Dear John,

Or should I say Dear Blog,

I have decided to go our separate ways. You have been good to me but I found a new love. I love the blogging capabilities from my Blackberry that you just don’t allow. I love the new format that I have created. I understand maybe my family or others won’t love the new look or the new feel of my new blog but I love it. It has more meaning and purpose to me then you have for  a long time. Things I will keep – new recipes, new products…. thing I won’t keep the detail of day to day stuff. I found most of the time I didn’t have much to say. I had a lot on my mind but felt like this wasn’t the place to share it. So if you want to follow my new blog check out:

http://discoveringdebbie.wordpress.com/

If you find me boring or could care less that I have been cheating then I bid you goodbye. Thank you for reading my ramblings and wasting quality time with me. Our years together have been good but I want the new, younger, meaner version. You understand, right?

Debbie

Business Planning

I just finished this 63 page monster. If you are wondering where I have been for the last six weeks – well I have been learning all about the personal service industry and typing until my fingers fell off. Ok so I still have my fingers. I was just being dramatic. It feels good to have this project done. 2 more classes this week and I am done with the semester. I can’t wait!

Plus I have more exciting news to share with you but you will have to check back for that as I am still finalizing plans.

Catch - up the rest

I didn't take many photos from May to now. I have been pretty busy. School and work has taken up way too many hours and when I have down time I have been enjoying it with Bruce. Because I haven't taken photos with my camera I thought I would share pictures that are from my phone.

We took Shirley to Columbia Restaurant at the pier in St. Petersburg.

We spent Sunday at my pink castle - The Don Cesar. I love this hotel - the history and the charm are the best. It was the first time I actually spent the night and I am sad to report the rooms are tiny. Think New York City small. It was fun to stay one night but for those prices I can't say I will be spending more time there. I want more for my money!

Of course a lot of our time has been at the beach. It is the perfect place to read (especially homework).

We even unintentionally participated in hands across the beach. To show our support about keeping oil off our beaches.

The summer is half way over already. I am happy to report that I got an A on my first summer class and I have moved on to the next summer class. More to come on that!

Catch up – Happy Mother’s Day

Since I was in-between semesters at school I headed to Utah for Mother’s Day. I arrived late on Thursday night. Thanks mom for picking me up at the airport so late.

A package had arrived from Mike and Becky on Thursday with a note to my mom that said do not open until Debbie arrives. So first thing Friday morning I dove at that package. My mom was wondering if it was another picture frame of the the dogs since that is what she got last year.

But it was a BABY! We screamed, we cried. We jumped up and down. We figured it was too early to call Mike and Becky so I texted them BOTH! Becky called us back as she was waking up to go to a work meeting anyways and patiently answered our million and one questions. Since Mike was in the shower he had to call us back later. We also had to get permission on who we could tell. You know my mom could not keep this a secret for long. This is her dream come true to be a grandma.

So we headed over to Grandma Davis to tell her and that gave me the chance to say hi as well. Since I don’t get to see her very often it was nice to see her three days in a row on this trip.

A million stops later – which included my mom telling the local gas station clerk she was going to be a Grandma and her work we finally had to high tail it to Salt Lake City for a day at the Spa and Flemings. (My mother’s day present to her.)

We had massages, facials, and pedicures. It was so much fun to have the time to relax and enjoy the happiness. After 3 hours of pampering we were really feeling euphoria.

After our spa day, we got dressed up and headed to Flemings for dinner. I love SLC Flemings. They are always so observant to your needs and we had so much fun with our waiter. Plus the food was great. We tried the new mushroom ravioli appetizer which was over the top good rich. It was one of those that I would have licked the plate clean if I hadn’t been in a restaurant. Mom got the filet and I got Salmon and of course the Mac N Cheese. But we were so stuffed we ended taking a lot of it home because we had to save room for dessert. It was a really wonderful day.

On Saturday, we did some errands and shopping and may have gone for another massage at the Massage school down the street from my mom.

Since we had such a heavy meal the night before we decided to go enjoy sushi. I was worried about what type of sushi I would find in Utah but I was not disappointed.

Isn’t he a cute caterpillar?

For Mother’s day, we got Outback to go and had a nice family feast at Grandma Davis’ house. It was always fun to spend time with her. It is never enough. I love every minute. I am very excited to go back to Utah for her 90th birthday. What a big party that will be!

After visiting with the Davis family on Sunday, mom was kind to drop me off at Dad’s Sunday night. I got to go meet my new nephew and catch up with the Warnick’s/ Rasband’s. On Monday, I went up to the Rasband’s to hang out since Dad and Susan were working. I don’t know how Heather does all she does with the housework and the hectic schedule. I was exhausted by the end of day. Dad and I went on a dinner date where I got a bison burger for dinner. Yum – bison burgers are so much better then hamburgers.

Then before I knew it it was time to fly back home. I always have so much fun in Utah and this visit was one of the best ever!

Catch up – The Warnick’s April Visit

Dad and Susan made their annual Spring Break trip to Florida. Due to class the first night I could see them was Thursday and they had already been here for almost four days! We ended up enjoying a great dinner at Bonefish and then going to watch the sunset at our favorite beach spot.

