St. Augustine, Florida

Last weekend Taylor and I decided to go see St. Augustine. St. Augustine is an old city about 40 miles south of us that is known for being rich with culture, history and a fun place to wander. We've been hearing about it since we got to Florida, but put it off until the weather cooled down a little, which was genius of us.

We took the scenic route, along the coast past the dozens of bikers out enjoying their Saturday morning. We stopped at a Gate gas station at the half-wayish mark where I found pink Rockstars! If you don't know this about me, I love pink Rockstars. The marketing / branding is so perfect I can't handle it. And yes, they taste amazing. Anyway, I guess Rockstars are only king out west, because we've only seen three flavors max here (Regular, Diet, Lemonade) but there, in the little gas station, was my flavor. I bought them out.

Needless to say, my day was already awesome. But it continues:

We started by hitting up a farmer's market near the amphitheater. It was small, but full of interesting people selling whatever it was they loved; everything from ribbon angels and ceramics to sea food and pickles on a stick. Yeah, that was my favorite too. Pickles and olives.

We then just went and walked around the old part of the city and the fort. We didn't have any plans, we just wanted to get a feeling for St. Augustine because we definitely want to go back. The city has a quaint feeling, leaving you nostalgic for a European world you've never seen before.

 

Our first stop was in a chocolate shop for some ice cream. (Obviously.)

The town was settled by the French, then taken over by the Spanish before finally becoming part of the United States. The Spanish influences wins throughout the city, as you can see by these buildings. This was near Flagler College, across the street from which was a posh hotel. The whole thing was very 1920's glamorous.

Below is the view looking out from the old fort, where we watched a reenactment of a ceremonial cannon shot.

For lunch we decided to backtrack to a pizza shop we found earlier in the day. On our way back we came across this secret garden. I want one.

Also, do you notice Taylor's new haircut? He did it himself. :)

Pizza: It was just like walking into a New York pizza shop. The owner grew up working at those places in New York, so when he moved to Florida he opened up his own shop. It was amazing.

So the real question is, when are you coming to visit?

Welcome, Fall

I have not been ready for Fall. The biggest problem is we had a 30˙ drop this last week so mentally I was still clinging to Summer and then I was tossed into Winter: cruel joke. Well the other night after work I had to head north to get measured for my dress so Taylor and I missed having dinner together. When I got home we went to Slab Pizza so I could eat a ginormous piece of Hawaiian pizza. It was dark and rainy as we left the partially sub-level restaurant and my mouth wasn't satisfied so we headed towards our favorite frozen yogurt place. When we got to the parking lot of Yogurtland it didn't seem right. I knew it would be delicious but I wasn't sold and I knew Taylor wasn't in the mood. As I sat in the car debating dessert I saw Starbucks across the street and I decided I wanted a Holiday themed drink.

The entire Starbucks experience that night hit both Taylor and me. We walked into the small shop, Taylor wearing his hooded jacket (something deeply sentimental for me for lots of reasons I won't discuss) and me in a jacket and scarf. The shop had enough people filling the chairs it felt welcoming but not enough to have a line or destroy the home-y feeling. We got our drinks from a hipster guy and a magenta-haired girl and we walked out into the cool mist of Fall. I slipped into the high that comes with a cozy feeling in the middle of California-winter weather and Taylor imagined the variety of similar places we could discover if we lived somewhere like Chicago or New York.

We were not meant for Provo. Today, Taylor came and took me to lunch (I work in American Fork). There's not that much distance between the two places but there is so much freedom the closer you are to Salt Lake City. It will be a temporary fix in December when we're married and leave Provo, making things better until we can leave Utah for good. Until then, we are both now fully enjoying the cooler weather and all it offers.

Focusing on Finishing

I've been thinking a lot lately about being a finisher. I am a really driven person, but I want to be a better finisher. Someone who is as excited at the end of the project as at the beginning. I am that person when I am involved with a lot of things so I am constantly staying busy, but I want to be that way no matter what. I'm using my job application process to begin that change. It's feeling really good.

Speaking of job applications: I am so excited for the next step! My interview last week went pretty well. I don't have all my eggs in one basket though, so I am constantly on the look out for anything exciting!

My parents came out this weekend. Two of my cousins are moving away so we had a family get-together. It was so much fun to be with everyone! Except, (warning: mean cousin ahead) I made my cousin cry. He's three and he was really tired and he lives in San Diego so he doesn't remember me well. Anyway, I grabbed him and tickled him and he started to cry! That was a first for me. It made me feel bad. Thankfully his mom just told him to stop being a baby. This was after she grabbed my butt as a hello, so you get the idea of what my family's like. (Awesome, is the correct answer.)

Yesterday, lover made pizza.

Traditional, margarita pizza. We were at the store and we found this mozzarella cheese that is made in a sheet then rolled like a cinnamon bun. So, I unrolled it, put the tomatoes and basil in the cheese, rolled it up, cut it into wrap-like rolls and put them on the pizza. Sadly, you can't see it in the finished product, but it made me feel sophisticated. 

Put some oil and salt (see below) in a bowl then dip your pizza as you go along, you will change your perspective on traditional Italian cooking.

Today we went American. We are trying to get rid of food we have stored in the house, so we used our cornmeal to make baked corn dogs. Obviously it doesn't look the same, but they were delicious none-the-less.

(hahaha. Every time I look at this picture I laugh.)

Life is great! For reals.