Adventures

Long time no blog! I’m sure you’ve all be checking O-HI-30 daily, wondering where the heck Sarah is and assuming I already gave up this whole writing thing. But give up I have not – I was simply enjoying a week+ in beautiful Anna Maria Island, FL, largely disconnected from technology and connected to sun, sand, and shrimp.

Having been away from this space for almost two weeks, I have all sorts of random things to share. Adventures, you might call them. So I’ve decided that on occasion, I’ll write an “Adventures” post featuring whatever my fingers long to type. I hope you enjoy this first installment!

Vacation

I spent the last 9 days in total bliss, also known as Anna Maria Island, FL, where my family has been fortunate enough to vacation for the majority of my 30 years. We’ve been staying in the same house thanks to our dear family friend Karen, eating at the same restaurants (with some new ones in the mix), and walking the same pictureesque path to the beach for as long as I can remember. Every time we go, we fall even quicker into our respective routines of doing very little, and this year was no exception. My days looked a little like this: wake up, drink coffee, do something physical (run, walk on the beach, do some outdoor yoga (the real hot yoga), do a workout my trainer gave me (he would be proud!) etc.), eat some lunch (can you say fried shrimp at the Starfish?!), lather on sunscreen for the 8th millionth time, put on swimsuit, drag chairs down to beach, swim, read, swim, head home, shower, play rummy tile, eat dinner, eat Publix key lime pie, go to bed. Repeat. Not on the agenda? Blow dry hair, do makeup. It was exceptionally relaxing, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family, as I always do. I’m a lucky gal.

The Best Crab Cakes in the World

Perfection

Read

I spent the first half of my vacation obsessively reading the latest from my favorite author, Emily Giffin. I’m a slow reader. Both in speed and stamina. But just like her other books, I devoured “The One and Only” in just a few days, savoring her words and addictive story-telling ability every chance I got. It was not her best – that was her first, “Something Borrowed”, but nonetheless, I was hooked from page one. I like to think of myself as a bit of a chick-lit “snob” – I do love chick-lit, but I love well-written chick-lit. I definitely discriminate, and Emily Giffin never disappoints. I was sad when the book was finished. I did manage to finish another book (that I had already started months before and gave up on for some reason) and enjoyed it too – The Engagements – but not as much as my beloved Emily Giffin. I only hope she’s writing her next!

Watch

I’m six (or is it 5?) episodes into the second season of Orange is the New Black, released two weekends ago from Netflix. Talk about an awkward show to watch with your parents! Fortunately, it takes more than some lesbian sex to make me uncomfortable. And man is there a lot of it – a little too much, in my opinion. Aside from the gratuitous almost-porn scenes, this season is as good if not better than the first. I loved getting to know the back stories of some of the women in season one, and I’m happy to see that continue in season two. Less Piper, more everyone else (Tastee is my favorite!). And have I mentioned that I want to marry Jason Biggs?

Compete

Did I also forget to mention that I’m competing in my third Triathlon this Sunday? That’s because I haven’t given it much thought – until now. I realized this morning that, OH SHIT, i’m doing a triathlon on Sunday! It’s not that I’m not properly trained for it – I am – but I’ve been mentally blowing it off as “just a quick tri”, when in actuality it’s the same distance as my previous two, less 6 miles on the bike. Still no walk in the park, especially given the frigid water temps (72 degrees!) and quarter-mile gap between the swim and the bike (that’s a long transition). And let’s face it, no matter how many times I swam 2400 meters at a time this past year, swimming 750 in a foreign lake with a bunch of people kicking makes it feel like zero. And I still get a little nervous everytime I clip into my bike pedals. Perhaps the only part of the tri I’m not worried about is the run. But hey, it’s supposed to be fun, right?! And it will be! Even better? The post-750 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run-brunch, mani/pedi, and massage I have planned! I promise a full race recap!

Steam

After using one to erase the sand and dirt coating the floors of the Florida house, I borrowed Karen’s floor steamer to clean my own floors yesterday afternoon. Many years of pushing dirty mop water around my beautiful wood floors and tricking myself into believing they were actually clean got me curious. The results? I’m buying my own immediately! These are the things that make me happy at age 30 (ok, they made me happy at age 23 too. #cleanfreak).

Eat

After a week+ of indulging in a lot of fried shrimp and very few vegetables, I was craving something light but filling last night. I also was really craving some eggs. Enter this frittata, courtesy of The Pioneer Woman! In true Sarah style, I really didnt’ follow her recipe at all – just used it for the technique. My frittata contained a whole onion, zucchini, spinach, and the star of the show, bacon! And don’t forget the cheese – I’m currently obsessed with Trader Joe’s caramelized onion and cheddar. Served with a nice crunchy salad. I ate leftovers for dinner tonight, and will for lunch tomorrow and a fourth meal still! Great for single gals – or a single gal dinner party!