This has been a good mail week for me. I love good mail weeks.  I ordered my first two lenses for my Rebel.  A Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II and a Zeikos 0.18X Super Fisheye Lens. I’ve been wanting the first one for a while and the second one I bought on a whim. The Fisheye lens came in yesterday. The other is on FedEx Vehicle For Delivery (I keep checking!).

Not sure what to make of this fish-eye lens. It is a lot of fun but in terms of functionality, not too sure. It’s hard to keep it focused. One perk about it is I can screw off the fish-eye portion of the lens and then I get a macro lens. The macro one will be for taking pics of very small things (think bugs!). The depth of field is very shallow. It focuses on very little at a time. Below is an example. It’s three water drops on my desk with the focus on a different one in each picture.

Ha, those of you who don’t know or care about photography are probably like big deal. Or you’ve already clicked away! For those who haven’t, here is a pic of Rocco’s eye.

And finally, fun with the fish eye lens.

My other lens finally arrived too! 

I can't wait to have fun with them in NYC this weekend!

Thanks Pam!

I love Marshalls & TJ Maxx, really do. Most of my shoes come from there (shhh!). I think most people would agree that you can find some solid gems there (hello Dooney & Bourke patent leather clutch for $59) but every once in a while you come across an item and, well, you just know how it landed itself at the discount retailer. See below for clarification.

Pam bought this recently. This is a size extra small (with a Medium tag), Alabama (Roll Tide!) dress. It is adorable (See below). But check out the tags- The color of this Medium labeled extra small dress is- FSU. When did FSU become a color? And if it were, why would Alabama use it? Wouldn’t they get their own Alabama color? Color should say: Crimson. And the style? Floride of course. No, not Florida and no not Alabama but Floride. Nick Saban would be pissed. It’s almost enough to make Tebow cry (again).  

Do you have any stellar or not-so-stellar Marshall’s/TJ Maxx finds?

Home sweet home. We finally made it.  Enjoy a Friday laugh on us- don’t hate, appreciate. 

What a pretty I-10 sunset. Almost as pretty as Pam and I singing.

PS- I’ve officially given Pam her own category. Seems fitting considering she’s so much of my material!

I bet hearing my Sunday left you thirsty for some Monday. Maybe even some Tuesday.

Well, let me tell you, it doesn’t get any prettier.

Right now Pam is driving us up I-95 from Miami to West Palm to Ft.Pierce to Stuart to Orlando. Monday we left our hotel a mere twelve hours after we’d arrived. We took care of business in Key West (oxymoron of sorts, no?) and headed toward Naples.

In Key West we met a real life kermudgen whose personality was as
diametrically opposite to Pam and I’s as could be. Needless to say we
left our encounter with him slightly discouraged but ill spare you the
details.

Five hours after leaving the Keys we were in Naples. Naples was a
great success. And by great success I mean not of course.

We had two meetings set for Naples. One didn’t work out due to an
unexpected schedule conflict. The second meeting didn’t work out
because well the meet-ee forgot he had a meeting with us, the
meet-ers.

Pam and I are on the road. 125 miles into our Key West / Naples commute. I thought I’d take some time off from staring out the window  to share my Sunday with you.

It started with a 5 a.m. alarm (which was only two hours later than when I’d fallen asleep. The anxiety of sleeping through my alarm kept me up almost to it). After getting dressed in an awful outfit and finishing my packing I headed to the airport. At check in they  wouldn’t let me check two bags. None of the Delta people could figure out why the computer was blocking the two bag option. One clerk  finally said “Oh!  That’s because you’re flying into Key West. You can only check one bag when flying into Key West.”

I had two bags to check, one carry-on plus my purse. Pam and I scurried to stuff all my belongings into one suitcase. This was not easy. I was sure my suitcase would burst mid flight causing some unexpected turbulence. I had nowhere to put the now empty suitcase so I let the Delta clerk keep it as a gift.

Just a thought, if you booked a flight to a destination that only allowed one checked bag wouldn’t you expect a glaring, rather large, disclaimer telling you so? Just a thought Delta.

After security Pam and I boarded the plane only to sit on the tarmac for almost an hour and then deplane. The rain in Atlanta caused a ground stop for all flights. After reboarding, we finally took off for  Atlanta at the time we were supposed to be landing in Atlanta. As we  rolled in I watched our connection to Key West pull away from the gate
with the two of us not on board. At least we knew not to bother running.

It was now about 9:45 a.m. and the next flight to Key West didn’t leave until 2:55 p. m.  And it was full, so we were on stand by. Unfortunately so were about 12 others. We knew we’d better come up with a Plan B. All the flights to Miami were also full that day so flying into there and driving down was not an option.

After some brainstorming we decided we’d just have to sacrifice the Key West portion of our itinerary. We’d fly into Fort Lauderdale and then drive over to Naples. Pam negotiated with the Delta people and rebooked us on to a Fort Lauderdale flight. So much for not checking two bags. In the mean time I changed our Avis reservation.

