Love Ash's Day Off

It's been said that 'you are a product of the people you surround yourself with'. 

Truly I am so proud to say, I have the most hard-working group of friends out there. If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that Miami kids sure do hustle HARD. With that being said, I've been juggling two jobs and going to school every day since August of 2015. While happy with the work ethic that I've established throughout my first years of "adulting", I have decided to make some changes and give myself somewhat of a break before my move to Orlando this summer.

Being in my 20s, living at home, and not paying many bills, I was living the good life but struggled to find a balance with everything that I had on my plate. So I put in a two-weeks notice at one of my jobs giving myself a more flexible schedule. While picking up more hours at my other job, I still managed to find time for myself to enjoy my last few weeks with my friends and family.

Here's what I did on my first REAL day off:

I scooped up a friend I hadn't seen in a really long while and we made our way to the beach. Somehow, even living in Miami, I managed to have a Vitamin D deficiency due to lack of sunlight [aka too much work]. So we grabbed a few coronas, laid out a towel on the sand and caught up with each other. It was such an amazing feeling to be back on the beach. Catching some rays and swimming amongst my sea critter friends sure helps get me regain my sanity.

Later on that day, we met up with two other friends and took a trip to the Food Trucks at North Bay Village. I got myself a "Big Daddy Sandwich" with pulled pork, mac n' cheese, and brisket [it was bomb]. For dessert I had a Birthday Cake flavored shaved ice [super yummy!] from the Bahama Bucks truck and they gave us complementary snowballs. SNOWBALLS. I even paid an extra dollar for two more snowballs and we were at war. Those dodgeball skills sure did come in handy, like they say "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a (snow?) ball". Then we ate by the bay with the most beautiful, relaxing view of Downtown Miami at sundown. 

But the night wasn't over. Towards the end of the day, we met up with even more friends at the Awa Kava Lounge to wind down [or turn up, depending on who you ask]. We had some rounds of Kava and sat on the front porch. We all met some pretty eccentric characters that night [which made for interesting conversations]. And then played some competitive card games of "21" and "B.S".

Spending that entire day doing whatever I wanted, not worrying about school or work or being late to anything -- just simply going with the flow of the day, made me realize how much I really needed a day off. I had time to reflect on the little things in life that we don't appreciate on a daily basis. It's so important to get as much quality time with great friends and enjoy the dope hang out joints your city has to offer before getting too caught up in life.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
- Ferris Bueller, 1986

xoxo. 

Love, Ash.