Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

I ♥ PALM TREES!

[above PSE creation inspired by the palm-picture in this post.]
[I loved the idea and I feel the same way.] 

BOOF! I will never underestimate the power a full palm 'fro has on my soul.

Being from NYC, we see no authentic palm trees. Boo.

I was drawn to them when I spotted 'em on our east coast road trip, and
believe I might have been a palm tree in my previous life.

Hmmm...how Sylvia Browne of me...

Anyway,
on with my love story to palm trees:

Truly is a bond never to be broken.

Happy Saturday!

xOxO,

road trip / Washington, D.C.

...and thus concludes our East Coast Road Trip.

Thanks so much for following along these past five days, and on IG in real time - if you were.

I've aways wanted to see what Washington D.C. was like, and it was just like I imagined: grandiose monuments, statues, clean, bustling, tourist-filled, heavily patrolled...reminded me of a 3D textbook in a lot of ways. :)

Riding our bikes got us to and from monuments quicker than walking, but once we were at the monuments, it was so heavily congested that the bikes ending up being a nuisance.  Oh well. I'm still glad we biked.  I'm glad we made it there.

I'm glad this road trip happened.

Tomorrow, I come to you with a realization I made on this road trip.
See ya then for that.

xOxO,

road trip / Myrtle Beach

Not too much to report from Myrtle Beach except that it was a stop we heard we should make, so we did.  It's a beach/boardwalk town like Jersey Shore, except at Myrtle Beach, you can rent moped scooters without a motorcycle license. 

Me likey, me likey.

^^Wednesday night, above, Myrtle be poppin'.

The most fun.  If only it was a mint Vespa.

The Koi fish in South Carolina waters are something too.  Look at those mouths...like puppies begging for food.  I've never seen anything like it!
Feeding them kibbles from the 25-cent machine sorta -- for a few seconds -- softened my homesickness for these guys.

By the time we were at Myrtle, the homesickness hit hard for some kitty-cuddles. :P

From Myrtle Beach --> we drove north --> to Washington, D.C.

...and happened to be there on Obama's Birthday.

Who knew?
We didn't.

See ya tomorrow!
Happy Thurssss!

xOxO,

road trip / Ocala, Florida

We drove to Ocala, Florida because my cousin, Ryan, lives there. 

My cousin, Ryan, is also an ex-marine who served our country in Iraq for many years as a weapon specialist and leader of a platoon of guys, and currently works at a gun shop.

What do you think he had planned for us when we visited?

Holy Smokes! Yes, I did shoot a gun.  A glock 23, which is a .40 caliber.  Haa haa!  What am I talking about? I don't even know! Ridiculous!

Here's the conclusion I've come to now that the whole experience has had a week to permeate:
    (1) Guns are wayyy too hardcore for my soft, mushy-core self.
    (2) My weapons of choice are stamps and washi tape. ;)
    (3) If in fact a zombie apocalyspe did occur, I would surely be one of the first to die.

I never  want to have to ever really shoot a gun, or hold a gun, etc.  Therefore, I'm accepting that I'm a pretty defenseless kitten.  However, if I ever got my hands on a glock 23 and was in a situation where I had to SHOOT it, I might be alright...

...'cause as it turns out...

...I'm a pretty good shot. :)

After the gun range, we headed to two places much more my speed:

It was my first Hobby Lobby expeirence, and dayyyym could I have spent HOURS in there!!  It's a HomeGoods + Micheal's + Fabric Bonanza (for all those who remember that oldie but goodie).  I loved it, and knew exactly what I was doing in there...as opposed to Ryan's gun shop.

Cracker Barrel is always a welcomed stop, too.  We don't have either of those happenin' places in New York, so a visit certainly feels like vacation fun.

From Ocala, FLA --> up to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

That post tomorrow...

...and just so you know:
it's moped-filled.

Whoop whoop!

xOxO,

road trip / Grams' Floridan Condo

Grams' Floridian Condo on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale was always going to be the southern-most destination planned for our east coast road trip.  The boyf decided it would be best to get there early on in our 10-day excursion so that the rest of our days could be spent travelling back up north to home and be more of a spontaneous journey.  

Grams' condo was a welcomed stop because:
    (a) my Grams is friggin' awesome!
    (b) it meant two days of NOT being in the car
    (c) her Floridan Condo looks like this... 

It gets pretty *glam* at Grams' right before dinner time.

