Thanksgiving in Tampa

I wanted to do a little recap of my trip down to Tampa for Thanksgiving. I love going down there in November when it’s freezing in Connecticut. The day before I left we had some flurries (we couldn’t stop talking about it at the gym), and I knew I was ready for some sun.

As I was pulling photos from my phone for the post, I realized that I didn’t take too many photos. And I’m not mad about that at all. I did the very bare minimum workwise, and I did have some time to relax, despite Black Friday/Cyber Monday madness. I told my friend today that I didn’t regret it one bit. It was so worth it, especially since I’m not in Florida for Christmas. I really wanted to soak up all my time with my family.

The flight down to Tampa is so easy. I leave from Westchester, and it’s such a small airport that you can show up 30 minutes before boarding and still have plenty of time to get through a magazine or two after security.

I love flying Jetblue because they have free wifi and tv and snacks… I try to do a little bit of reading (currently loving Along the Infinite Sea) before completely getting sucked into reality shows on Bravo!

Top (c/o) // Shoes

On Wednesday I hosted a meet and greet with Danielle at the Kendra Scott in Hyde Park. We had wanted to do a meet and greet in Tampa, and a few weeks before Thanksgiving, we finally got the ball rolling. The Kendra Scott team handled everything, which made it so easy for us! A girl I went to high school with does marketing for Hyde Park, so it was fun to work with her too. (I don’t think we had officially met before!)

I stayed a few minutes after to make sure we got to say hi to everyone who waited in line, and then I rushed over to meet the baby of one of my best friends! It was so fun to be in the same room with my friends (we live all over now: Tampa, Boston, Atlanta, Alabama) and to meet her baby! Suze is actually the only one of us married, so we gathered around while she shared all the real details about pregnancy/delivery/baby/etc. We all took turns holding Collins and let me just say, I did not want to pass her along! The sweetest.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course, and I’m so happy that my family agreed to wake up early for the Turkey Trot. My dad was our “Uber” driver, and we almost didn’t make it because someone forgot our bibs and we had to circle back home to pick them up! Stacy and my mom did the one-mile walk, and I did the 5k run; we all met up at the end of the race.

I remembered that I have actually done one 5k before (the Tunnel to Towers race in NYC, which is incredible if you ever get the chance to do it). I was not in great shape when I did that one though, and I wasn’t ready for any kind of running. This 5k was surprisingly easy, especially after doing a “trial run” the Saturday before on a treadmill and feeling horrible about it.

(I was thinking about doing a fitness update post if you’re interested because I’ve been working out consistently for just over a year now.)

Thanksgiving itself was pretty low key. My grandma came over, and I got to show her the video I filmed at her 90th birthday party this summer.

The best about being home is that my mom is always whipping up baked goods for clients. The worst part about being home is that said baked goods are ALWAYS around tempting me. She had brownie bites leftover and, omg, I could have eaten the whole container. (I had a couple of DMs about the recipe: they’re the Baker one bowl brownie baked in mini muffin tins, and then you pop a Hershey Kiss or Hug while they’re still warm. They taste like mini chocolate lava cakes.)

My mom and I have a little afternoon routine all established. We swing through Starbucks for her afternoon Dopio (and a package of chocolate dipped madeleines to share). Then we pop over to Oxford Exchange so I can get a peppermint bark fog (steamed milk + tea). We definitely do a little poking around while we wait for the tea too. Great shopping. I kept finding Christmas gift ideas for people!

Carter and I met up to shoot some photos and video (it’s alllllll about my mom, omg, she was loving it). Can’t tell you how nice it was to be outside enjoying Christmas decorations when it’s 80 degrees!

My sister had requested lox and bagels on Sunday morning. I LOVE bagels. Like, love bagels. Might be my favorite food of all time. I never let myself eat them though because then I’ll want one every day. This was 100% worth it. My mom set up the best little bagel station for us, and then we sat around enjoying our bagels. (Then Stacy and I burned off the bagel at a pilates class!)

pajamas (c/o)

Is there anything better than toast made by your mom? It doesn’t matter how old I get, no toast can beat my mom’s.

Monday was packed. Breakfast with my grandma at Goody Goody (their cafe con leche is the best). Meeting with my financial advisor. Lunch with my mom and her friends (love them). Spoke at a local college in a communications class. And got to see my friend Ashley for coffee at Buddy Brew!

I’m always sad when I have to get on the plane to go home, but my parents and sister are coming up next weekend so we all just kept saying, “see you next week!”