Monthly Archives: March 2025

pov: My 2025 Spring Break in Daytona Beach, FL

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It’s Spring Break and you know what that means for a graduate student – more work! I don’t get a break these days, but I make sure to have fun every once in a while. I got the opportunity to visit the Daytona International Speedway for the IMSA Rolex 24 hour race! I absolutely love NASCAR and racing, and have so many memories of going to the speedway as a child. I grew up in Daytona Beach, so it was a yearly thing for my family and I to visit. Funny story: Apparently, I am so used to the sound of the cars that I fell asleep in my seat one year during the Rolex 24 hour, and everyone was wondering how in the world I was sleeping through such a loud race! I was about 6 or 7 at the time, but it was late and I guess the car engines lulled me to sleep!

I saw so many cars there – it was like a car show and race – all taking place on the infield. We had special IMSA passes that let us in certain areas. It was so cool! Of course I had to check out the Lamborghini shop and see my favorite sports cars.

I also visited the Tanger Outlets recently and stumbled upon the craft fair that was ongoing. I ended up meeting these artists that paint, and one canvas really caught my eye. I absolutely loved the rainbow bunny painting that she had on display. I ended up talking to them for 10 minutes, telling her all about my bun, Zelda. Needless to say, I left there with a new piece of art and, after I got home, she ran right up to me and loved her painting! I will be hanging this up on the wall in her “bun room.”

Taking a vacation as a graduate student is challenging but necessary. We choose to enjoy life and take many breaks when needed. We recently attended Megacon 2025 with our family friends in Orlando, FL and we had a blast! Stayed at the Hilton properties (as always) and met so many creative cosplayers and crafters. They had everything from Star Wars to Avatar to Anime. We even got to meet some popular idols in pop culture like Chris Sabat (Vegeta from Dragon Ball) and Kyle Herbert (the voice of Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender)!

Even on Spring Break, life doesn’t stop. We are planning our wedding for July of this year and it is a LOT of work, but it has been such a fun process so far. We already had our cake tasting, photographer and honeymoon booked, and the venue deposit and food taken care of. I found a wedding cakery that is going to make a 4-tier cake and all gluten-free, with 3 different flavors: amaretto raspberry with cream cheese frosting, vanilla buttercream, and chocolate mousse cake! So relieved I can eat cake on our big day. Next up: bridal shop appointment and dinner rehearsals! We are both over the moon! Can you guess the color scheme of our ceremony based on our photos?

Believe it or not, that’s all for now. Can’t wait to share my next adventure with you happening next week. Stay tuned! Ciao!

New Semi-Local Adventure Discovery + Small Local Businesses

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Ok! So, I want to split this blogpost into two little parts. The first will detail a little adventure with some recommendations about it. The second will detail a few local businesses that I’ve found recently around campus.

Firstly, my boyfriend and I took a little day trip to Savannah, GA the other day. I was born/raised in Florida and never knew that Savannah was THAT close or that fun!! Driving from around campus, it was only about 3 hours each way which is the perfect length for a fun road trip. We left around 7am and got home by around 11pm. The historic area is the perfect few streets to have some good food and walk around little shops. The JW Marriott on the waterfront has an enormous lobby that is open to the public where you can see tons of fossils, rocks, and other cool displays for free. You can also drive a few minutes from the historic downtown to see a few local forts, walk on the beach, see the lighthouse, or visit the marine museum/aquarium. Those attractions usually close around 4:30pm though, so I would time your activities carefully. For dinner, we went to a restaurant that was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives called Sea Wolf on Tybee Island. The day trip was so fun, and surprisingly not too far from Daytona! I highly recommend doing this with some friends.

Secondly, I wanted to offer a list of some local, small businesses that I’ve discovered lately for you all to support if you would like. This ranges from fun activities and fitness classes to restaurants.

  • Pho To Luv
    • Their food is the BEST Vietnamese food that I’ve had in the area. It seems to be family owned and JUST opened about one month ago. They are so nice, and their pho is my comfort meal. All the prices are super reasonable too. They are right next to the Starbucks on ISB near the high school on the corner.
  • Art Rageous
    • They have a website where you can sign up for a bunch of different art classes. My boyfriend and I made some custom glass bowls. They also have some pottery and painting classes among other things. The instructor was so nice, and it was a great way to spend an evening.
  • CORE Pilates
    • This is a smaller local Pilates studio run by a really nice lady. As a hypermobile person, I can also testify that she really knows how to modify anything if needed, even for injuries. Her classes are a ton of fun and a really good workout (plus sometimes she brings her dogs).
  • Bounce and Bang
    • This is a cute place that does things like drum and bungee fitness. It has a cool night-club vibe with the lights inside, and they do a bunch of fun fitness classes throughout the week. This is a great way to do a little cardio with a fun spin, and the people are really kind.
  • Don Giovanni’s
    • This is a semi-local Italian place. They have 2 locations, one in Port Orange and one in Ormond I think. I go to the one in Port Orange which seems to be run by a family. Their food is SO GOOD, and the people the work there are fun and extremely nice. I come here super often with my family.
  • Beauty Lounge
    • I go here to get my nails done (highly recommend getting luminary gel). I personally go to Milan, but all of the people here are extremely good at what they do. This place is right next door to Home Depot on ISB, and they even have a little cafe next door that you can order from while you get your nails done.

More Semi-Local Activities

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I’ll start with the most local activity that my boyfriend and I did recently: glass bowl making. There is a place about 5-10 minutes away from campus in Port Orange called Art Rageous. We took a class that guided us through cutting our own glass pieces and arranging them into a pattern for a glass bowl (mine, of course, is the one with the planet in the middle). They will now take about 2 weeks for processing where the studio puts them in a kiln and melts it into a bowl basically. This was a great local, fun activity to do for date night; it is a small business that is good to support as well.
Then, my boyfriend did a 5k that was for St. Patty’s Day and hosted by a church in Orlando. Although we didn’t stay for all of the festivities, there was a whole St. Patty’s Day festival that day with dancers and food and other activities.
The day after, we went to Magic Kingdom which was so fun!! Again, if you don’t already know, the ICI sells Disney tickets. I got mine for about $100 which is very worth it compared to normal pricing. They also offer discounted tickets for other places like Universal, Busch Gardens, KSCVC, etc.

Local Concert Fun!

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I wanted to post about my recent concert experience because I thought that the venue was such an amazing semi-local find!!

I’ve been a huge mxmtoon fan for years since she was just uploading simple ukulele covers from her room. So, when she announced a tour, my boyfriend and I immediately bought tickets. Luna Li opened for her, and she was amazing. I now listen to some Luna Li almost every day. The venue was SO COOL though. The tickets were the best “bang for your buck” tickets I’ve ever gotten. The concert was at the Beacham in downtown Orlando which is about a one hour drive from campus. Most of the concert area is standing room which was $35/person. The Beacham is usually used as a nightclub (and was converted after the concert). However, the box seats were only a few dollars more at $50/person which was worth it for us. We were expecting just rows of chairs in a box, but it was so much more. It was a huge box to the right of the room, almost on top of the stage. We were super close, and there were only 6 other people in the box. There was one long padded bench/couch thing for sitting, and the balcony view was the BEST. If you ever have a chance to get those seats for a concert there, you really have to do it. That was the best concert experience comfort-wise that I have ever had (and only 1 hour from campus)!