sand, surf, sun, Susan & Sal

Hi there ... here I am, finally! Been on the go here and need to get you "caught up" ... thanks everyone for following along with us on our getaway!

We're exploring St. Augustine, Florida now, but I didn't have a chance to post about our visit to Amelia Island, so I'll start with that. As I had mentioned, Sal and I had an adventure planned for last Tuesday and the weather (thankfully!) cooperated. We went for a horseback ride ... on the beach! Yes, Amelia Island is one of the few places in the United States where this is allowed, so it was a special treat!

It was AMAZING and ROMANTIC ... I was savoring the tranquility of it ... actually, we found that Amelia Island is all about serenity, laid-back and peaceful. We rode for about an hour in virtual silence, enjoying the view, with only the sounds of seagulls chirping and the waves crashing ashore. So unforgettable!

We spent the rest of our time on the island doing a little exploring of the neighborhoods (always curious how the locals live) ... went on a picnic and a nature walk ... did a little shopping in the charming downtown ... but we mostly took in the island's beach vibe. Amelia's beaches are very w---i---d---e, peaceful, pretty. It's easy to find a quiet stretch of sand all your own, no crowds:

A few things set Amelia's beaches apart from ours back home ... SAND DUNES (so pretty with the sea oats gently swaying in the ocean breeze) --- reminded me of Cape Cod! ... lots of SEA FOAM, I've never seen so much! It actually "rolls around" on the beach in the wind, and it glistens in the sun, so pretty:

... and the sand is VERY DENSE, you barely leave footprints when walking on it! We saw people riding bicycles, skateboards, and even driving 4x4 vehicles right on the beach!

To me, there aren't many things more inviting than a walkway to the beach

and Amelia Island had plenty of them! A great destination for our 20th anniversary celebration, just the 2 of us.

Soon I'll be back with pics and deets of our stay in St. Augustine. So tired, must sleep!

Enjoy the weekend,

beginning our 21st year together .....

We had a lovely anniversary celebration, but today we bid farewell to Amelia Island and will head south to spend the first few days of our 21st year together in historic St. Augustine, Florida. We've never been there and look forward to exploring it ... another adventure!

I have many photos to share of our Amelia Island visit, but I have to run now (I slept in too late, what am I on vacation or something?? LOL) ... will post them soon, along with pics of our stay in St. Augustine. Promise!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

20 years ago today ...

... we were married at 1:30 pm EST !!!


The details: we were married at my childhood parish of St. Jerome Catholic Church in Largo, Florida ... the wedding was officiated by long-time friend Fr. Joseph Pellegrino ... our wedding colors were peach & teal ... my bouquet was filled with peach carnations, white roses, baby's breath, and ivy ... my gown was a shimmery crystal organza fabric, with lots of small ruffles ... our first dance was to "our song", Endless Love by Lionel Richie & Diana Ross.


Happy 20th anniversary to my sweetheart !!! I love you, Sal !!! So happy to be married to you !!!

To celebrate, we're enjoying a quiet day together on beautiful (and romantic!) Amelia Island ...

it's Tim's special day!

Happy 13th birthday today to our nephew, Tim! He lives in Gulfport, Florida.

Wishing you lots of FUN as you become a teenager, Tim! :-)

Love,
Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba

romance, island style!

Today we arrived at our "getaway location" to celebrate our anniversary this week ... on Amelia Island! It's located in far NE Florida, off the coast of Jacksonville. I've always been curious about it, and finally we're exploring it. I love Florida!

The beaches here are so tranquil, beautiful, ROMANTIC! We're still getting our bearings ... so far, we've strolled one of the island's pristine (and oh-so-WIDE) beaches (just after a rainstorm passed), briefly drove through the quaint Fernandina Beach downtown, and enjoyed a delicious dinner (Mexican food, yum!). We're staying in a suite at the Residence Inn Amelia Island, so fab!

Looking forward to sharing pics and details of our visit ... stay tuned to Where In The World?. Weather permitting, we have a special adventure planned for Tuesday. And then later on in the week we're heading south to visit another Florida treasure.

We're missing Buddy & Aruba so much already! But they're having a vacation of their own with "Grandma & Grandpa". Buddy already found his way into an empty Pizza Hut box! ;-) Adorable!

Off for a soak in the hot tub .....

Have a great week,

it's Mark's special day!

Happy birthday today to Sal's brother, Mark! He lives in Gulfport, Florida.

We wish you a FUN & ENJOYABLE day, Mark! :-)

Love,
Susan, Sal, Buddy & Aruba

a new (and exciting) month ...

Hey there and happy August!

