The "C" Word is becoming a Habit Around Our house...

So...How did I do for pulling you in? How many of you had rapid, random 'C' words whirl around in your brain??
Hopefully it pulled a couple of you, that don't normally read, in to take a glance at this blog that is made up of our crazy-hectic-full of adventure-LIFE that we love!!

To let the ANTICIPATION get to you a little bit more, let me just say that at one time I thought that hardly ANYONE was reading my blog. At first I was kind of saddened, but then it hit me... I am doing this for MYSELF. I guess sometimes we as people I (at least) get so wrapped up in the 'rat race' of always having things to do for other people, (whether it be for job, family, friends, spouses, kids, etc),  that we forget to do something for ourselves.
That was the main reason I started this... For.Me.

Getting WAAAAYYY OFF TOPIC, I promise to get back to the point! :)

So with me enjoying my '6' faithful followers and myself I continued to write type. Then, one day I came across the "Stats" for my blog and I will just say that I was delighted to see that there are more than 6 people reading this... There are a BUNCH!!!! I know, I am doing this for myself, but it is still good to know that I can still in a way multi-task. (One of my favorite past times.) Even if it is just for a couple of minutes, people, somewhere, are getting some type of pleasure out of MY BiziLife. That makes me happy. :)

Now, down to business, this big C word has been following us around lately.... Or rather we are following it.

No, it is NOT child or childREN... Nice thought though. Patience. My family and friends.

It is CONCERT(S)!!! I know, I know... not a real good joke. BUT that is the only way I could figure out how to draw people in...
John and I have been to more concerts this school year, than EVER before. (Yes, I go by school years, not actual years like everyone else... Don't judge me!)

I won't bore you with our list that is turning to be quite the long one, but I will tell about ONE particular concert that we went to, TWICE.

GPN

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

So good we saw them on 2 of their Florida tour dates. They are AMAZING.HOTT.ROCKERS.

Mark my words, they will be big very, very soon. (In fact, vh1, Conan O'Brien, amongst others are noticing them!) PLEASE take the time to check out their music...

Yea, I know... impressed, right??

Anyway, we went to the State Theatre in downtown St. Petersburg to see them on a Friday and then drove to Orlando on a Sunday night to see them perform at the Plaza Theatre.

Both venues were small, but in no part intimate...

Once that show started, it was a Rock and Roll PARTY! With both places having standing room only, we waited in line over an hour at both locations to get at the front. 

Friday Night- We were close enough to the stage that we were literally leaning on it. I could have touched Grace if I REALLY wanted to... but I wanted to stay and not be escorted out. :) That night, John was able to get a guitar pic that was left on stage, right by Grace's microphone. 

Saturday Night- We were front row again, but they had the first couple feet by the stage closed off for media usage. Honestly, Sunday night was my favorite night! The band had more energy, the crowd was totally feelin' it and we had a blast!! On this night, John and I caught one of the drumsticks... I had both hands on this stick and John had one. We WERE NOT letting go! :)

I won't go into much more detail because then I even get bored typing it... I can only imagine how it would be to read about every little thing that happened. BUT if you like that sort of thing, please ask! I have TONS of stories. :)

Now, our nights through pictures...........

I was standing center stage... my view

Justin Jones... acoustic. Great voice, funny guy! Check him out! :)

Jonathan Tyler  from 'Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights'
THEY ARE A MUST SEE!!! We *might* see them in May...

GPN Pictures

 Grace.

 Catherine

Grace.

Rockin'

My favorite photo from the night

Scott

That is all for now. Hope to hear from you soon.
-Me

SOBE Food and Wine Festival, 2011

If you aren't a 'foodie' then you probably can't really connect with most of my posts... Because as it has already been established, I love all parts food and drink.

As part of our birthday presents from Mom and Chris, along with mine and John's birthday presents to each other, we went on a 4 day trip to SOBE. (South Beach!)
Here is the official site, and main reason we went, of the SOBE Food and Wine Fest.

And here is an agenda of what we did while in Miami!

Friday Night:
Took a quick 36 minute flight down to Miami International and hopped in a cab that took us to SOBE... We checked in our hotel, the Winterhaven.

SaturDAY:
We slept in and then spent some time walking about 1.2 miles to the famous Joe's Stone Crab. Where we ate some of the best Stone Crab Claws. Well, it was my first time eating stone crab claws, BUT they were amazing! Cold, tender, juicy, and some wonderful house-made mustard sauce and drawn butter for dipping. YUMMMMMMMMMMM

We then took a stroll back, looking around in shops and such. We eventually made our way to the beach and spent some time catching some rays. SPF 30 was indeed used!! :) SOBE is an event in itself. Anything goes there. I mean ANYTHING. Enough said. None of those 'anything goes' pictures were taken.

US.

Here is a SOBE picture from afar...

After a couple of hours we walked up Ocean Drive and found Oceans 10, a great place to grab an afternoon cocktail. :)

And ran into a famous person!?!

Dennis Rodman

Saturday Night:

That night we made reservations at Emeril's Miami Beach Restaurant. Dinner was very good... But i don't know that I would go back. I say this mainly because there are so many other restaurants that we want to try, but also because nothing really sticks out in my mind. 

SunDAY:

We woke up and went to this great cafe that was recommended by a friend, News Cafe, and had a delicious breakfast. This is a place I would try again. :)

We finally made our way to the SOBE Food and Wine Festival. Since we only had tickets to Sunday, we wanted to make the most of our day. We waited in line to get in at opening time...

There were HUNDREDS of vendors in the Grand Tasting Village to see, along with Famous Chefs doing presentations... some of the shows we attended were...

Emeril

Bobby Flay

Anthony Bourdain

Then Andrew Zimmern came out on stage...

Last but not least, John got his book autographed and picture taken with Anthony Bourdain.

The Grand Tasting Village had some of the most unique, tasty food and beverages... It really was a great way to experience all SOBE had to offer in one location. One booth that John made it to was the Kone- temaki-sake-lounge. He, being a sushi lover, said we must go and try their restaurant. Sooooo

Sunday Night, our last night in SOBE we went to KONE.

Let me just say... first, I have never had a KONE before. One word to describe this yummy goodness? HEAVENLY.

Sweet succulent shrimp tempura with sticky sushi rice and the best eel sauce I have ever had, hands down. This is a MUST try. 

Great cocktails too.

Oh, and I almost forgot... THEY premix their wasabi and soy for you! No work here, ladies and gentleman...

We will definitely make it back to this little, local place. 

And this is a dress I bought while shopping in SOBE! I loved it so much I wore it to dinner two nights in a row... Shhhh. Don't tell. ;)

Well, that wraps up our whirl wind of a trip... We had the best time in SOBE. I would totally recommend this place to people who are looking for a quick getaway. If you like food, relaxation, sun, and sand... and are open to a little diverse culture---it is a place for you! 

Time Flies When You Are...

So I have come to the realization that TIME.JUST.FLEW.BY.
What do I mean by this? Well... the month of February seems like a complete whirl wind... Where did it go? How did that happen? And why SO fast?!

I have two of theories...
1. Time Flies When you Are Having A Good  Great Time!
2. Time Flies When You Get Older.

Theory Two: Time Flies When You Get Older.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate a birthday... Yea, yea, it was okay... No big deal. 

But this birthday made me closer to 30 than 20... Yuck. 

However, John and I had a talk recently that time does seem to go by faster and faster with each year that passes. We both agreed that we will indeed get older, because well, it is a fact of life. 

HOWEVER, we REFUSE to get OLD.

If this doesn't make sense to you, well I'm sorry to admit that you might be getting older and OLD.

All this means, for us anyway, is that we don't want to be 'old people.' Never.Ever.Ever.

We don't want our age to affect the decisions we make. We want to continue to live an active, fun, healthy, full of energy life style... no matter how much older we get. 

I know, we are still young. BUT we think it is important to set goals, plans, hopes, dreams for the life that is to come. :)

I feel like this One.Single.Picture. pretty much sums up WHAT I am saying...

Insert: *Sigh* 

I love my husband's dreams... Silly me for thinking he wanted to back to the African Safari at  Disney World's Animal Kingdom. :)

Theory One: Time Flies When you Are Having A Good  Great Time!
I had a FaBuLoUs time in the month of February! I/We did some bit of traveling last month...
-I had an awesome girl's trip in Savannah with my mom, Nana, and Gramma Betty.
-I went and visited my sweet, adorable nephew... TYLER
-John and I took a long weekend trip to Fort Meyers Beach to visit John's parents 'new' home.
-Birthday dinners and celebrations!!
-We flew to Miami and spent an amazing weekend on South Beach! (This will be a total different blog!)

Now for some of my infamous pictures...

That.I.Must.Include.On.Every.Blog.

Yes, we went to Lady and Sons restaurant while we were in Savannah. We also ate at so many other GREAT places.

How Cute?!

Tyler Levi's 4 month photos

I just want to kiss all over that baby boy's face!!! We just LOVE him!

What is this?!? Well, my favorite kind of CUPS! Plus, its proof that we spent some poolside time while in Fort Meyers... Water glass, Wine glass, Chapstick, towel in the background. :)

I found this funny. I know... How immature!?!? Anyhow, this was on the drive down to Bonita Springs Beach. No bathing suit pictures of me... any time soon.

How irresistible? This is Sister... John's parents' cat. She is such a corky little thing. Plus, who takes pictures of people anymore?! How boring. ;)

My Hunk. Enough said.

Before my birthday dinner at the Melting Pot. Yum!!

Birthday dessert at Ipanema Brazilian Steakhouse. Thanks for the great dinner, Mom and Chris!!

Somebody enjoyed the cheesecake... :)

This was a handmade birthday gift that I received in the mail. John's Aunt Anne made this wonderful apron for me! This was the most thoughtful gift I have received in a long time! :) What a perfect hand stitched design. Cupcake Girl.

The main reason we went to SOBE... more pictures to come in a future blog update.

Only in South Beach. :)

Can we guess which famous person this is?!?

Another sneak peak at the festival...

What to look forward to from the bizilife blog:
-The SOBE Food and Wine Fest
-Cade's 4th birthday... as a pirate!
-Best foods I have ever ate.
-Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Concert(s)
-St. Augustine Camping Trip
-Update on the 'Baking' Side of Life... Changes, soon.

I KNOW, March is pretty amazingly busy too!!