Maid of Honor Duty: Crashing President Snow's House!

Saturday, I felt like I did some hardcore Maid of Honor stuff: I got to attend the dress fitting with Lauren and her Mom!!  It was awesome!  The dress is gorgeous and I can't share it right now (for obvious reasons!) but I want to so bad!  It's gorgeous!!  :D

As a treat, Lauren's Mom treated us to lunch at the Swan Coach House.  It was definitely an experience for me!  I wanted to take photos of the dining space but I thought that would be in bad taste, so I kept my phone locked in my purse (for the most part).  The fun part came after dessert when we went to check out the Swan House grounds.

You might remember the Swan House from a little movie called The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  That's right - the Swan House was used as President Snow's house for the film so it was only natural that we tour the grounds, right?!  Luckily for us, they were having an open house, which meant we could enter...FOR FREE!!!  What a pleasant surprise!  Too bad we weren't expecting it or else I would've had my Nikon at the ready for photos galore!  Instead, we used up what little iPhone battery power we had left to take as many photos as possible!

The Swan House was like a mix between the Henry B. Plant Museum and The Biltmore.  I definitely need to go back with the old man so we can take proper photos.

Later on, Lauren, Chandler and I played the craziest game in existence: Dicecapades!  Arm wrestling, push-ups, sit-ups, drawing, math problems...you name it, it's in there!  It's definitely a lot of fun but after a few cocktails, the last thing you want to do is a math problem!

How was your weekend?

Check out my best Victor's pose here!
Check out Lauren's photos here!

Happy Monday!

Adventures at The Old Tampa Bay Hotel

When the old man first suggested the Tampa / St. Pete area of Florida for our vacation, I was all, "Tampa?  What the heck is in Tampa?!"  Turns out, there's some pretty neat architecture, including the hidden gem of the Old Tampa Bay Hotel.  In the spirit of the Ponce de Leon Hotel-turned-into-Flager College in St. Augustine (where the old man and I visited in 2011), the Tampa Bay Hotel is now part of the University of Tampa.

I first saw this place featured on Southern Spirit Guide when I searched the Florida Ghosts tag for any interesting places to keep an eye out for.  I'm so glad I checked it out because this place blew us away!

We toured the museum, romped around the main student lobby and walked through most of the (accessible) first floor and imagined what it must've been like when it was a grand hotel.  I wasn't sure if I could take photos on the tour with my Nikon, so I kept it small and sweet with my iPhone.  I wanted to experiment with the Hongdae HipstaPak as my "Florida Pack".  I try to give each place I visit its own Hipstamatic lens/film combo when I take photos.  I don't know why but I think after we went to St. Augustine, I started designating lens/film combos to certain places to sort of give them the same "feel".

Anyways - this place is amazing!  We learned so much and got to see what kind of grand things outfitted the hotel.  It was such a wonderful experience with a fun, informative tour and there were so many beautiful things to see.  When I was younger, I wasn't really a fan of all that Victorian opulence but I love it now!  I think it's so interesting to see how much our tastes have changed and I'm amazed at how we evolve with each generation.

I'm hoping to upload my Nikon photos from the entire trip, so keep an eye out on my Flickr and this set for more to come!

Hope you're having a great week!



1-3: Exterior shots of the Old Tampa Bay Hotel
4: An inkwell and pen at one (of several) writing desks in the Writing and Reading Room
5-6: A couple of gorgeous mirrors in the hallway
7: A bust
8: I thought the spelling of "Porto Rican" was interesting for this book.  The book was published in 1898!  I wonder how old this copy is...
9-10: A room showcasing various womens' hobbies
11: A page from the hotel guest registry.  The different handwriting was beautiful!
12: An old projector piece
13: One of the restored bedrooms
14: The music room
15: One of many statues.  I liked the silhouette (and she also looks like she's all "Shawty, that's my jam!")
16. An old camera and photo

North Georgia Weekend

This past weekend, the old man and I went up to Helen, GA and, unbeknownst to us, the Southern Wörthersee VW-Audi Car Show was going on.  I thought it would be a little exciting but it was a bit of a bust.  The weather was iffy and the atmosphere was...weird.  The one thing I wanted to go to - a crystal shop - was closed that day for a graduation ceremony.  Bummer.  We tried to make the most of it but we ended up walking around the whole town 3 or 4 times secretly hoping something fun would materialize but there was nothing.  I think because it was a dreary day and the town was full of loud cars, it made for a weird and not-so-fun trip, unfortunately.
I wanted to go gem mining at one of the few roadside gem mining places up there but we kept forgetting to get cash while in Helen because the ATMs are cleverly disguised with little Alpine accents and we kept missing them.  I used up most of my cash getting coffee beans, paying for parking and on a single Bratwurst that was way too overpriced for what it was.
The old man took me by this pretty tiny church on the way in to Helen, which was a great sight because it was opposite the Nacoochee Burial Mound - that I didn't photograph.  Oops!  Here are some photos.
I managed to divert us towards the Cabbage Patch Kids Babyland attraction on the way back since I hadn't been since I was a kid and we never go that far north for anything so I made it a YOLO moment and we took a slight detour.  We didn't go in, we just did a little drive by...
All in all, it was an alright trip up to North Georgia, I guess.  Maybe next time will be better?
Because of this, I've decided that I need to order the Weird Georgia book to see what kinds of neat things are nearby!  Until then, I'll just keep checking this map for fun stuff to do...

1 - 2: Tiny church across from the Nacoochee Burial Mound
3: Wedding Chapel in Helen
4 - 5: Metal sculptures outside of a restaurant in Helen
6: A mini waterfall in the park
7 - 9: Cabbage Patch Kids Babyland

Puerto Rico photo post #1

Here's the first (of a few) photo posts with my photos from Puerto Rico.
These are from my Grandma's house. My sister and I used to climb the tree in front of my Grandma's house - a Flamboyan: Puerto Rico's national tree.  One of the things I love about the houses in Puerto Rico is the creative beauty of the iron gates on the houses.  None of them are exactly the same and it makes the houses and neighbourhoods they're in unique and lovely.



Of course it wouldn't be my Grandma's house without a baby photo of me!


Even though it looks like a hibiscus, it's not. The Flor de Maga is known for its saucer-sized flowers and for growing on trees instead of bushes. They're gorgeous and I think they've definitely bumped the hibiscus down a few slots on my fave flower list (sorry hibiscus!)


My Mom took us to Kasalta on our first night and I had the pleasure of having a wonderful bistec (steak) sandwich. There's no photo of it because I was starving (sorry!) but I did manage to take a photo of the Tres Leches - which was AMAZING. My Mom said it wasn't as good as she remembered it (they used to sell pieces that were 3+ inches tall!) but it was still good. Bee tee dubs - President Obama has eaten there!


I've always loved this cemetery but I don't ever remember going inside. The day we went, we arrived, like, 15-20 minutes before closing time. My Aunt and my Mom tried to charm and plead with the guy who worked there to let us in but he was in a grumpy mood. I missed the whole conversation but one thing was for sure: dude was an asshole. Either way, I got some lovely photos (so did my old man). Maybe we'll get to go in next time...


Check out more photos here
Check out my old man's photos here