Weekly Diary: April 4 - 10, 2025

Weekly Diary contains what I did and how I felt during the past week. Weekly Diary will be published on my blog every Friday, For special reasons, the weekly diary will be delayed by a day or two. Let’s read my new weekly diary of April 4 - 10, 2025!  This diary took place in Naples, Florida which is my Florida residence. 

Friday, April 4 - I learned that my friend, Maria's flight got delayed because of the crazy weather in Cincinnati. I was looking at the flight history. Some of flights got delayed because Cincinnati's weather has been terrible. The city had so much rain and storms! Maria landed down here around 4pm. She arrived in my house at 5:30pm via Uber. We went to Sam Sneads for dinner. I had a raspberry martini, fried mozzarella triangles and oriental salmon- yummy 😋  We were catching up all night. We drank a cup of Pink Panty Cocktail (vodka, Sprite, and pink lemonade) - refreshing and delicious!

TV shows and movies I watched: an episode of Love on the Spectrum S3. I didn't watch any movies. 

Saturday, April 5 - I had a quiche and fruit salad for breakfast with Maria. I spent the day at the beach with Maria and my caregiver, Danielle. At the beach, I drank glass of Pina Colada - the drink was delicious. I ate ham sandwiches and sweet potato chips for lunch. After lunch, I had to pee on the ocean while sitting in my beach wheelchair. 😂  This was my first time peeing on the ocean. That moment made me feel a little embarrassed but comfortable. Everybody pees on the ocean if they need. We spent 4 hours on the beach. When we got home from the beach, I got ready for the night. I went to Mercato with Maria and my caregiver, Amanda. At Mercato, we walked around the neighborhood. We were sitting in the outdoor lounge near the restaurant where we were eating dinner for awhile. We had a very good dinner at Bar Tulia, an Italian bistro that serves uniquely rustic food with a twist of the Pub. We shared a charcuterie board appetizer. I got a whole romaine Caesar salad, pesto cavatappi, and sticky toffee pudding. This was my first time visiting the restaurant. I thought it was a pretty good meal. 

Me with my friend, Maria on the beach 🏝️ 

Me @ Bar Tulia Mercato. I was wearing a Lilly Pulitzer sundresss. 

Sunday, April 6 - Maria and I walked to Skillets for brunch in the morning so I had a glass of mimosa and a veggie omelet with fruit cup and biscuit. We spent a few hours in the lanai room where we were talking. Maria also swam in the pool. I drank a cup of Pink Panty cocktail. We went to Bistro 821 on 5th Avenue South for dinner so I had a strawberry moijo, a crab dip with tortilla chips, and a gourmet stuffed chicken- delicious. After dinner, Maria stopped by Walmart to buy something on her own on our way home. I saw on Facebook that Cincinnati is being flooded. The Ohio River reached almost 60 feet of flood. It looks like the city was in a hectic flooding situation. How crazy and hectic! I felt like the city will always be in my heart! I am lucky that I was not in my hometown because of the chilly and hectic weather.... Florida is still warm and sunny! 😎 

Monday, April 7 - My mom prepared pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit salad for brunch so we all ate it together. It was a delicious meal. Pancakes were very fluffy- my mom made a  homemade pancake batter- it was a good recipe. I was wearing a hot pink multi tropical paisley halter top Maria got me for Christmas. The top paired with my Lilly Pulitzer tropical headband. My caregiver, Danielle and I dropped Maria off at the airport. Afterwards, we went to Coconut Point mall. At the mall, we visited Chico's, Loft, Naples Soap Company, Lululemon, and Lilly Pulitzer. We had a delicious dinner at Divieto Ristorante - I had a glass of Chardonnay wine, caprese salad, and rigatoni salmone. We also got 2 Italian pastries (cannoli and thin layered cream cake) from Sospiri's Gelato, the place next to Divieto - These pastries were really good but I liked thin layered cream cake better than cannoli. I watched NCAA Men's Basketball national championship game: Florida Gators and Houston Cougars. Even though I am not a fan of basketball, I was rooting for Florida Gators because Florida is my absolute favorite destination. Florida Gators won the national championship game! It was enjoyable to watch the game. 

I wore this hot pink tropical halter top Maria got me for Christmas.

Tuesday, April 8 - I ate a slice of spinach tomato quiche for breakfast. My dad and I ordered a new Louis Vuitton bracelet for my mom for Mother's Day which marks Sunday, May 11th. I ordered groceries via DoorDash for this week's dinners. I communicated with my doctor about my new AFO braces on MyChart. I have scheduled my new AFO braces appointment for June 4th. I ate a leftover oriental salmon from Sam Sneads for lunch. I virtually shopped for Derby decorations for my mom. I managed my own finances through note and spreadsheet. My caregiver, Danielle prepared a dinner for us so we ate cranberry brie stuffed chicken, baked white sweet potato with sour cream and cheese, and asparagus. I tried white sweet potato for the first ever time and it tasted like a regular sweet potato. I realized that it is actually a sweet potato not orange but it is chemically sweet. I thought that was interesting to learn about white sweet potato. White sweet potato has a milder, less sweet flavor than orange sweet potato. It has more crumbly texture than orange sweet potato. I think I would like to eat it again. Like orange sweet potato, white sweet potato is a good source of fiber and vitamins. 

White Sweet Potato 

TV shows and movies I watched: I finished watching the third season of Love on the Spectrum. This was the best season of the love reality show I ever watched. I really loved how people with autism were in their love. 

Although I am not autistic, sometimes I act like a person with autism. People with autism can have their own interests, passions, hobbies, and preferences like everyone else but it's somewhat challenging for them to face social and sensory struggles. I know how much I care about people with developmental disabilities like me because we are both unique, talkative, intelligent, empathetic, capable, and dedicated. I am a neurotypical person living with cerebral palsy. The word neurotypical refers to people who are not characterized by autism and other mental disorders such as ADHD and dyslexia. Neurotypical people tend to have normal cognitive and intellectual functioning  and meet all standard expectations. I am incredibly lucky to be neurotypical and have no cognitive or intellectual issues! 

Wednesday, April 9 - I ate pancakes from Monday for breakfast. I wrote a letter to my former college professor about my experience with her and blog inspiration via email. She wrote a heartfelt response to me. Her response brought tears to my eyes. My mom made a homemade Kibbie, a Lebanese meat patties. I ate leftover fried mozzarella triangles from Sam Sneads for lunch. I went to Sugden Park. It was a wonderful day at the park so I exercised there. I ate leftover caprese salad from Divieto, kielbasa, Velveeta Mac and cheese, and Bush baked beans for dinner- yummy. 

TV shows and movies I watched: A Variety panel discussion full segmet of "Out of My Mind" on the web, a new episode of Good American Family, and a new episode of Grey's Anatomy. 

Thursday, April 10 - I stayed home all day. I had PT workout and it was so amazing. The PT workout always made me stay active and strong today and every day. I am full of gratitude to have worked hard on maintaining my strength and flexibility each day and every day. One of my essential catchphrases is "Strength is my superpower... I shall never be afraid to do it!' - The catchphrase refers to how I work out through my PT and my exercises. I created my new Facebook cover photo depicting my professional life lies in two worlds and I put it on my Facebook page. I started creating a presentation about my life story on Canva so I would use it to share my story and expertise during a public speaking event one day. I ate a cranberry walnut salad, pesto glazed salmon, and wild rice for dinner- delicious! 

TV shows and movies I watched: Two new episodes of Pulse (Ep 2 & 3) on Netflix. I think it's a good show so far. Watching a doctor in a wheelchair made me feel so proud 🥹 I am so happy for Netflix to cast a real disability representation. I can't wait to watch the rest of the season! 

The past week has been wonderful for me. It was filled with excitement, relaxation, fun, joy, laughter, positivity, wellbeing, and entertainment. I am grateful for what I did during the past week. 😁🥰  

Thank you for reading my weekly diary. I hope you enjoy reading it. Let me know how you react to my weekly diary in comments below. I will post my new weekly diary next week.

🩷 Marisa