Little Earth

There is a fun company called Little Earth that is known for their quirky purses made from old license plates. They also make CD holders and photo albums from them as well. It's a neat twist on using recycled goods to create something new. They have now branched out into make "designer" looks for these purses now. They are the same shape, but instead of having a Colorado license plate, you might have the NYC skyline.

I am happy to say that after staring at these purses for almost a year, I finally decided that's where my Christmas money was going to go. I chose one of the "designer" prints myself in a funky swirl pattern that I think is really pretty. Now I just have to wait another two weeks while it is made and shipped to me. How exciting!

Beach Week! Beach Week! Beach Week!

Well, it's almost March (where did the first two months of the year go??) and as I stare out onto my concrete patio slab and listen the hum of 285 in the background, I can't help but wonder, how much longer until Beach Week gets here?! I want to feel a nice warm sun on me, catch some waves, and listen to the ocean.

Beach Week is one of the best vacations. For one - it is an annual event. You always get to look forward to it. :) Two - it's at the beach. Duh. And three - there are a bunch of friends around to share it with. This year we have a group of 20 of us or so which should be a lot of fun. It's just getting harder to find a house to fit us all in!

I have been able to stop and see many of the sites in the Outer Banks over the last four years including; the Wright Brother Museum, Jockey's Ridge State Park, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and all the great restaurants and shops. I know Mike and I look forward to visiting our favorite store each year; The Farmer's Daughter. :)

There are a lot of day trips you can do, but you can also just hang around town and have just as much fun. The downside to day trips is the amount of time you spend in the car on such nice days. I guess you just have to think about what you want to do more.

Whatever ends up happening, it will be a great vacation. Even if all I do is sit on the beach every day reading and popping in the ocean every now and again. I am only hoping for a few good days in the ocean, cool to people to hang with, and of course, some puzzle time!

Coffee and Donuts

Last November, the old coffee shop at the end of our street was transformed into Dunkin Donuts. This was very exciting news. Rob and I both love Dunkin Donuts and were happy to have one within walking distance. Of course, this was also dangerous because of both of those reasons.

After the New Year rolled in, we have tried to make a habit of visiting once a week, usually on the weekends to get donuts and coffee. And lately it has been more regular trips on Saturday mornings. We figure once a week isn't too bad AND we walk there, so surely that must count for something.

Since we are now regular customers with our weekend trips and my occasional visit for coffee during the week, the owner recognizes us and exchanges pleasantries with us. He is really nice and always polite. I asked him the other week how early they open and he replied, "What time do you need us open? I get in at 4:30am, if you see my car out there, come on in." I was asking because I thought it might be nice to bring donuts into the office, but I normally leave around 5:30-5:45am and thought they wouldn't be open yet.

This week I got the donuts for the office (huge hit btw) and got an extra donut for me out of the deal. He picked out one and handed it to me and filled the two boxes with other donuts. How nice, thank you! And this morning, we ended up with an extra donut when we were ordering and then the manager came around and gave me a heart shaped donut for Valentine's Day. He joked with Rob not to be jealous. :)

It's nice to be able to go some place you really enjoy and be served by nice people who occasionally toss in a free donut. :) I mean really, who doesn't love a free donut?

Slippers

I know Georgia doesn't get as cold as some other places I have lived, but they also don't know how to insulate a home. So needless to say, even given the warmer climate, I still find it necessary to warm slippers almost constantly when I am home because I like having warm feet.

The pair of slippers that I own (and are currently wearing) are about 6 years old. They are warm and broken in, but probably too broken in. There's a point where a slipper is just right and finally your go-to shoe when you get home and then there's the dilapidated thing you throw on your feet out of habit. We have reached the dilapidated stage.

I have asked for new slippers for the last two years for Christmas, but Santa chooses to give me other things. So, being me, I say well, I can probably get another year out them. They aren't going to make it this time. My right foot has stuffing sticking out of it and it's very close to needing duck tape to keep it together. I finally gave in and went looking for new slippers after Christmas this year. I didn't see anything I wanted and what I tried on was just uncomfortable. So I have been hemming and hawing about it for another month.

I have a gift card to L.L. Bean from Christmas 2007 that I have been meaning to use. I don't shop there often, but like their stuff. I normally avoid ordering anything online that comes in different sizes. But since they have a nice selection of slippers and I have money to burn, I took a look. I found two pairs I think would be pretty awesome and read the reviews of all the other people that think so too.
I think this one is pretty and has a hard sole which would be a huge plus. So I went to put it in the cart and wouldn't you know it. "Available May 22" MAY 22?!?! I finally reached the point of I NEED new slippers and I have to wait another 3 months?!? If this isn't another shinning moment for Murphy's Law, then I don't know what is. And it wouldn't matter if I ordered them in another color or another style. Apparently Christmas wiped them clean out! Oh well, I guess I will have them in time (maybe) for Beach Week.

The Escape Artists

The weather here has been beautiful over the past few days for this time of year. Yesterday, Rob got home before me and decided it was warm enough to open up the windows and doors in the house and let the air flow through. Hey, why not? Fresh air is good for everyone.

When I drove up to the house, I noticed this fuzzy thing in front of our door. It was Sparky hanging out all hunched down and just sitting there. I stopped my car in the street and hurried over to him. I am thinking to myself, "Cat, you are on the wrong side of the door. How did you get here?" I picked him up to bring him in and I turned to the left and there was Dory! BAH! Cats everywhere! Next to Dory though was the screen from the front window. Aha! So that's how you got out!

I guess I had pretty good timing because I think they had just gotten outside. Sparky doesn't handle mother nature too well. He was the kitty that flipped out for no apparent reason and broke all of his hind claws two summers ago. I was just happy that nothing had spooked him.

Moral of the story - the screens suck here. We probably won't be able to have that window open more than my cat is wide which isn't as bad as it sounds. They are big cats. And now they can add escape artists to their resumes.

From Kitties!

Weather in Atlanta

Sadly this isn't as clear as I would like it to be. The point I am trying to make it it says it's currently 26 degrees out and feels like 18. Today our high was a whopping 31 degrees and there were some snowflakes in the air. I was hoping for a blizzard, but I will take flakes blowing in the air and leaving no evidence they were ever there so I can then sound like a crazy person when I tell people about it. THANKS MOTHER NATURE! Make me look like a liar. ANYWHO! If you'll note Saturday's weather however, the weather forecast says it will be a high of 70 and a low of 36. ?!?!?! It's like a weather twilight zone! Get me out!

Address Labels Continued, Again

I got some more mail last week. As you may have guess by the title of this blog entry, it was more address labels! I just took a count of them. I have 12 sets! 12!! Three of them are Christmas oriented. The rest vary from Susan G. Komen, a couple sets from March of Dimes, Habitat for Humanity, RIT, and others.

For the one piece of mail I send a month I am having trouble determining which address label set is most appropriate per the mail I am sending. I am tempted to slap one of everything on there and call it a day. I don't think the post office would get it. In fact I would probably have it mailed back to me because they couldn't find the real address of where it was supposed to go.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that I don't have to write out my address. Even if it is only for the once a month I will send something through the post office. I am lazy in that respect. This just may be the most address labels I have ever gotten for an address I will only have for a year. If I sent a piece of mail every day until I left I still would have some left over! What am I going to do with them? Maybe I should make a mosaic out of them...

Anyone want mail?