Thursday, February 23, 2012

Iconic

Just something little I noticed today. Pinterest updated their 'loading' screen to be a little push pin.


I think it's absolutely adorable.
That is all.

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Florida in February

I attended a conference in Florida last week. I actually already blogged about it (probably my best post ever, but you'll just have to take my word for it), but the post was cruelly lost by blogger after I selected 'save'. So we will try this again......

We left Logan at 5:45 on Sunday morning. We were all ridiculously tired, and after a day of travel and a very disappointing dinner we were SO ready to go to bed.

At around 3:30, I was awoken by what I assumed was the hotel room alarm clock, but after punching the clock a few times, I finally came to my senses and exited the building.



Turns out some yahoo decides he couldn't go outside for a smoke, so he tried to disconnect the smoke detector in his room. Jerk.

It took about 30 minutes for the fire department to get everything sorted out. Micah (ever the optimist) pointed out that we were all outside, in our PJs and perfectly warm, it was much better than if we had been in Utah.

Next day we had some free time before we had to pick up Patrick from the airport. We headed over to Sanibel Island which was just a few minutes from our hotel.



Sanibel Island is known for seashells, they were everywhere! More common than gravel, they were used in gardens, pathways, and even in the asphalt in the road.



We spent awhile at the beach, it was SO warm and absolutely gorgeous!



AND again, with a ridiculous filter, just to make my Utah peeps jealous.



We ate lunch at Holy Smoke (not to be confused with THE Holy Smokes in Layton where I've told y'all to eat).
See, different logo/piggy



They did have pretty great sweet potato fries.


So I guess I can forgive them for being different from my usual fave. (But seriously, if you haven't had the Holy Smokes in Layton, get in your car Right Now and go order some pulled brisket. YUM!)

We wandered the island a bit more and strolled along some perfect beaches.


I have never, ever been tempted to live in Florida before, but holycrap! This is what it looks like in February.

Micah wanted some icecream and thanks to Yelp! We found some tasty gelato.


This was apricot biscotti and it changed my life. I ate it on a bench next to this dude:


He wasn't to interested in me though, he only had eyes for Jason.

We decided to stop at an antique store on our way out, I thought this was an interesting find.


Only $85 and it could be yours!

My schedule for the conference the next day was pretty sporadic, I ended up having 3 breaks over 30 minute, so I spent every spare second outside in the 75+ weather.



I made another bird friend during a short walk.



This is the view sitting outside of one of the conference rooms.


Most of the rooms had large picture windows, it was pretty cruel to tease us like this during a lecture.

The next day Micah, Jason, and I all had an hour break before dinner, so we headed for the beach again.


By the way, I was wise enough to not pack a stitch of Florida appropriate clothing. All of the beach trips are with my dress-slacks rolled up and my shoes in-hand.


Micah and Jason were much braver than I and the ventured out onto that sandbar.


This guy and all of his creepy friends stopped me.


What the crap is that?! They were everywhere and I did NOT want to step on one, so I played it safe by the shore.

We made it back to the conference just in time for sunset.






Back at our hotel, I settled in for the night. I talked to Dalan and Tobey on FaceTime.


You see how freakin cute my dog is?!

Then....


At about 1:30 we got a repeat from our first night.

Dear Marriott,
What the heck?

The next night we skipped the conference dinner and headed back to Sanibel. We were searching for a restraint known as The Mucky Duck which was right on the beach and faced west. We found it right before sunset, and decided to postpone dinner awhile.


















The next day was our last full day. The last class finished early. Jason wanted to find an alligator head for his kid, so we went in search of tourist shops.

Marcel, I am very disappointed!



Micah and Jason had grabbed a Rib City menu earlier that day. And I was sold from the very first item!


SEE!!!



Aaaaaaand that's the end. I wouldn't say no to a February South-West Florida trip in the future.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone