We had a much needed mini-vacation in Orlando last weekend, and it really hit the spot.
The impetus was that GOST was playing at Will's Pub on Sunday (his only FL show), but we decided to stay the whole weekend and enjoy ourselves a bit. Got a good deal on a nice hotel downtown, packed a couple bags, and bussed it back to our home away from home. It felt weird being there as an official "visitor," but also really good to be back after several months away. Orlando is brimming with ridiculously good food and stuff to do (amazing veg*n food options and quirky hangouts abound), and there are easily a few dozen places within a 2 mile radius of our hotel that we would have loved to visit. BUT we were only there for 2 days, and didn't want to splurge too much, so we pretty much only visited a few convenient spots, & some new places that popped up since we left. Saturday we did a little hotel room pre-gaming (as evidenced by the impromptu sink cooler) to save some $ on drinks while out and about, hit up Shakai Sushi for their happy hour, and finally went to the much-anticipated Joysticks Arcade Lounge and Retro Bar. If you are in Orlando, you need to check them out; decent drink prices, awesome atmosphere, and a bunch of vintage arcade games to play for F R E E (Well, for the price of your drinks. I am sure they want you to buy stuff while you're there). We left after a bit, then wandered around downtown for awhile, and then headed back to the hotel to chill. Sunday we got a bit of a late start, left the hotel and went to get some pizza from the new downtown Lazy Moon (a favorite local pizzeria) location. We enjoyed some fan-fucking-tastic pizza, and the $1 draft PBRs didn't hurt, either. ^__^ Did some more meandering in the Mills/50 neighborhood, visited an Orlando dive-bar institution, endured some of the Super Bowl by proxy, got hungry and walked over to Hawkers Asian Street Fare. We initially went bc we R E A L L Y wanted their 5-spice fries. Alas, we arrived and were informed they no longer serve them. U__U So we got some delicious, spicy vegetarian Tom Yum, & some Tofu Lettuce Wraps instead (I *promise* they would make any meat-eater happy). After our snack we headed over to Will's, since doors were at 8pm, got our wristbands and then left until the first act, a local artist Moondragon, came on around 9pm. He was great, but the second act, whom won't be named, thought LOUDER = BETTER (our resulting tinnitus says they're wrong), but fortunately the bar allowed re-entry, so we could come and go as we pleased during the shows. GOST was the headliner, so he went on last, and fuckin' killed it. I don't know how someone can jump around and interact with the audience as much as he did while wearing a fucking latex mask and leather jacket, but I was very impressed. Awesome show all-around, though I was hoping for some of his badass visuals on the projector screen behind him. Maybe he wasn't prepared for smaller venues to be equipped for that. *shrugs* Still metal AF. After the show, we walked to grab some coffee before retrieving our luggage at the hotel, and embarking on the journey back home. Yes, we left Orlando at 3am. Why pay for another night at a hotel? Our little trip was short, but so fucking sweet. We love you, Orlando! <3
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I find it important to stay focused on goals that may seem far off in the distance; it is critical that I remember what it is I am striving for so I don't lose my resolve.
In that spirit, I created several Pinterest boards to keep me on task and inspired (and also to keep things I come across relatively organized and easy to find later). One board is for places/routes once we are on the road, one for ideas/tips for when we are building out and converting our vehicle-turned-home-on-wheels, one pertaining specifically to traveling with our fur-kids, one for nature/survival/camping tips (since we are originally urbanites), and another for cheap and easy (but of course yummy!) meals we can make in a variety of locations that may be less than ideal for traditional cooking. They are like digital vision boards and file cabinets all in one! If you would like to follow us on Pinterest to check out what we've been pinning, please do! And if you happen to have any great must-see destinations, tips on van living, camping, etc. we would love to hear about it in the comments! :) Now, back to putting in the groundwork for our big plans. I am now on my final day of juicing, and definitely looking forward to eating solid foods again after a week of nothing but liquids. I have lost about 10lbs already, so I am pretty hyped!
F A B U L O U S In other news, I am making a fresh batch of homemade tempeh today! (for those of you not familiar with tempeh, heres an FYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh) It might sound and/or look a bit weird/unappetizing, but I assure you it is both delicious and healthy. And, of course, veg*n! I also made some homemade energy bars/granola yesterday, and I am pretty pleased with the results; one is a savory crunchy granola (bc sometimes you just don't feel like something sweet), and the other is a raw vegan brownie nut bar. I haven't tasted them yet myself, but my taste-testers have given them two thumbs up! :D I have the meals all mapped out for the week, grocery shopping is done, and now all I have to do is some kitchen cleaning, tempeh making and dinner cooking. Actually, that sounds like a lot. >__> Better get back to being productive now. Every year its the same: "This is the year! I am going to do all the things! All my dreams will come true!"
