Short Vacations & Obsessions

Aloha to my few but loyal readers! Skip & I are back from our short vacation to Westport, Mass & we had a great time. Why is it, though, that a vacation is never long enough & you always need another vacation after your vacation? Luckily, we are closing the store for the long (at least long for us...3 days) Labor Day weekend.

We relaxed, went to the beach with our pooch, shopped, ate good food & did some "Sunday Driving"...which leads me to these 2 pictures. The first being of the oldest general store in the U.S. & the other being of the only memorial that I know of to a rooster...the Rhode Island Red. Both are located in Adamsville, RI, just a little ways from where Skip's family cottage is. The gas prices when I left Westport were at $3.50, which is at least 30 cents a gallon or more lower than they are here where I live. How are gas prices where you live?

As for my obsession with Jason Hawes & "Ghost Hunters" (obsession being officially defined as "1.the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. 2.the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.")....the new season starts on September 3rd. HOORAY!!!! I've been filling the time until it starts in with "Ghost Hunters International" & a few of "Paranormal State," but they're just not the same...not nearly as good.

Now........how about giving me some ideas/questions/whatever of what to write about here. My brain is empty & I need some input! Thanks!

All Over the Place.......

I'm so beyond knowing where to start with this post....I'm so far behind in trying to post. Sooooooo....this post is just gonna be all over the place. Be kind!

First off, I went to a cousin's wedding in PA at Villanova University (where she met her groom). She's actually a 2nd cousin ~ her grandfather & my grandmother were brother & sister. She's a sweet, vivacious, adorable girl, as you can see by the picture I've posted. The reception was about 30 minutes away in DE, at a beautiful hotel. I got to see a lot of family that I haven't seen in a looooong while & to "re-introduce" myself to some younger cousins that are now "all grown up" but I haven't seen them since they were little kids. I keep remembering them as being 6 or 10 or 12 & now they're in their 20's, getting married or already married. WOW...does that age a person quickly or what?!?! Sheesh! Skip didn't join me because he'd been dealing with the shingles & in a lot of pain.

Speaking of Skip...he's up in south~eastern MA, where his family has a cottage. He headed up in the middle of the night last night (literally...he left around 3:30 am). I'll be joining up with him tomorrow night after work. We decided to close the store only for 3 days (Tues, Wed, Thurs), so as not to be closed too long...that's why I'm not up there already...lucky me, huh?

On to silly little things...everybody's got a celebrity crush, right? I know that Phinney likes David Cook & Carly likes David Duchovny. Well my "obsession" is 3~fold...naughty little me. Besides my eternal crushes on Mike Piazza (former catcher for the NY Mets) & Vincent D'Onofrio (from "Law & Order: Criminal Intent")...I've got a new boyfriend...Jason Hawes from T.A.P.S. ("Ghost Hunters" on the SciFi channel). They may not be any of your cups of tea, but they all just do something to me. LOL Decisions...decisions! Who's your celebrity crush?

A Kid in a Candy Shop

Yesterday my friend Lori & I went on a day trip to the Berkshires in Massachusetts...destination...the great big mama store of the Yankee Candle Company in South Deerfield. The place is fabulous & I'm like a kid in a candy shop!

I've been heading up there at least once a year since I first discovered Yankee Candles about 15 years or so ago & my how they've changed & expanded big time over the years. The "headquarters" ~ the candles used to be made right there, but that part of it is down the road a bit now ~ has everything from their candles (of course ~ duh!) to stuff for your home & garden & a Bavarian Christmas village & the Black Forest. Although there are Yankee Candle stores in malls & Yankee Candle candles to be found at Bed Bath & Beyond (among other places), no place has the immense selection of scents that they do here in South Deerfield, MA. Thee's every scent from tea & honey to dune grass to gardenia to fresh ground coffee...& everything in between! I myself, picked up 29 different scented tarts (wickless "candles" that I put in an electric tart warmer)...& 2 of each of those different scents! I had this trip planned & saved my pennies so I could go a little nuts. I also picked up some of their jar candles. It's no exaggeration when I tell you that 1 of these little tarts scents my entire house for the day...so I'm pretty well set for a while, don't ya think?

I took a couple of pictures on my camera phone of the Bavarian Christmas village & thought I e-mailed them to myself, but they haven't shown up yet. Bizarre! Sooooo....you'll have to make do with the picture I snapped here at home of my basket~o~tarts & what I've lifted from their website.

Show me the way to go home....

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig....

Yes...I'm finally home from my short but sweet trip to southeastern MA. As always, I feel like I'm on a whirlwind. Got home only to have to drag everything in from the car myself (Skip was dropping his mom & her stuff off at her home), unpack like a crazy woman & then finally start baking for tonight's "Reckless Abandon Book Club" meeting.

Actually, I'm very excited about the book club meeting. It's the very first 1 of this book club that I've set up. Our first selection was "Kitchen Confidential......" by Anthony Bourdain (that crazy chef who has a show on the Travel Channel called No Reservations ~ travelling around the world & eating all sorts of exotic local stuff). It was a fascinating book & easy read & I'm really looking forward to what everyone has to say about it (8 or 10 people are coming!). I wonder what we'll vote on from the list of books for our next selection?!?!

I was going to put a picture here that I took with my camera phone, but can't figure out how. I've had this camera phone for a couple of months & finally figured out how to send a picture to myself (or someone else for that matter) immediately via an e-mail address. It arrived in my e-mail box, but now I can't figure out how to "transport" it over here. God....I'm such a technology~moron! It was a really cool picture of the red grapes on the vine @ a local vineyard up there. Will post when I figure out how! By George...I think I've done it! The picture should be there when I hit "publish post"........I hope!