I’m back in Orlando! Even though we haven’t even lived in Ocala for a full month yet, I already feel nostalgic driving on the streets I used to drive on daily.
I really do miss Orlando! It’s such a fun and energetic city.
I am in Orlando today because I have a meeting this evening, but I took full advantage of being in my former hometown and made lunch plans with my best friend Laurel.
I picked her up at her work and we drove to Pita Pit to grab lunch.
Pita Pit reminds me so much of college! It was the go-to spot for “fourth meal.” You know the drunken meal you crave after 2 a.m.? Memories… 
Today I opted for a garden pita, packed with veggies!
I feel like I could totally recreate this at home. I would just have to take the time to chop up a bunch of fresh veggies, top them with my dressing or condiment of choice and throw them into a whole wheat pita. But I must say, the pita pockets you buy at the grocery store don’t hold a candle to the pitas from Pita Pit.
During my lunch date with Laurel we talked all about her wedding planning. Her wedding isn’t until May, but she’s handling wedding planning just like I did – she dove right in, hammering out a lot of the details in the beginning.
In fact, she brought me my bridesmaid dress today!
I am in love with the color. It looks pinkier in the above picture than it is in real life. It’s a gorgeous coral color and paired with strappy gold heels, I think it will be a beautiful dress. Hopefully it looks okay on me!
Laurel is being the most considerate bride and selected our bridesmaid dresses from Macy’s to save a ton of money. It seems like all the designers that make dresses especially for bridesmaids hike the prices way up because they know they are special dresses for a wedding. In reality, you can find gorgeous bridesmaid dresses at normal department stores.
It was great to see Laurel and catch up. I miss her pretty lil’ face!
Orthodontist
After lunch, I had an appointment at my orthodontist’s office to pick up a bottom retainer. I think my old bottom retainer was accidentally disposed of in our hotel room by the housekeeping staff, so I needed a replacement.
Gotta keep those bottom teeth straight just in case I start showing the bottom part of my grill when I smile.
I’ll try to keep them under wraps though because I look like a piranha when I smile with my bottom teeth. (I briefly address my experience with Invisalign in this post, just in case you’re curious.)
Since I didn’t want the entire day to be a waste on the work front, I am now chillin’ in Starbucks, soaking up their free internet and drinking a hot refresh tea to stay warm in this frigid air conditioning.
The refresh tea is my favorite. It’s perfectly minty and delicious.
Hoping to cram in three more hours of work before my meeting!
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I LOVE pita pit pitas! They seriously taste better there than at home (which is slightly annoying, haha).
Gotta love the free Internet when you work from home–tis’ THE best 🙂
p.s. LOVE the dress color! You’ll look smashingly!
Hi Julie!
I know this may be a silly place to ask this but I am just starting a blog (thanks to your blog talk tuesdays 🙂 ) and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put my picture on the home page with a little blurb underneath :P…I am with wordpress, I made a Gravatar but nothing is showing up? Maybe you could mention a how-to in blog talk tuesday tomorrow?
THANK YOU!!!
M
You need to insert a txt link in your widgets 🙂 Are you using wordpress?
you are AMAZING! Thank you :)! I got it now!
Mmm pita wraps!! so delicious..
And I’m not a fan of pink, but this actually looks beautiful! can’t wait to see the whole deal 😀
That’s nice of her to save you guys lots of money. Have a beautiful day Julie!
That pita looks delicious! 🙂 I love that color pink! I bet that dress is goregous! That is a good idea getting bridesmaids dresses from Macy’s. I’ve started looking for bridesmaids dresses online. I want to save money for my girls too.
Have a great meeting! 🙂
The bridesmaid dress looks beautiful! 🙂
Love pita pit! Definitely reminds me of college days too. Sad.
Oh I love pitas to death! I wish there was a place like that near my house!! YUM!! Seems like a fairly good alternative to Taco Bell as 4th meal!? 🙂
Beautiful dress.. can’t wait to see more 🙂
YEY ORLANDO! YEY UCF ALUMNI! YEY PITA PIT!
I’m sorry, I’ll stop.
Haha, Pita Pit was the same for me in college!!! We ALWAYS stopped by Pita Pit on the way home from the bar. Memories for sure!
I was recently in a wedding and the bride chose to get our dresses from a department store and I LOVED them. They were flattering on everybody, the colour was gorgeous and I’ll definitely wear it again. AND it was a good price. Win-win!
