Winter Vacation

Postcard from Paradise

Greetings, friends!

I am headed off to Florida (in fact my flight was at 5:00 AM - it was an early morning), for a little winter vacation and rest/relaxation. I'll be out of the office through Tuesday, February 17th, enjoying sun, sand, excursions, and quality time with my family (plus celebrating my birthday and Valentine's Day!)...so, this is my short public service/housekeeping announcement....

While I am out of my office/studio, I will have very limited access to correspondence, so please be patient if you send me a message, comment or have an inquiry that requires a response. All shippable items will be deactivated in my Etsy Shop. Shippable items (paper patterns/charts, project bags, Stitch Starter Rulers, etc.) will return on Tuesday, February 17th. All digital items will continue to be available. I will respond to all messages, comments and emails in the order received by Wednesday, February 18th. Thank you for your patience!

Please note - I have scheduled some content during my absence, so you will see a couple blog posts and social media updates. Here on the blog, I will be sharing the long over-due photos from my trip abroad last November.

I'll be back to visit with you again soon, when I will have a bunch of photos and experiences to share with you... 

For now, I'm off to enjoy the journey!

Beaches and Birds

Hello friends! I am still busy playing catch-up and getting used to the new schedule in our household...however, I promised I would do my best to make time to visit with you more often, so here I am, doing my best to find a balance. I know this particular post is long overdue, but I just had to share some of my favorite photos from our trip to Florida. We traveled down to see my parents at the end of February for a little family time, along with some rest and relaxation. While the extremely heavy traffic and the large crowds really took away from the relaxation, we did enjoy our time and visit some of our very favorite places...plus, I really cherished the time with my momma and second dad. We visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the National Seashore, Disney Springs, Daytona Beach, Clearwater Beach and the Circle B Bar Reserve, to name a few. Here are an assortment of my favorite photos...

For me, any time at the ocean helps me find my center and refreshes my spirit. Today, I will leave you with a video I took at Daytona Beach...I hope it will give you a few moments of calm and serenity...sound on...

Travel Tidbits

Greetings friends! As I write this, I am feeling refreshed and replenished...and truthfully, a little frazzled and overwhelmed. We just returned from a wonderful Florida vacation, but now it's back to the grind and I am feeling a bit behind after taking a week off. Travis and I made a trip down to Davenport, Florida (Orlando area) to visit my momma and Dan and get in a little rest and relaxation. I don't really know how much rest we actually achieved, as we were "on the go" the entire time...but we embarked on some fabulous adventures and took in as much as possible in our short time there. Here is a little overview of each day with some of my favorite photos (click on any photo to enlarge)...

Day One - Travel Day

Day Two:

Harry P. Leu Gardens - my mom and I love these gardens!

Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine - we had a lovely table outside for lunch and the food was delicious.

Kilwins Winter Park - best ice cream EVER!

Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour - pontoon boat ride on the Winter Park chain of lakes.

We stopped back at the house, dropped off mom and Dan and continued to:

Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf - the winter course is the best mini golf course we have ever played - it was really fun!

Disney Springs - we explored the shops and entertainment...and the LEGO store...

Day Three:

Canaveral National Seashore - we actually arrived quite early for a rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center (SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 5th Mission) - Travis and I walked the beach to the barricades, but it was way too foggy to see...but we sure heard it and felt it!

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge - a favorite place to visit and hike.

Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant - a MUST visit when we are in Florida.

Black Point Wildlife Drive (Merritt Island) - a scenic drive, where there was quite a bit of wildlife to see...

Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf - this time we played the summer course (not as impressive) - when we returned our clubs, I mentioned we were disappointed and they let us play the winter course again at no charge.

Day Four:

SeaWorld Orlando - we were there from open to close. We went to all the shows and rode all of the rides and coasters. Manta is my favorite roller coaster of all time (it is a flying roller coaster and you feel like a bird flying through the sky) and my husband loves Mako, which is Florida's tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster - we rode both of them multiple times (we had all day fast passes). Of course Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, is a favorite - after the ride you get to visit the cold weather penguins. This was a fun-filled day!

Day Five:

Clearwater Beach - beautiful white sand beach and boardwalk.

Pier 60 - we always pay to walk out to the end of the fishing pier, where you can see the shore birds up close and personal as they wait for the fisherman to "share the wealth"...

Crabby's Beachwalk Bar & Grill - Mahi Mahi Tacos are yumm-o.

Kilwins Clearwater Beach - again, best ice cream EVER!

Sunset on the Beach

Day Six:

Circle Bar B Reserve (Lakeland, FL) - I can't say enough positive things about this nature reserve - it has wonderful trails featuring wildlife, water and wilderness. We hiked the majority of the trails and came across alligators, eagles, great blue herons, great egrets, tree frogs and lizards, all sorts of wading birds and ducks, a couple raccoons, and even the cutest squirrel ever...just to name a few. Truly worth a visit if you are in the area!!

Miller's Ale House - a nice leisurely lunch.

Pool time at the house.

Medievil Times Dinner and Tournament - this was our fist visit and we had a lot of fun - our knight did not win the tournament, but we still cheered him on. I was a little concerned about the "no silverware" and eating with my hands, but the dinner was good and my margarita was even better (I'm pretty sure there weren't margaritas in the 11th century...but who's fact checking)...it was an entertaining night and a fun way to end our visit.

Day Seven - Travel Day

All in all, it was a great time and it was so comforting to spend time with my momma and Dan. We crammed a lot into this vacation and made so many great memories...it makes me wish life was a little easier and we could do things like this more often.

In true Belinda fashion, I was home for about 24-hours, when the stomach flu hit me - insert eye roll here...yep, no matter how many precautions I take while traveling, I always manage to catch something. Good thing is, I am already feeling better...and life is getting back to normal.

I am swamped in the studio and have photos of many finishes to share soon...plus I recently celebrated a birthday and my faraway friends truly made it a special day, so a few photos of happy mail will be posted, as well.

For now, it is back to my sewing and finishing room - I have a pile of needlework finishing calling my name...plus I made a trip to the quilt shop today to pick up lining fabric for piles of project bags and quilting orders. If you need me, I will be in my happy place...