Meet The Parents

One of the reasons I love Florida is...THAT PEOPLE WILL VISIT YOU! Obviously our families will come visit us anywhere we live but Florida makes the long flight worth it I think (ha). SJ had his big national sales meeting up in Orlando all week and my parents were wanting to escape the snow. I say it was a win-win (although we missed Shaun our entertainment). I loved this one-on-one time with my parents. They had been here a few times last year so we were trying to do things they haven't done yet. That included an overnighter in Key West. I love Key West! The drive is long gorgeous, you feel like it is a vacation because you are far enough away from home, so many AMAZING places to eat, and the town is just CUTE (except at night when the homeless drunks come out).

We haven't been able to find a place that tops The Parrot Key Hotel. They have these adorable little villas. The contrast of the turquoise and white colors are my favorite. The grounds and pools are gorgeous as well (no I don't work for them--just like talking about their hotel apparently).

We went to the Hemingway house while we were there. When Shaun and I went last year we passed on this so it was cool to see. I love old historic houses that they haven't changed or restored yet (so the Georgia plantations treated me well!!). The backyard/pool area was adorable. There were cats EVERYWHERE. I guess Ernest Hemingway loved them and had a bunch that would roam around, so they continue to be everywhere. Even on his bed. I hate cats but I was just so amazed at how many there were. People probably thought I was some cat lady because I kept taking their pictures (no really, I hatehate cats. I don't even know why I'm posting them on here).

We tried Pepe's cafe which is the oldest restaurant in Key West. And let's just say it LOOKED like the oldest restaurant in Key West. The food was surprisingly good though. 

Speaking of food, I wanted to write these down somewhere so I know the next time I go there. 

My absolute favorite places to eat are:

-Duetto Pizza and Gelato (the nicest Italian family owns this place. Highest rated Gelato)

-Paseo Restaurant (no idea that I would enjoy Caribbean food this much. Famous for their corn on the cob which they cover with so many different delicious toppings) 

-La Creperie (very charming little french crepe cafe. Their crepe's are huge)

-Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe (chocolate covered key lime pie. And we even tried all three key lime pie shop's while we were there so we know what's up!)

Front St.
Key West

Bonita Beach

Marco Island

Marco Island

Key West Vid

I finally got around putting some footage together from our amazing Key West weekend! You can read all about that here. Counting down the days until I go back.
Free parasailing on your birthday, come on down!

Thirty in Key West

Shaun turned thirty this past weekend so I knew I had to make it big! It is also our anniversary weekend so I decided to combine the two and have a getaway down in Key West. side note: I used to think priceline 'name your own price' was sketchy but it worked like a dream! I got this amazing suite at a Key West resort for 50% off.

I made yummy chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting to bring down with us. I realize baking becomes more fun when you keep having more and more successes (ha).

The resort was so beautiful. It was hard to leave it to go do things (okay, not really). You did feel like you could just lounge around the hotel all day and be perfectly satisfied though. 

We got down there in time to have dinner and watch the sunset. The weather was perfect! There was somebody getting married a little ways down the beach but we could still hear the beautiful music.

Shaun blew out a candle at midnight and I showed him the birthday video I made for him compiling all of his family and friends birthday messages. He was 100% shocked (woohoo). I am SO grateful for all the people that participated and went above and beyond to make it creative and fun for him to watch!

We got up early to watch the sunrise at the Southernmost point. Then we enjoyed delicious crepes at the cutest hole-in-the-wall place. {what would we do without yelp?!} Key West is the most charming city. It was fun to park at one place and explore to the next.

We took advantage of the free birthday parasail deal and it was the best decision. Part of Shaun's birthday present was having me go with him. You see, I am the biggest baby and never do things like that. It was incredible though! I can't believe how peaceful it was up there. Shaun is obsessed with turtles and has been dying to see one since we have moved to Florida. When we were being reeled in, the driver pointed to the water and right below us was the biggest sea turtle we had ever seen. It came up for air and slapped his fins back down. Shaun was freaking out. We brought the GoPro up with us so we have it all on film!

The weekend was perfect. Some of the best parts was just walking around the little shops or finding delicious 'dives' to eat at. I can't believe that we live just hours away! I don't think I will ever get used to living in a vacation town where you are one of the very few locals. I feel very blessed to be here. It was such an amazing birthday/anniversary weekend. Happy thirtieth birthday to my love Shaun Michael Johnson and a happy two year anniversary today. . .