A Day with Mey Mey

March 02, 2016 by Jessi Streator in Food, Fun

While my friend Sarah was in town around the holidays, we took an afternoon and met over in downtown St. Pete for an afternoon of lunching, catching up, and antiquing. We started off the day with lunch at Casita Taqueria. I had visited for dinner a few weeks prior and I had the most amazing Siracha shrimp taco...sadly it was just a daily special and wasn't on the menu when we went for lunch. We each tried one fish and one shrimp taco, with a side trio of queso, salsa and fresh guacamole, of course. Everything was delicious and with full bellies it was time to hit a few antique stores.

While I don't have any photos of each one of the antique stores, There was a strip of about 5-6 antique stores all in a row right down from where we ate lunch. Our favorite was the Lion's Paw as they had everything from clothing, decor, and furniture. Sarah was obsessing over their selection of fur coats. She left with a silver champagne bucket and small purse, I left empty handed, however I found treasures at one of the other shops. One store, I cannot remember the name but it was just a few doors down, had some of the most beautiful antique jewelry I have seen in a while. They had a decently sized collection of art deco rings which have always been one of my favorites, it reminds me of my great grandmother's rings.

After antiquing for a bit, we took a break to grab a juice down at Bodega. I was back and forth between two smoothie flavors, the mango and the lola rico, and the girl behind the counter kindly did a hybrid smoothie for me and did a combination of the two-which was delicious! I really love the juices and smoothies there, it's the perfect stop for a little snack that is healthy yet somewhat filling. Plus, the interior is too cute with that subway tile and neon, "You bet your sweet grass," sign.

The last store we stopped into for the day was China Finders. I had passed by this place several times and was always curious to stop in and see just what they had to offer. With Sarah being a blue and white china and Wedgwood collector, we had to stop in. Little did we realize just. how. much. china. they. had. It was row upon row upon row of every brand and style china you could imagine. I wasn't in the market for any china but it's an amazing place to keep in mind if you own some of your grandparents or even great grandparents china and you may be missing a piece to the set. If China Finders doesn't have the piece to complete your set, they have specialized workers there to track down the piece or pieces that you are looking for.

Lastly, we absolutely had to stop into Hyppo for a popsicle. I will never be in the neighborhood and not stop in for one! Sarah has never tried it, but has most certainly heard all about it...from guess who? ;) She picked the guava hibiscus pop and I tried the guava tangerine; both were light and refreshing, I would recommend them!

Thank you Mey for spending the day exploring about town with me! Come back to the Sunshine State ASAP, please!

Mount Dora, November 2015

January 15, 2016 by Jessi Streator in Fun

Back in November, Ryan and I ventured back down to Mount Dora for the Renniger's Antique Extravaganza. We both left with lots of treasures including mid-century globes, file cabinets for Ryan's letterpress tools, post cards, brooches, old time Florida theme collectibles, and then some. The highlight of our trip was probably the fact that Twisted Willy's, our favorite pretzel stand, was back and whipping up the most delicious garlic parmesan pretzels. I would be lying if I said we did not eat at least three...evidence is shown below. The good news is we will be going back to visit the next show in February and we fully intend to eat at least one pretzel an hour ;)

Savannah Smiles Part II

January 13, 2016 by Jessi Streator in Travel, Fun, Food

Below are a few of the photos from our second day in Savannah. We had breakfast at The Collins Quarter, walked all over town to check out a few antique stores, had lunch at The Green Truck Pub, afternoon tea at The Gryphon Tea Room, stopped into a few bookstores, and finished the night with pizza at Vinnie Van Go Go's and ice cream at Leopold's before heading back to St. Augustine. We both thought that Savannah reminded us a bit like St. Augustine; a little touristy at times, but filled with local gems that make it worth visiting again soon.

Webster

webster flea market

July 27, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Fun, Travel

No. 19 on my summer bucket list was to go to an antique fair or flea market. Last Monday, we set our alarms for 5:30am, picked up a dozen donuts and coffee, and headed north on 75 to visit Webster Flea Market. Open each Monday throughout the year, rain or shine, my mom used to bring me here every few months growing up. She would give me a few dollars each trip so that I could purchase "treasure" of my own...and by treasures it was probably some old McDonald's Disney toy. My mom and I went a few months back when the weather was cooler and the fields were packed with vendors. Unfortunately, this time, there weren't too many vendors there to look through. We spent a couple of hours sifting through every booth along each aisle. We each found a few trinkets to bring home, of course I found the most; no surprise there. It was a fun day spent with my mom and Ryan. We've already marked it on our calendars to head back in the fall when it's much cooler and the vendors are aplenty.

Tallahassee Part I

July 03, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Food, Fun, Travel

Last weekend I decided to take a little road trip up to visit my friend Kelsey in Santa Rosa Beach. She's moving home to Tampa this weekend (YAY!) and I wanted to take a few days to visit one last time before she moved. The drive from Tampa to Santa Rosa is just over six hours long. To break up the trip, I always stop in Tallahassee to visit with my friend Aaren before continuing the rest of the drive the next day. It turns out Aaren is moving this weekend as well, to Atlanta, so it worked out perfectly that I got to spend some extra time with her before leaving.

