So Much Monkeying Around!

This past weekend was so much fun- and action packed! Well... Save for my lazy Friday evening anyway. :) On Saturday, Natalia and I took off for some retail therapy in Orlando. We spent an hour mulling over decor in IKEA, prompting me to come home and devise an entire scheme to re-decorate my house before Sprout's arrival- I realized I am a fan of "cottage" decor, mixing vintage items with newer ones, very little clutter, and lots of bright colors, and I want that to reflect in every room of the house. I will be giving up my closet room (for those who don't know, Mike turned one of the guest rooms into a personal closet for me- but it seems selfish and silly to keep it, and give up the guest room, in favor of the nursery- so Mike and I will once again be sharing closet space.... Yikes.) We then met my sis for a tasty lunch at Cheesecake Factory, where I promptly experienced my third bout of "morning sickness." Luckily there are other items on the menu that I love in addition to the Santa Fe salad, because it is, I'm sorry to say, ruined for me- at least for awhile.

We then headed over to the outlets, where I found an adorable Coach umbrella to replace my Dooney and Bourke, which met its demise on the blustery morning of my first pre-natal appointment- the handle was blown sideways and then snapped off!

 We also had some luck at the Jcrew outlet, where I found a cute purple knit dress with plenty of room for the impending belly.

 I was worried that clothes shopping was going to lose some luster, but I'm actually getting excited about the flowing dresses in my future- plus, there's a whole NEW line of stuff to shop for- nursery bedding and furniture, toys, games, wall art- yay!

All in all a very fun shopping day, which Mike and I topped off with a delish dinner at Manuels' Vintage Room downtown. If you have not had a chance to try Manuels'- stop reading immediately and go. They do early dinner specials (ask for the early dinner menu) Sunday-Thursday, with $10 entrees and $10 bottles of wine.... it's tasty! We were lucky enough to recieve the VIP treatment since the GatorTailgating intern works there (hey, he's gotta make money somewhere, GT pays its owners and employees in beer.) We indulged in lobster ravioli (my fave) and a pear-filled pasta with brown butter sauce that they assure me will be making regular appearances on the menu. Bless you, Manuel, Marco, and Josh.

On Sunday, Mike and I loaded up the kayaks and headed to the Ocala Boat Club to put in and paddle the Silver River. We had gorgeous weather- warm, breezy, not too humid- and good lighting for some outdoor photography- Mike's new love. We enjoyed crystal clear water to paddle through, and had several critter spottings- alligators, birds, and.... monkeys!!! We happened upon a whole family of monkeys in the trees, including a precious, darlin' baby monkey that Mike was able to capture on camera. They must be escapees from the downriver Silver Springs park- we were so lucky to have discovered them. So cute! Check out some highlights from the day:

After our paddle, we were starving and both came up with the idea to try out the Yearling Restaurant in Cross Creek. http://www.yearlingrestaurant.net/ Their limited hours have kept us from going in the past- they're only open Thursday-Sunday, and I always forget until Tuesday, it seems- but they specialize in old-Florida "cracker-style" cuisine- and it's incredibly tasty!

Blues inside the Yearling. Pic from Sptimes.com

We tried frog legs, fried shrimp, hush puppies, cheese grits- and the dessert, OH man. I had a sour orange pie- similar to key lime pie but with oranges from their tree growing behind the restaurant. And Mike had the single most amazing pecan pie I've ever tasted- I practically licked the bowl clean, it was so good. They had live music in both of their dining rooms, and would make a fun alternative Happy Hour spot if we could convince everyone to make the trek out to Cross Creek! We thought it was well worth it, and I can't wait to go back. They also have little cabins to rent in kindof a fish-camp setting. And here's a little plug for area attractions: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' homestead is just down the street, they do regular tours when they're open and it's a real treat. Mizz Rawlings was quite the partier, from what I understand, and her doctors warned her as she got older to cut her drinking back to 3 martinis a day- she sounds like my kind of girl! She was also the first in the area to have proper indoor plumbing, and celebrated by throwing a party with ice and beer in the toilet. Again, my kind of girl- what a creative party idea! (don't worry, I won't be serving beer out of my toilet any time soon... The bathtub, though. That's a possibility. :)