The answer is simple — the beach! You’re seeing the happiest girl on earth right there, in the photo above, because she was finally reunited with her beloved ocean. And it was so nice!

If you’re subscribed to my newsletter (you can do that here), you have probably read that we were planning on taking a trip to see our family. While I didn’t plan on going silent, I ultimately decided to enjoy the time with family and being away from home, a place that we haven’t enjoyed very much for a while now (I mentioned why in this post).

While away, we tried to take advantage of the proximity to several places we were interested in visiting, and have done so as much as possible. Though for a relatively short time, we visited Saint Augustine, a place that’s been on our list to visit for years now (delayed by the pandemic), Daytona Beach, Pompano Beach, and a truly stunning place in Miami that I’ll have to dedicate an entire blog post to later on.

What surprised me the most about this trip, was how much I actually liked South Florida (we spent most of the time there), something I really didn’t expect. Of course, it might just be the thrill of seeing/experiencing something new, especially after some two very dull years, the result of the pandemic, but I can’t wait to visit again and get more familiar with the region, especially as we’re contemplating some changes.

It’s no secret that I’m not huge on Tampa, but on this trip, I finally understood why… In all honesty, I find Tampa to be somewhat rundown and with not much to offer. If you’re not into bars, breweries, and restaurants, there isn’t a whole lot to do around here, or, we haven’t discovered that yet. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of events happening, they’re just not about things we have an interest in or that we have been willing to fight the crowds for. I have to, however, be fair and admit that we haven’t given this city a full chance, given the state of the world these last few years, and what our experience living here has been so far…

Anyway, that’s what’s been going on here lately… please allow me to slowly get back into a schedule as I have so much to do (check back for exciting things here and on my Instagram).

Outfit details: hat here; dress, old from Target, this one is somewhat similar, and I love this one and this one.

I’m excited to be back!

xo,

Em