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Florida dreamin’: Natasha’s view (part 1)

Here’s the first of two guest posts by my friend Natasha, who visited me from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in June.

As most of you know, Jordon and I have been friends for a very long time. We initially started talking through his blog. We always spoke of meeting in person, but this summer we decided to make it a reality. This post will show you my perspective of the visit!

I awoke that morning feeling very tired and slightly confused as to why I was waking up so early. It didn’t take long for me to realize it was because I had to catch an international flight to Florida, with a layover in Toronto. I completed my morning routine, checked my suitcase to ensure I had packed everything I needed and headed out the door of my small Thunder Bay apartment with a smile on my face.

My boyfriend Kenny kindly drove me to the airport and we exchanged our bittersweet goodbyes as I headed through airport security. I knew I would miss him a lot but this break from my regular life was well needed. After boarding the plane, I still couldn’t believe I was finally going to meet Jordon and spend time with him for an entire week! I was so excited.

Once I got into Toronto, my aunt was there to pick me up. We had breakfast and spent some time together which was much better than sitting in the airport alone for a few hours. We then headed back to the airport so I could board the plane to Fort Lauderdale.

The golden sand surrounding the coast, and the bright blue water reassured me that I was finally in Florida. As soon as I stepped off the plane I could smell the difference in the air as well as feel the difference in temperature. My friend Marcy told me to expect the air to smell like heaven, and I admit, it smelled pretty darn close. I didn’t know where Jordon would be when I got off the plane but a quick text informed me that he was by the baggage claim. I walked towards the claim, searching for the face I had waited to see. It didn’t take long for me to find him in the crowd of strangers. We both were smiling ear to ear as I proceeded to pick up my enormous suitcase.

The drive to Jordon’s house from Fort Lauderdale wasn’t very long, but I did enjoy the time it gave me to chat a little with Jordon and his mom and check out to the scenery a little bit. I noticed that there were palm trees everywhere! Once we got to the house Jordon showed me where I would be staying and made a quick trip to Walgreens so I could pick up postcards to send to Kenny, a couple of my friends and family. We had dinner with Jordon’s family, and Kristen’s friend Kevin. They decided to play the Beatles Monopoly that I gave Jordon. I could feel the heaviness of my eyes from my day of travels and decided to give them a rest.

The next morning, we decided to go shopping in Boca Raton which was amazing! I brought a lot of clothes with me, but wasn’t really sure what to expect. I ended up buying a couple dresses and lighter clothes than what I had brought. We spent most of the day shopping, and after a few hours I knew Jordon wanted to go home. Shopping with girls can’t be that enjoyable, although he insisted that he was having fun. When returning back to the house we had dinner. Jordon’s mom and dad made some amazing meals while I was there. Jordon, Kristen, Kristen’s friend Nathalie and I then went to the beach and enjoyed some night swimming, and wandering around the pier. We left shortly after, and headed to Mizner Park for some frozen yogurt. Not only did we enjoy frozen yogurt, but we also had a lot of fun taking lots of pictures. That was one thing Jordon made sure of. I definitely did not want to forget a single moment on my visit.

When I woke up the next morning (Tuesday), I was pretty tired from all the fun shenanigans we had the prior night. Later in the afternoon we went to Taco Bell with Jordon’s friend Andy and Kristen. I had never had Taco Bell before and I fully enjoyed it. It wouldn’t be the first time I had Taco Bell during my visit. Muah ha ha. We decided to go to IKEA, which was insane! I loved seeing all the diverse furniture and household accessories, we ended up taking a ton of pictures that I absolutely adore. We then went to Las Olas which was beautiful. We had a lot of fun playing with this really rad fountain that you were able to control with motion sensors. Laughs were had and more photos were taken. We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner; I think I almost died from amazing food overload. We walked around Las Olas after dinner, took more pictures and then decided to call it a night.