Coming Together

I've told you guys about how food brings my family together.  Whether it's the turkey debacle where I almost quit cooking or giving you the recipe for papi's pernil, a lot of our rituals are based in food. This week, I've managed to add to my daily rituals to bring me together with the frog princess.  What, you ask, are we doing? We have been sick together.

For the record, she's pretty healthy (let's not talk about the five alarm insanity that I experience at the first sign of a fever).  And I can't remember the last time that I had a sore throat. But here we are.

Last week, she had a fever due to teething.  And so our days have continued in the same way this week. We get up, she asks me for chocolate milk, I pretend this is the most absurd request ever in the history of life and then we wiggle Following that, the frog princess has been asking me for one thing (and she actually asks me for some throughout the day): juice.  I give it to her in her princess cup.  It's been orange juice, of course, as I try to get her to take in some extra vitamin C.

In my house, there's only one type of orange juice:  Tropicana.  I'm a no-pulp girl and so that's what I buy. I figure if I want pulp, I'll eat an orange, thankyouverymuch.  I like it on the rocks and after this week, I was reminded of just how much I enjoy drinking it.

I've always loved Tropicana. I remember living in NYC and stopping by a deli on my way to school every morning, grabbing a bagel and picking up the baby carton of Tropicana which I would drink on the way to school.  Every time I drink it now, I fondly think back of that ritual that I created without even knowing.

Not only did I always drink it on the way to school but, for some reason I am reminded of being cared for with a big cup of OJ when I was sick and mami was around to care for me.  Sometimes I think, keep the chicken soup, my memories are

In these last couple of days, we have run through a carafe of the best OJ in the world!  One of the things that makes me smile when I pour the OJ is that it's local.  Tropicana Pure Premium is 100% Pure Florida Orange Juice. Who knows, maybe they're using some of my very own oranges from the backyard (not likely though, as the Dominicans like to come over and raid my trees. This year, however, my dad has given me authority to deny entry and release the hounds on anyone trying to pick any of our fruit).

A little known fact is that Tropicana uses groves in 22 different Florida counties, primarily in central and southern Florida.  This means I am going to go out one of these days and see if I can find one so that I can take a picture like this:

Except I totally want to be in that pic! Haven't figured out how but, it'll come to me.  And so, even though I'm not happy that we are both under the weather, I'm happy that we got a chance to hang out in each other's arms, with one of the most comforting drinks on the planet. Orange juice. And one of my most trusted brands from my childhood: Tropicana.

If you love them too, be sure to check out their Facebook page!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Tropicana blogging program, to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.

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