More Ft Lauderdale ....

we just had so much fun down there

the weather was perfect

I love how the bars are open to the outside, very cool

Tommy and Joanne

I think this was our first night there

this was Friday night at the block party

so much fun and we all had to kiss the monkey!

Johnny was just acting like a monkey...haha

very different beach than the Outer Banks

soft sand and no waves

hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil
Johnny, Chris and Tommy
this was the day we went bar hopping
my pictures are all out of order....haha

Chris and his sister Mary Anne

more yachts!!!

really can't believe I let this parrot sit on my shoulder

I was so afraid he would poop down my back...haha

and then he wanted my glasses

so weird that they throw all of their beer boxes outside like that

from left, Joanne, Mary Anne, me and Kim

and 2 random girls in the back we did not know...haha

Kim and Joanne....this was the evening we were bar hopping

On Valentines day our husbands went to the store for

a few things and brought us back balloons....awww

Joanne kissing the monkey!

I think that's about it

we loved Ft Lauderdale and just had a blast with everyone

later......

Ft Lauderdale ...

We left on Feb 8th for 8 days in Ft Lauderdale

Our brother and sister-in-law had rented a condo

for a good part of the winter and invited us down

SO AWESOME.....so sweet of them

plus they are just 2 of our most favorite people to hang out with

always fun
And friends Chris and Kim were there...more fun
people to hang out with! And some of their family
that we had never met but sure had a lot of fun with.

We hit up a lot of bars, went to a block party, toured

the water ways and saw awesome yachts and 

million dollar homes, sat out on the beautiful beach

ate a lot of good food

just really had a great time

and here is a bunch of pictures

of course a nice bloody mary before boarding the plane

I never knew there was so much money in

Ft Lauderdale...goodness!! 

mansions and yachts 

Tommy and Joanne

I think this one belonged to a diamond broker

these creatures were every where too

I was not a fan

we had lunch at this place and all of these yachts

just come around the corner, going on by....

can you even believe people own yachts this big!! haha

I just can't imagine what they look like on the inside

I wish I could remember the name of this drink

some kind of blueberry, grapefruit, vodka drink and

it was delicious

more pictures tomorrow....

later

Norwex ....

I had never heard of Norwex and a friend

at work told me about it

I can't really even explain this product

or how it works but I can say this

I cleaned my entire house in record time

with a wet cloth, a shining cloth and a dusting mitt

I used only water, no cleaning products

and I truly felt like my house was the cleanest it had ever been

and really, I just don't even know how to explain that

except I think over time you just push dirt and dust around

Because I used to dust and 2 days later would see dust again

now I dust with the Norwex dusting mitt and see no dust

at all until like 7 or 8 days later

and even then, it's only a little bit

I cleaned my fridge and was shocked at the steel cleaner

build up. It did take a lot of work to clean that off

but now it looks great.

then I got the floor cleaner, dry pad and wet pad

and wow, with just water, my wood floors look awesome

and the kitchen towel...the best ever.
pick up a totally wet dish, one swipe with the
towel and it's totally dry....

again, I just don't know how they really work but

I do love them and I am 100% happy with them

below are the cloths I used to clean my entire house

look how dirty....

I have thrown out all of my cleaning products

I kept a small container of Bono for when the puppy has an accident

and a bottle of TarnX for cleaning for silver

otherwise, just my 3 cleaning cloths

I have now added to my collection the bathtub scrubber, 

the pet towel, the car mitt and the body cloth

oh boy....looks at all of my free stuff

for hosting an online party!!

later....

Home ....

Usually I go on vacation and I just love it but

love coming home more

I don't always feel like that when I leave the beach

I would like to come home, get my dogs and go back!

Only Monday we sadly packed up to head home and
I made a huge mistake and picked up a

suitcase and messed up my back really bad

went to the Food Lion on our way out to pick up

some Bass sausage....it's local and it's really good

brought some home to freeze

gassed up the car, got breakfast sandwiches and headed home

Khaleesi welcomed us home with this....
she so loves when someone forgets to close the bathroom
door and she can get the toilet paper!!

Then I had to clean up all of my shells

I found only 2 pieces of sea glass

one teeny tiny white one

and a nice green one

some oyster shells that I add to my basket of shells

and some purple ones, my favorite to collect

and I would like to say life is back to normal but no, I have

my back to deal with. I couldn't hardly move on Tuesday morning

without tears so Johnny had to come home from work

and take me to the doctors. She confirmed it was the disk in

my lower back, the lumbar disk. Gave me steroids and pain meds.

rest is about all you can do with this

so thankful that I am able to work from home

later.....

Sunday in the Outer Banks ...

On Sunday we were all happy about the 

St Patricks Day parade

a very fun event in the OBX

we look out the window and whoa, it's snowing!!

just very small, delicate snowflakes falling

couldn't even capture it good in a picture

Johnny went out and got us some breakfast biscuits

and we all put our "green" on....except it was so

dang cold we had to wear our big coats which

covered up our green shirts. We had beads and scarves

so we were still representing the Irish!!

we headed over early to get a parking spot and

then just hung out in the car until it was almost time 

to go out in the cold

Lynne and Bucky waiting for the parade to start

 the cold def kept the crowd size down. This is usually 
3 to 4 people deep. Looking down Beach Rd it did
look like a lot more people

afterward we headed over to Mulligans for some lunch
Really wanted to go to the Kelly's after party but we had been out
in the cold too long....

Jacquelyn and I trying to stay warm

so glad I brought my snow boots!!

sure kept my feet warm

Declan went swimming at the indoor pool a 

couple of nights

I know, my pictures are way out of order but oh well

this is cute, Avery Grace was putting Johnny's glasses on him

but once on, she would take them off, try them on 

and then do it all over again. She was having fun

Lynne and I having a cold beer at Mulligans

after being outside freezing....haha

Johnny was freezing.....he should have worn his

big coat!

after going back to the hotel, Jacquelyn and I left

to go check out the new Home Goods that had just opened

on Sunday. So many pretty things!!

I found 2 pictures to hang in our guest room

While there I heard my name and turned to a woman I did not
really recognize. But she recognized me and I'm so glad she did!
we have a lot of mutual friends, her brother was best friends
with our brother-in-law Tommy. They recently retired and moved
to the OBX just like Johnny and I plan to do. So we've been chatting
online about it a lot and I was so happy to meet Janet in person.
I already have my first friend for retirement!

then after Home Goods, being really crazy, we went back out to the beach

this time we went up in Kitty Hawk trying to find some

good shell beds to find some sea glass but it was high

tide so not a good time to look plus it was way too cold!!

We stayed in Sunday night and ordered Dare Devil pizza

YUMMM

later.....