I Wish You Were Here

Dustin saw that Incubus was coming to Tampa for their Morning View tour a few months back. We decided to go and to also ask Pat and Jessica if they wanted to join us. We all figured since the show was on the Tuesday after Labor Day we might as well make a little trip out of it since traveling to and from Tampa is always such a cluster. 

We got there on Monday afternoon, checked into the hotel, and met up with the Bunce's to figure out what we were going to do for the evening. Pat's idea was an escape room and then Dustin came out of left field with a Tampa Bay Rays game. See what I did there? 

Next thing we knew we were off to eat at Engine No. 09, where Jessica and I shared the biggest corndog I've ever seen. It was right down the road from Tropicana Field so a real quick drive over to the game. I have only ever been to one MLB game and that was in Pittsburgh. Ahh memories of the prettiest view of the river, pierogis, and ice cream in a little plastic baseball hat. The Rays do not have the fanbase that the Pirates have even though I've heard they both suck on equal levels. But one thing about Pittsburgh sports is the fans will always show up no matter what; the same cannot be said for Florida teams unfortunately. I don't follow baseball so I only know what others tell me. However, it was very clear by the ghost town of a stadium how sad the fan base is. There were so many empty seats that it hardly felt like a professional baseball game, but that also meant tickets were cheap and getting in/out was really easy.  

Larnach on the Minnesota Twins hit a home run and the ball ended up smacking a guy in our section. He tried to catch it without a glove and it ended up bouncing off his hands into his face. I was shocked, as seen below in the screenshot I took of the video that was posted on SportsCenter. This poor guy bled all over the place and had to have a medical team come help him out which was followed by a clean up team. After that happened I gasped (probably annoyingly so to all baseball fans) every time a ball was in our vicinity (aka any time someone hit the ball). I kept picturing the Marcia Brady scene where she gets hit in the face with the football. No thank you.

Towards the end of the game we walked around on the hunt for ice cream. We found a cart but then were told they only had chocolate. We kept trekking on a mission around the empty halls of the stadium as if we were on our way to Mordor. We finally found another ice cream cart and I got to add to my plastic baseball cap collection. 

Once back in our seats, we noticed the guy who got hit in the face had come back to watch the remainder of the came. Trevor Larnach, the outfielder that got the homer, talked to him in between batters. He was glad that he was ok and offered to sign his bat. All was well. 

 

The following morning we went out to breakfast at the Oxford Exchange. Jessica had a few places on her list and this restaurant was one of them. We were very confused by the building at first because when you walk in, there is a book store (Katie and I had this on our list next Tampa trip), then you walk down a hall and there is this open two story hang out area where people were sprawled out with laptops, books, and coffee. We were all thinking um is there even a restaurant in this building? We asked someone and they directed us to the back corner. It was a good size restaurant but kind of hidden with no signage. We were under the impression it was a standalone restaurant not a whole thing.  

I got breakfast bread which consisted of carrot pound cake, walnuts, raisins, and cream cheese glaze. I wanted something I hadn't had before, and I haven't had essentially carrot cake for breakfast. It was delightful. I even brought half home and nibbled on it for the next day. The boys were barely alive during breakfast since they are not morning people but we all enjoyed ourselves regardless. 

The bill came in the middle of a random old book that had doodles and signatures all over the pages. Dustin left his mark on page 66. They also gave us little bookmarks with a different quote on each one. There were such nice details in the whole experience including the decor and aesthetic!  

Just outside the restaurant is a cute little shop of random home goods. We perused around the rest of the building taking in all of it's old charm and beautifully crafted remodel before making our way to the Dali. 

     

I have had The Dalí Museum on my list for years so it was cool to finally get the chance to take it all in. The building itself is really neat architecturally, both inside and out.  

I enjoyed Dali's floral fantasies exhibit but the real standout was most certainly Lincoln in Dalivision. He has so many large scale pieces where the longer you look at it the more you notice something new, but this one in particular was really something to marvel. He was known for his mustache and there were little nods to it all over the property. I joked to Dustin "He really would have really loved the mustache trend of 2012."