The last week of July was such a blur for me, lots going on. But let me start with the BEST part of all ... Buddy's visit to the cancer clinic yesterday. It was time for his remission progress exam, bloodwork, and lung X-rays. Such a time of panic and anxiety for us! But ... everything came back FINE !! We are SO thankful !! Outside of some signs of aging, like mild cataracts and a bit of arthritis in his back, Buddy is doing incredibly well on chemotherapy!! Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern and well-wishes.

I took a day off last week ... spent it at The Spa at The Breakers resort in Palm Beach. Not that I frequent such swanky spas, but it is a perk of living locally and having a giftcard from my sweet husband! Sal had given me a giftcard for Christmas 2008 ... yes, over a year and a half ago! Life had just been too crazy (and at times too difficult with Buddy's illness) to slow down and fully savor a spa visit. Or, as I like to call it, a "spaaaaaahhhhh" visit, LOL. So, I booked a kiwi-coconut body scrub, and it was delightful! They use sea salts from Bali for the "scrub" and then add in the tropical fruit oils for skin hydration and a heavenly aromatherapy.

A bit of serendipity added to the day's pleasure ... I arrived early and asked if they had any water aerobics classes going on that day and, sure enough, one was starting in just a fw minutes! So I hopped in the pool and joined the fun ... the teacher took a pic of a few of us:

The weather was perfect ... bright sunshine, blue skies, warm but not-too-hot because of a nice ocean breeze ... so I decided to stay for lunch and indulged in a veggie burger with a (virgin) pina colada, sitting poolside and overlooking the ocean.

Afterwards, I napped in an oceanside hammock slung between 2 palm trees (so inviting!) and then spent time floating in one of the resort's 4 beautiful pools.

Overall, a day of true relaxation and tranquility ... I needed it! Thanks, sweetheart, for a wonderful gift! I enjoyed it a little late, but loved it just the same.

I'm SO excited about August ... this month will be filled with exciting and fun times! Soon Sal and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and we have something SPECIAL planned (stay tuned for all the deets!). Yes, our "big" celebration will be in Maui later this year, but we couldn't let the actual day go by without some fanfare, right?!?

And in mid-August, the movie Eat Pray Love will hit theaters. I've been waiting all summer for it! I loved the book ... can't wait to see it come to life on the big screen. And HSN will be airing a special EPL series of shows. I'll be tuning in to what exotic goodies they have, all inspired by the memoir's journey through Italy, India, & Indonesia.

This month is also a special anniversary for Sal ... 10 years ago, he began his work as a professor. Sweetheart, I wish you many more years of fulfillment in your professorship and research endeavors! Love you!

Wishing you an August filled with fun as summer (unfortunately) begins to wind down....

all that glitters....

Hey there, hope you enjoyed the weekend? I can't believe July is coming to an end this week ... already?!?

On Saturday, I attended a scrapbooking class at Cherry Blossom Studio. We made a cute "beach days" mini-album, using new goodies from Tattered Angels. Like their new Glimmer Glam paints ... glitter galore, I love 'em! And they blend nicely with their Glimmer Mists.

As usual, I didn't finish the project during class (but this time, it was because I was busy experimenting with all the new mediums!), but here are pics of the album cover and the first few pages:

We used beautiful beach-inspired shades of Glimmer Mist like "coral reef", "Caribbean blue" and "sand". Such a pretty color combo!

Have a great week ahead,

the joys of summer

Whew, I've had a busy week! But I also spent some time in one of my fave places ... my pool !! It's both relaxing and invigorating at the same time. To me, nothing says "summer" more than floating around in sparkling blue warm water under the bright sun while sipping on a grape slush from Sonic, LOL. (btw ~ did you know that Sonic has drinks (including slushes) at half-price every day from 2:00-4:00 pm?)

(I took this photo myself, using my iPhone, so the angle's a little weird!)

I had to be sure to get some pool time in before this weekend because we're now dealing with the effects of Tropical Storm Bonnie. Thankfully, so far, we're having just blustery weather, nothing extreme.

Hope you'll be savoring some joys of summer over the weekend.... enjoy! :-)

Buddy

Today I took Buddy for a visit to his "regular" vet, i.e., not to the cancer clinic.

He was due for some "routine" care, tests and such. I'm happy to report that he's doing well, except ... he is developing some cataracts. :-( Makes me sad.

And because he has a bit of a heart murmur, I asked them to check his blood pressure. Yes, they do this for dogs too! They have what they call a "critter cuff" (how cute is that???) that goes on the paw ... It was a little tough to get the readings because Buddy was moving around, he loves to get up and kiss everyone. He loves people! So we had to hold him still.

