Florida report

I spent this past week on the Florida diet: Cuban sandwich and Spanish bean soup at the Columbian, hot roast beef and cheese sandwich and manicotti at Bellini's (2 separate visits), pancakes at the Sugar Mill in DeLeon Springs, chicken tikka masala at Memories of India, and of course my faves that my mom makes (lookin' at you, Laredo and banana pudding!). I didn't lose any weight, but I smiled a lot.

Annabelle and I flew down to Orlando last Tuesday. We were greeted by my sister, who took us over to Sarasota, where we toured New College the next day. We were very impressed with what we saw. The academics sound amazing, but it's hard to get a feel for a campus in the middle of summer when it's empty. We might have to visit again, maybe in, say, February:



For most of the rest of the visit, when we weren't eating, we were cuddling cats. My mom is very involved in her local trap-neuter-release effort, and she had caught a kitten a few days before our arrival. He wasn't old enough to neuter yet, so they were keeping him temporarily, but now they're attached, so he will not be released. His name is Rocky, but mostly we just call him Baby. He's too adorable for words:



He can haz cheezburger:



Last night, we moved to a hotel near the airport in preparation for our 6 a.m. flight today. (WHY do I keep booking flights at these crazy times???) Annabelle got to catch up with her friend Matthew (formerly of Fort Knox but currently living in Germany) at Downtown Disney for a little bit:



Long-time readers will remember Matthew as "Sweeney Todd" to Annabelle's "Mrs. Lovett" for Halloween 2007:



No matter how long I stay, my trips to Florida never feel long enough. There are always more people I would like to see (and more food I would like to eat). Can't wait to go back!