Our Florida Christmas

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and hopefully some extra time off to spend with your loved ones! My husband and I were lucky to have a whole week off for Christmas and although I was hoping for a little more down time, it was such a great week and not at all like the frozen Northern Christmases I'm used to!

After a few (ahem... seven) hours in the car and a quick stop in Gainesville (our alma mater, more on that tomorrow!), we finally made it to my in-laws and enjoyed our first full day with them boating and fishing in Sarasota Bay. Our day was made possible thanks to a fantastic organization based in Sarasota, the Special Day Foundation, which provides opportunities for children and adults with special needs or disabilities to experience a boat tour (among other things) with their family.

Ringling Bridge ahead

My brother-in-law has Spina Bifida, so since this was the first time in a while that the whole family was in town together, my Mother-in-law set everything up for us with the organization. He absolutely loved it and I think the fact that Steve and his sister were there with him was icing on the cake. The boat was large enough for his wheelchair so he was comfortable, we all caught fish (with the help of a great Captain), and it was an absolutely perfect day on the water. The Captain even fileted our fish and we cooked it up for lunch... I honestly can't speak highly enough of him or the Foundation!

I'm clearly not much of a fisherwoman (is that even a word?) since I refuse to touch the bait or the fish. I did get the hang of casting by the end of the day and a little sun on my pasty winter skin. Steve was the last to catch a fish and ended up with just one... which had me feeling pretty good about my 4! Ha!

The rest of our week was filled with family time, Facetime with my family up North, a quick trip to the always gorgeous Siesta Key Beach, fried hot dogs at our favorite spot on the water, the Old Salty Dog, and some shopping and macarons at Le Macaron in St. Armands Circle. If you're ever in the Sarasota area, please don't miss any of these spots!

As great as our week was, its so nice to be back home and get back into the swing of things. I'm not planning on taking down any directions until next week, when I conjure up the energy to do a little pre-spring cleaning and reorganization. I also just can't get over the fact that Christmas is over and 2013 is coming to an end!

So how was your Christmas week?! Anyone else feel totally sad about the holiday season ending, or are you happy to be done with all the craziness?