A Magical Easter

Jamie and I spent Easter weekend in Disney. We stayed at the All Star Movie hotel and when we arrived we went straight to the pool for a nice afternoon in the sun. After, we met Jamie's brother and sister in law and their family for dinner who were in town at the Nickelodeon Studios. We had a really nice visit with them! Here is a picture we took after dinner with Jamie's nephew Danny and niece Bella.

After dinner Jamie and I went to downtown Disney to walk around. We stopped at Paradiso 37 for a cocktail. Our bartender  informed us that Ke$ha had been at the bar the night before! Sunday morning Jamie and I woke up and headed to Magic Kingdom for the day. It really was a magical day, it was the first time I had really ever seen the park and gotten to go on all of the rides. Here is a picture that we took while waiting on line for the Jungle Cruise.

Then Jamie and I met with some of the Princesses. Jamie tried to avoid taking any pictures with them but Belle insisted that my "beast" join in on the picture!

On our way out of the park we had to stop and take a picture in front of Cinderella's castle as well, she is my favorite princess after all! Then we met up with Dan, Tara, Danny and Bella for an Easter dinner. Afterwards we went back with them to see what the Nickelodeon Studios are all about! Danny and Bella showed us their Sponge Bob themed room and Bella even made us an Easter poster! 

Thanks for reading,

Crystal, Jamie & Bandit

Springtime Treats!

I made about 50 of these as little Easter presents for friends and family and some of Jamie's co-workers here in Tampa. I posted a few pictures of them on facebook and received some requests for the recipe so I figured I would post it on here!

Ingredients
(1) 14oz bag of Wilton white chocolate melts-you can find these at Michaels or Party City or you could use baking chocolate bars found at the grocery store
(1) large bag of pretzel sticks
(3) boxes of Peeps
(1) bag of Whopper's mini robin eggs
Wax paper

Directions
-Melt the chocolate according to the directions on the bag, set aside a small amount of melted chocolate for later
-Stir the pretzels into the remaining chocolate
-Clump the pretzels together in order to make nests, large enough to fit a Peep on top, and place them on the wax paper-they should look like this

-Then dunk a Peep into the white chocolate you had set aside for a little swim, the chocolate may need to be reheated

-Place one Peep on top of each nest-they should look like this

-Then dunk the robin eggs in the chocolate, like you did with the Peeps and place them sporadically on the nests. I used 3 eggs per nest. 

Your treats should now look like these:)

I hope you enjoy these easy and fun treats!!!!

Exploring Tampa

So Jamie and I have been busy these past few weeks exploring Tampa. Here are a few pictures from some recent adventures. This past weekend Jamie and I went to the amphitheater to see Jimmy Buffett, unfortunately we couldn't get tickets but we did get to tailgate with some friends which was a lot of fun! Here is a picture Jamie took of me with a fellow tailgater's pet parrot.

Last night Jamie and I attended our first Tampa Bay Ray's game. Baseball games here are very different than in New York. First of all we were able to get pretty good seats for $9 a ticket which is just unheard of in New York. Also the stadium is inside in order for it to be climate controlled. It's great that it's 72 degrees year round but it is a little weird to watch a game inside. Here is a picture from our seats last night

One thing that was a lot of fun about attending last night's game was the giant sting ray tank in center field. Jamie and I went to the sting ray tank to 'pet' the sting rays, usually you can feed them too but by the time we got their last night they were full. 

With love,

Crystal, Jamie & Bandit

Sunsets

One thing that Jamie and I have been trying to take advantage of while we are in Florida is watching the sunset. We try and take a walk or go somewhere a few times a week at sunset to watch. This past Friday night we went to a restaurant across the street from our apartment, called Whiskey Joe's, and sat at the bar over looking the water and watched as the sun set. Here is one picture we took of the view

Before & After-The Bathroom

Our bathroom is the first room that we have finished setting up, probably since we needed the least amount of things to complete it. Below are a few pictures from when we first moved in.

And here are a few pictures after we set everything up!

The shower curtain and rug are a bit more floral than Jamie would have liked, but I really loved them and he has been a good sport! The shower curtain, rug, shower hooks and hand towels we purchased from Kohls. In an effort to break up the flowers a bit we decided to get solid color towels, they are Martha Stewart from Macy's. I love all things Martha and these have definitely not disappointed! They are super soft and I love the colors. We also purchased plain white accessories such as the soap dispenser, waste basket etc, from bed bath and beyond in order to play down the floral. We hope you have enjoyed a small glimpse into our home and we hope to have more before & after pictures up soon!

Also I believe I have finally fixed the commenting problem. To leave a comment just click on the word 'comments' below each post and a new page should pop up. Once you write your comment click on the bubble next to name/url and fill in your name-you should not have to sign in or anything like that.

Missing you all,
Crystal, Jamie & Bandit

Getting Set Up

Jamie and I are beginning to get the apartment set up. We have a dining room table and 3 chairs, Jamie couldn't fit the 4th in his car so we have to go pick it up! We also purchased a coffee table, two end tables and a TV stand from ikea this past week. Our couch will be arriving on Tuesday, which we cannot wait for it's very hard to sit and relax when you're on the floor. Some future posts will contain before and after pictures of the rooms of the apartment once we are all set up.

On Friday Jamie took me to an Irish bar in Tampa called MacDinton's for happy hour. It was a lot of fun and nice to be outside! Here is a picture of us there

Yesterday Jamie and I spent the morning and early afternoon unpacking and setting up the apartment. Then we headed to the pool with Jamie's friend Steve for some tanning, fishing and bbqing. Before we left Jamie's mom gave me this great cooler that we used to pack all of the food in. It's so cute and came in very handy.

For dinner Jamie grilled up two different kinds of chicken marinated in brown sugar bbq sauce or frank's sweet chili. I made these fun antipasto skewers for appetizers!

Jamie and I would like to encourage everyone to use the 'comments' section under each post! We want to hear from everyone:)

Hugs,

Crystal, Jamie & Bandit

Video Tour

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Moving Day!

Here is a video tour of our new apartment, hope you enjoy! 

XOX,
C, J & B

Chuga Chuga Chuga Choo Choo

I am currently sitting in the Amtrack Auto Train's lobby in Orlando waiting for my car to be unloaded. I have to say the auto train far exceeded my expectations. It was very relaxing compared to having to drive all this way, we arrived an hour and a half early and the train was empty so I had the entire seat to myself. I even made some friends at dinner!

While I was journeying down to Florida Jamie went to see our new apartment to make sure everything was set for us to move in on Wednesday. Him and his friend, Steve-who has graciously let Jamie stay with him while we wait for our apartment, stayed and used the pool at our future apartment complex. Here is a picture that Jamie took from one of the pools-apparently it is a frequent hang out for dolphins!

After that Jamie and Steve went fishing in our future backyard. Below is a picture of one of the many fish Jamie caught! Him and Steve were very excited that they had such great luck there and I am sure they will spend many afternoons fishing in that spot!

We are all set to move in on Wednesday so I will be sure to post pictures of our new apartment!

Hugs,

Crystal, Jamie & Bandit