Step Into My Week: Orlando, Tampa, and Give Kids the World

I had been looking forward to this week for quite a while. I was on Spring break. It felt nice to have a break from school. Even though I had projects to complete, this break was relaxing and came just in time.

Saturday night my sister and I decided to mess around with our hair. The night ended with my hair covered in lotion. It was a pretty hilarious sight. My hair was so shiny even after I showered. Also, I bought my domain on Friday. You can read all about it here.

Saturday was so short. I caught up on some much needed sleep. Part of the day was spent watching Netflix and blogging. I haven’t watched any Netflix since Winter break, so it felt nice to watch my favorite show, Gilmore Girls. Saturday night was spent packing. I got out everything I might want to bring with me first. It was crazy to see how much stuff I wanted to bring. I got it down to a third, but I didn’t end up wearing most of what I packed.

Sunday was a travel day. We hopped on the plane to MCO (Orlando) with a dream and a tank top. (Anybody get that reference? Wow, I miss the glory days of Hannah Montana.) The airplane we were on had screens that you could see how far away we were. I love those.

I had researched Orlando a little bit before coming. (I'm going to make a city guide sometime soon.) I had found Ethos Vegan Kitchen. Luckily, my mom and sister agreed to go. The food was absolutely delicious. 10/10 recommend you go. We went to a gelato store after. They were making chocolate candies inside. It smelled so good.

We decided to go to Orlando for Spring break after learning about Give Kids the World Village. You can learn all about Give Kids the World Village here. I plan on writing a blog post all about my experience later.

Monday was our first day volunteering at Give Kids the World Village. We were in charge of busing tables and helping families with lunch. We had the rest of the afternoon to do whatever we wanted after volunteering. We ended up going to an outlet mall to shop around. My sister's friend, Madeline, ended up meeting up with us for an hour while we were there. The song "It's A Small World" really is true. While at the mall, we went into a bunch of stores, but didn't really score. The Lululemon outlet is awesome. My sister ended up getting a bunch of items. I totally recommend it.

Our volunteer shift on Tuesday wasn't until 6 o'clock, so we decided to take the hour drive to Tampa. We went to Taco Bus where we got the best tacos and Oxford Exchange where I got a delicious tea. While we were in Oxford Exchange, Warby Parker gladly tightened my glasses for me. It was awesome because I had needed to go to the store in Atlanta to get them tightened for a while now.

Downtown Tampa has their own free version of Uber. The downtowner will pick you up anywhere and take you wherever you need to go. We had walked from Taco Bus to Oxford Exchange and didn't feel like walking again. The bus was adorable. It runs on electricity, so I felt very environmentally friendly.

On our way out of Tampa, we decided to drive through Hyde Park. The area is absolutely beautiful. We saw a gourmet popsicle shop and had to stop in. They were absolutely amazing.

We ended our night with a volunteer shift where we helped throw a party. By the time we were done with the shift, I was hungry, so I swung by ARI sushi on our way back to the hotel.

On Wednesday, we didn't have a shift. This gave us ample time to go to St. Petersburg. The hour and a half drive to St. Petersburg was boring but totally worth it. While we were in St. Petersburg, we went to the Dali Museum, went on a mural tour, and ate lunch/dinner at The Avenue. All in all it was a fun day.

The Dali Museum

Thursday was a volunteer day. The morning was relaxing. In the afternoon, we bused tables and helped families get their food. We assisted with a Winter wonderland party later. My sister and I were in charge of helping kids decorate cookies. To end the night, we stopped at Orange World. It claims to be the largest orange in the world. We tried to get oranges to ship, but they weren't shipping this time of year. Instead, we sampled all the different types and picked out some to take on the plane.

Orange World