Playing Tourists in Orlando

We’ve had a house guest named Yana staying with us this week.  She’s from Ukraine and has traveled to the US to stsy with us twice now.

Scott met Yana in 2008 performing as entertainment for the Olympic Games in Beijing.  She’s a professional dancer and more than anything wants come over to the US and perform here.

For the past week, Scott and I have taken her to see different parts of Orlando and have enjoyed playing the tourist role.

Welcome to Orlando

Yana got in Friday morning from a long plane ride, got ready and we were off.  Scott and I are trying to limit spending on clothes and going out right now, so we had to get creative.  Friday afternoon we took her to The Mall at Millenia and she was amazed at all of the big clothing stores.

We could have spent days there, but had to leave to get home and get ready for a friend’s Jersey Shore Party.

Go ahead… try explaining Jersey Shore to a girl from Ukraine.  It was quite funny, but she was a trooper!

After getting some rest, we eventually woke up Saturday morning and I made Yana’s favorite breakfast.

The yogurt parfait for three was made with Activia Harvest Picks Mixed Berry yogurt, cut up apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, sliced bananas and Bear Naked Fit Berry Crunch granola.  My favorite fruit and yogurt parfaits are made with berries, but this one was “very tasty” as she likes to say.

We continued the day shopping at Nordstrom Rack (the discounted store by Nordstrom) and between there and the Orlando Premium Outlets, Yana racked up on a lot of great deals.

On Sunday we planned to go to the beach but it was really cloudy and rainy out.  We decided to push the beach to another day and just lounge around.  We caught up on some recorded shows, talked and had afternoon tea.  I have to say, I’ve enjoyed the tea, but after trying for 2 days while she’s been here I just can’t give up my coffee.

I might have a problem…it’s fine.

Sunday night we had tickets to go see the Orlando Magic take on the Indiana Pacers and it was the second Magic game we’ve been to this year.

The first game we went to since both Scott and I left was a little hard, but we made it a point to go see another so Yana can say hi to some familiar faces.  When I was dancing last year, she hung with me the entire game and loved it.  Although we were spectators this time, she still got to say hi to the dancers.

The Magic won by a landslide and we had a great night.

I was excited for Monday morning, because both Scott and Yana joined me at the barre.

She loved the workout and now understands what my new job is all about.

After class we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside by walking down to Park Avenue.

I love this area of Winter Park and we went to my favorite smoothie place in the city called Powerhouse Cafe.  When we walked in, I saw some girls from class and I got them ALL hooked on my favorite vegetarian chili! SCORE.

If you live in Orlando, you have to try this stuff… I get that and a low calorie fruit smoothie every time!

Later on, our friend Megan came over and we took them to Congo River Mini-Golf.

Scott felt a little left out from the matching bracelets (and golf balls) party.

We miiiight be 5 years old, but we had fun being silly girls.

And boys.

Tuesday’s weather was gorgeous!  Although we thought it might be crazy from Spring Break, the sand was pretty calm and we had a great beach day!  Throwing and catching grapes kept us entertained for quite a while…

and we had a great walk along the shoreline.

After catching some rays, we headed home and out to meet some friends downtown.  I introduced Yana to Pita Pit and we had a fun time bouncing around Wall Street.

Yesterday was dedicated to theme parks, and the park of choice was Universal Studios.  Since I am leaving for an out-of-town gig on Friday, I stayed home to study barre exercises and finish up some work while Scott and Yana headed out.

They’re probably better off that way anyways… one roller coaster ride and I’m out of commission for a good ten minutes.  Anyone else get motion sickness on rides?

When they got home I was excited to get back in the kitchen after a being on a recipe hiatus and try something new.  Scott and I made a great team and pulled together a Hesington original, Chicken Cilantro Quesadillas.

They were “very tasty” if I do say so myself, and I’ll be sure to post the recipe here tomorrow!

Scott must have been on a roll because before I knew it there was a big, honkin slice of heaven sitting in front of me.

Angel food cake, cool whip, fresh strawberries and blueberries made up this Berry Shortcake.

Hey… it was Pi Day after all!

🙂

We had a great week with Yana and I’m sad to see her leave today.  I know she had a wonderful time and we enjoyed playing tourists with her in Orlando.

Questions:

Have you ever taken the time to actually get to know your hometown?

Did anyone celebrate Pi Day with a delicious pie or dessert? Do tell!