Pack your bags kids, we're going to Disney World......NOTTTT

Last week I came to the conclusion that I must be the only Puertorican out there who thoroughly enjoys seeing what Orlando has to offer while managing to stay as FAR away from the land where dreams come true. You know what I'm talking about...the place where adults wear Mickey ears while standing in line for hours waiting to see Shrek as they eat an expensive piece of turkey leg after buying overpriced souvenirs and push a whinny kids around because you thought it was a great idea to come and enjoy THE MAGIC OF DISNEY in mid-July when the head index hits 100 degrees at 8am. Ahhh the joy of a family vacation!

With that said, I drove up to Mickeylandia to spend time with good friends and family. My college buddy/roommate/teammate Binny Barton drove up from West Palm to meet me half way and good times were had.

The yearly reunion begins @ The Celt...cool little Irish pub DT

They don't have this at Disney World...Cool, huh?

I was introduced to silly bands!

We were testing their flotation skills

Binny knows I like to talk so she acted interested at all times ; )

"Hey Diaz, open that lazy eye!!"

All in all a great evening...never a dull moment!

Walking the pups after brunch

Hasta la vista Binny!

So long my peeps...Until next time!

LD

Beach bars & volleyball

Another one bites the dust mi gente...Sad to think that by this time next month I will be back in good ole' Athens. I'm going to miss Jax, but on the upside I'm sooo ready for football season with good friends in that crazy little college town.

Up next: The LD weekend update. Will give it to you in photos this time so you won't have to read through/scroll down my rambling. But before we get to that let me just say my intern friends did not know what was coming when they decided to accept my friendship. Something tells me they enjoyed my absence the last 2 weeks.that I did not have a dull moment all weekend and dragged them along...we were constantly on the move which is how I like it! Beach, pool, attempt at an arena football game, beach volleyball, bars, clubs, drinks, work, flat ironing my hair, laundry, etc....you name it, I probably did it in the past 48 hours.

Here was our failed attempt at Jacksonville Sharks game. We got the $10 we payed to park back so we were happy.

Lemon Bar...pretty cool little spot to have a few drinks. Let's just say I wasn't all that upset about missing the game.

In the spirit of being athletic, we joined a few of the PGA TOUR staff for beach volleyball on Sunday. We lost and I'm not exactly sure if we'll get invited again but it was a good time.

Can you feel that athleticism...What I want to know is what the heck I was look at because by the looks of this pic the ball was going to my right. Oh well.

It was nice to be back in PV after 2 weekends on the road. I missed the beach...

Hasta pronto!

LD

Wee Doughnuts at the Strip & US Women's Open

Another action packed day followed on Saturday. Our first stop came at Pittsburgh's Strip District where we had breakfast at De Luca's, one of the top local eateries. After walking around for a bit we spotted a small doughnut shop called "Peace, Love & Little Doughnuts"...they were heavenly!! So heavenly we had to eat them on the steps of the church at the end of on the strip.

Great little place for breakfast

Heavenly treats!

Sunflowers ; )

No words...But I had to document it

After breakfast at the Strip we headed to Oakmont for some golf action at the US Women's Open. Oakmont is a great venue, the grounds are simply spectacular. It's traditional and spectator friendly. The weather was nice and crisp...all in all a perfect day out on the course. I truly enjoyed walking around and soaking in every bit of the afternoon. Here's a peak-->

View of the 18th green from the teebox

Final pairing walking down hole #3...

And the fun don't stop...
After golf we were invited to dinner at a local country club...The kids got to hang by the pool while I put my service industry skills to work as I helped the buffet line move a bit quicker. I decided to step in after the kids started dropping strawberry's from their plates into the ranch dressing.

Bird watching...

If you made it down here you're a trooper! Thanks for stopping by...

Have a great week!

LD

Buttons and Steel City...Oh and NO wine for me! No mam, not without your ID!

Pittsburgh, PA - This week I've been fortunate enough to visit the City of Bridges. I'm here for an event The First Tee (place of internship) is hosting in conjunction with the US Women's Open. The past 3 days have been way eventful - which reminds me of a good story.

So Thursday night my boss put me in charge of making sure all 10 scholarship recipients and their chaperones made it to the event on time. This basically entailed making sure everyone got on the freaking shuttle by 6:15 pm. Not that hard right? Well it;s 6pm and I only have one kid to go. I'm thinking, I did pretty good. Well I was wrong...all of a sudden the missing link comes down the elevator in shorts and a t-shirt...Now I'm thinking GREAT, we're going to be late and this is not going to look good. So I went up to him and was like "Yo, put your suit on, we have to go now" and he replies "well, the button on my jacket came off and my mom is trying to find a sewing kit". So I was like "Dude! Go put your freaking clothes on, come down with the jacket and I will sew that thing up like the Girl Scouts taught me." Five minutes later he rolls down with the jacket, but without the button. More time wasted...Eventually, his mom came down with the long lost button and I already had the needle in hand. We got on the shuttle and in the middle of rush hour traffic I sewed away...I did a pretty good job I would have to say. We made it on time...He was able to button his jacket that evening and looked all snazzy up on stage standing next to Jack Nicklaus.

That's my story.

Here are some pics of the trip so far.

Here's Austin (button boy) holding his award proudly. My masterpiece is behind the plaque.

The Heinz Center in downtown Pittsburgh...this is where the awards dinner was held - pretty cool place with neat exhibits.

Scholarship recipients

Here's the pic, yet again...Sorry for the repetitiveness, but I'm very proud of it. You guys would've been proud of me too, I didn't cut in line or push the kids out the way or anything. I waited patiently. While I waited I should've taken off the name tag. At least I had time to put down my wine glass. Which reminds me of another story - the bartender wouldn't serve me a glass of wine because I didn't have my ID with me so I had to have someone sneak it. Crazy! Afterward, at the dinner table I asked the same bartender for a refill and she straight up turned me down. Seriously? Do I look under age?

Heinz Stadium...home of the Steelers

View of the city from the Duquense Incline...We rode that red cart up.

Roberto Clemente mural

The kids listening to Laura's instructions...

The group

Tomorrow: US Women's Open at Oakmont. Stay tuned.

Keep it real,
LD