Happy Monday friends! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. We had a gorgeous fall weekend (finally) here in Florida and I took advantage of every second of it. From meeting up with my girl Kerri to celebrate her birthday to doing all the Halloween things, I managed to get a ton of time outside and a bunch of fall activities in. One of the things I wanted to share with you today is the Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic held every October at the Swan and Dolphin hotel property grounds here in Orlando. 

Unless you've been living under a rock (and if you have, I apologize), pretty much everyone has heard of Epcot International Food & Wine Festival but not a lot of people are aware of the weekend long fest held just down the road (still on property!) at the Swan and Dolphin. I had been wanting to check it out for a few years so when I got offered tickets to attend, I of course jumped at the opportunity. I mean, who would turn down unlimited food and wine/beer, amiright? I Ubered over to check it out Friday night after work at the weather was absolutely amazing. Cool with a slight breeze, I called it the perfect eating weather. 

The event is a ticketed event but unlike at Epcot Food & Wine, the food (and wine) are all free and unlimited the entire time of the event. From 5:30-9 pm we ate and drank our way around the causeway in between the Swan and Dolphin hotels while enjoying live music and a beautiful sunset. Most of the food are from fancier restaurants in the area so you can try everything from sushi to ribeye and pair it with numerous different wines or beers. One of my favorite areas was the Carnival Corner which has pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to, yummy carnival-esque foods. Beef Barbacoa and Poblano Pepper Mac and Cheese and the Funfetti Deep Fried Oreo with Dark Chocolate Ganache were two of my favorites from Carnival Corner. 

If you're ever in the Orlando area in October during Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic, definitely check it out!

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy Monday babes! Surprised to see me today? I know, I've been neglecting this little space of mine lately but I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of things. And when I get to check out amazing places of course I HAVE to share them with you...even if I do it a few weeks late. *eek, sorry!* As you all know, I'm not the biggest girly girl. I've never gotten a blow out, in fact I rarely even get my hair done but after checking out Blo Blow Dry Bar in downtown Orlando, I am definitely sold. 

Mikaela invited a few of us (including my girl, Kerri) to check out some of the services Blo Blow Dry Bar offers as well as have a fun little girl's night out so obviously I couldn't resist. Right when you walk up you can tell this place is going to be straight up adorable (and a blogger's dream come true). The pink, white and black decor is so dreamy and the fun murals on the wall make for the perfect backdrop for photo ops. 

Blo Blow Dry Bar is your one stop shop to look your best for any occasion. They offer makeup, nails and of course blow outs but one of my favorite things is that you don't have to get just a blow out. My hair tends to not hold a curl so for me going to get my hair done never made sense because I knew it would fall out within an hour of getting it done... if I was lucky. The girl's at Blo Blow Dry Bar showed me the book of fun hairstyle options to choose from and I immediately knew I was interested in getting a braid. As someone who can't braid my own hair (I told you, I'm not girly at all) I was thrilled to know these fabulous ladies could do pretty much any fun braid I wanted.

After getting my hair washed and prepped (with the most amazing smelling products, I must add) I sat down in my chair next to Kerri with a glass of champs in the cutest Corkcicle champagne flutes and watched them go to work! I was so happy with my side Dutch braid and I even ended up rocking it for several days which I never could have done with just a plain blow out. 

Blo Blow Dry Bar has 123 locations so if you're looking for a gorgeous hair style for your next event or if you just want to pamper yourself for a day, because you deserve it, be sure to check them out! 

Thank you so much to Blo Blow Dry Bar for having us!

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy Monday friends! Last week was such a busy/crazy week, I'm hoping this week will be a little slower but if not, I'll take it in stride. I actually enjoy the chaos and it makes the time go by fast so I won't complain. I'd rather be busy than bored, right? Tell me I'm not the only one there? I also had a pretty busy weekend but it was a great weekend so let's jump right into it, shall we?

Friday after work I met up with some friends for happy hour that turned into a late night of karaoke and pizza. For those who know me in real life, you know I'm not usually the type to stay out late, especially on a weeknight but we were out until 1 am having a blast and I even sang a few Taylor songs. I know that doesn't surprise anyone haha!

Saturday I woke up and headed to the gym before checking out some local Orlando breweries with friends and pooches. I love getting to check out all of our local breweries and enjoy being outside and who doesn't love spending time with pups so it was a great day of relaxing and friends!

Sunday I headed over to Epcot for some Disney fun. It's been YEARS since I went to Epcot so it was such a blast getting to run around and check out the rides and eat all the food.  

*Linking up with my favorite almost momma, Biana*

Happy Monday friends! You may have noticed I was absent from the blogging world last week. I usually spend my Sunday blogging but last Sunday I was super sick so instead I spent the day napping and trying to feel better. It was actually nice taking the whole week off to just come home and relax and sleep a little later in the morning but I did miss you guys and I hope you can forgive me for just going totally MIA! Today I'm back and sharing my experience at The Escape Room Orlando. 

When I was younger I used to love doing the escape room games on my computer so when all of the escape room games started popping up, I was really interested in checking one out. Lucky for me, a few weeks ago my friends decided last minute they wanted to do one so of course I jumped at the chance to join them. After looking at a few places we decided to try The Escape Room Orlando on I-Drive.

