LAURA KIDD: FLORIDA LOOKS

A WELL HELLO THERE!

I think this has been the longest break from blogging I've ever taken. And I promise it was not on purpose. I literally have so much content but lacked the time to curate it.

Quick update before I tell you all about my vacation! I finished my Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training course in early June. Yay! I am now leading early morning yoga and meditation every Wednesday at Shunnya in Ottawa. I am planning a post all about that experience and I have so much to share with you so stay tuned for that! That occupied much of June. The second half was spent relaxing in the sunshine state of Florida. And with Mickey. He's my man.

Which, in a nutshell, leads me to where I am now. Finally home and sorting things out. Getting back into the groove. I also have plans for a blog makeover in the hopefully near future. It has been on my mind for a while so I am hoping to set aside some time soon to work on that.

OK! So FLORIDA! Pre-trip / days leading up: Expect the unexpected was our motto.

I have never been on a vacation that included palm trees and actual relaxation before so Rosie, my sister Lisa, and I were pretty pumped to finally put our feet up and enjoy ourselves. We are extremely blessed that Rosie's parents offered for us to stay in their beautiful condo in Florida. While we planned out our trip pretty well, we all felt like actually getting there was some sort of miracle. Let me back up. Just a few weeks before our trip, Rosie tripped and injured both ankles. Just mere hours before our trip, I couldn't find my passport and had to renew. Pro tip: if you lose your passport and someone returns it to the passport office, they will not inform you, let alone keep it for you. Just get a new one. We also got into a four hour tiff with the rental car service but that's another story for another day.

As you know, there were also two really big horrible incidents in Orlando about one week before we arrived. One being the mass shooting in the nightclub and the other being the child who was killed by a crocodile. This didn't scare us enough to not go but it definitely affected us emotionally (as did the whole world). We all grieved the loss of beautiful lives that were cut too short. While in Orlando, I really felt the sadness but also the unity that came from it. Many servers were wearing rainbow pins, we saw billboards that said #WeAreOne #PrayforOrlando and had rainbows on them, we heard radio ads about not being afraid and standing together as one. Being in Orlando just one week after made it all very real. This needs to stop and I don't know what I can do to help other than just be kind to other people and try to uplift and be positive.

Life definitely tested us and it resulted in having to work together and really hustle to make this work. With persistence, resourcefulness, and sheer luck, we made it safely to Florida.

Our actual trip was a dream come true. Quite literally. After all, Disney World is Where Dreams Come True (that's what the sign said). It was mine and Lisa's first time ever to Disney and we just about cried over everything. It is SOOOO over the top. Everything. Every park, every corner, every staff member. I was really inspired by the quality they put out. I know they have a lot of money to play with but to me, I saw more than a hefty budget. I saw true passion, hard work, dedication, and out of the box thinking. They designed the parks as if anything was possible. I just love that.

I consider myself a creative type person and so I really appreciated the work that went into all of the graphics, visuals, sound effects, and video production. It is NOT easy for even the best in the industry, and at that, there are always technical difficulties. But everything I saw went off without a hitch. Just wow.

I know I'm cheesy and think everything has a deeper meaning but I had so many grateful moments during this trip. Many times I stopped to just look around and recognize how lucky I am to have the opportunity to go there and have so many fun experiences. And also for the people who I was with, my best friends in the whole world. They made everything that much more special. I feel so grateful to Rosie's parents for inviting us and trusting us with their amazing condo. I meditated every morning on the balcony as I looked out at the sun and palm trees. It was pure bliss.

My most emotional moment was watching the fireworks over the Disney castle. They played a soundtrack about dreams and me and Lisa lost it. There were tears and snot.

I was also in awe of the amount of ungrateful children and odd parenting styles. It's funny how even in the happiest place on earth, our human characteristics sometimes still take over. Even I have to admit I was a grumpy lady waiting for one hour in the heat melting waiting for a ride while my ladies were so chill.

Besides Disney, we also had so many fun moments just driving around, going shopping, getting Pistachio iced coffees from Dunkin' Donuts, frequenting the pool and beach, and eating and dancing on the balcony. One night we spent literally 30 minutes in the drive-thru at McDonalds and we just got so over-tired and giddy and had the actual best time. It's always the random and unexpected moments that are so special.

Fashion-wise, I had a lot of fun creating outfits on this trip. I adore summer and love playing with vibrant colours and crochet pieces. The heat made me feel so alive and happy. Here are some looks. ENJOY!