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!

I Brocante Even

Brocante Market

October 19, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Fun

A few weekends back, when Ryan was in town, we met up with Whitney and Casey to shop at the monthly vintage market, Brocante. I couldn't help but snap a picture when we all left because our finds were absolutely ridiculous. Casey and his brass horn, Whitney and her alpaca cape and tiny rose enameled tin, me and my yellow bubble lamp, and Ryan with his oil can and time card holder. We spent the rest of the morning having brunch together before Ryan and I went over to The Hyppo and walked around to see of the Shine Festival Murals. You can see a few of our favorite walls below. There are so many more spread out throughout downtown St. Pete that I want to explore a little more next time I am over there. Also on our to-do list in St. Pete, Green Bench Brewing and The St. Pete Shuffleboard Club.

Hyppo St. Pete

The Hyppo

September 17, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Food

On Saturday, The Hyppo opened their first Tampa Bay area store over in St. Pete. Attempting to contain my excitement is near impossible; I've been waiting years for this! As if I don't already have my fair share of pops in St. Augustine, I am now just a short 35 minute drive to downtown St. Pete where I can eat all of the pops my little heart desires. I went over Sunday afternoon with my mom. Our pop choices were key lime pie and peanut butter pie, both dipped in chocolate. We decided we each needed a second pop before leaving. She tried the pistachio rosewater and I picked the black pepper cantaloupe.

If you're down in the area, run to Hyppo; they are at 627 Central Avenue!

A Few New Places

Bodega on Central

July 21, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Food, Fun

A few weeks ago when we were in St. Pete for the Fourth of July, I passed by Bodega on Central and was bummed to see it was closed for the holiday. I added it to my list to venture back to, and a few days later I headed over the bridge to spend the morning and afternoon exploring a few new to me places in the area. First up, I went to Bodega for one of their fresh juices. Bodega specializes in homemade Cuban dishes, fresh squeezed juices, and soda frescas. You can order food at the outdoor counter and then walk inside next door to sit and order a juice or soda. The interior of the juice shop was incredible with all of the subway tile and fresh fruits displayed on the counter. Not to mention their neon sign was pretty amazing. I tried the "kale-ing me softly" which had kale, banana, honey, pineapple, and coconut water. I wish it was a little closer to Tampa so I could stop in weekly and try each of their other juices. The sodas also looked amazing; they had a pineapple soda that caught my eye. Next trip!

I next went down the street to check out Haslam's Book Store. They are a used and new bookstore that has been local to St. Pete since the 1930's. It would take weeks to sift through all of the books that they have in stock. They had several cases of rare and signed books that were fun to look through. My favorite part was stumbling into the bookstore cat, Teacup. I like to believe she reads books about travel and gardening in her spare time. They even sold postcards of Teacup at the front cash register.

Not too long ago I remember reading an article online or in the paper about how Orlando's Pom Pom's Teahouse and Sandwicheria just opened a second location in St. Pete. I had completely forgotten about it until I drove down Central and passed by. I pulled the car over immediately and ended up ordering a cup of rose petal tea and a veggie sandwich. They have a large selection of unique sandwiches, salads, dozens of teas. I've heard so many people rave about their Momma Ling Ling's Thanksgiving sandwich. It comes with turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and a side of gravy. I'll stick to my veggie sandwich or one of their salads, but if you ever try it, let me know!

Easter Sunday

April 11, 2015 by Jessi Streator in Holiday, Fun

This past Easter weekend was one of my favorite Easters yet. It was a day spent surrounded by my family and friends celebrating our love for God and for each other. Our morning kicked off with a large breakfast and a trip to Brocante Market in St. Pete. Brocante is a vintage and antique market that is open the first Saturday and Sunday of each month. I was surprised they were open on Easter Sunday, but my mom and I used it to our advantage, hoping it would be a little less crowded on a holiday. Typically, Brocante is so packed with people it can be hard to take your time and really soak up each item in every booth. If you move too slowly, someone will step right in and snatch up whatever you're looking at. Thankfully, there were barely any other customers at the market and we were able to take our time searching for little treasures. The market staff also hid lots of Easter eggs filled with gift cards to redeem with your purchase that day; however, my mom and I looked high and low and never found one. The eggs must have been found pretty early in the morning, but we had fun looking regardless. I found just a few things that I decided I couldn't live without. One being the urgency clip holder on the top left; it will definitely come in handy when prioritizing my daily and weekly tasks ;) Below are a few other pieces and booths that caught my eye.

One of these days I am going to splurge and buy a vintage pulldown school map! I think it would be perfect for pinning flags onto each city and country that I've been to.

I also wish I had taken this yellow type writer home with me! I received my first typewriter for Christmas this past year and I would love to start a little collection. I think if it's still there next month it may just be a sign that I need it!

We also spent a good portion of our day cooking up a delicious Easter dinner; I was in charge of making the dessert! After dinner, we looted through our Easter baskets while the "Easter Bunny" set up for our annual Easter egg hunt. There were a total of 31 eggs this year, 32 including the infamous "golden egg." I ended up finding just a few more eggs than my brother and was also this year's winner of finding the golden egg!

In high school, one of my favorite traditions that we would do each Easter was the making of cascarones. Cascarones are hollowed out eggs filled with bird seeds, confetti, glitter, or small prizes. Once filled and decorated, you hide them around the yard and send all of your family and friends out to find them. Once found, you run around cracking the eggs on top of your family and friend's heads, revealing the prizes and confetti. It's mainly just fun to crack them open and it's an easy tradition to uphold each year. All you have to do is poke a hole with a thumb tack into the bottom and top of the egg. Poke a few holes into the top and peel away just a little bit of the shell. Flip the egg upside down and blow the egg white and yolk into a bowl or the kitchen sink. Once you repeat that and you have enough egg shells that you'll need, rinse them out with soap and water and set outside in the sun to dry out. As soon as the egg shells are dry, carefully fill them with any filling that you would like. I used bird seeds in all but one of the eggs. I filled the last egg with fruity pebbles and a little bit of gold glitter. We deem that last egg to be the golden cascarones, bringing a year of good luck to the person that has that egg cracked on his or her head. Last year, I was the recipient of the golden cascarones and I would say it was a pretty great year :) Make sure you cover the tops of the eggs with tissue paper so the golden cascarones will not be discovered until it's cracked open!

This year, my brother Michael was the lucky one to receive the golden cascarones. Can't you tell how excited he is? I'm certainly thankful for a family that plays along with my crazy holiday antics ;) I hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

happy saturday!