- Category: JAXplore -

Tackling one restaurant // brunch spot in Jacksonville at a time

Fashion, Friends & Family, JAXplore, My Life, Personal Look Book

Florida Georgia Game & Halloween Weekend

Halloween Costume Ideas

Justin, Dj, myself, Brian, and Mel Halloween is probably the holiday that most makes me miss the innocence of being a kid. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and those family based holidays you never outgrow, but Halloween is one of those that you can actually be considered "too grown up for". [I don't think I'll ever be one of those people though!] I so vividly remember being 7 years old, dressed as a witch and comparing our candy hauls on the living room floor. Bargaining away my Butterfingers and Milk Duds for Reeses and Almond Joys. I have not yet hit the stage of too old to go out and enjoy myself on this festive holiday, but seeing all the cute trick-or-treaters just gives me all those nostalgic feels. Every year on Halloween, Florida plays Georgia in…

Book Reviews, Dinner, Drinks, Eating Out, Fashion, Friends & Family, JAXplore, Lunch, My Life, Personal Look Book, Recipe Box

What I’ve Been Up To Lately

Southern Tier Beer

I'm always shocked at how quickly time goes. I mean, it feels like it was just yesterday I packed up my things in West Virginia and moved to Florida, but here we are, just hitting over our year & a half mark. Sometimes, it nice to just pause and reflect on what's going on with you right now. As a whole, I think we tend to always be thinking in the future; "I have to study now so that I can get into a good school. I need to go to a good school and obtain a degree so that I can provide for a family I do not have yet.." And so on and so on. I'm not saying preparing for the future is a bad thing, I'm simply stating that it's nice…

Friends & Family, JAXplore, My Life, Travel Adventures

Labor Day Weekend Getaway

Amelia Island Florida

Weekends tend to fly by lately. It's nice when one slows down a bit and you actually feel like you had some time off. This past Labor Day weekend, my mom came down to Florida to visit for 3 days. We decided to go out to have a relaxing weekend in my favorite nearby vacation spot, Amelia Island. On Friday, we stayed in Jacksonville and had dinner on the beach. It was nearly empty out and a beautiful night! Life really is better on the sea; it's just so calming. [don't worry, I took my shoes off ;) I am no shoeby] After dinner & Sweet Frog, we spent the night hanging out with wine and Netflix. We woke up early the next morning to head to the island. One of my mom's friends…

Friends & Family, JAXplore, My Life, Travel Adventures

Swimming in the Sea at Sunrise; Jacksonville, FL

This weekend was one for the books, to say the least. I was lucky enough to spend a few seasons throughout the past 4 years living abroad in London and have made some pretty awesome friends along the way. This past weekend, 2 of my friends came down and we reunited on the American soil of Jacksonville, Florida. Jonny, David, and I at JAX Beach Jonny, the one on the left, flew all the way across the pond and brought his sister, Jenny, and friend, Ben. Saturday afternoon, I made a huge brunch for all our friends while we sipped on mimosas and awaited Jonny's arrival. [Is anything better than brunch, btw?] Once the Brit's had arrived, we piled into an Uber and headed down to JAX Beach. Jacksonville Beach is actually pretty nice…

Friends & Family, JAXplore, My Life, Travel Adventures

Being a Tourist in Our Own City; St. Augustine

If you haven't caught up on my weeks worth of posts yet, Dj's mom & sister came down to Florida to visit! We jammed packed a lot through the 4 days (including our epic trip to Harry Potter World!) and, of course, we had to plan a day trip to St. Augustine. St. Augustine is only about 25 minutes away from us, and is definitely my favorite local spot. [I've broken down the history & my love for it here and here!] Dj's sister, Cassie, had visited us once before but it was his mom, Tracy's, first time. These are the old city gates! It used to be the only way in or out of St. Augustine. It was a gorgeous day! We went inside the fort, which, if you enjoy history, you'd love.…

Drinks, Eating Out, Friends & Family, JAXplore, My Life

Happy Hour at Moxie; JAXploring

The past two weeks have been pretty busy. Dj was in Japan for work, I’m working on migrating my blog over to a Wordpress domain (more on this later), and I’m trying to finish applying for grad schools. This weekend, Dj came back, we had met new friends that just moved down to Florida, and the weather was beautiful! What this all calls for? Happy hours! Exploring different areas, trying out new restaurants, and getting together for drinks are all things I love to do. We started off our weekend after getting off work with meeting up with some friends atMoxie Kitchen & Cocktails. They actually do a happy hour on Fridays (surprising for around here), so I decided to test out a few new drinks. I started out with their Cucumber Collins, which…

Fitness, JAXplore, My Life, My Playlists, Personal Look Book, Workout Gear, Workout Plans

Top 10 Cardio Songs & a New Workout Method!

"Cute-Nike-Workout-Gear"

Do you remember when I mentioned that I’m trying to jump up my activity level, but due to high pollen count (and simply taking so much time off from running) it was creating an issue of long, discouraging running times? Well! I have an update for you! I follow a ton of personal trainers// nutritionalists // foodies // fellow lifestyle bloggers on my Instagram where I was told a great tip when getting back into cardio. I saw it in a ton of comments, so I can’t remember exactly who said it (hate when that happens!) but she was a trainer who said that if you need to give your lungs a break (due to pollen), or if you are just getting back into running & trying to build your strength back up,  the most…

Friends & Family, JAXplore, My Life, Travel Adventures

Weekend Recap- Exploring Northern Florida

This weekend was definitely one for the books! My best roomie4L friend came to visit me from Pittsburgh for the weekend! Sara and I went to school at West Virginia University together, ended up on the same floor in our freshmen year dorms, signed a lease to live together our following year (without knowing each other AT ALL), and ended up being two peas in a pod. We lived together for the following 4 years, and make it a point to travel to one another every other month. To start the weekend off, we went to Saint Augustine; America’s oldest city! [I’m obsessed with this place, which you can read all about HERE!] The picture above shows us on the oldest street in all of America. How cool is that? It was gorgeous 72…