First night's dinner:
roast pork & mash potatoes with gravy; candied yams; stuffed mushrooms; shrimp cocktail; and LOTS of WINE

Second night's dinner:
linguine and clam sauce; baked clams; sausage & peppers; and LOTS of WINE 

I was waiting for them to call 'my number' on two separate occasions: 

...but nothing like a spiked ginger-ale to keep me calm through it all.

Our two-day stay really took my breath away.  Everytime I hang out with my Grams I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a fabulous grandma.  I rave about her, and you might think I'm biased, but she really is wonderful.

At one point, the boyf and I left the BINGO room to get refreshments, and when we came back, my Grams was sitting at the table with a swarm of friends around her chatting and laughing...she's the home-coming queen down there, I swear!  My Nana was the same way.

I've always felt I hit the jackpot with grandmas, and it really is true.

From Grams' Floridan Condo --> we head back up the sunshine state
to see my cousin, Ryan, and shoot guns --> in Ocala, Florida

Hear what I have to say about that craziness tomorrow.

Adios, amigos!

xOxO,

road trip / Savannah, Georgia

Georgia, oh, Georgia on my mind...

There are four things that are 'no joke' in Georgia:

    (1) those sad and lovely droopy Georgia tress
    (2) the humidy (whoo, Lord!)
    (3) the art of the PORCH
    (4) the southern hospitality

As a matter of fact, in the first ten minutes upon leaving my hotel room, two older women cheerily said 'Good Mornin' and complimented how nice I looked.  Then, a gentleman held the door for me and said, "There you go, ma'am.  You have a nice day!"

I tell ya: Savannah was a sweet, sweet city.  We biked through it in only a couple of hours.  I wish we would have had more time to explore...or maybe get me those shoulder tattoos I've been wanting HERE. (Yeah...didn't happen.)

Here are some snaps of the scenery & me and the boyf:

It was pretty much a bike ride through a new city filled with trees that simultaneously made me want to both cry and joyfully play hide-and-seek behind them.  The insects sounded like buzzing Mac trucks, the porch-porn was off the charts, and Tomas ended the ride with a swamp-ass stain in the shape of his bike seat.

Georgia was a good ol' time.

From Savannah, Georgia --> we headed SOUTH to --> Grams in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

That post comes tomorrow,
and believe me...
you don't want to miss it.

Love yas!

xOxO,

road trip / scenes from the road

Well, hi, ya'll! <--the south is sinking in ;)

I snuck away this afternoon for some solo WiFi time to slip some scenes from the road onto this blog here.  There's been looooong hours in the car equipped with naps and singing and window breezes...we drove up on a random brush fire on the side of a highway, a lightning storm...we saw an actual chicken cross the road...in real life.  It was quite the laugh.  

From Queens, NY we headed down to Ocean City, MD where we indulged in crabs and a nighttime boardwalk stroll. From Ocean City, be blasted down to Savannah, GA.  We stayed overnight and rode our bikes for a couple hours around the city.  After that, it was back in the car to plow down the east coast of Florida to Fort Lauderdale to Grams Flordian condo where we will be until early tomorrow morning. 

The food situation on our road trip has been interesting.  I can't tell if I'm losing weight or not. I'm not eating as often as I do when I'm home, but when I do eat, it's been Denny's, Waffle House, DQ, or Golden Coral.  That can't be good. Grits confused us Yankee folk a bit, but thanks to some sweet IG friends, I have a better idea about it.

That's really all I got for now from the road trip front.  I have more to share, but my WiFi time is limited.  Tootle loo!  Off to enjoy more road trip!

xOxO,

I'm outta here!

'Tis true, readers and peepers! Today the boyf and I are leaving our Queens, New York (Yawk) home and headin' south to see the Grams in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  However, the stops and adventures we make and shake on the way...well...we'll see what they are. <--THAT'S THE CRAZY PART!  This is a trip we are sorta wingin'!  No set plans...like camping on wheels. Gah!

The only thing I do plan to do: POST FROM THE ROAD.
So...in semi-realtime, you will be on our adventure along with us! Yay!

I will write soon! Adios!

xOxO,

P-to-the-S:::

    We plan to be gone a week, so if you order any STAMPS from THE SHOP in that time, I will
    wrap 'em, pack 'em, and ship 'em the second I get back!...'cause that's kinda been my favorite     part! Bwah! Thanks! All love! ♥ ♥ ♥