Halloween Eve!

Tampa Theatre
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For the last several weeks my mom had been hinting to the fact that she had a surprise activity planned for us on the evening before Halloween. Turns out, that surprise was a trip to Tampa Theatre for an after hours ghost tour! The stories they told made it seem as if all of the ghosts that "live" there are rather friendly. If I lived/haunted such a beautiful and historic theatre I would probably be one happy ghost as well- free popcorn 24/7! Aside from the entertaining stories, we went back stage, which was probably my favorite part. There were so many great pictures of the theatre from years ago, older framed news articles, and disco balls! The theatre offers the ghost tours around Halloween each year. Aside from the ghost tours, they also do a behind the scenes tour each weekend that is open to the public for a small fee. That tour is next on my list, as both tours focus on different facts about the theatre, making each one worthwhile. My mom and I had a great time and it was the perfect way to set the spirit going into Halloween. Thank you, mom! 

The Rare Bird of Fashion

Tampa Theatre
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The new Iris Apfel documentary finally made its way into town and I jumped at the chance to go see it. The documentary was only playing for a few nights at the Tampa Theatre, so my mom and I made an evening of it. If you are unfamiliar with Iris Apfel, she is probably the coolest 90- something year old you may ever come across. She's known for her quirky and eccentric fashion choices; you would probably recognize her by her oversized rounded eyeglasses. The documentary focuses on Iris' love for fashion and her creative work within the industry, but what I loved the most was her outlook on life. She and her husband, Carl, have been married for more than 65 years and they truly believe that you have to make the most of this life while you can. Iris commented on how it's more important to be interesting rather than pretty, which I couldn't agree with more in today's society. She believes and preaches that curiosity and imagination are the keys to success in your personal and professional endeavors. Even if you're not one for fashion, this woman's life is incredibly interesting. One thing is certain, she and her sweet husband will inspire your love for life and your sense of adventure. 

Birthday Happenings

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A few weeks ago I celebrated my 25th birthday with family, wonderful friends, little adventures, and lots of delicious food. On the morning of my birthday, I packed up the car and headed to meet Ryan in Gainesville to test out Satchel's Pizza. Neither of us had ever been before, but after discovering this eclectic pizza joint via social media, I knew we had to go. We arrived at lunch time and we were seated inside the restaurant's vintage blue VW bus (I think I died and went to Heaven.) We ordered a large cheese and pineapple pizza annnd it was so delicious I think we could have ordered another one!! Post pizza, we made our way downtown to visit one of Gainesville's Hyppo Pop locations. We met up with one of Ryan's friends and enjoyed our pops while walking through the downtown area.

Mid-afternoon, we headed back to St. Augustine and made a pit stop at a little antique store called Finders Keepers in Palatka. They had lots of unique little treasures such as old type writers, sewing machines, and eclectic kitchen accessories. The only thing that I purchased was a tiny binocular brooch that reminded me of Suzy from Moonrise Kingdom. It was a dollar and I would have been silly to not pick it up!

One of the activities on our St. Augustine bucket list has been to go play bingo at the Elks Lodge in town. Since my birthday fell on a Thursday, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to test it out. Little did we know just how intense bingo could actually be! We walked in and were a little overwhelmed at the site we saw: lots of cute elderly people, piles of good luck trinkets and too many bingo cards to even wrap my head around. Each game was color coded and played by a different set of rules. Thankfully, the two ladies next to us were gracious enough to explain all of the bingo terms such as small kite, X, T, four corners, stamps, and so many more. They filled us in on all of the "official and unofficial rules." Unofficial meaning that there were several social rules set in place by avid bingo goers. If you broke those rules, you instantly received dirty looks and silent head shakes of disapproval. Despite bringing my good luck penguin and miniature VW bus, neither of us won, Ryan was pretty close several times though! Although we walked away with empty holes in our pockets, we had the best time and will definitely be back! 

Later that weekend, I headed back to Tampa to partake in a few more festivities with my family. Saturday, Michael and I took our hot air balloon ride that I posted about earlier this week.  Sunday afternoon, my mom and I went to Oxford Exchange for a cup of tea before a matinee movie. Tampa Theatre is currently running a family fun series which plays a different movie each Sunday for the next month and a half. The opener for the family series was Matilda, one of my personal favorites! Tampa Theatre is one of the most special places in town and if you've never been, add it to your list immediately! The theatre is incredibly beautiful and has even been listed as one of the top fifteen most spectacular movie theaters in the world. If you go, make sure you arrive early to experience the pre-show organ concert. Also, if you attend one of the family fun movies, keep your ticket stub and take it to Duckweed Urban Market, post show, for a free Whatever Pop popsicle! That evening, we met up with my grandparents at Cappy's Pizza in Seminole Heights for dinner. In my opinion, they have the best pizza and greek salad in town. Plus, they have the sweetest workers you'll ever come across! 

We headed back to our house after dinner to cap off the weekend with several XL slices of birthday cake. The entire weekend was such a wonderful way to kick off the start of my 25th year. More so than all of the fun activities, I feel incredibly thankful to be surrounded by such magnificent people in my life. It's my family, friends, and the memories that we create together that make the passing of each year that much more special. I am the luckiest.