Yay for Unicef Christmas Cards!

Every year Pier One shows their support of UNICEF by featuring these adorable Christmas cards. They are officially out on shelves now, and I know I will be on my way to purchase a box or two very soon, as a fun way to donate to a worthy cause. Which reminds me - J and I had better get busy and take our Christmas card photo soon! I always wait until the very last minute, but this year I want to be different. I am hoping to get the decorations up this month so I can enjoy my favorite time of year for a few extra days. I must be old because the year has absolutely, truly, insanely flown by and I can't even believe the holidays are here. But, I am not complaining - I LOVE this time of year! :-)

New Shoes!

The results of a lovely weekend shopping spree with my mom :-)

Fall = Scarf Time!

7 Ways to Wear a Scarf

The Fresh Market

The Fresh Market

Finally, Macon is home to a great specialty foods store! We are officially in love with this place, and have already frequented it on several occasions. They offer many of our hard to find favorites like gnocchi, imported specialty beer brews, fresh spices, organic produce, pure peanut butter, a bakery that makes me drool, shelf after shelf of wine selections, and a deli counter that is to die for with its jalapeño pimento cheese, impressive array of pasta salads, and homemade hummus to name just a few. In addition to the pick-your-own six pack of beers, which is my favorite offering, there are also isles and isles of scoop-your-own varieties of trail mix, candy, nuts, dried fruits, chocolate-covered espresso beans, and more.

Day Two: Rain, Rain Go Away/Rainy Monday

Huge storm rolled through around 4:00 am and woke us, but it's fury passed quickly and we were able to sleep in until Starbucks called and wanted us to donate to their cause. And we did. Mmm, caffeine. :-)

After a lazy morning, we decided to hit the beach and got all suited up only to discover it was drizzling outside. We decided to wait it out a little while before giving up, and parked it in the cabana with books in hand. After taking a couple of polaroids and reading exactly 1.5 pages, the small but mighty swarm of mosquitoes chased us back in to our room. We changed clothes again and decided to do some driving and sightseeing in our dry, bug-free car. There are tons of beautiful sea-mansions around here, and lots of them for sale! We scouted out a few more places to eat dinner, checked out Siesta Key Village, and headed into Sarasota for some shopping. I got the awesome pair of shoes I've been pining after for the past week at Dillard's while J browsed a cool kitchen store, and after a couple more shopping stops, I grabbed some Rain-kissed Leaves lotion and Dancing Waters body mist from Bath & Body Works (perfect beach purchases!), and we set out to find lunch. Sweet Tomatoes was our pick today, and I was in veggie heaven. Rows and rows of salad stuff, soup, pasta, and bread with nearly zero meat in sight - yay! I loved it, and took pictures to remember it by. By this time the rain had ceased, and we could see little patches of blue sky...but my heart didn't sing for long, as the drops started to fall again as soon as we turned in the direction of our hotel. Still, this weather makes for a nice afternoon siesta, and I'm starting to understand why they named this key so aptly. Maybe my sunny dreams will come true when I wake, and I can finally lay on the sand...until then, yawn.

Fast forward to about 4:30 pm:
Beautiful afternoon on the beach, breezy and sunny = perfect for tanning! I picked up a gazillion shells, each more lovely than the last. J retired to the room a bit earlier than me to browse photos and such, but I stayed out until my skin started to turn pink, then after showering up, purchasing postcards (loved ones watch your mailboxes!), and enjoying some super-delish mixed beverages, mango rum (for me) and Maker's Mark (for J) , we returned to the beach for sunset pictures and enjoyed the sights. Dinner at S.K.O.B. - that's Siesta Key Oyster Bar for you non-locals ;-) It was fabulous! Grouper bites with buffalo remolaude, a Vampiro for me (a margarita with lots of bells & whistles, including hibiscus and ginger!) and a Lobster Pot Pie, with LongBoard on draft for J and a jerk-seasoned shrimp & scallop skewer dinner that looked great. Yum-O!

It's Coming!

H & M for Georgia!

Yay! This is big news. Besides Cali, virtually no locations exist outside of the northeast. I fell in love with this store years ago in NYC and have daydreamed about it since. Thanks, Atlantic Station! :-)

Conversation Pieces

Way too cool.

And all handmade! Hooray for creativity & talent.

Something New to Crave

MetroMint Flavored Water

This stuff rules! I discovered it at Garnier's, a wonderful little natural foods store in Greenville, SC right across from the BMW shop we frequent. It was love at first sip, and now I am on a quest to find it in my hometown! If I don't succeed, there is always the mail order route...but I feel the tiniest bit silly spending $15 for a sampler case of 5 bottles...but it really is that good. Try it! :-)

P.S. My neighborhood Kroger carries it, and I snagged 2 more bottles tonight - YAY!

Best New Product!

Viva Chumby!