart to the brim with love. The wedding ceremony was short yet sweet and the reception was a blast. I’m so happy for Heather and her now husband Eric. I look forward to watching them grow together throughout the years.

My only regret was not being able to spend more time with my dear friend. The day after Heather’s wedding, Kieran and I had to get up at 5:30am so we could depart the hotel by 6am to catch our flight. It was cheaper for us to drive 2 and 1/2 hours BACK to Fort Myers, where my Dad lives, to catch our fight. The trip home was brutal since we literally traveled across the US from one coast to the other. From Florida, we flew into Chicago. There we remained on the plane until it reloaded with passengers and took flight for Denver. Once in Denver, we had to transfer to another plane for our flight to Oregon. We left our hotel at 6 am on Sunday and didn’t get home until after 8 pm Pacific standard time, we felt wiped out.