Home » Home Decor » You know you’re in Florida when…

You know you’re in Florida when…

You know you’re in Florida when…

the gas station convenience store looks like this:

You know you're in Florida when...  Florida Citrus Center visit.  By The Thinking Closet

And instead of boasting the typical collection of sunglasses and keychains, you’ve got an array of citrus and alligators to choose from.

You know you're in Florida when...  Florida Citrus Center visit.  By The Thinking Closet

One of my husband’s college friends (and one of our groomsmen), Brent, was in town and stayed with us over the weekend.  Doesn’t he have the best cheshire-cat-smile?

You know you're in Florida when...  Florida Citrus Center visit.  By The Thinking Closet

We took him on a surprise “road trip” up to Ocala, Mark’s hometown.  On the way, we needed a pit stop and came across this vortex of Florida culture at the Indian River Florida Citrus Center.  As I’ve only been living in the Sunshine State for seven months, I took in the sights, sounds, and smells like any tourist would and snapped a slew of photos on my phone that I just had to share with y’all.

You know you're in Florida when...  Florida Citrus Center visit.  By The Thinking Closet You know you're in Florida when...  Florida Citrus Center visit.  By The Thinking Closet

I’ve always been one to delight in the idiosyncrasies of other cultures…and now, that “other” culture is becoming my own!  We departed from the Florida Citrus Center with smiles on our faces and a bag of ruby red grapefruits in tow.  Hooray for vitamin C.

Some of you may have seen on instagram that I posted a couple other pics from our weekend adventures that I’ll share here:

My father-in-law took us all on a helicopter ride around Ocala and the surrounding region.  It was absolutely breathtaking to see the world from the sky.  The photo of Mark and me was taken at 1500 feet.

You know you're in Florida when....  Helicopter Ride.  By The Thinking Closet

After, we enjoyed a fantastic meal at my in-laws’ house…and I snuck into my M.I.L.’s guest room to snap a picture of her amazing hot drink station, inspired by ours, which was inspired by Denice, Brent’s aunt.  Ah, the circle of life inspiration!

Guest Room Hot Drinks Station by my M.I.L. Rachael - The Thinking Closet

The grand finale to the weekend was that I got to flex those acting muscles which have been a bit dormant in recent years, performing on the stage as Ruth from the Old Testament in our church’s weekly theatre production.  We reimagined Ruth into modern times with modern slang and garb.  My favorite part was entering while dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”  Does it get more fun than that?  In our sketch, Ruth was interviewed by her b.f.f., “Donna the D.J,” about why she decided to stick by her mother-in-law, Naomi, even through the tough times when their husbands died.  Ruth is such an amazing example of determination…and I aspire to be as loyal as she was.

Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Ruth 1:16

Lauren as Ruth with Donna the D.J. in B.C.L. - The Thinking Closet

Welp, that was my eventful weekend.  Suffice it to say, I’m exhausted, but in the best sense.  The sense that you are living life to the full.

How about you?  What were the moments of joy (big or small) for you this past weekend?

Smiles,

This is Lauren, signing off.

Blog Divider - The Thinking Closet

P.S.  My new camera cord arrived to replace the one on strike, so I’ll be back in business soon enough with some more tutorials for you, lovelies!  Stay tuned for a furniture makeover this week and a new “About” page along with a guide for how to give yours a little revamp, too.

|

30 Comments

  1. I love your humor! Brent so looks like the Cheshire Cat in that pic!!! I think you need that gator crossing tee. You might have to bloody up your stomach in order to wear it though. 😉

    That is so cool that your mother-in-law was inspired by you! I’m a bit jealous. I think I need a hot drinks station. I’ve actually pinned a few to my pinterest board, but never thought of setting one up in the guest room! What a lovely place for one!

    Hugs!!!!

    1. Ha ha! Bethany, I’m glad you see the Cheshire Cat! He always has that wonderful grin on his face.

      And I’m not sure I could pull off that gator crossing tee – – or that I want to! I get so freaked out by blood, I think it’d be tortuous to wear (though hysterical). Maybe for Halloween?

      We’re loving the hot drinks station…so if you have the raw materials already, I highly recommend it. We actually have very little space in our kitchen as it is, so moving the Keurig into the guest room along with the supplies really helped practically. Also, our guests have LOVED it. I’m sure you’d arrange yours beautifully, Bethany. That’s just your way.

  2. What a rich and full weekend you had! Thanks for taking us along with you! Some of my favorite things from this past weekend were a Nacho Libre night at the Lismore House (complete with Chipotle and other Mexican tasties) and catching up on my sister’s beautiful blog!

    1. Nacho Libre night with Mexican tasties sounds like a blast! Mark and I re-watched that recently, and I was reminded of so many great quotes from that movie.

      “Nacho: Chancho. When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It’s for fun.” Love Jack Black. Love him singing “Incarnacion.” (Although Adam’s rendition at your birthday party is definitely up there.)

  3. Welcome to my home state.. glad you enjoyed all our crazy quirks. 🙂 I’ve heard that Marco Island is a wonderful place. Never been there myself, but it’s not that far of a drive for me to get there. Maybe I’ll be able to visit one day for a quick weekend getaway.

    1. Bekka Poo, thanks for the welcome to Florida! I’m very much enjoying life as a Floridian…and all of its quirks! Marco Island sounds like a place I need to get to someday…especially since I’m a beach girl at heart.