It was a beautiful sunset – although windy so please ignore our bad hair days.

We did a lot of other fun things together before they headed home on Sunday but do you think that I have pictures? Not really. So you get to just read my rambling. 

Friday night we enjoyed dinner at Roy’s. I can’t believe I didn’t take pictures of the food. I know I am a bad blogger. On Saturday we were up early for the St. Petersburg Farmer’s Market. It was hopping. As always it is fun to see all the delicious fresh foods and homemade crafts. After the Farmer’s Market we were HUNGRY so we headed to Bahama Breeze.

The time went by so quickly. Bruce and I really enjoyed having them for a visit even if school and work got in the way!

Catch up – Costa Del Sol, CA

In April, we spent some time at the Costa Del Sol resort in Carlsbad California. It is a complex of Spanish style buildings on a golf course. I thought the grounds were beautiful. Bruce and I enjoyed our stay and really want to go back.

This is the main courtyard,there were water fountains everywhere.

Our room was spacious and clean. My only complaint was that someone was smoking in a room next to ours and we could smell it sometimes. Since the hotel has no control over that I can’t fault them.

We walked around the resort a lot. It was just so beautiful. Here is a view of the golf course on one of our walks.

I think this would be a fun place to come with kids too as they had a game room with air hockey and other arcades as well as 2 water slides. The water was heated which was good because for us Floridians it was too COLD to get in the water. A great picture of Bruce on one of our walks. This resort also had little areas to sit and relax while you walked along the paths. We hung out on this swing for awhile.

I have so many other pictures but I don’t want to bore you so I picked my favorite. The resort had huge Birds of Paradise all around and I took over 50 pictures of them. This is my favorite because I like the colors and how the water fountain in the back with palm trees is captured.  Although we went to Costa Del Sol for Bruce’s work, we were able to escape for a while and enjoy the SPA! We both had massages, I also received a free sugar scrub and we enjoyed the hot tub and other amenities. The best part is for a couple of hours neither one of us had a phones. It was a great way to reconnect as a couple.

We also had a great dinner overlooking the ocean at a place called Vigilucci’s. We asked the concierge at the hotel where we could eat overlooking the ocean and she recommended this place. She also gave us directions and made the reservations for us. We were SPOILED!

Bruce had the rack of lamb special. The taste was just as good as it looked.

I had the Pappardelle con Funghi Porcini e Capesante. Which is described on the menu as -Homemade wide ribbon pasta with porcini, shiitake, portobello and field mushrooms and pan-seared scallops in a white truffle and brandy cream sauce. HEAVEN is all I can say.

After dinner we walked across the street and watched the surfers. We don’t get surfers in Clearwater so it was fun to watch them. But it was so COLD. I don’t know how they could stand it.

Can you tell Bruce and I were freezing? Lets get back to our car and hotel quick.

 

Overall our trip to San Diego was so much fun. I loved every second of it and can’t wait to go back soon.  I need more vacation time and more money!

Roy’s La Jolla CA

In April, Bruce had a work conference in San Diego that I HAD to tag along for. You see I have this goal to go to every single Roy’s Restaurant. I am a huge fan of Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion. Due to the hectic schedule and location the Roy’s that I chose was Roy’s La Jolla. I have been a big fan of Chef Garrett for awhile and I wanted to try his masterpieces. This Roy’s looks a little different from the outside. If it weren’t for the tiki torches (and GPS), we might have missed it.

We were greeted warmly and all through the night we were treated like family. I loved the bamboo shoots separating the dining room from the sushi bar. It was an added dramatic flair.

I am so excited I could barely sit still. I think this pictures shows the anticipation. Like a kid in a candy store!

If you have never had the Lakanilau roll at Roy’s and you like sushi, you are missing out. The Lakanilau roll was actually invented by one of the sushi chefs at Roy’s La Jolla. This is the best one I had. I could eat this roll the rest of my life and be so happy.  This next masterpiece is the Jalapeno Ponzu Hamachi with red grapefruit and avacado.This was so rich but the acid of the grapefuit helped cut the richness. My mouth is watering looking at this dish. Must get this soon.

Bruce was there with me and enjoying all the food as much as I was. This was his favorite of the night. Which I will showcase next.

This was a flatbread of duck confit. Duck never tasted so good. It was moist and tender. The last appetizer of the night was the Hawaiian Kai Style crab cakes. We love crab cakes and this one did not disappoint. Yes Bruce and I ate four appetizers. Don’t judge. We were starving and the food was so good we couldn’t stop eating! For our entrees, Bruce got the Filet with Lobster. Look at that presentation. It tastes even better!

For my entree, I made it chef’s choice. I couldn’t make up my mind which is a first. This is the first time I have ever let a chef have freedom with my taste buds and Chef Garrett did not disappoint. I had the seafood sampler with lobster and scallops. It was so good. I would never have ordered this on my own but my taste buds loved it. I am so happy to try something new.

Thank you Roy’s La Jolla for the hospitality and the awesome food. Everything was beyond our expectations. Bruce and I are already talking about getting back there one day!