And you set goals, and it all has great momentum, and everything is going heckin' good. Then mid-January/early February hits, and you lose some steam. And losing all that momentum makes you lose even more. Sometime around March, you have lost all resolve to do anything. The year is *almost over* by April, right? No sense in even trying this year. Next year will be different. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Well, I think I have had enough of all that. 2017 is the year I will make changes in my life: both big and small, and everything in-between. Starting with lifestyle changes, like fewer beer-fueled fatty-boom-boom feasts and more water drinking and salad eating; less sitting and more moving (not the kind involving UHauls, tho); less stress and more zen; less spending and more saving... You get the idea. I gave myself a delayed start so I could spend the first week of the new year cleaning up some of the deliciously decadent leftovers, and mentally preparing myself for the 2017 overhaul. Yesterday I took the first steps toward a new me. Today I am juicing, and will be for the next week or so. I am trying to focus on the end goals and not get tripped up focusing on any hurdles that I might encounter getting there. To keep myself on track, I am using several apps to log things like food, exercise, sleep, as well as daily reminders for things like reading, checking my posture, de-cluttering, *cough* blogging/social media *cough* and the like. I will also be completing a "Vision Board" soon, and posting it for inspiration for this year, and beyond. LETS DO THIS! Today marks the 4 week countdown until moving day. Nothing like a fast approaching deadline to light a fire under my ass! As a result, I've spent the better part of the day beginning to go through our stuff; offering up non-essentials to friends and relatives for first dibs, and then setting aside anything that's left to sell or donate.
It is certainly a growing experience, as a life long pack rat, to begin to part ways with things I've been unnecessarily hoarding for years. It's honestly simultaneously liberating and painful. But it is most certainly compulsory in our pursuit of a simpler, more carefree lifestyle. And that is what keeps me pushing forward, even though the task is rather daunting. Onward, toward freedom! :D
Let it be known, we love Halloween. We LOVE it. We start thinking about it in June.
Actually, if we’re being honest, we never really stop thinking about it; the intensity with which we focus on it merely waxes and wanes proportionate to our relative proximity to October 31st. That being said, when late August/early September rolls around, and the Back to School supplies start to retreat, you will find us eagerly skulking around stores searching for the first signs of Halloween stuff. Now this… passion… for objet d’Halloween has resulted in a rather impressive assortment of everything from the cute to macabre - which also creates a rather impressive corresponding dent in our September/October budget every year. For obvious reasons, both aspects of continuing to amass such a prodigious collection are counterproductive to our Van Living goals. As it is, we will have to downsize everything quite a bit, so the most logical choice would be to completely abstain from procuring any more stuff this year. We have visited a few stores so far, and perused their seasonal offerings without succumbing to any impulse purchases, but we still have another 1.5 months before we are out of the proverbial woods. Here’s hoping we can stay strong. As for resisting all the pumpkin beer... ???? Since deciding to embark on this major lifestyle change, we have slowly begun to sort through all the crap we (I) have amassed over the years. Being a lifelong packrat, I have boxes upon boxes of randomness; momentos, bits & bobs, broken stuff I intended to fix, etc. You get the idea. I can always justify keeping something for some future purpose. It has, on occasion, actually come to fruition. For the most part, however, it has not, and the stuff I hoard with the best intentions merely takes up space and collects dust.
This purging of unnecessary possessions is definitely an interesting process. I find my compulsion to keep stuff I haven't looked at, thought of, or used in months or years at odds with my innate desire to be free of these material shackles. My logical side is at war with my irrational side. But I have to focus on the end goal- living an experience-focused life on the road with only the essentials- and push forward toward making that a reality. I have decided that when our lease is up in November and we have to move, we are not bringing anything we don't need. We are starting a new chapter, and it doesn't involve hauling and storing all this crap any longer. If it doesn't fit in a 10' U-Haul, it isn't coming with us. Needless to say, we will be selling and donating a lot of things in the interim. Current estimated timeline is 6-12 months. Lets do it! |
ÁINE & CROW
We're Here. We're Queer. We Drink A Lot of Beer. Webcomic & Travel Blog filled with cats, comedy, art, surreality, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, travel, music, food, and general slice-of-life weirdness. Follow the daily lives and antics of 2 (humans?), Áine & Crow, and 4 cats, Oni, Hannya, Kitsune & Tanuki, as they prepare to travel across the country in a converted van. Archives
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