Thoughts on Life at 33...

Tap tap... Is this thing on?

I can't believe I haven't written a post in over 2 years... 2 YEARS! Life just happens... And I feel like a million and one things have happened within those two years. I've gone from having a newborn and leaving my 9:00-5:00 job (last blog post) to having a toddler and a baby in my belly, to now having 2 children. Family unit complete!

There's been happy, sad, stressful moments. Friendships that have drifted apart and more that have grown stronger. Family drama, friend drama... Trips, travels and love in between. I've learned a lot... A lot about other people, but even more about myself.

Club 33... Someday 

Today is my birthday and I'm feeling 33 is a weird age... If we all have the life expectancy that we hope you reach 100 then that means 1/3 of my life is over... If it ends before that then it's even more over. The effect this is having me is just... "Girl, time to get your shit together" 

I feel so different since Chelsea has been born. Having a daughter has made me look at things a lot closer. A young girl can be very impressionable. It's making me examine the kind of influence I want to be on her, which has made me examine myself a lot more.

I've realized in the last 2 years I lost a bit of myself. Perhaps I was just caught up in new mommyhood, but I feel like I lost a piece of me. I used to be a confident person and maybe to some still appear to be one from the outside looking in. Somewhere along the line I put myself last and got a little lost. Where did my self confidence go? When did I become such a people pleaser? When did I start letting peoples negativity affect me so much? These traits coming forward are not something I want my daughter to see. I want her to be confident... I want her to be respectful and motivated to make her own way in this world.

I will definitely say being pregnant again was not a confidence builder for me. Who's body is this? Am I supposed to be comfortable in it? I've said it all along and I will til the end... There are people who love being pregnant... And those that can't wait til the end... I'm the latter not glowing preggo. While I do count my blessings that I was able to get pregnant naturally with both of my children and there are those that are less fortunate... I'm so happy I never have to do it again. 

I feel like now that the part of my life where we're building our family is over, it's time to get back to "Girl, get your shit together"  

Sooooo let's get my shit together!

I'm going to ease back into blogging, I miss writing here. I've come up with a basic structure that focuses on things going on around town and spotlights on local artists so stay tuned. 

I'm going to be rebranding, redoing websites, logos and renaming everything. This blog, my vintage shop and maybe even Green Cycle. I bet no one even really knew I had a vintage shop... You will soon :)

I feel like I'm shedding a layer of skin, blossoming, shit if I was a bird I would be molting. Ha! I can't take any of this old stuff with me. Starting fresh for myself feels so great. No more negativity... No negative people, no negative feelings, only onward and upward.... If I could just get medical clearance to start yoga again that would be grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat (office space voice) :)

So! Now it's time to put up or shut up... And let me start here....

Last year, (before I knew I was preggo...actually I think I was pregnant in the photos and didn't know it) I was involved in Self Revealed: The Naked Photography Project. I can only count on my one hand the amount of people that knew I did this. Self Revealed is a photography project in which women of all ages, sizes and color have the opportunity to express & validate their beauty on their terms. It's about body acceptance. No matter what you weight, size, color or creed it's about loving yourself and the skin you're in. Over 100 women had their photos taken.

I did it... And holy shit was it liberating!

I didn't share this with very many people as I was too concerned about the judgement or thoughts from other friends and family. The me now is like wtf were you thinking! This is absolutely ridiculous! I'm so proud to be a part of this project! The exhibit will run at Gallery 2014 into April

So I end this blog post with my photo courtesy of the amazing Elizabeth Sanjuan at Gallery 2014. Love to all!

Mangia Monday.... Hard Rock Edition!

Yay Structure! Mangia Mondays... Where to and not to eat in South Florida!

For those who are not familiar with my lingo Italiano, Mangia is to eat!

This past weekend we celebrated my husband Andy's birthday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. A staple in the South FL night life scene, we have been coming here for a good time for years. Years I tell ya!

Happy Bday Andy - At Center Bar

Soooooo to break tradition from our usual Tatu birthday celebrations, this time we decided to try the semi-newly opened Cafe Martorano.  This is another location and more of a cafe than the original Martoranos that's in Fort Lauderdale. Can you say YUM!? Apparently this Martoranos has two separate seating areas, inside or out. While we would normally automatically opt for the under AC choice, we were greeted with the option of a 2 and a half hour wait for indoors or immediate seating outdoors. Break out the pony tail, lets sit outside!

I wish I would have taken a picture of the food, but I was too busy shoveling it all in my face. That's right... face! Thanks Louis CK! We ordered 4 menu choices which we all shared family style. We split a meatball. That's right, one meatball - 4 people. At $18 for a meatball, I think it was well worth it to feed 4. Then moved on to linguini with white clam sauce, a cheesesteak AND a pizza. At Martoranos you can also order the house Martorano wine, which is delish! A bottle of Pinot Grigio and a bottle of Chianti please! I'm so ready to go back again.... Would even wait 2 and a half hours if I had to - Delish! You can see the awesome menu for Martoranos here.

Now comes the irritating part.... Bongos. While we had all previously been huge fans of the upstairs bar (including me wanting to have my 30th birthday celebration there) that all went downhill. We wanted a bottle of champagne and a seat. They were out of champagne... Now, it's Saturday night at 8:00pm and you are out of champagne?? Isn't there Happy Pappy's across the street? Couldn't you send someone to Publix? We were so confused! SO CONFUSED!!! Now we can see why Bongo's is all over Groupon and Travelzoo. It's terrible!!! They can't give away their food and drinks! Also, I should mention that Andy said the bathrooms were worse than a NYC subway. After that lovely tidbit, we didn't even attempt to brave the women's ones.

Bongos upstairs... Super cool. If only they could get it together!

Though Bongos was terrible, I do have to thank them for being SO stupid that we ended back at our favorite hangout - Tatu! Tatu - a well prepared, delicious, gourmet Japanese fusion style restaurant, was NOT out of champagne. Smart! I knew I loved them for a reason....

Finally!

You can check out my Yelp's on Tatu, Martoranos and Bongos by clicking the links!

What's your favorite Hard Rock restaurant?

Odd Duck Bazaar Sneak Peek....

It's getting close to Odd Duck!!!!! The GCD Etsy shop is officially closed in preparation!

Here's a little teaser of the new pieces that will be available tomorrow exclusively at the show...

Flowers and Flowers.... and Oh Hey - More Flowers!

I've added SO MANY new cool flowers to the mix. Bright and colorful ones, maps, sheet music and all of your childhood favorite books. Favorite books include Dr. Seuss, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Sesame Street, Harry Potter, Twilight... And classics like Gone with the Wind, The Old Man and the Sea, Jane Eyre, War and Peace and so many more! They each have a long newspaper stem that can be cut to whatever length you need - Priced at $3 each, you can mix and match your own bouquet!

I've also made lots and lots of my decorative hanging flower balls.

They will be all around the perimeter of my tent, so watch your head! 

Large Map Flower Ball - $25

 Small Flower Balls - $12

The flower balls are made from the same papers as the flowers. Lots of vintage books, maps, scrap paper... Basically anything that I can find that looks cool! 

And last, but certainly not least new vases! My little Pom couldn't resist checking it out for herself. 

This one is a cool upcycled find that I painted with gray non toxic paint and covered in white recycled paper flowers. The centers of the flowers are adorned with silver rhinestones. 

Would definitely look great filled with GCD flowers!

Gray Jeweled Vase - $25 (cute dog not included)

Sooooooo there's your preview! Odd Duck is tomorrow from 12:00pm-6:00pm in Hollywood!

 See the flier below or go to http://www.oddduckbazaar.com for deets!

SEE YOU THERE!!!!!

Broward/Palm Beach New Times Feature...

In case you haven't heard me screaming from the rooftops, my flowers are featured in the 

Broward Palm Beach New Times this week!

My beauties...

They are featured in promotion for Odd Duck Bazaar this weekend! 

Stay tuned for a special preview tomorrow of some of the wares I will be selling at the show. 

Pick up a copy of New Times all around the Broward Palm Beach area this week!

15th Street Fisheries... Yum!

This past Sunday Andy and I were driving around checking out a few different events in the area and decided to have lunch at one of our favorite places in Ft. Lauderdale - 15th Street Fisheries.

We've been coming here since back when we were dating... (Insert Awwwwwwwwwwww) and it's just such a staple to the Ft. Lauderdale area. Fresh seafood on the water - What more could you ask for?

View of the docks from our seat at the bar

We were surprised at the 45 minute wait for lunch since we arrived around 2:00... Late lunch crowd. So we just sat at the bar.

The food here is excellent! We've never been disappointed. I always get the crab cake sandwich. It comes with fries and a great dill sauce - So yum!

Another must try is the Bloody Mary.... This ain't your grandmama's bloody mary - don't go without having one! It's like a meal in a glass, and at $10 a piece I guess it should be!  It's got the celery stalk... But also an olive, a pepperchini and a HUGE shrimp.... My mouth is officially watering.

Is this not the most delicious thing you've ever seen?

On Yelp, there are a lot of people saying it's touristy. I've really never noticed it being touristy until we noticed the water taxi stop - other than that it's kind of hard to find, down a back street. More of a locals place to me... You can pull up with your boat, fill up gas, get bait, have a meal, etc.

Inside Bar Area... Don't ask why there's a dozen eggs on the bar

They have free valet if you're driving up, which helps because of the location. There's definitely limited parking.

The only thing bad I can say is that it gets super crowded when the weather is nice and can take a while to get a table... But well worth it once you do. Sit outside! You can also buy bait to feed the Tarpon with. Great for kids!

I should also mention that we were able to score a free beer for Andy for checking in on foursquare - see, that whole rant on social media does prove beneficial sometimes... FREE BEER!

You can check out my Yelp on Fifteenth Street Fisheries here or take a drive down on a nice day and enjoy the ambiance!

Yard House.... Yum!

This weekend Andy and I ventured down to Hallandale Beach and went to The Village at Gulfstream Park for dinner and a little light gambling. We particularly went because we wanted to check out the restaurant we've heard so many rave reviews about - Yard House.

The entire area in Gulfstream has been completely revamped over the last couple years. It now hosts 2 casinos and lots of great restaurants and shopping. We've been to a couple other restaurants in the center and always noticed The Yard House being packed... Now we know why -  this place is awesome!

With around 112 beers to choose from and a great food and drink menu, Yard House was a great evening out! We did have to wait almost an hour for a table, but went at peak time - around 7:30. We also wanted to sit outside which was a longer wait. Must say, it was well worth it! We perched at the bar, watched the Heat game and it went by quickly. 

Dark and not so great pic from the bar....

Once seated, we decided on the Lobster, Crab and Artichoke dip for an app. I had the Shrimp Rice Bowl for dinner and Andy had Lettuce Wraps and Calamari. Everything was great! It was a great portion size and we were even able to take home lunch for the next day. Everything was priced right, including the drinks. The menu was so crazy big it was so hard to decide on what to eat. Very excited to have tried this place - We now have a new fave spot!

After dinner we went to the casino which we were amazed and laughing hysterically that the house wine (red and white) was $2.12 a glass - amazing - drinks for everyone!

$6.36 for 3 glasses of wine? Sign me up!

We left the casino at about even for spendings and winnings all thanks to Andy on the Roulette machine - Bonus!

You can check out my Yelp on Yard House here - We will definitely be back many many more times!

Accepted - I'm an Odd Duck...

Ahhhhh the Indie Craft Show, like a traditional art show, but so much better!

Unique and affordable wares and the chance to meet the actual artist (might I mention a real person) behind the work. What could be better than supporting a local and handmade artist?! AND you'll have something that no one else will ever have... This place is chock full of one of a kind pieces. Even better, the money you are spending is going directly to the person you are buying from to make their dreams of being an artist come true - Hello? No brainer!

Sooooooo this past Friday I found out that I was accepted to the Odd Duck Handmade Indie Craft Show and Bazaar - Yipee!!!!!!!

Andy and I attended Odd Duck last year (second year of the show) in the Old Davie School Historical Museum. What a cool show!

We purchased awesome wares from some amazing artists including - Beautiful rings from Obie Handmade, and fun prints from Chloe The Hot Dog & Friends AND Peace Owls and Other Lovely Things

You can see Peace Owls and Chloe the Hotdog in this pic - View inside one of the buildings

Shot of one of the outdoor tents...

Inside another one of the buildings... Obie Handmade in the background 

As you can see this event is massive and fun! The location is set for this year at the downtown Hollywood Performing Arts Center (5 minute walk from young circle) on March 31st from 12:00-6:00pm.

Odd Duck is hosted by the Hollywood Craft Mafia -  A collection of awesome peeps that are committed to seeing the craft market in our area flourish. You can get more info on joining or the other events they host here.

For more info on the show you can check out the Odd Duck website here.
Also follow Odd Duck on Facebook and Twitter.

Andy and I will be there with bells on promoting GCD!

Would love to see you - Buy local and handmade!!!!