Sparkles and Shoes

A Fashion, Travel, and Lifestyle Blog

My Thanksgiving Holiday

| Florida, holiday

This year, for the first time in 20 years, I did not celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother, Kevin.  I missed him dearly but he is  having a great time studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland and will be home for Christmas.  Instead, I had a lovely time with family and friends. This post is a bit delayed because I took Monday and Tuesday off from work which is one of the smartest things I have done in a long time.  Having almost an entire week in Florida did wonders for me, especially in the tanning department.  Here are just a few of the photos Instagramed over the past week: 
Thanksgiving with my parents and my grandparents was amazing!
The food was absolutely delicious and I actually skipped the salad and all of the regular appetizers and went straight for the seafood which was out of this world!
While we were having dinner, desert, and coffee watched the beautiful sun setting from our Thanksgiving table:
After the sunset we finished dinner and went down to the beach to really enjoy the post-sunset glow.  I love the first photo I took of my parents and the second, my grandmother took, only minutes later of me being silly by the water. 
  
After a few days of doing nothing besides laps with my dad, biking to the beach, and reading by the waves I got to find out what my secret surprise was yesterday morning.  I knew that I had to wear a bathing suit and bring my water proof camera.  After dozens of guesses about what this activity was, I was almost positive we were going to go swimming with the manatees (how cool would that be?!).  Much to my shock, I was wrong, but not disappointed.  My secret surprise, and early Christmas present, was to take a jet ski to see dolphins in their natural habitat, just north of Naples, Florida.  Hands down one of the coolest things I have ever done!
As an avid photographer I was shocked how poor my photography skills were in terms of taking photos of the dolphins but taking pics while driving a jet ski is actually very difficult.  When they got within a few feet, I also was too excited to take photos! These are few of the shots I did manage to get in the causeways to the ocean we drove to.

I had an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving!  How did you spend your holiday/weekend? 
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  10. your photos are beautiful! what a good looking family!! My children have studied abroad and missed holidays…was not the same without them….
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

  31. So glad that you had such a great day, even though your brother wasn’t there. One of my brothers is in NY, so we have been missing him too! The food looks amazing!

  36. What a great holiday you had! Sorry to hear you missed your brother but studying abroad in Dublin sounds amazing! I also love all of the seafood you guys have at your Thanksgiving! So delicious!
    xoxo
    Megan
    a ray of sun

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