Tootsie on Tour: Fort Lauderdale, FL Part 2

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

Covid Tests to Date: 45

No TikTok this week because they are a lot of work and I didn't feel like it.

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Monday was a "Golden Day", meaning a true day off.

No shows to do, no packing up and traveling all day to get to the next city.
We only get THREE of these on the whole tour.

A lot of people went to the beach, or to the pool and bar up on the hotel's top floor, or home for visits.

I decided to do a "Treat Yo Self" day.
Have you watched Parks and Rec? No? Here's an explanation of "Treat Yo Self":

My idea of "Treat Yo Self", if I can't spend time with Jameson, is to eat more than I should of foods that I shouldn't be eating while doing absolutely nothing else for the entire day :p

So today, for LUNCH because I'm an adult and can do what I want, I went to Wilton Creamery where the ice cream is made in-house in a variety of wacky flavors. Lactose in hand, I marched up to the counter and asked for "The Flight": three half-cup scoops of three different flavors of homemade ice cream.

They have so many flavors to choose from! But I knew right away which ones I wanted to try.

Grapenut:
Exactly what it sounds like. Malt ice cream with softened Grape Nut cereal mixed in. If you like the flavor of malt and/or barley, you will absolutely LOVE this ice cream. I loved it and would eat it every day if possible. It was my favorite of the three.

Christopher Loves Chocolate:
I don't know who Christopher is but he's got great taste. This was 70% cacao dark chocolate regular-cream ice cream, not as sweet as the others, with big chunks of dark chocolate mixed in and swirls of chocolate fudge. Indulgence at it's finest.
I love dark chocolate and eat it almost daily, but tbh this was my least favorite of the three and I couldn't really tell you why. Maybe the other two were just that good.

Monkey Business:
A banana buttermilk ice cream(!) with pralined pecans and swirls of dulce de leche. This was the softest of the three ice creams, melting very quickly and with a very rich texture. It was also the sweetest of the three. Extremely good and I only wish it had been served a bit colder so I could have savored it a bit longer.

The TikTok:

TikTok by @tromboneontour

I highly recommend visiting Wilton Creamery (and Wilton in general) if you are ever in Fort Lauderdale.
The owner was awesome, I enjoyed chatting with him as I savored every bite of this special treat.
The ice cream was more than I could have hoped for, fresh and decadent and unique and just the indulgence I wanted.
Someday I want to come back and try more flavors, or maybe get one of their over-the-top sundaes.

After ice cream I walked to Dulce Salato Pizza & Gelato, (which I assume was named re: "Domo Arigato Mr. Robato"), where I picked up a personal-pan Margherita pizza to take home for lupper/dinner. I enjoyed it with a glass of Sauvignon blanc.
Truly a fully indulgent, "Treat Yo Self" day.


It's moments like these where I truly savor the fact that I do not have children. GOD it's so beautiful.
Any time I want to go do--well, whatever I want--I can.
No babysitter, no tantrums, no compromises, no deadlines.
Just me and my two feet instantly out the door to get three scoops of ice cream and a whole pizza, and a nice white wine buzz to boot.
I absolutely ADORE not having kids. Extremely grateful to live in a time where I can get away with it.

Anyway.

To cap off a fabulous day of gluttony, I watched Kids Baking Championship "with" Jameson, and then finally watched Disney's Encanto.
Every single social media and streaming outlet that I subscribe to has been pushing this movie at me for, like, months. And it has good reviews. And it's been ages since I actualy Watched A Movie. So, ok! And it WAS ok. Not great as far as plot, but gorgeous and meticulous animation, and like many Disney/Pixar movies lately there was a focus on shared emotion...on a specific shared emotion, which in this case was one's children being "never good enough" for their parents. When that undercurrent was finally brought to the surface in the movie, I felt it resonate hard inside me. Ouch. But that's certainly why many people find it a relatable and good movie.

( Read more... )

Next stop, Atlanta.
We are staying right next to the Fox Theatre, how awesome!
I should have some fun adventures to share here.
I want to visit the Georgia Aquarium, and eat at a Japanese cafe, and spend time at Ponce City Market.
And I have some friends in town from Busch Gardens and the circus, it'll be nice to see them!

Look forward to it. I am!

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Writing Prompts 2022:

12/17: What's the most creative use of emojis you've ever seen?
A: The webcomic Room of Swords. There's a character named Sylvia who is a caveperson/neanderthal, and she speaks exclusively in emojis, and it's endearing and fantastic.

12/18: Where do you get most of your news?
A: A combination of places. For "mindless" or clickbait news I use Facebook or the News app on my phone. If I want to actually know what's going on out there I use Google News for the initial search, then when I see a topic/event that I want to read more about, search reports from different outlets on the same topic/event.

12/19: What's the biggest challenge in your life right now?
A: You know...most of the challenges in my life right now originate from outside my own life. It's a challenge to be present and supportive for the people I love. It's a challenge to find the distinction between what people want from me, vs what they actually need from me, vs what I cannot provide and must be found on their own. There is a huge amount of uncertainty in my own life, and in many important lives around me, and it's hard to take even the smallest action without knowledge of what's down the road.

12/20: Think about a job you hated. What did you learn from it?
A: That being treated like a human being is of much higher value than being paid well (although being paid well is also part of being treated like a human being). I had a job that paid pretty decently, and had a lot of room for advancement. But the boss treated me like I was his personal servant, like my time was his time all the time, and like my time "at work" could be spent doing basically anything he demanded, as opposed to my actual job description. The straw finally came when I was trying to leave at the end of my shift, and my boss walked in and demanded that I help record a commercial for him using his phone camera. I had already clocked out so I refused, but he demanded that I clock back in, shoved the phone into my hand and said, "You don't know anyone in this town, you have nowhere to be right now." And that was the beginning of the end of that.

12/21: What's your least favorite room in the house?
A: In the current house? The living room. Listen, I still like every room in our house including this one. But I want to make it more comfortable, and it doesn't want to be more comfortable. It's full of junk drawers and food particles no matter how frequently I clean. We badly, badly need a new couch. When guests come over they have to sit on the floor. It's just...it needs help.

12/22: How fast do you read?
A: Talking about ACTUALLY READING, like, reading a book, not skimming a tweet or clickbait. Reading books as opposed to skimming, I read moderate-fast. When reading for pleasure I'm pretty fast, but I really like to absorb and be immersed in the imagery of the book, so I'm not going to rush it. When reading for instruction I read extra slow and force myself to pay attention, and it takes longer. If I really like the book I can finish an 800-pager in two weeks or so just casually reading it.

12/23: What are some of your favorite candies?
A: In no order: Caramellos, Sunkist Fruit Gems, any dark chocolate 70% cacao or more, candied orange peels, Whitman's chocolates, Starburst jelly beans, Albanese gummi bears, red Swedish fish, homemade caramels or toffee, and more I'm probably forgetting.