Back on Home Turf

I have to say traveling between Florida and California is quite a tiring experience. I am not sure I ever recovered from the jet lag I experienced when I arrived in Long Beach and coming back did not help. Oh well, at least I am finally safe and sound back in Florida ready to adjust back to normal time until I have to uproot myself all over again next month.

For my 9:00am flight this morning out of LAX the conceierge suggested I take the 6:20am shuttle from Long Beach in case of any traffic or delays due to multiple hotel pick ups. I had no of intention missing my flight so I followed her orders and was waiting at the curb at 6:20am on the dot to catch my ride.

I went for the quick and easy breakfast on the ride over, chowing down on one of my pre-packed cereal mixes and an Apple from my gift basket.

The mix consisted of 1/2 cup Graduate Meghann’s Cereal Mix, 1/2 cup Kashi H2H, and 1/4 cup Meg’s Tropical Jammin Mix. It’s funny because I used to swear by dry cereal because I did not like milk, but then I discovered cereal and yogurt and cereal without it just is not the same.

The shuttle ride was relatively quick and bumpy. We made it to the airport well before 7:00 and I had more then enough time to get to my gate and enjoy some wi-fi.

I was lucky enough to have another direct flight from LAX to Orlando. It’s great because I do not have to worry about lugging my carry ons all around another airport, but sucks because I am stuck in an airplane for 5 hours. Luckily I had a window seat this time and a Netflix movie to entertain me.

This time my movie was Cadillac Records - a movie based on the music scene of Chicago in the 1950s. Honestly, it kind of blew. It was long, boring and really hard to follow along.

At the blogger meet up last night Ashley was kind enough to bring the group a batch of her Homemade Granola Bars.

These were actually the exact same granola bars she had donated to my first Blogging Bake Sale back in February. I am not sure I have ever had a homemade granola bar before and was excited to try a square after I had boarded the plane.

The bar was chock full of yummy dried fruit, nuts and granola. I loved it! It was the perfect airplane treat.

I had also brought along on the plane my left overs from Avanti last night.

I did not want to just let the great food go to waste so I had save them for lunch on the plane. They actually kept really well and all of the wonderful flavors were still there. Much better then any airplane food I could have picked up along the way.

With the left over Pizza I also enoyed left over Sprinkles Cupcakes.

There was about a total of a half of a cupcake left. These truly are some of the most flavorful cupcakes I have ever tried. The peanut butter cupcake was my favorite and reminded me of a Reeses in cupcake form.

I was impressed by the Mother and daughter who had the seats next to mine. Besides the little girl’s 2 pack of gum she consumed during the flight, her mother provided her with healthy organic snacks the whole flight. I hope to be able to have the same approach when feeding my daughter one day.

When the flight landed I was so tired and ready to go home, but I had to head home and pick Abbie up fro my parent’s. Apparently Abbie has been a little depressed the past couple of days missing me so she was overjoyed when I walked in the door.

Once I arrived at my parent’s house I knew I was not going to be able to make it back to my place so I decided to stay for dinner and a bed.

My Dad was kind enough to also pick up a bottle of my favorite kind of wine.

I enjoyed a glass while helping prepare dinner.

For dinner I really wanted Tofu, I had my Dad pick up some extra firm Tofu at Publix and I baked it using the Gliding Calm Rub. I also took the Gliding Calm rub ingredients and made a stir fry sauce out of it as well.

My Dad and I went a little crazy throwing every veggie imaginable in the mix so I am not sure I can remember what exactly is in it. I do know on the bottom I had some brown rice then the veggie mix, baked tofu and some crunchy chow mein pieces.

It felt really great to have a home cooked meal after a week of eating out. I enjoyed my portion and snacked on a few of the veggies that were still sitting on the stove top.

I also felt I had been missing fresh fruit today so for dessert I enjoyed a nice big bowl of fresh Strawberries.

These were exactly what the doctor ordered.

Right now I can barely keep my eyes open and am in desperate need of a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow morning I have plans of getting up nice and early to complete the 15 miles I missed with my running group today. Let’s home I survive it!

On a much sadder note….

I want to express my sincere condolences to the courageous Jenna and her family after the passing of her younger brother, John. My heart aches for my dear friend in her time of need. I ask we all keep Jenna and her family in our thoughts and prayers. Jenna needs out love and support more now then ever.