You can see the dress in this post if you’re curious: http://happyorhungry.com/2011/08/08/beth-dans-sensual-nuptials/
That is so sweet that she kept tight budgets in mind and picked out Macy’s dresses – what a great idea! A friend of mine picked her dresses from J Crew, which were surprisingly affordable, and we SO cute — they did not look bridal-y at all.
The Pita Pit pita is so much better than any other pita. If I could buy some of those, I would definitely make them at home. My friend worked there in college so we had the hook-up for our 4th meal! We would just go in and put a few dollars in the tip jar and he would make us whatever we wanted. The other kids were so jealous!
Welcome back to Orlando! I love Pita Pit, but I haven’t had it in a long time. The dress looks really cute! That’s a great tip to look at Macy’s!
Yum I love pita bread!
That dress will look fabulous on you, I think it will really suit your colouring 🙂
mmm that tea is my favorite from there as well!
Dang, no house, no dog and no local friends yet in Ocala. What’s a girl gotta do.. I think I kinda would freak out in your situation. At least, Orlando is close!
Pita Pit was one of my go-to’s in university too! I swear, I went at least once a day when I was on the campus meal plan. It took me a while to actually WANT to eat pitas after that, but I’m back to loving them now. 🙂 The dress is really pretty! I’m sure it will look great on you!
I like hummus house more than pita pit! Their falafel are soooo good.
Pita Pit reminds me of college- oh I loooooove their delicious pita wraps- especially the gyros- type… YUM!!
I haven’t had Pita Pit since college! Definitely was a post-bar pit stop 😉 Frigid air conditioning is one of my all-time pet peeves. It’s summer, we are wearing shorts and tanks! We don’t need it freezing!
When I went on vacation in March, the hotel staff accidentally threw away my top retainer! My teeth have slightly shifted but I have been trying to tie them together myself each night with a piece of floss to save money – my mom finds this hilarious! (It is, I suppose, haha).
I’ve never been to Pita Pit- looks really good! What was inside of your pita? I’d love to try and recreate at home.
hmm, let’s see if i can remember: romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, banana peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, avocado, cucumbers and honey mustard dressing!
Sounds like mine, “Just add the lot!” is basically what I tell them. Every veggie please.
I love love love Pita Pit! I went to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario where it first started and it was a tradition to get them for lunch on campus (as part of our meal plan!) and for our “fourth meal” (nicely put, btw). When I tried my first American one in Boston last spring, I saw that you guys have avocado on the menu, which we don’t have up here. Jealous!
Mmmm Pita Pit… 😉
Thanks for the Invalign info!! Over the weekend I made a decision that I am going to figure out the cost and if possible use my bonus money to pay for it next year!!
We have Pita Pete’s here and it’s amazing! I too am a free internet/Starbucks user! That is where I do my morning posts from actually before work! I did one there today actually!
http://www.navigatingnorth.com/2011/08/return-of-monday.html
that’s really great that the bride bought the dress FOR you! i’ve heard of some brides doing that, but know not all are in a position to do so. you lucked out there!
haha no she bought it for us, but we’re paying her back! 🙂
Ohh ok! 🙂
Wish I could have though. I’m still playing the powerball this week, so if I win, dresses are on me 😉
Aww. I definitely think that’s not something bridesmaids expect at all! Brides have enough costs to worry about. Having been a bridesmaid a handful of times, having the dress paid for is never something I even considered! I’m just happy when I end up with a pretty dress I can use again!
Ha Laurel, love the humor!! You seem like such a doll 🙂
Pita Pit! wow..so many late nights spent there. glad to hear it’s just as good at a decent hour! 🙂
Julie – I follow your blog (I’m not sure how I ever came about it)! i don’t know you and you don’t know me (the amazingness of a blog), but I just wanted to say that you are such an inspiration. Yes, I have read your posts how everything isn’t rainbows & bunnies in your life! But the fact that you do what you love and quit your job to pursue it full-time. You developed it over a long period of time and finally got to the place where you could do that. To me, that is inspiring! I only wish I had a passion for something that I could get myself in that place too. I recently began something new in my life and have fully engulfed myself in it and hope that someday it might work out for me the way your passion of writing and blogging has worked for you. I’m 41 and it’s never too late! Keep up the inspirations!
