Fall Flavored Coffee

I can't survive without my coffee in the morning. When you've just woken up, it's like wrapping yourself in a warm comforting blanket to ease into the day. I've recently gone to drinking "naked" coffee ... no cream and no sugar. It was a simple way for me to cut some calories. The bummer is that all the yummy flavored coffee is mostly artificial and it's difficult to find flavored organic/free trade coffees. So, a good friend of mine recently taught me this little trick to make my coffee a little more tasty.

Cinnamon Coffee:
When making your coffee as usual, add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the grounds in the brew basket. Voila! It's really that easy!

After trying that one, I experimented a little this weekend with the following ...

Pumpkin Spice Coffee:
Make your coffee as usual, add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of allspice.

Ginger Snap Coffee:
Make your coffee as usual, add a 1/2 teaspoon of allspice and a 1/2 teaspoon of ginger.

Internet Socialites

Brad Paisley has a fun song about how much "cooler" he is online. It's funny, because I've always been skeptical about people I meet though the internet. And maybe it's good that I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, but I've recently found that most people on the net are actually not scary-serial-killer-stalker-types. Nor is it just 14 year olds and insomniacs. They're just real people with similar interests sitting at their laptops typing away just like me.

A very good friend of mine recently married a man she met on eHarmony. He was Mr. Right ... literally! At her wedding I had the opportunity to meet her other friends she affectionately called "The Knotties," all of whom met online at The Knot while planning their wedding. They bonded through sharing their stories of event planning on a budget, crazy-inlaws, cakes & catering, and the stress, drama and fun associated with planning a wedding. It was interesting to see a whole group of friends that originally met email-to-email instead of face-to-face.

Another fantastic blogger I had the opportunity to meet in person at the wedding is Cheyenne Schultz, who has a photography blog and an amazing gift for capturing real people in candid moments and showing a slice of life.

Meeting other internet socialites just made me realize even more how networking and meeting people has gone global ... but at the same time has made the world smaller and more accessible right from your back yard.

--Rachelle

Road Trips Rule

I recently took a trip up to Tennessee and North Carolina for a friend's wedding. It was a classic girlfriends getaway as a friend and I rented a car from Nashville and drove across the state of Tennessee through the Great Smokey Mountains and over to to Greensboro for the main event. With no boys along on the trip, we took as many pit stops as we needed for bathroom breaks, coffee at Starbucks, scenic photo opportunities, and breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

We shopped. We giggled. We danced and partied like rock stars. We gave each other our own Cherokee Indian names ... Talks With Hands and Drives Like Turtle. We shopped some more.

My whole point to this is how the Classic Roadtrip does not get enough credit as a fun vacation. We've all been sucked into the vortex of travel magazines and advertising telling us that we have to go some place exotic and far and away for it to be a "real" vacation. We've forgotten the fun of sharing time with friends on the open road, singing loudly to your favorite songs, eating junk food, and playing silly games like Mad Libs and Alphabet Signs.

My journey home added even more evidence to my More Road Trips mantra. Because of high winds and rainy weather my flight was delayed on the way home. And as I sat captive in the Nashville airport for an additional 4 hours, I contemplated the thought of just renting a car and driving home to Florida. Doable. Just when I grew the courage to stand up and start walking to the rental car counter, they finally boarded our plane and we were off to Atlanta. Going through security again ... having to take off my shoes and walk barefoot in a public place (ew!) ... giving myself a backache from hauling my luggage from one gate to the next ... I was disenchanted with flying. Sitting at the terminal much longer than anticipated, I entertained myself with all the magazines I had brought, read them twice, then I started doing a scary thing. I started doing math. I calculated how much my fuel cost would be and the hours on the road if I were to have driven my car the whole way and skipped the airports all together. Fact of the matter is, I would have saved $200 and arrived at my destination 3 hours sooner. Go figure! Even with gas prices as high as they are, DRIVING is unbelievably the time saver, cost saver and perhaps even the greener choice!

So exactly how far could you go on one tank of gas? Well, if you live anywhere in Florida or the South East, you could come visit our little town of Mount Dora. Road trips here deliver treasures of fresh squeezed orange juice, trading post Seminole moccasins, salt water taffy, sea shells and gator teeth.

Take an End of Summer Road Trip and let us know if what kind of adventures (or misadventures) you get into.

--Rachelle

What's in your suitcase ... Part II !

Okay, so after my little road trip getaway, I discovered a whole new list of things that are a must-bring when traveling. Add these to my first packing list and you should be set to go for your next vacation.

1) Rescue Remedy. This is homeopathic yoga in a bottle. Some may argue if this really works or if it is just a placebo of sorts. Regardless, it calms my mind as effectively as two glasses of wine. While still maintaining the ability to drive, of course.

2) Aveda Blue Oil. After hauling luggage or driving all day, your shoulders and neck could use a little of the relaxing peppermint and chamomile that this blue wonder contains. The peppermint has a delayed reaction, so roll on sparingly. I went a little overboard and made myself feel like I was chillin' in an igloo.

3) Witch Hazel wipes. These are GREAT for when you're feeling gritty after a long day and just want to clean up, but your 80 miles away from your next shower. This is equivalent to soap and water in a little one and a half inch packet.

4) MP3 player. Ugh! I forgot mine this time around and hated it! CD's are so passe. You've got to switch them out, fast forward through songs you don't particularly care for, put them away in their case. Our rental car came equipped with a little mp3 player jack ... consistently reminding me of the little juke box I left at home. I missed this dearly while waiting in the airport too. So don't forget yours!

5) Maggie. That's the name I gave to my Magellan GPS navigator. What a godsend! Especially when driving by yourself without a friend in the passenger seat to look at a map and direct your next move. This little thing will get you from "Point A" to "Point B" in the most efficient way ever, saving you time, gasoline, and the stress of getting lost. If you don't have one of your own, put it on your gift list. Most rental car companies also rent these for a nominal fee.

Getting Ready for Fall

Here in Florida, we really don't have a noticeable change in the seasons. Trees and plants all still maintain their lush colors throughout the fall and winter. The only real difference we feel is the drop in humidity, the cooler evening temperatures and watching the storefronts change their displays to oranges and golds.

With September quickly approaching, here's a short list of things you can do to get ready so that you can spend less time stressing more time actually enjoying the season.

1) I'm not much of a cook, but I LOVE to bake. And Fall is my favorite season for donning an apron and oven mitt and pretending to be Betty Crocker. While it's not as fun as baking, now is a good time to clean out and organize your cupboards and inventory baking tools. Do you need anything new? Now's a good time to make that list and go shopping for it.

2) Stock your pantry. There are many common dry good that are sometimes hard to come by during the season, such as brown sugar, cinnamon, canned pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, etc. Start stocking up on these items as you do your regular grocery shopping. That way you'll be relaxed and prepared to have a fun day in the kitchen without having to run out to get something you forgot, or traveling from store to store unable to find it.

3) This may seem like a better suggestion for Summer or Spring, but here in Florida, Fall and Winter are the better outdoor seasons. I know it's a chore, but clean your grill and lawn furniture so that it's ready when you want to have a spontaneous backyard party. Get an extra pat on the back for going "green" and check out my eco-friendly cleaner recipe that's great for outdoor furniture and grills.

4) Get ready for the fresh cooler air ... have your windows cleaned! I know, I know, another boring chore. But you'll be thankful during our first spell of cool weather when you can pop open hour home's windows and not get your fingers blackened with screen dust and dirt. If it is something that you're not up to doing yourself, then hire a professional window cleaner. We did and it was surprisingly affordable! If you must do it yourself, one piece of advise they gave me was to use a q-tip to get into the corners of the window track.

5) Okay, on to something more fun. Shopping! It's never too early to start for the holidays. Create a 'gift trunk' and start collecting things now to make your holiday season a little less stressful without having to search for that perfect gift. With the economy feeling a little tighter this year, it will seem less overwhelming both in time and money spent to start now. It is 16 weeks until Christmas. If you bought one gift a week from now until then, you could use that extra time having fun and drinking wine at holiday parties rather than late-night-last-minute gift shopping. Check out the Craft Fair in Mount Dora coming up in October for some unique gift items and a fun festival to boot!


What is something you enjoy doing to get ready for the season? Let us know and comment below!

Florida Highwaymen Festival: Meet the Artists

Here are some photos from the Florida Highwaymen Festival. Meet some of the original artists below!

Al Black

Roy McLendon

Mary Ann Carroll

R. L. Lewis Jr. & Sr.

James Gibson

Issac Knight

Florida Highwaymen Festival

The first annual Mount Dora Florida Highwaymen Art Festival is now history. The turn out for the event was fabulous considering the lingering effects of Tropical Storm "forever" Fay. After days of wet weather and about 24" of rain to fill our drought cup ... it thankfully turned out to be a fabulous day! We counted over a thousand people in attendance despite the weather. A special thanks to the Mount Dora Lodging Association for planning and hosting the show.

Taking place in the center of town at Donnelly Park, art enthusiasts were able to find great pieces of original Highwaymen paintings and pose for photos with the original artists including Al Black, Roy Mclendon, Issac Knight, James Gibson, R. L. Lewis, and Mary Ann Carroll.

To the left are Innkeepers Dave and Betty Cook posing with Highwayman Roy McLendon.

The artists were very gracious with autographs and photos. The stories of Highwaymen Collectors were fascinating and heartwarming.

One gentlemen had found a painting quite unexpectedly while shopping for pottery. Upon entering the pottery makers home, he recognized it as a Highwaymen painting, but it was unsigned. He purchased the artwork and brought it with him to the show here in Mount Dora to confirm if it was indeed a Highwaymen Painting. James Gibson himself recalled painting the piece in 1962. Gibson signed the back of the canvas and nearly doubled it's value in a matter of seconds.

Influenced by R. L. Lewis in the early 70s, long before the Highwaymen were even known, a former student turned art teacher came to seek out and thank his inspiration. It was quite a reunion as they had not seen each other in over 30 years.

To see more of the artists, stay tuned for our next post with more photos of the event!

--Rachelle