We grabbed some snacks from Publix and headed back to the hotel for a little nap, well at least Jessica and I did; the boys drove to some music store. The four of us reunited for dinner at Armature Works which is my personal favorite food hall that I've been to. Katie and I went years ago after a comedy show and it was great, so I wanted everyone else to experience it while we were in town. It was really hard to narrow down what I wanted because in reality, I wanted it all, but I ended up going with a walking taco from Muchachas. It was PHENOMENAL. No notes. Chef's kiss!

We headed to Amalie Arena for the grand finale of our trip. It was bumper to bumper traffic getting in the damn garage but par for the course. It also had started raining but my emergency ponchos once again came in very handy while we walked across the street. Meanwhile, in the women's restroom there were some poor ladies wringing out their drenched hair over the sink. Not Jessica and I! PONCHOS FOR LIFE.

Coheed and Cambria went on first and were really great. I've never been a die-hard fan of theirs but definitely a regular one and enjoyed their set. Incubus came out and played Morning View in its entirety and other hits - except for Stellar. How do you leave that one off the setlist? We still had a stellar time regardless. There is nothing better than good music and great friends. 

 

More Coheed/Incubus here. 

Recently

Listening to:

✨Chappell Roan

Yes, yes I've finally stopped living under a fucking rock. I have to give Nicole all the credit because it was back in May when she texted me "Have you heard of Chappell Roan?". I am embarrassed to admit that I had not. Then I went over to her house for a lil dinner party days later and all that was playing was Chappell. So I made a mental note (and an actual note because I can't remember shit) to follow up with her when I was ready to move on from TTPD. Sorry not sorry that TTPD had me in a chokehold for months. I couldn't listen to anything else. I TRIED and I'd get half a song in and boom I was down bad crying at the gym...yet again. But then in July I watched/listened to the music video for Casual. Nicole started it and Casual completed my transformation into a Midwest Princess. I immediately bought The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. It is a perfect album. Chef's kiss. No notes. I listened to that sucker on repeat for a month. That was until...

(I also have listened to School Nights and while it is good, it doesn't come close to Midwest Princess in production, lyricism, and musicality. Also I read on a reddit post someone called it "cursive" singing which is a perfect way to describe it. Very Billie Eilish. Very one-note. Very fine. I, too, am glad she found her own voice.)

I heard you like magic

I got a wand and a rabbit

-Red Wine Supernova

Knee deep in the passenger seat and you're eating me out

Is it casual now?

-Casual

It's comical, bridges you burn

Karma's real, hope it's your turn

-My Kink Is Karma

New crush, high school love again

The rush of slumber party kissing

I'd love if you knew you were on my mind

Constant like cicadas in the summertime

-Naked in Manhattan

I want this like a cigarette

Can we drag it out and never quit?

-Guilty Pleasure

And when you wake up next to him in the middle of the night

With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife

And when you think about me, all of those years ago

You're standing face to face with "I told you so"

-Good Luck, Babe!

✨Sabrina Carpenter

I've been a Sabrina fan since her Girl Meets World days. She was easily the stand out on that show with her sharp tongue and Shawn-like tendencies. I've kept up with her here and there since the show went off the air with new music she'd release but wasn't necessarily wowed. However, I did really enjoy some of her Christmas songs. I saw her pal around with Taylor as an opener on various dates for The Eras Tour. I was always like good for you girl! I was happy to see all of her success when the world lost it over Espresso, albeit not for me. But then Please, Please, Please was released and again was hooked by the music video. Are yinz watching music videos still? You should. Because I am and it can totally change the way I feel about a song. PPP was added to my rotation immediately. It wasn't but a few weeks later that her whole ass album was released along with, you guessed it, another music video - this time for Taste. Oh I was HOOKED. Then I gave the rest of the album an ol' once over and that girl didn't miss, well except for Espresso, but I think I'm the only one who doesn't like that song. And who the fuck am I? An almost 40 year old cat lady. A nobody! So I don't even count. I just switch out Busy Woman (her bonus track) for Espresso and VOILA an A+ album. I love that it's a perfect mix of pop, 90s R&B, and country. You'd never think those three stylings would work but boy do they! Her country adjacent songs are what I was hoping to hear from Kacey's latest album - but nope. I'm still bitter over the let down Deeper Well is. Ok back to Sabrina, she also worked with some of Taylor's faves, so no wonder I dig it so much. 