We took the train down to terminal A after some Au Bon Pain and successfully boarded a flight. I had the pleasure of sitting in the  middle seat (I’m a window kinda girl) with a lady wearing way too much Brighton jewelry and perfume who was texting “Bob my sweetie” (yes I peeked, she was too close not to!) to my left. She probably owned a shitzu.

After a much needed nap, we were in Fort Lauderdale. The flight attendant asked passengers to shut the window covers in order to keep the plane cool. Pam broke hers. Woops.

We deplaned. Sweet success! Almost. Down to baggage claim and guess what? Yep, Pam and I were in Fort Lauderdale and our bags? Well they were in Key West of course. The soonest they could be in Fort Lauderdale was the following day. Our outfits were hardly fitting for business meetings.

The baggage claim lady assured us driving to Key West and picking up our bags was the best idea. We picked up a rental, fueled up on diet coke and wheat thins and were on our way.

Four long hours later, after a total of 13 showerless travel hours, we arrived at our Key West hotel. Just as we’d planned, right?

I was comatose level asleep by 10:00 p.m.

Are you tired from reading this yet? We sure were but through it all, we remained in good spirits and in typical Jovanna and Pam fashion, managed to have a few good laughs. Yesterday was a disaster of sorts but a good attitude made a world of difference. I highly recommend it, especially when travelling.

We are now an hour away from Naples. We have two meetings there and then we head back to Miami for the night.

In the next few days we will visit 8 more cities. More good stories to come.

(Just another classy bathroom stop)

“In this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.“  John 16:33

(verse courtesy of Pamela)

I ate at the best restaurant

It was so good, I licked my fingers. Multiple times. In front of co-workers and all. Even my bosses.

But it was so good. I couldn’t resist. I didn’t want to let even a teeny tiny tear drop size of it go to waste.

It’s in Miami. But hey Miami friends, I bet you don’t even know about it! Ya don’t. It’s a secret. Well, not really. See, the owner/chef Kris Wessel, he’s been on all sorts of TV and magazine spreads. He wins awards too. No surprise there. But it’s not really where you’d expect a great restaurant to be.

It’s not on hoity toity south beach or anything like that. You’ll have to ride up the 79th and Biscayne for this gem.

Oh and for Earth Day, Kris ran his kitchen with no power. That’s right, he grilled his menu. Even manatees like him. They hang around the river by his restaurant. And did I mention he’s Pam’s cousin?

I ate BBQ Shrimp (most delicious thing I have ever eaten. on the real), an iceberg wedge salad with cucumbers and avocado and a lemon-cucumber dressing, then get this- a lobster and tomato grilled cheese sammy.

Between my co-workers and I, we covered every dessert. I’d be happy to report on them from the brown sugar coffee ice cream to the watermelon parfait.

Incredible.

Next Miami friends get together will not be at Ra. We are going here. So get your elastic pants on ladies because you don’t want to miss out.

You know how there are just some people in life that are verifiably, inexplicably awesome? You know, the kind that have the ability to take your day up a few notches from an 8 to a solid 10 with just one encounter? I’m lucky to have a few of those in my life… today, meet Rocco Ricco. No, that’s not really his name- it’s really Joseph, but you wouldn’t know it because Rocco goes by Rocco, even at school.

You can’t have a name like Rocco and be lame. That would be like breaking some unwritten yet enforcable rule. I am happy to report though, that this Rocco surpases all expectations.

One of the things that keeps me sane in this too young but too old at the same time town is the connections I’ve made with some incredible families. The Stuyversons and the Riccos are greatly responsible for my sanity in this town where 25, out of school, but not yet married means one thing: limbo.  While hanging out with them doesn’t conquer the limbo, it definitely quiets some of its symptoms.

I was lucky enough to be part of rites of passage with them this weekend.

Little Sammy Stuy (who’s not very little at all) played a sailor in NFC’s High School play, Kilroy Was Here. And OH was he good!

Quiet, I-like-to-just-observe Sammy came to life on stage.  He danced and joked and acted his way into the crowd’s heart.

I think he’s found his calling.

The play ended with a heart tinkling, proud to be an American number; a musically accompanied slide show acknowledging our armed forces. All the vets stood up when their respective branches were called. And it almost, made me cry. Part of the closing act is below.

And this one is of Sammy the Sailor (not sure what the character’s name was) pretending he was hypnotized by the evil doctor and then HA! he was kidding. His mind was too strong for the evil doctor. Sammy’s no chicken.

Sunday was Mary Claire’s 1st Holy Communion and I attended mass with Pam and John and Rocco and Kate to witness the awesome event. Lasagna from Bella Bella and Cake Shop Cake made the day almost too good to be true.