Next week he goes for his bi-monthly check-up with the oncologist, including lung X-rays. I'm already nervous....

Hope your week is going well ... smile, the weekend is almost here!

it's Leah's special day!

Happy 10th birthday today to our niece, Leah! She lives in Gulfport, Florida.

We wish you a FUN & SPECIAL day, Leah! :-)

Love,

Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba

it's Gina's special day!

Happy 11th birthday today to our niece Gina! She lives in Philadelphia, PA.

We hope you have a FUN & SPECIAL day, Gina! :-)

Love,

Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba

fourth fun

Hey there! Long time, no blog I know. Been busy, busy, busy!

Happy July ... hope you enjoyed the July 4th holiday weekend?

We spent ours visiting family in St. Petersburg. And the 5-hour road trip was even nicer in our new Mazda!

On Friday, despite gray skies and a slight drizzle (which actually made the July temps bearable!), we went out kayaking with my parents at picturesque Fort DeSoto Park. It was so peaceful out on the water, among the mangroves. Except when we played "bumper kayaks", which was hilarious and we almost managed to tip my Dad over, ha! My parents are getting ready to purchase their own kayaking gear and can set out exploring wherever they desire, taking in Florida's natural beauty ... how exciting!

Sal and I shared a double kayak, so I let him do most of the paddling, LOL. I took photos instead! (as best I could, that is... with my iPhone. In the rain. On a moving kayak.)

We wrapped-up our kayaking adventure with a yummy picnic lunch (thanks again, Mom!) and a long walk on the park's beach. A great day together!

Buddy & Aruba got in on the fun too, enjoying time with "Grandma & Grandpa". Aruba loves to cuddle-up with my Mom (somehow I actually got Aruba to LOOK into the camera, so rare!):
We spent most of the 4th of July with Sal's family...

...my MIL cooked up some homemade cavatelli pasta:

Enjoying time with Uncle Sal ... clockwise from upper left ... Tim, Angie, Rebecca, Sarah:

Sal and his sister Deborah:

Cousin fun! Leah & Marisa ...

Sal's sister Tricia, her husband Ralph, and their son Tim:

my MIL and her little pup, Noel:

And of course there was dessert.....

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Have a great week ahead,

drawing a line in the sand

Today Sal and I headed to our local beach to participate in a (peaceful) protest of offshore oil drilling, and to promote the pressing need for clean & green! energy sources. All in the name of protecting wildlife, our coastlines, the environment.

The event, Hands Across The Sand, was held today at 750 beaches worldwide!! Isn't that awesome? About 200 of us gathered here on Delray Beach, lined up hand-in-hand for 15 minutes, drawing a symbolic "line in the sand" against offshore oil drilling. Sal and I have always been proponents of renewable energy ... wind, solar, hydroelectric, etc. ... and in light of the current horrific oil disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, we felt especially compelled to join in today's event.

We stayed afterwards to splash in the waves and revel in the beauty of our (still oil-free) beach.

Hope you too are enjoying some of summer's pleasures this weekend!

it's a special day for Ruth & Paul !!

Today Sal's brother, Paul, and his wife, Ruth, are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary!

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

We wish you a fun day filled with romance! :-)

Love,
Susan, Sal, Buddy & Aruba

happy Father's Day!

(Sorry for the belated wishes, but Blogger was giving me trouble this morning, ugh!)

Wishing all the dads out there a fun and relaxing Father's Day! Including mine!

And Buddy & Aruba send a special Father's Day "woof" to "Grandpa"!

Love,
Susan, Sal, Buddy & Aruba

anniversary in paradise

(photo credit: Maui Visitor Bureau)

OK, I'm so excited that I can hardly type !!!

I have such fun news to share !!!

This summer, Sal and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. Already??? Yep! And we've been giving some thought to how we want to mark the big occasion ... it has to be something romantic, of course! And then, voila!, just like that, it became apparent ... because Sal was invited to present his amazing research at a chemistry conference later this year in ... [drumroll please!] ... HAWAII !!! {gasp}

So we've decided to extend our stay and celebrate our special milestone anniversary in Maui, which to me is perhaps one of the most romantic places on earth! Sunsets, leis, hula dancing, tiki torches, gorgeous scenery ... OMG I'm busting with DELIGHT !! The timing is so incredibly perfect.

I love, love, love Hawaii ... we've been there before but still have more to explore. Always the traveler, never the tourist, LOL. It's a magical place, and has cast a spell over me. Our trip is still many months away but already I am GIDDY with anticipation!

And to the chemists who chose Hawaii as the conference venue --- may I hug you?

Aloha,