Relocation: One Penske Truck at a Time

Oh hey guys. Sarah here. Sorry it’s been a while, but things have been pretty crazy with the move back to the Midwest. If you’re thinking to yourself, how crazy can it be just loading your life into a truck and driving it 16 hours? Well, if you want to go ahead and grab yourself a […]

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Seasonal Changes

St. Louis, Greater swiss mountain dog, st. louis cardinals, greater swiss, swissy, finnegan

Pop quiz. Where’s home to the one of the most successful franchises in baseball and soon two Zalewskis and a Finnegan Murphy? Hint for Cubs fans: they have 11 World Championships so Chicago is out. Site of the 1904 World’s Fair. The first American city to host the Olympics. Hometown to Jackie Joyner Kersey, Maya Angelou and perhaps most […]

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On snowbirds

sarasota, florida, palm trees, lakewood ranch,

What if I told you that all of the defensive driving you learned over the years would finally pay off? All those times your mom reached for the steering wheel, pumped her imaginary brake and claimed we were all going to die when you turned 15. All those years navigating around ‘tourists’ who swerved anytime they heard […]

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The year of the alligator

alligator, florida, front porch, lakewood ranch,

I fielded some requests over the holidays to get back to blogging. And while it’s never my intention to go on a blog hiatus, just like skipping a few workouts, sometimes its hard to get back into the swing of things after some time off. It’s a good problem to have, being too busy to […]

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Cookies and Catch Up

pumpkin cookies, halloween sugar cookies, royal icing, ghost cookies, baking, dessert, holidays,

Great news, guys. The Murphalewski Bed and Breakfast just wrapped four straight weeks of out-of-town guests. That means 7 midwesterners are entering the winter season a little bronzer than usual and many local restaurant staffers here in Sarasota are actually starting to think I have friends. It’s a win-win! Now you may be asking if I’m […]

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Of these things, I’m fairly certain

pumpkin french toast, recipes, pumpkin recipes, baking, brunch, breakfast, french toast,

There comes a point in a thirty-something’s life in which the random things she’s heard, learned, experienced, seen, tasted and smelled over the first third of her life finally start to stick with her. After all, you rarely hear a twenty-something referred to as ‘set in his or her ways.’ No, this art takes years to perfect. If you don’t believe […]

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Weekend recap: Chicago style

Historically I’ve not been the best at weekend recaps. Especially weekends that involve all of my favorite females in one room, baby snuggles and Chicago nights. I suppose it could be because recapping a weekend means it’s over and I have to accept the finality of it all. And just like knowing when to end […]

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Super Spring Break

If you couldn’t tell from my overgramming last week, my nephews (and my sister) came to visit us to celebrate their spring break. Unfortunately I spent most of the week at work, but I’m grateful for the afternoons and evenings I spent brushing up on my toilet humor, identifying fire ant hills and avoiding getting […]

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The angry ants go marching

fire ants, florida, gardening,

They say everyone is nicer in the south. And between the ‘bless your hearts’ and the homemade sweet tea, it’s hard to argue with them. But I’ll tell you one thing that’s not nice in the south. Fire ants. Let me set the scene for you. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 80 degrees and […]

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Caption This

florida sunset, sarasota, winter in florida, sunset,

It’s this little game I like to play when I’m running short on time but feel badly that I haven’t talked to you in a while. I call it caption this. It’s simple really. In fact I don’t even force you to participate. I’ll do all the work for you. You’ll see.       […]

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