I had a good day today. A really good day. I woke up at 6 am to head out for a run. I hit the beach with no music, no set goals/pace, and no plan. I ran with just my thoughts, God, and the sound of the ocean in my ears.

I had time for four slower, steady miles again to process some thoughts and simply be with myself. At the end of my run, I happened to come across two very special people – Peter and Makenzie. We strolled the beach a little longer together before coming in for breakfast. I once again had my favorite bowl of oatmeal and some refreshing iced coffee.

Something about iced coffee tastes that much more refreshing at the beach. I savored it over a chill morning before getting ready for a special lunch date I had planned for later.

Julie and I have been buddies through the online world even before we both began blogging. Last year, when we knew we would be in closer proximity, we made sure to get together for a lunch. We had such a great time and needed to continue that tradition again when I came to Florida this year. And luckily, two other friends managed to add to the fun as well – Meghann and Kelly! I couldn’t wait to get the chance to meet both of them for the first time since we have bonded online for so long.

We met up at the Virgin Olive Market in Orlando for a lot of girl talk and sandwiches.

We were all ready to eat so hit up the order counter right after my arrival. I ordered the “Laughing Uncello” sandwich, which included turkey breast, provolone cheese, fresh basil, tomato & onion with a sundried tomato aioli all pressed on focaccia bread.

The sundried tomato aioli made this sandwich. Also, the focaccia. Without a doubt, focaccia makes a good sandwich. I loved every bite…and I do mean every bite. I ate the whole thing over the span of our almost 3 hour chat. Yep. Almost 3 hours. I would expect no less putting four women who love to share their lives and participate in such a fabulous community together. We talked blogging, relationships, Healthy Living Summit, family, running, babies, and more. I cannot wait to see them again…which luckily I won’t have to because we will all have the chance to spend more time together at HLS in August and at the Savannah RNR Race in November. Yay!

picture taken from Meghann because mine was super blurry

Hanging out with blog friends never fails to provide a lot of wonderful conversation, laughs, and plain ole fun. Next year hopefully I will remember to plan ahead enough to make it a bigger meet-up. More bloggers just means more fun!

• What do you love most about the blogging community?

Our annual family vacation doesn’t officially begin for me until our first family dinner.

We have visited the same group of restaurants on our yearly vacations for the 25+ years we have gathered in Daytona Beach. The group has seen some come and some go, but regardless we always have a nice-sized crew to enjoy our meals together. Last night we took our first dinner outing at Park’s – one of my grandfather’s favorites.

After perusing the menu, nothing really stood out to me for my dinner. Since I couldn’t make up my mind, I ended up deciding to split a couple of dishes with my lovely sister.

I actually really like sharing dishes with someone because then I can sample more than one thing. Too bad both dishes weren’t too appealing.

We split an order of broiled scallops in a spinach hollandaise sauce and crab stuffed shrimp. The scallops ended up a little flavorless and the stuffed shrimp had very little crab meat. Meh. At least the margaritas were good.

Wait. Make that great.

I ended up with two…and a slight buzz. I couldn’t turn down a second. These were perfect. They had quite the bite to them, which I love. I hate a super-sweet, mix-tasting margarita. Give me the tequila por favor. Ahem. When on vacation, right? 😉

Now that we had the official beginning to our vacation, we could wake up today and get a jump on our beach action. We hit the beach early, around 8 am, in order to get in a decent amount of beach time.

For the record, I don’t think a sweeter picture exists than this little moment I captured….

After getting sufficiently sandy (seriously how do kids get sand basically caked into their skin?!), we headed in for lunch and naps. With two little ones we sadly end up spending a few of our mid-day hours indoors. Although since I have to embrace my pale ways, it works. It also gives me ample time to prepare (and share) a delicious lunch.

At the beach, I must have a light and refreshing lunch. Today’s made my stomach all sorts of happy. I had a sandwich made with ham, swiss cheese, avocado, spinach, tomato, and mustard. Along with cherries and carrots.

I about busted out a happy dance in the grocery store when I saw these cherries on sale. I scored them for $2.24/lb – way better than the $4/lb I typically find. I will relish these little balls of fruit this week. Just as I plan to relish the sand and waves. Time for more beach fun! And a crazy evening tonight. It will include costumes, funny stories, and food from the 1940s. You just wait.

• Is there a certain grocery item you love but will only buy when a good deal?
• Do you like sharing meals or ordering your own thing?