You book your reservation time online and can have up to 8 people per room. If you don't have 8 people, there's a chance you could get placed with others. Once you get there and get checked in, you get taken back to your room and are given the rules and backstory for your game. Since you only have an hour and you have to pay attention to clues, you can't have your phone out so excuse my lack of pictures but trust me when I say they do an amazing job with the themes in the rooms. Our game was Prison Break and I managed to sneak one picture in before the game started. To start our group was split into two teams and we were placed in two different jail cells and had to work together to break free from the jail cells then had to work together to break free from several other rooms. 

Personally I have no idea how people do this with complete strangers because it definitely takes a high level of collaboration, communication and sometimes things can get a bit heated. You have the ability to get 3 clues from your game moderator and they'll occasionally send you random "free" clues. We managed to escape from our game with 4 minutes to spare and we were the first group to escape for the day (no, we weren't the first group of the day either!). I already can't wait to try another escape room. Have you ever done one? 

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy Monday babes! Another weekend in the books! I was pretty busy this weekend but it was a good busy so I'm not complaining. Definitely getting a lot of outside time in which always makes me happy and I got some walking in which is just about as much exercise as I've had in 3 weeks now. I'm not going to lie, I'm beyond ready to get back to the gym. I've been feeling a bit down about my body since I can't work out and with bikini season right around the corner here, it's really tough not getting a bit of exercise in. While I'm still forbidden from cardio, I am cleared to do weights again stating today so I'll be hitting those hard! Ok, enough whining. Today I'm switching things up a bit and instead of sharing my weekend recap, I'm sharing a photo overload of my first full Universal Studios day with my boo, Kerri. So enjoy, or don't. It is what it is :) 

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy new week friends! Hope everyone's 2018 is off to a fantastic start. Can you believe this is already the last full week of January? I feel like this year is already flying by and I'd really appreciate it if it would slow down a little! I've made it a goal of mine to explore more of my city and what it has to offer this year and my first stop was the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour. If you're looking for a fun and cheap thing to do in Orlando, this is definitely right up your alley!

Located about 7 miles northeast of downtown Orlando, Winter Park is not only somewhat of a hidden gem to tourists but one of my favorite places to spend a day. Founded back in the late 1800's, Winter Park has a lot of history as well as gorgeous architecture, museums but it also has terrific restaurants and shopping but I'll get more into those in later posts. 

Today I want to talk about something else Winter Park is known for, the chain of lakes. The chain of lakes is almost 3,000 acres of well preserved, gorgeous lakes all of which are connected by narrow channels that wind through the historic neighborhoods and make for a gorgeous boat ride. 80 years ago the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour was founded to allow residents and visitors to get a first hand look off the beaten path. 

364 days a year an 18 passenger pontoon boat takes off every hour to give visitors a look inside three of the five lakes that are part of the chain of lakes. Each tour is lead by an experienced tour guide that provides all sorts of information and knowledge about Winter Park and some of it's historical homes and buildings located along the lakes. Along your tour you'll get to see all sorts of Florida's wildlife which the tour guides are also very knowledgeable about so don't hesitate to ask a question if you have one!

Thank you to the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour for having us!

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy Monday friends! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. If you follow me on Instastories, you saw that I ran into a bit of extra traffic on Friday thanks to a plane needing to make an emergency landing on the road I was on. Yeah, you can't make this stuff up! So needless to say, I was in dire need of an adult bevvie to turn the start of my weekend around and put it in the positive direction. Luckily Duffy's Sports Grill happens to be right off of I4 and the perfect spot to stop for happy hour. Alright, so technically saying "happy hour" at Duffy's is a bit misleading since it's always happy hour there but you get the point. I mean, any place that has the slogan, "We don't limit happy to an hour" is definitely a winner in my opinion.


If their all day 2-4-1 happy hour isn't enough, they have an deliciously diverse menu providing something for everyone. We decided to start out with the gummy bear mojito and cotton candy martini. Seriously, how can you not love a cocktail that includes dessert? The gummy bear mojito was a bit sweet in my opinion but the cotton candy martini was perfect! Some people put the cotton candy into the martini but I opted to just eat it, don't judge me.


So we could enjoy dessert, we opted to skip out on an appetizer but they had a ton of options that looked amazing. I already can't wait to go back and get the mozzarella sticks! Their dinner menu has everything from wings and burgers to rice bowls and pasta and even ribs and fish so when I say there's something for everyone, I wasn't kidding. They even have some gluten free options for gluten sensitive people like myself. I opted for the blackened beef tips with mashed potatoes and a horseradish dipping sauce. The tips were nice and tender and seasoned perfectly and light enough for me to not be stuffed to the point where I felt like I needed to be rolled out!


I'm not usually a huge sweets person but I'm the first to admit I'm a sucker for a good key lime pie so when I saw it on the menu I knew I had to have it and every bite was totally worth it!

Whether you're looking for a place to have a drink and watch the game on Sunday or take the family out to dinner, Duffy's is a perfect choice.

*Linking up with Biana*

Thanks to Tilson PR for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own