Sometimes you have to get out of your routine a little to have some fun. Do something different to keep things interesting. We did that this past weekend. Usually our Christmas celebrations are fairly predictable. Awesome traditions like decorating the tree, making meatballs, and baking cookies. And while predictable, they are still things we look forward to during the Christmas season.

But this year we did something very different. We dressed up in our most neon-ish clothes, complete with hot pink tutus for the girls, piled four bikes on the back of the car and headed downtown for the annual On Bikes Winter Wonder Ride; this year’s theme was “Let it Glow” with neon and retro vibes.

It was a ton of fun. It started at Curtis Hixon Park, and there were stations where you could glam up your bike with stickers, garland, and spoke rattlers. And for the very brave, there was a hair-painting and hair-glittering station. You can imagine that Abby and Maddy spent a good amount of time getting their hair glitzed and glammed.

And then we took to our bikes. There were a ton of people. At first I was a little nervous that it would be a super-crowded pack of bikers and imagined all sorts of collisions. But the course took us down Ashley and over to Bayshore where we had a comfortable ride up and down one of the most beautiful streets in Tampa. It was super-fun riding with so many other festive folks.

We hope that you are keeping your old traditions going and making new ones this season. The weather has been really nice for everything from biking to gardening and activities in between. Remember, we’re here when you need a break from the hustle and bustle of the season.

P.S. And as one of our traditions, we’ll be closing early today at 2 pm for our staff holiday gathering.