Seafood? Check. Beads? Soon.

Aaaaand... I'm back. And you know what's kind of strange? Despite the fact that only two days ago I was in Florida, I'm incredibly happy to be back in Kansas City. Maybe it's the fact that the weather was less than ideal (rainy, windy, and hovering around 65 degrees), maybe it's the fact that I was living out of a suitcase for six days, or maybe it's the fact that my vacation diet consisted of seafood, followed by seafood, followed by a heaping pile of seafood. Whatever the case, home has never felt quite so good to come back to.

Though the weather in Kansas City actually did nip my nose (to the extreme) when I stepped out of the airport, I liked it. I mean, it's January, for crying out loud. It's supposed to be so flipping cold that you can't breathe without feeling like your lungs are made of ice crystals.

Obviously, I'm an enigma. Florida has seemingly rid me of my early-onset spring fever. Snow? Bring it on! Ice? More, please! Give me a few more days of this 12 degree weather, though. I'm sure it won't be long before I've developed the fever again.

But, however good it is to be back in winter where I belong, Florida was absolutely fantastic. A few highlights:

• Picking out three increasingly delicious restaurants in a row. If you're interested (or going to Florida in the near future), they were: Billy's Tap Room, Ormond Beach Steakhouse, and Bergamo's. I ate seafood each and every day except for the last one, when we finally gorged on Wendy's. To my palate, each bite of seafood was a delicacy.
• Trying raw oysters for the first time. A girl's gotta have some sense of adventure, right? Though, let me tell you, never again.
• Sitting in the Mai Tai, an open-air bar just down the beach from our first hotel, listening to live music and drinking a Yeungling. Mmmmm... that's the life.
• Wearing open-toed shoes and short sleeves, even if it wasn't exactly warm.
• Drinking only moderately and never being hungover for more than a few hours. So... responsible!
• Not spending all the cash I brought with me.
• Looking at the ocean through the hotel window.
• Going to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, which we thought wouldn't happen. First, when it appeared to be too expensive. And second, when the morning we were to go was drizzly and bone-chilling. We went anyway and had a really good time. If you do nothing else in Florida, go on the Spiderman ride at Islands of Adventure. It's worth the line, I promise.

My only regret? We never actually stepped foot in the ocean. Or even touched the water with a tentative toe. I blame the cloudy skies and brutal winds. And the fact that a bartender told us, in detail, how cold the water actually was this time of year.

All told, a great trip. So when's the next one?

Ah. Don't forget, my friends... Mardi Gras is in two weeks. Let the countdown begin.