LOVE pita pit! You just gave me a huge craving for a veggie & hummus one!
Pita Pit reminds me of a place from home called Pita Jungle that I miss SO MUCH. My mouth is watering right now. 🙂
I can’t wait until my dress comes in the mail! Thanks for the sneak preview. 🙂
I feel so much pressure!!!
pressure is ON! totally kidding. 🙂 you know we’d wear petticoats for you!
What a tasty looking pita. I love the thicker-than-tortilla bread. Yum!
Choosing your bridesmaid dresses is so stressful. You want everyone to look good, feel good, and have a dress that they could wear somewhere else if needed. It’s great that she’s being so considerate!
That pita pocket looks awesome!!!! The breadstore close to our house makes fresh pitas, which taste INCREDIBLE! haha
I just introduced my husband to Pita Pit a few weeks ago and he is OBSESSED!! (btw… I totally just had a moment– I’ve been married 2 weeks and I still turn into a little girl when I get to say “my husband”) Literally, we’ve eaten Pita Pit like 3 times in as many weeks.
Ahh… retainers. I had braces during grades 8-10. 6 months after getting my braces off, I went on a school trip to Orlando (woot woot!!) and left my retainers on my kitchen table (not sure why). When I returned, they were nowhere to be found. I am POSITIVE that my dad accidentally chunked them when he cleaned off the table but he denies it vehemently to this day. 9 years later and I still wonder about those retainers (and what my teeth would look like if I still had the retainers)…
I think the last I heard, being a bridesmaid nowadays (calculating travel, showers, bachelorette parties, dresses, hair, makeup, etc) costs approximately $1500 for the average maid!! And likely more for the MOH…. Having just MOH’d out last month, I think my wallet might appreciate some of my buddies holding off on that whole “matrimony” thing for a while.
And that just looks so much healthier than any 4th meal I’ve ever had (replace the lettuce with cheese, the pita with pizza, the avocado with french fries, and the dressing…. well that can probably stay.)
You’re totally right about the bridesmaid dress mark ups. It’s kind of crazy. I already told my best friends that I’m not subjecting them to that when I get married!
i love pita pit!
Ohh yum! I haven’t been to a Pita Pit in years- but all of the sudden it is sounding delicious! I’m right there with you- I feel like I could totally re-create it, but it just doesn’t sound as good as when they do it! And you will look beautiful in the bridesmaid dress!
oh my goodness, Pita Pit!!! ahahahahahahaha, I definitely haven’t eaten there since college! It was one of the two places still open at 3am in Charleston! Also, I get the Refresh tea when my stomach is bothering me because it helps, but I have to force myself to drink it, I think it tastes like toothpaste! My favorite is the Vanilla Rooibos tea!
What a sweet bride! That is a great idea to hunt for dresses in department stores! I’m in a wedding in September. I sure wish the bride was a bit more considerate because she doesn’t seem to care how much we have to spend. lol. Can September 11th just be here already so the wedding can be done? 🙂
I always try stuffing stuff into my store bought pitas but it just never does the job sadly =/
Love the color of that dress…I’m sure that color will look so pretty on you!
Weddings are stressful! For the bride, for the bridesmaids, for all! Especially when you get differing opinions…
Have you ever seen that show on TLC, Say Yes to the Dress Bridesmaids. It makes me laugh. Some of those people should NOT be in the wedding party, and some of those brides are bridezillas! lol I love it though!
Omg pita pit is amazing! They catered a conference I was at in Orlando once and I absolutely fell in love. Hands down better than subway! Hope you had a nice day 🙂
omg i love pita pit. it reminds me of college too!
I just had the BEST Pita Pit yesterday – spicy black bean with ancho chipotle – amazing! Your bridesmaid’s dress looks great, girly and whimsical 🙂
You have a place that specializes in pitas? Why don’t we have one! That looks really yummy!
The colour of that dress is really pretty, getting it from a department store is super considerate, what a nice bride 🙂
That bridesmaid dress is surprisingly flattering. Did you check your friend’s meds?
I’m currently only on allergy medicine and tums, but I made sure to lay off when I hit up the stores 🙂 Julie is beautiful with a body to kill for…she would look good in even the most horrible frock.
Never tried/heard of the pita pit! sounds bomb though! Cute tank top! Im pretty sure I have the same one 😉
What a wonderful, happy color! I think that dress will look great on you!