Today was our last full day in Florida. We're headed back north tomorrow and I definitely think I'm ready. As fun as it is to be down here, there's nothing quite like being in your own space and back to your own routine, you know? I started my day with a 10 mile run (to make up for the miles I didn't run yesterday in favor of day drinking 😂) and it was pretty low key after that. Because it was so cold today (like... Florida cold, so 55 degrees), manatees were huddled in one of the nearby canals to keep warm. I wanted to see them in person because I haven't had that opportunity yet, so my parents and I drove over to see...
...about 50 manatees! It was so cool to see them in person and see their little faces pop up for air. 😍 One more Florida bucket list item checked off the list!
I think Snowy is going to seriously miss having other pups around. It's been non-stop play time for a week so I'm curious to see how she'll readjust back to her normal life. Brett and I will also really miss Mikey and Murphy - they're both such great pups! Maybe one day we'll get Snowy a sibling... 😏
We're on the road again early in the morning! Frigid temperatures here we come! 😭
Today is especially exciting because it was my last day of work for the next 2.5 WEEKS! I don't remember the last time I've had this much time off, but my hope is that I can really savor it and use it as a time to focus on getting my mental health back into a good place. I logged off of work today with a clear inbox and manageable, organized to-do lists to return back to, so I really feel like I can just focus on relaxing without worrying about anything piling up during this time away. Usually when I have free time I'll set myself up with projects I'd like to do or goals I'd like to accomplish, but really I've just been feeling so burned out lately that I just want to take it really easy, catch up on sleep, and focus on making myself feel better mentally. I may read some books, I may do some art, I'll definitely run... but mostly I don't want to put any pressure on myself to do anything. I can give myself a break for two weeks. I think that's doable.
Bandana from Grandma & Grandpa! It says "Up to Snow Good" 😂⛄
Tomorrow we'll be heading to the dog beach at some point to celebrate Christmas Eve. I'm also planning on putting in a larger run to continue to knock down my #RunMA miles, and cooking a bit for the fam. It's been fun being down here with everyone, and Snowy and Murphy are becoming good friends! I'm looking forward to these next three days and making new Christmas memories with everyone. 🎄
We have finally made it to Florida! We woke up before the sun this morning and started our ~10 hour trek south to the Sunshine State. We hit the road around 6:20AM or so, and got into town around 4:15PM. For as long as it was, the trip honestly felt really manageable. Brett and I downloaded some movies so that the passenger could watch while the driver listened along. We made sure that the movie we played was something that the diver had already seen so they wouldn't be missing out too much on the experience. We watched Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. We still have quite a few movies downloaded, so we're prepared for the trip back North!
Snowy continued to be so cuddly throughout the trip, but I think she finally got the hang of the whole road trip thing. She was snoozing easily and acting more like herself in the car instead of a nervous wreck like she was on the first night we left. She was so amazing through the whole trip. I'm sure traveling like this is scary for a dog and we're so lucky with how well she did!
When we arrived into town, we wanted to get our bodies moving! Our AirBnB is right by a lake and a park, so we took Snowy on a little walk down to that area. It was a gorgeous afternoon and I was glad we were able to arrive before the sun went down so we could explore a bit. Snowy was very interested in the lake and especially the new-to-her Florida birds she was seeing by the water. She's going to see a lot of new critters while we're down here!
For dinner we ordered some food from a local Mexican restaurant and it was so delicious after eating road trip food for the last couple of days! We both got chimichangas and shared an order of guacamole and chips. It honestly hit the spot after such long travel days.
The town we're staying in this weekend is honestly so cute and I can't wait to explore it more. I've already made note of multiple spots I'd like to check out after my race tomorrow, because we have a pretty open day after I'm done running. I'll of course be vlogging and blogging my experience, so you'll be seeing it all in a future post, but for now, here's a little glimpse of what we're dealing with:
I'm so glad I'm finally getting my updates from my weekend in Florida out there, because we're now closer to my *next* trip to visit my parents than we are to the trip I took last month! 😅 Because I've already done some Florida updates here and on my YouTube channel, I'm just going to post some of my favorite photos of my visit here without any narrative. If you'd like to hear in more detail what I got up to during my visit, check out my vlog of the trip which you can find at the bottom of this post. I love looking back on these memories and I can't wait to make more in just a few weeks! 🌴
Hear more details about my trip south in my vlog below!
You can also read about the live 5K I ran with my parents during this trip in my race review that I posted yesterday!
The first thing you do when you return to Boston is stop at Dunks, obviously. Makes me think of one of my favorite SNL sketches 😂:
We are officially back in Massachusetts after a great week down in Florida. I will say that I am super relieved that the holidays are over. I don't know what it is, but it's a struggle every year and it's always the worst in the days leading up to and following Christmas. Basically it's like a weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders and I'm just excited to enjoy the rest of my vacation (I'm off until the 2nd!) and be super lazy. I essentially just want to embody this Tweet:
Last night we all went out ax throwing and it was SO FUN! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it might be. I went in with the goal of getting just one ax to stick, and I actually got quite a few! It was a great way to end the trip with the family and I would totally recommend trying it out if you haven't had the chance to yet.