    1. Yay! How cool that you lived in Florida for a year. We’re really thankful to be here – – closer to Mark’s family and my grandparents – – and of course, the sun’s here quite often, so that’s another great perk! 😉

  4. I remember those gas stations the few times we visited Florida. Though I can do without dead carcasses. There is a possibility we’ll be visiting Florida again in April but we’re undecided.

    1. Believe me, Aubrey, I can do without them, too. It was a bit disturbing. And Florida is supposedly LOVERLY in April…I think it’s usually by the end of May when it starts getting really HOT. Hope you can make the trip over!

  5. lovely post, glad you had a good time! love your last picture 🙂 you guys look so cute! I love Florida, I’ve only been once when I was 13 but I remember it very well, being from Montreal (cold, cold place), I would love to visit it again! 🙂 Have a great week Lauren !

    1. Thanks, Ingrid! I had a lot of fun dressing wild for our performance on Sunday…I secretly want to dress like that every day! Tee hee. I visited Montreal as a kid…but I’d love to do a tour of Canada now as an adult – – maybe even a road trip. 🙂

    1. I was definitely tuckered out by Sunday evening…and slept hard last night! I’m not used to going going going so much anymore. And I was glad to share your post. It’s something that I think a lot of us wonder about, and you helped provide some practical and sound advice. Thank you! (For anyone else reading, Michelle wrote a post called 10 Ways to Help a Mom in Mourning. Check it out!)

  6. Wow that is one full eventful weekend. Looks like so much fun! I would love to visit Florida one day! Thanks for sweet comment on my desk post, you are awesome!

    1. Yes, do add Florida to your bucket list…it’s a great place to come in the cold of winter. And you are so welcome! I was floored by your amazing desk and handy-woman skills. Talk about turning trash into treasure!

  7. Honestly if I had to choose a State to live in (remember I am a good ole’ Canuck) it would be Florida. Ok maybe New Orleans too. Possibly Boston. We grew up going to visit FL around Naples and Fort Myers on vacations which weren’t big touristy spots back in the day vs Orlando or Tampa. And the funny thing is as children my husbands family did the same thing, sometimes at the same time in the same area. I often wonder if we ever came across each others as kids on the same beach and never even realized it. I love FL’s fresh fish and seafood and just the taste from everything is so much fresher than by the time it gets to us, it’s incomparable. Love this post Lauren! It made me smile as we’re planning a vacation there for this summer.

    1. Alex, I LOVE your LOVE of Florida…and eagerly anticipate your visit in hopes of “bumping” into you at a thrift store or coffee shop. I already feel like you’re an old friend.

      And how fun to imagine the possibility that you and your hubby might have crossed paths as children…perhaps sharing a shovel at the beach or waiting in line together for ice cream. My parents have a similar wondering, as they both grew up in neighboring towns and my Dad even journaled about visiting the Alliance church in White Plains to see a movie…and that was my grandfather’s church where he pastored! It’s very likely my Mom was at that same event. So serendipitous!

      And you’ll be happy to know that I’m growing in my appreciation for seafood. My husband cooks a mean salmon and recently made a yummy scallop taco dish. (He loves ALL things seafood…even squid.)

  8. hahah I love it! We went up to Ocala a few weeks ago and stopped for gas and yup, there were lots of oranges and gators too! The one we stopped at advertised a 14 foot gator! Intrigued, I went inside and asked about it. The woman pointed to the corner, where a large, stuffed gator sat, surrounded by lots of tiny gator heads. The sign never advertised that the gator was alive…

    Glad you got to be on stage again! I know that’s one of your passions (and you’re so good at it too!), so it makes me smile that you performed this weekend!

    1. Ha ha! So fun to hear your story of a similar experience with Florida gas stations and the citrus and alligator phenomenon. You wonder how many people that gas station enticed off of the highway with a promise of seeing a 14 foot live gator!

      And thanks for sharing in my joy over getting back on the boards again, Steph. It was such a rush! And got me back to the heart of why I so love to perform…especially when it’s comedy. There’s nothing quite like getting an audience to laugh uproariously.

  9. Lauren, thank you for sharing your wonderful weekend with us! I really enjoyed the tour of a Florida road trip. A lot of it reminded me of Texas, except replace citrus with something cattle related! That helicopter ride looked amazing! Also, let your MIL know if she ever needs a guest, I’d be happy to feel at home in her guest space with drink station. Yum!

    Lovin’ the Ruth costume, or at least I’m assuming it’s a costume? The verse you shared from Ruth is very special to me as it was on my parents’ wedding invitation and my mom has always passed it down to me as well.

    The best part of my weekend was taking my little crew shopping for Western wear for the upcoming Go Texan festivities this week. I have some sewing plans up my sleeve for embellishments as well. They were just too cute in their little cowboy hats, pearl snap shirts and boots, working it for the camera when we got home while playing “bad” cowboys and “good” cowboys! Those little city kids…

    1. Ha ha…I’ll be sure to let my M.I.L. know that! She is such a great hostess, that I know she’d love to have you. 😉

      And yes, that was a costume, although every single item is from my wardrobe – – just never combined in quite that fashion. That’s one of my favorite verses, as well, and so applicable to marriage.

      Your western wear shopping trip sounds like so much fun! I could totally get into that myself (I have a pair of cowgirl boots I like to rock…and I’ve always had a lot for western shirts with those precious pearl snaps). And I’d love to see pics from your photo shoot of your city kids turned cowboys and cowgirl. Holy cuteness, Batman!

Your comments make my day!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *