Hello, everyone! What have you all been up to? My life got a kick in the hectic pants with a heavier than usual workload, an illness that I called the “five-day malaise,” and a whirlwind work trip. All of those things have kept me from Work Play and Chardonnay. I'm hoping to make up for that over the next few weeks with lots and lots of posts.
Let it be known…”lots” for this blog is defined as “two a week.”
Despite all of the work and the bout of the illin', I was able to get a quick girls trip in with my bestie Nicole of An American Introvert in London. Earlier in the year, we had determined we wanted to stay in as many unique Airbnbs as humanly (and financially) possible. So in June we stayed in a yurt and to kick off autumn, we booked a stay in a tiny house.
Here's a glimpse into our “Tiny Girls Trip”…
I'd like to thank HGTV for my obsession with tiny homes. If there is a tiny home show out on the airwaves, I have probably seen it. Tiny House Hunters. Tiny Luxury. Tiny House, Big Living. The little houses might not be the right fit for my everyday life, but I have always wanted to stay in one. They just come across as a larger scale dollhouse. Did anyone else want to live in a dollhouse as a child?
The tiny home we rented is located in a small RV park in the College Park area of Orlando. It featured a small kitchen, a full bathroom, and three different sleeping areas. One “bedroom” was accessible with stairs, another with a ladder, and one down low also served as the living area couch.
Guess who decided to sleep down low after a few glasses of wine? Safety first, people.
Despite its name, our lodging was quite spacious for the night. It was also parked right on the water, so we spent a couple of hours chatting outside while sipping wine. I mean…how gorgeous is the view?
The kitchen was tiny, so we decided to enjoy dinner at East End Market in nearby Audubon Park. East End Market has a collection of stores and restaurants and is a foodie paradise. I had read that La Femme du Fromage offered a Grilled Cheese Happy Hour every Friday, so that was our first course of the night.
If you live in the Orlando area and love cheese don't walk…run to La Femme du Fromage. I mean….running helps burn some calories found in the ooey gooey goodness La Femme has to offer. Our grilled cheese flight with beer pairing made for the happiest of hours for the two of us.
Note: We didn't run or walk to East End Market. We Uber'd.
Our second course of the night found us at Florida & Co – an eatery that combines naturally locally grown ingredients served up with a dose of the “health.” We had wine filled with antioxidants. And I think the shrimp lettuce wraps qualify as a salad. Am I the only one that thinks that?
We made one last stop before heading out to our Uber (safety!) A quick return to La Femme du Fromage to pick up little wine and cheese to enjoy at our tiny abode.
Here are some of my key learnings from our TGT (how many times can I write “tiny” out in this post? Isn't it a wee bit annoying to be so darn repetitive?)
- Staying one night in a tiny house was just right for this Goldilocks. It was cute. It was cozy. It's just not practical for my cooking and baking hobby or the need to “hide” from other humans while at home.
- Getting down from a loft via a ladder while sober in the daylight is a challenge. However, I bet Cirque du Soleil performers would rock the loft and ladder combo.
- A Grilled Cheese Happy Hour is a genius idea. I need more GCHH in my life.
- A lettuce wrap is a salad masquerading as a sandwich. Or is it a sandwich masquerading as a salad?
Have you ever stayed in a tiny house or know someone that lives in one? Are there any “different” types of homes that you have visited or would like to do so? My list of funky dwellings to vacation in is long – a pyramid, a boathouse, an Airstream – to name a few.
I can't wait to blog more! I hope y'all are in the mood to read more. I missed you!
Work Hard. Play Hard. Drink Chard.
Laurie
Great post 😁
Thank you so much!!
You’re welcome
No problem 😁 check out my blog when you get the chance 🙂
Now I know what I need – a tiny home in my backyard for all of my crafting stuff. Oh wait, that would require a backyard, right? 😉 Might be a nice getaway, though. So.. is that really cheese in a jar? Like pickled cheese? I am confused.
I think you just described a “she shed.” But that would only apply if….you had a backyard.
It wasn’t pickled cheese. It was marinated sheep and goat’s milk cheese. The olive oil had herbs and whole peppercorns with it in the jar. So good!!!!
A grilled cheese happy hour and wine filled with antioxidants? What a fabulous girls weekend!!
This sounds so refreshing !!
It was a really fun time. It’s always good to get away with a loved one!
I really like the lodging. Not only because I live in Asia and I’ve never been to anywhere close to the US that I never really tried traveling in the RV, but also because I love how it’s minimalist yet so functional for staying a few days or even more. Thanks for sharing! 😀
Hello to you in Asia!!! I have never traveled in a RV but something tells me it is quite the experience. The tiny house was definitely different. I thought it was a great short-term stay but my life is just not minimalistic enough to live in one full-time. 🙂
I love tiny cozy places as they tend to bring all people together. this makes me want to get a girls trip as well!!
What a beautiful view of a lake. I’ve never stayed in a tiny house, I would have to stay by myself and not with anyone else.
I would definitely need to live in one by myself. My fiancé is a gamer. A very loud gamer. He would need his own tiny house. 😀
WOW! What an uber-FUN idea to stay in a Tiny House (and that one looked ultra-chic). Like you, I’m obsessed with HGTV and watch ALL of the design shows including, you guessed it Tiny (everything) Houses. I always wondered what it would be like to vaca in one, too. And you really showed the glamorous side of Tiny traveling. Just love your post and sense of humor, I really enjoyed reading it – Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you, Ana! I really enjoyed reading your comment! It made me smile! 😀
I just love HGTV. I wonder how many hours I have spent watching it?
What a great little trip. I would be more than happy to sit by this lake and watch the view.
I would like to have a big house with a tiny house in the back yard for guests. Yes, that will be nice.
Hahah! I want this as well, but the tiny house in the back would be for me!!!!
This is 1st time i am heard about tiny house. I think its great. I will try it.
Living in a tiny house must be fun. Yes doll houses are every child’s dream. This one looks close to enlarged version as you said.
I always wanted to live in a palace. Got the opportunity to do so too.
This looks like it would be such a great getaway. Looks like you had such a great time!
I am not much for tiny houses, but that one was kind of nice! I would love to see it.
This was more than a tad bit fun. And I think a second tiny house would offer private time away from others in the house. Do families who go tiny double up on the tiny? Does that defeat the purpose?
I think people do what makes them happy when it comes to living. I did see a tiny house show with a trio of small homes on a property. I think I will stick to my not too small, not too big home and use a tiny house for a vacation every now and again. 🙂
Wow, what a great looking tiny place to spend the weekend. I think the idea behind tiny homes are great, but I’m with you that I couldn’t be in one for too long. I like my space and how would I ever fit all of my books into one, haha. That view was gorgeous!
How cool would it be if you could have a tiny house as a reading nook????????
I would love spending all day sitting on that sofa with a lake and greenery for a view. Damn I’m jealous of your trip!!
Sounds like such fun. I stayed in a yurt once. Not bad. Cute tiny house.
We stayed in a yurt earlier in the summer! It stayed surprisingly cool (with AC) in the Florida heat. Have you stayed in a tree house? That’s on our hit list!
Only in our back field. I wrote about that too. The treehouse’s demise. It’s now a bridge. Ha