Well, I have a fun idea, babe, maybe just stay inside

I know you're cravin' fresh air, but the ceiling fan is so nice

And we could live so happily if no one knows that you're with me

-Please Please Please

We were goin' right, then you took a left
Left me with a lot of shit to second-guess
Guess I'll waste another year wondering if
If that was casual, then I'm an idiot

-Sharpest Took

You're so sad there's no communication
But, baby, you put us in this situation
And I promise the mushrooms aren't changing your life

Well, you cracked the car and abandoned the wreckage
Fuck with my head like it's some kind of fetish

-Dumb & Poetic

This boy doesn't even know the difference between "there", "their", and "they are"

-Slim Pickins

You don't have to lie to girls

If they like you, they'll just lie to themselves

We love to mistake butterflies for cardiac arrest

-Lie to Girls

So much to shave and lipstick to reapply
Maybe for you, though, I could accommodate

-Busy Woman

Both of these women have unleashed their clever ass lyrics, unapologetic sexuality, and beautiful voices into the world with these two banger albums and I am so here of it. 

Ate: August's Finer Things Club meet-up was at Chuan Fu in Winter Park. It went exactly how they always do - we laughed a lot, we ate a lot, and as per usual Rob was late and ordered enough food for all of Orlando. The only difference is now he looks like he is about to start a cult. 

Read: Quite the variety as of late. 

I absolutely love Rainbow Rowell (I mean, Dustin won't let me live down the time I met her at the Orlando Public Library and nerdily said "I've read all of your books.") and was super excited when she announced Slow Dance earlier this year. She's been focusing on graphic novels and comics in recent years so it was extra exciting that a new adult fiction book was on the horizon. Of course I read it within a week of its release. It's a second chance romance, will they/won't they that flashes back to high school and college moments to understand how these two characters are in their 30s and not together. It was no my favorite of hers but still solid as hell and really enjoyable. 

Anna Tendler's Men Have Called Her Crazy is another I've been waiting months and months for. It's a modern day Girl, Interrupted of sorts; where she recounts her stay at a psychiatric hospital and in doing so looks back on the ding dong men she has encountered throughout her life. I enjoyed this book immensely as I am such a champion of mental health and it's worth a read just in that regard. However, I would be lying if I said I was super disappointed that her ex-husband (you know, the one that left her for Olivia Munn) did not get a single chapter and barely a mention at all. This huge part of her life seems pretty pivotal to the whole theme of the book. It left me wondering why she chose this. Did she sign an NDA in the divorce? Was it just too soon to really delve into? Or maybe she just didn't want to give him any more attention.

I have had Crescent City on my Kindle for at least six months. I started to read it and was overwhelmed within the first few pages so I told myself some other time. Then my co-worker started reading it at the urging of her cousin and flew through the 800+ page book and told me I better try it again. FINE. So I have. I'm about 20% in and I'm enjoying it a lot. However, the first part of the book was A LOT in different ways and then just gut punched me. So I was honestly a little annoyed. But this is the same author of the ACOTAR series ,which I loved, so I am trusting all things will come together. I mean, I still have like 600 pages to go. HA! Many of my fellow ACOTAR girlies have said they love the Crescent City series even more so. I will report back once I'm finished. 

Watched: More lovely British shows. I just can't ever get enough. Extraordinary is so clever and hilarious. It follows a 20 something woman who has yet to get her superpower in a world where just about everyone has one. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is based on the book (although I never read the book and now that I saw the show probably never will) of the same name. It's a quick (only 6 ep) mystery/thriller about a teenage girl investigating a murder of another teenage girl. 

    

And circling back to music videos, it was thanks to Sabrina Carpenter's Taste video that I finally watched Death Becomes Her. This camp classic from 1992 has always been on my radar but for some sad reason I had never had a chance to watch it. So I found it on Amazon and enjoyed it quite a lot. The casting is superb and the themes are ever so relevant as many scramble toward botox and surgeries to keep up their youthful appearance while unfortunately, a lot of the time, to their own detriment. But we all have to do what makes us feel the best and if it's drinking an ancient potion so you can battle it out with your sworn nemesis in a mansion - so be it!