Izzy-Living

Hi, I’m Izzy.

I’ve been exploring Anna Maria Island for over 40 years, and I share insider guides to the restaurants, spots, and experiences that are actually worth your time, along with the renovations and projects that shape the way I live and travel.

For most of my life, I was a left-brain girl, a numbers person, a CPA and Realtor through and through. As a kid, multiplication tables came easy, and fractions and percentages felt like second nature. Writing was another story.

About a decade ago, my right brain started tapping on my shoulder. I tried something new and started writing, and I haven’t looked back since. Today, I write about the things I love most, renovating, landscaping, and traveling, all with the same eye for detail that never really left me.

Renovating

I purchased my first house on January 28, 1993, for $79,000. It was a 2,000 square foot, two bedroom, two bathroom home with peek-a-boo lake views on a half-acre lot. The wood-framed house was built in 1925 and had sat untouched for seven decades.

Everything needed updating. It was my first renovation, but I had already worked closely with my mom on properties she had rehabbed and built, so I knew what I was walking into. Every trade was involved, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, HVAC, and landscaping. As a CPA, my first move was to prioritize the list and build a solid budget.

As expected, the budget didn’t hold. The biggest hit came when the inspector condemned the house due to its knob and tube wiring. Through every detail, surprise, and adjustment, I was lucky to have my mom as my superintendent on that first remodel.

I sold the house in September 1995 for $156,000 and immediately began working on custom home plans for a lot I had purchased the year before.

That project is where the renovation bug really took hold. It gave me a chance to develop my creative side, since the numbers side was already covered. More than three decades later, my passion for renovating is still going strong.

Landscaping

From early childhood, my mom was known as the woman with a “green thumb.” Her friends constantly came to her with questions about landscaping and houseplants, and over time, her love for plants became mine too.

At 23, I was living in a fourth-floor Art Deco condo in South Beach. The white wraparound balcony needed color, so I turned to my mom for advice, just like so many others had before me. We chose a tropical croton, vibrant enough to stand out and tough enough for Florida’s heat and humidity. It was the perfect first plant.

I placed my croton on my east-facing balcony, and its bright yellow, red, and green leaves brought the space to life. From there, my collection kept growing. Every new plant meant another conversation with my mom and another trip to the nursery.

Over the years, I continued exploring tropical plants, and our conversations slowly shifted from teacher and student to two friends sharing a passion. When my mom passed in 2014, I realized she had passed that green thumb on to me for good.

Traveling

One could say I began traveling at an early age. My first international trip was on April 19, 1966. I was two years old, leaving Cuba with my parents as we arrived in the United States and began building a new life. I have always thought of it as integration rather than assimilation, since my parents blended old and new in a way that allowed our traditions to stay part of our everyday lives.

For the first decade in Florida, our travels stayed close to home, mostly road trips within the state or to nearby ones. This was before seatbelts were the norm, so the journey itself was part of the fun. Cuban sandwiches and café con leche were served on a makeshift table, with the backseat console lowered flat while I sat on the floorboard below.

By my teens, we had moved on to air travel, and I began to see more of the country. I started to notice how much the United States could vary from place to place, from dialects to food to ways of living. My first trip outside the country came later, when a work conference took us to Spain for two weeks. I still remember the sense of home my parents felt being in a Spanish-speaking country, and the ease with which they slipped back into their native tongue. I was too young to remember Cuba, so that trip gave me my closest connection to where I came from.

From that point on, I couldn’t get enough of travel. It taught me how much there is to gain from experiencing different cultures and perspectives. I feel lucky to cross borders and see the world firsthand, and when people ask about my background, I love sharing those stories. That curiosity and appreciation for different ways of living travel with me everywhere I go.

Start Here

If you’re planning a trip to Anna Maria Island or just love a good project or travel story, you’re in the right place.

• Things to Do with Kids on Anna Maria Island: My Insider Guide
• Water Activities on Anna Maria Island: My Insider Guide
• Dining on Anna Maria Island: My Insider Guide

If you want everything in one place, I also created the Anna Maria Island Restaurant Guide, featuring over 90 restaurants, local favorites, and exclusive discounts to help you plan where to eat on the island.