Florida 2012 (#3)

The Day 3 section of my Florida SMASH Book is out of order...I am normally a chronological scrapbooker and it was so hard for me to place photos out of order, but it made more sense to do so for Day 3.

Day 3 in Florida was Memorial Day.  Our plan was to spend the day in South Beach/Miami Beach so we left our hotel at 7am thinking we would hit traffic (we did not).

We first found a breakfast spot and after fueling our tummy's walked around the area--it was 8am, so the stores were mostly closed.

My daughter loves the Jersey Shore...so we had to find some of the places Snooki and her friends caused havoc when they spent Season 2 down there.

The place they lived...the place they worked...and one of the places they clubbed at (which was shut down when we were there).  After lunch, we went back to the gelato place and she had to have  a scoop and bought a shirt. (I HAD to use the Bottled pages of the SMASH book for Jersey Shore...how could I not? ha ha ha)

Our choices for breakfast were limited...but the eggs were fine...(here is where it goes all wonky!)  We ate lunch at 1:30 pm--6 hours later...not right after we ate breakfast ha ha ha :D

We also seen the Dash boutique...it hadn't opened for the day yet.  We seen a tow truck from Tremont Towing...South Beach Tow which my husband and kids watch.

Back to our lunch...we ate at Ocean's Ten which apparently the Jersey Shore cast also visited on the show.  OMG--worst service.  The Yelp reviews are either way bad or good.  I guess if you to there to club then it is fine.  We were there at 1:30 pm and the waitress had to hold our credit card before we got our food--their policy...um, we have 2 children with us...we aren't clubbing...we aren't going to stiff you!  Then they charged for a glass of water...not bottled...just plain "filtered" tap water!  Then they automatically charged 18% service fee...fine, but did I mention our waitress sucked?  Well she did!  And the food...not very good at all and overpriced.  Oh well...

Some of our beach photos...Remember I said we wanted to beat the crowds?  We were there from 8:30am-1:00pm and it never got very crowded...I think South Beach is on and popping in the evening when all the young adults are partying :)

We got back to the hotel before 3pm and decided to check out Hollywood, Fl because the guide book said it was "a virtual carnival of young hipsters, big families, and sunburned French Canadian..."  It was NOT...unless by young hipsters they meant young hoodlums and by French Canadian they meant Freaky Characters!  Normally, my husband can hang in the shadiest parts of town (he went into New Orlean's 9th ward with a couple of friends and a stranger they met at a bar!) but even he was not comfortable with us being in Hollywood, FL.  We left as soon as possible and I only took one photo of a sign...actually I think I sent my husband over to take the picture.  (Ok, I just looked at all the trip advisor reviews, etc. and they are all positive...maybe it was because we got there late in the day...I don't know, but it did not look very friendly.)

The best part of the trip to Hollywood was the drive there when we were stuck in traffic (how is that the best part?)...Not only did we laugh as we witnessed a ton of people illegally exiting the freeway, but we seen these two young adults in front of us lip-syncing and doing some hand/arm gestures.  My son knew what they were doing and showed us the Harvard Baseball Team YouTube video lip syncing and "dancing" to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe.  We then joined the couple in front of us...and they laughed and gave us air high fives.  That song then became our anthem the rest of the trip :)

Even now when we hear that song it makes us smile thinking of our vacation.

If you got through this post--thank you! 

Thank you for looking!

Florida 2012 (#2)

Day 2 in Miami was the day we went to check out the new Marlin's stadium and watch our Giants beat them.

Before we headed over to the stadium, we found The Original Pancake House which we all liked.  We really try to find places to eat that we can't find around where we live...sometimes we succeed at doing that and other times we have to settle for places we can eat any ol' time. (Later, we found out there are a couple of the same chain in our area, but when we tried them at home, they were not as good. :/ )

I was happy that the page in the Smashbook (above) actually matched what I was scrapbooking.  The curved building in the Smashbook had similar features to the actual stadium.

The photo on the top left is one of my favorites because of this...

Five years earlier, we were in Scottsdale, Az watching the Giants at Spring Training and I captured this photo above...I had them recreate the bottom photo...Yes, my husband is wearing the same jersey (but new same colored shorts! ha ha ha)--it is awesome to see how my kids have grown in 5 years!

Another element that I love on this page is that I used paper from an actually baseball score book to write my journaling on.

The next page is just photos of the inside of the stadium--the colors on the Smashbook matched the Marlin colors (kinda!).

That day, Melky Cabrera scored all 3 runs which I was able to take photos of...it looks like the same run scored, but it wasn't :)

After the game, we went back to the hotel then took the free Metromover to the Bayside outdoor mall.  We walked around, but didn't buy anything other than flimsy towels for the beach the next day.

Dinner was at Bubba Gump which we've eaten at before, but we don't eat it too often.

For the smaller photos (like above), I used my PoGo--I am not sure how they will stand the test of time though.

Thank you for looking!

Workspace Wednesday (Color Shine)

Back in March 2013, I wrote a post on how I made my own Gold mist.  At the time, I thought I would save some money and make my own--but that was short lived.

I had bought some Mini Mister spray bottles to make my own colors...but it didn't work out too well.  The acrylic paint was too thick and would just clog the sprayer.  So I bought the Primrose and later the Teal.  

That was my arsenal for over a year.  

Then last month, I had seen the trio pack (gold, teal, and citron) at Michaels and wanted to buy the mini bottles, but since I already had teal, I figured could just buy the Gold by itself for cheaper (and more came in the bottle!).  So I went that route.

Then I seen someone on Instagram post they had scored some color shine on clearance at Joann's...so I had to find them!  I was able to pick up the Chartreuse and Bronzer on clearance.

And then last week, Michaels had Heidi Swapp 40% off (plus an additional 20% app coupon!) so I picked up the White and Citron.

Yes, I have bought them all with a coupon or on sale...so that is a plus, but I know I tend to buy things because it is the thing to do and I don't really use them.

I don't know why I do this, but I do know sometimes I tend to have a "missing out" syndrome.  I have been a lot better than I used to be, but my craft room shows my hoarding tendencies unfortunately.

I will note, this past weekend, I did use the pink, teal, and gold in my planner to decorate the September title page.

My next challenge to myself is to use my stuff!