As soon as I arrived into town, we headed to have sushi followed by ice cream for dinner from Lofty Pursuits. I tried a scoop of the elephant ears ice cream, huge chunks of peanut butter and chocolate with vanilla ice cream, and I added the banana. Aaren had the English toffee with hot chocolate ganache on top. One of my favorite things about Aaren is that she has also been my go-to foodie when we were in college. We used to live together and we probably embraced our love for sweets a little too often. Like there really is such a thing ;)

The next morning Aaren headed off to work and I went to make a quick round about some of my favorite places in Tallahassee before leaving town. I had breakfast and coffee at Craig's Killer Coffee, a new to me coffee shop. My favorite coffee shop recently closed so I figured it could be good to try a new place. I had an Americano and a blueberry muffin that was probably the size of a football (the picture certainly does not do it justice.)

After breakfast, I wanted to shop around a few of the local vintage and antique stores to see if they would have anything that caught my eye. I found several items that I loved; including, a jewelry case, handkerchief, a dress, a scarf for my mom, a pair of replica staffordshire dogs, and a Girl Scout's sash from the '50's that had the coolest patches on it. Some of the best vintage and antique stores I've found have been Avant Garb, Curio, The Other Side Vintage, Good Finds, and Killearn Antiques. If you're in the area and into those types of places, check them out to see what you can find. I love a good treasure hunt and each place specializes in carrying different items from home decor to clothing and jewelry.

It had been a while since i had been over into Railroad Square, so I decided to drive down through the loop to check out any new stores. Not only did I find Curio, they had the best vintage clothing, I stumbled upon this letterpress studio and couldn't believe my eyes. The owner, Mika, was extremely generous and allowed me to take a look around his studio. We started chatting about odds and ends and he used to live in Tampa where he had a photography studio above the Italian club on 7th Avenue in Ybor City. Coincidentally, he also lived in St. Augustine for a substantial period of time and agrees with me on saying it's such a special place. Mika had been working with letterpresses in various capacities since the early 70's. He owned several presses in his studio, all which had their own unique and exciting stories to tell...one used to print parking tickets in New Port Richie, while another came from up north. I purchased a few of his products and he gave me a free print to send over to Ryan. He was excited I was familiar with the letterpress process and couldn't believe I knew someone in St. Augustine that had a letterpress business. I passed one of Ryan's business cards along to him and he loved the card and punny M.C. Pressure name so much he put Ryan's business card up on his inspiration board.

By that time, I had worked up an appetite and knew only one place would satisfy my lunch cravings, Mr. Roboto. The smell upon walking into the restaurant made me nostalgic for freshman year where my roommate Laura and I would eat here at least once...maybe twice a week. I ordered the vegetable hibachi and fried rice and naturally picked up extra, extra, extra miso sauce. I don't understand why they don't sell it by the bottle yet! I was in such a food coma by the time I left, it was pure bliss. Mr. Roboto, I have missed you so!

Because dessert is always a requirement after any meal, Lucy and Leo's was a must. This was another place I absolutely loved to go to when I was in college. I think I've tried all of their flavors and my favorite being the kitchen sink cupcake, hummingbird, or the classic red velvet. I picked up a pack of four cupcakes to take to Kelsey's. Key lime, lemon blueberry, peanut butter chocolate, and cookies and cream were the four I picked. It was hard not to dive into them before I arrived at the beach!

Pizza, Pierogies, and Preacher Lawson

April 21, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Food, Fun, Travel

I spent a few more days last week cruising around St. Augustine with Ryan. We spent time stopping into our favorite local spots and adventured out to a few new places as well. On my first day in town, we hopped on Ryan's new (but vintage) bikes and rode up to one of the antique shops, Anastasia Antique Center. After, we headed into downtown for dinner and dessert before the monthly comedy night at the Corazon Cinema. All of the comedians were really funny and it made for such an entertaining night. My favorite was Preacher Lawson, definitely check out his YouTube videos! It's been one week since we saw his act and I am still laughing over his jokes.

On our bike ride home we ran into this little guy. I really have a love for all types of VWs, especially buses...as you can see here.

Ryan and I have been attempting to go to Gaufre's and Goods for about a month and a half now. Each time we try and go it's always closed. This trip, we made sure it was on our "must" list and we headed there for lunch one afternoon. They have a variety of Greek and Polish dishes that all looked, and smelled, amazing. We ordered three of each type of pierogi: spinach, potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, and meat...extra sautéed onions too, of course. Ryan had never tried pierogis before and I think it's now safe to say he loves them almost as much as I do.

We ventured up to the Jacksonville Farmer's Market to pick up a few different fruits and vegetables for dinner that evening. Everything looked amazing and if you know the vendors, they will make you a great deal if you are purchasing a few different items.

We tried the cocos frios, which I had never had before!

After drinking all of the coconut water, they split the coconut open and sprinkle chili powder on top to scoop and eat.

My pineapple before.

My pineapple after.

Raspberry lemonade & rosy pear pops from The Hyppo before heading into the studio so Ryan could work on printing business cards all afternoon.

My last night in town happened to fall on a Thursday, so bingo at the Elk's Lodge was a must. Ryan's friends Nick and Mary Kate joined us. It was both of their first times playing in St. Augustine and Mary Kate was definitely struck with beginners luck; she won the $250 coverall game! Right before Mary Kate won the coverall game, I won one of the $50 games! I couldn't believe we had both won back to back. We all were in shock and couldn't stop laughing. Needless to say, I think they'll come play bingo with us more often! I ended up "donating" the $50 dollars to our "little fun adventure" jar that we just started. Maybe if we play and win enough bingo games, it'll eventually pay for a trip to Europe :)