I wanted to end October with a recap of some of the things we did. It was a busy month and I did my best to take at least one picture every day. Starting off in October, we had the wedding (October 1)! I’ll share more photos once we get the digital downloads officially from the photographer. That’ll be its own blog post. 😉
But for now, here’s us getting back from the airport… Welcome back to TPA!
Honestly, you just can’t be mad about these views… Even at the airport, the sunny blue skies and palm trees never get old. It still feels like I’m on vacation every time, but I’m coming home!
On our first night back, we went to James Joyce, the Irish pub near us. We were both craving Guinness and it hit the spot.
They had a lot of great spooky/Halloween decor set up! “Pick your poison” over the fireplace was definitely the vibe.
Okay, this one was a little creepy… But this was their setup outside the front door.
Later on in the month, we dog-sat for my friend’s dog, Simba! Such a sweetie.
We went to Krate for the first time the following weekend. It’s an area in Wesley Chapel full of shopping and restaurants in a container park. Full of a bunch of small/local businesses. It was really cool!
We got the most delicious coconut shrimp tacos from The FryRoom. I could eat these every day!
Also… Mini apple cider donuts. SO GOOD.
They had the cutest “life is beautiful” wall outside of… You’ll never guess it… The restrooms. What a place.
After all the travel and excitement, I could use a few nights to relax. A night in with Sex and the City and pinot noir was exactly what I needed!
A few leg days in our apartment gym. I’ve been doing the Strong program on Krissy Cela’s EvolveYou app. It’s the first time I’ve actually spent money on a fitness program and so far, I’ve LOVED it.
I always thought it was unnecessary to actually pay for a program because I can find everything for free on Instagram. But when you have it all laid out there for you by an actual personal trainer, it motivates you so much more.
You know you’re getting the real deal. And when you’re paying for it, it’s easier to stick with it every week, because you don’t want to waste your money.
I’d definitely recommend this app if you’re looking to get into a fitness program! They have so many options to choose from, from different personal trainers and styles of training. I’ve only done strength training, but they have other yoga, HIIT, etc. focused workouts/trainers as well.
Later in October, we went to one of our favorite farmer’s markets, Wolfe’s produce. They decorated everything for fall and had a million pumpkins out there. So cute!
All the pumpkins/decor were exactly what I needed to get into the fall spirit. It’s hard in Florida because it doesn’t get below 80 (on the regular) until November/December. So I need all the help I can get!
Sad pumpkin. :'(
A few days later, we walked to Foundation coffee. It’s right down the street from us, so it only takes a few minutes to walk there.
I got a pumpkin spice latte and Jeremy got a Cafe con Leche. The pumpkin spice latte was really good!
You’re probably wondering… What is even the point of this picture? You’re just stopped at a stoplight in front of Target…
But for some reason, just sitting here waiting for the light to change on my way to Target, I all of a sudden felt incredibly grateful.
I had wanted to move somewhere with beautiful weather, beaches, and palm trees for as long as I could remember. Now, when I’m just sitting in traffic waiting to go pick up my groceries at Target, there are palm trees EVERYWHERE, blue skies, and beautiful 80-degree weather in October.
Once you get used to things, you start to take them for granted. I’m used to the gorgeous weather and being surrounded by palm trees and beaches. So most of the time I don’t even think about how far I’ve come.
It’s important to take a step back and remind myself of that and feel gratitude. I’m so happy where I’m at in life. Even though it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of work, groceries, cleaning, adulting, etc. Looking around and appreciating where you’re at every once in a while is so valuable.
My parents found this pizza place called Lee’s Grocery the last time they visited. It’s in an old grocery store. They have the BEST pizza. We go there probably every other week now.
We always order off the “secret menu” and get the BBQ sriracha chicken pizza. I don’t know about you, but I like barbeque pizza way more than regular pizza. Unpopular opinion? Maybe. But it’s so dang good.
A few days later, I made vegetarian quesadillas for dinner. They had red onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, and bell pepper, and were topped with guac and sour cream. They were phenomenal.
I went to Ybor City Tap House with Jeremy to watch the Cowboys game. He’s a big Cowboys fan and I’m trying to get more into football. It was really fun!
I think I prefer watching football when there’s good food and sour beer involved… 😉
There was a car show happening on 7th Avenue while we were out watching the game. It was pretty neat to see the old cars driving by! They had all of 7th blocked off so no cars could drive by (besides the ones in the car show lol). Everyone could just walk around and admire them.
I’m not a big car person, but it was still really cool to see!
Anywho, that’s my recap for the month. I’ll try to be better about sharing these every month going forward. I love to be able to look back at all the memories, and I hope you enjoy reading them too! TTYL.