Brett and I wanted to see if we could synchronize our throws and stick both of our axes and we did it! You can see how excited I was by my face in the second photo. 😂
Another successful trip down to Florida is in the books! I already have my next trip lined up for the Princess Half Marathon weekend in February so I'll just keep thinking warm thoughts until the next trip rolls around.
One of the coolest murals in Melbourne. Apparently it was *super* controversial at the time it was painted! Personally, I think it rules.
June has been a really fun month thus far and it has been FLYING BY. I feel like summer is going to go by in a blink and I HATE IT. It always seems to go so quickly and it's my favorite time of year! 😭 But that means I just need to make the most of it before students come back to campus in August and my life gets insane again. 🙃 I also want to make sure I can capture as much of the summer here on the blog or on my channel! Love me some memory keeping and I've been crap at it as of late.
One of my favorite bloggers makes it a point to dedicate a post to recapping her life every two weeks by way of the photos on her phone with a few quick lines describing what was going on at the time of snapping the picture. I often feel so much pressure to make every blog post super detailed, which makes me feel exhausted before I even open up my blogging app to start typing. I LOVE the idea of just showing a picture and writing a couple sentences. It sounds so simple but for whatever reason my super meticulous brain never thought of just taking the casual approach. WEIRD. Anywho, let's try it out and get caught up on the last couple weeks, shall we?
My favorite thing to do in the summer is to take my lunch hour outside. Our campus has a *ton* of outdoor seating which really makes taking advantage of the sunshine and fresh air easy. It's so nice to eat, take a step away from my desk, and, of course, read while taking in some rays!
After YEARS of dreaming of running this race, I finally took the plunge and registered for the 2020 Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend! The registration process was STRESSFUL, and not something I've ever done before. This is a competitive race to get into so I had to be in a waiting room right when registration opened before they allowed me to register. Cassie and I were anxiously texting back and forth waiting to be let in and after about 20 super stressful minutes we were in and registered. Cassie and I both registered for the Fairy Tale Challenge (10k + Half) and my mom registered to run the 10k with us! This is one of my bucket list races and I am SO excited to finally be participating. (Shout out to my staff for holding up a meeting for 20 minutes so I could register! 😂)
The first day of my vacation from work fell on National Donut Day! I decided to treat myself to a morning run to a nearby Dunks for a frozen lemonade and free donut to celebrate. I love that we now live in a town that things are within walking/running distance and that the weather is nice enough to take advantage! Also, if you haven't had the frozen lemonade from Dunks, DO IT. It's honestly such an amazing treat in the hot summer months. Brett and I are both obsessed.
Kristen stopped by our place for a quick visit that night. She was in the area visiting friends over the weekend and crashed at our place the night before the festivities began. It was great seeing her, even if it was just for a few hours in the evening and morning! Luckily she will be heading our way again with her boo Jon at the end of the month and we'll be spending more time together then. Can't wait to see them both!
Later that weekend we had an impromptu Sunday Funday with a group of friends. We stopped by a local Mexican restaurant and *ALL* of us decided to partake in some Coronaritas. I'd never had one before (always wanted to try!) and I was not disappointed. It was a gorgeous day so we stayed at the restaurant for a few hours (while I got increasingly sunburned... woops) and invited folks back to our place to continue the fun before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.*
Last week was spent down in Florida visiting my parents. I spent A LOT of time outside in the warmth. I'm fairly certain like 95% of my waking hours were spent out by the pool while we were down there! It was great to see my parents, hug Mikey, and hit up all of our favorite spots like Rita's and Hemingway's. I made it a point to try and fit in a daily swim and reading my butt off! I think it was a vacation well spent.
During our stay in FL, my mom took me to this AWESOME used bookstore which was floor-to-ceiling books. Like any used book store, there was a ton of variety in selection, but the best part was the prices. When I saw what they were charging I couldn't *not* pick out a couple of titles, even though I had already stuffed my backpack with books for the trip. There's something about finding a book you're excited to read through the thousands of books you see at a used book store. It's like striking gold!
On our last full day, my parents treated us to an airboat ride and an afternoon exploring a couple of local breweries. It was so cool going out on the airboat - one of those quintessential Florida tourist things to do! We did end up seeing a handful of alligators here and there which was super exciting. I would definitely go again to see if we could spot more!
In the afternoon we hit up Intracoastal Brewing Company (they were having a Bacon Beer Bash which was.... interesting haha) and Hell*n Blazes (which I think we all agreed was better!). We also indulged in some brisket poutine (!!!), pretzel sticks, wings, and burgers, while testing out their fantastic beers (They had a been called The Night's Watch which was a Black IPA and 8.7% Alcohol. WHAT. #taketheblack). It was a great way to end our visit. We had a lot of fun with them and it was a much needed break from our super intense work schedules.
Currently...
WATCHING: I'm re-watching Dance Moms because I'm garbage.
I am 6 year-old Mackenzie
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LISTENING: I can't get enough of Lizzo at the moment. "Truth Hurts" is probably the best song ever written if we're being honest.
READING: ICYMI, I'm doing a 30 Books in 30 Days challenge! So I'm reading a lot of things. 😂 But I'm currently working my way through Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson at the moment of writing this.
*Let's not talk about the outcome of that series... 😭
