Go Shorty, It's Your Birthday!

I'm not a big fan of rap music, but 50 Cent's "In Da Club" is one I will admit to enjoying - only because it's fun to car dance to! I couldn't help but smile when it came on the radio today...my actual birthday. It made me think about someone I haven't thought about in a long time. Someone whose nickname for me so long ago was Shorty. We had one of those love/hate relationships for years, and I always thought he might in fact be my soulmate. For various reasons, life took us down different paths and I haven't seen him in years. Had I run into him today though, I would have gotten a resounding "Happy Birthday Shorty!" That's how it was with us ~ days, weeks and sometimes months would go by and we wouldn't see each other. But when we did, it was like we had seen each other just the day before. We were always so easily able to fall right back into our routine of bantering and just being us. It got me thinking about how those people you will always cherish, those that you have the greatest comfort level with and feel safe with , the ones you know will always have your back - are far and few between as you grow older. I'm not quite sure why that is, and this birthday girl didn't dwell too much on that aspect of it all. What I did do though is give thanks for my peeps that will always hold a special place in my heart, and yes....I car danced!

Rock 'n' Roll Mermaid

There's a girl that many say could have been a mermaid in a past life. She's happiest when near any body of water, but her preferred choice is the ocean. It calms and rejuvenates her in a way that nothing else seems to. The other night though, she was reminded that there is something else that fuels her soul - live music. She remembers her first concert ever...Billy Joel, freshman year of high school. From there on she was hooked. She now has a ticket stub collection that could rival the beach treasures collection. Over a span of 30 years there have been many late nights of music. All kinds too.  To name them all would be impossible. Many acts have been seen for free and multiple times due to an old friend with the right connections! So what is it about a live concert that makes the mermaid want to temporarily trade in her tail for some dancing feet?  Sure, part of it is the raw musical talent that she'll never have. The heart stopping beat of the drums, the guitar rips, and the vocal magic she only pretends to have in the shower. But the other night while waiting for the band to take stage she thought of this....You enter this arena, and for a few hours you get to let go and just not think about anything except the messages that are being passed on in song. The words that songwriters have painstakingly written that for whatever reason just hit you and stick. For this mermaid it's a little piece of magic.



Love You The Mostest

Love you the mostest....it's what Niece #2 says to me at the end of each of our phone calls. She lives 500 miles away and I've never gone more than probably three days without talking to she and her sister. This summer the two of them went another 500 miles further away to the woods of Tennessee for camp. I hadn't heard those sweet words for 31 agonizing long days, until last night at precisely 10:02 p.m. I couldn't even talk, I just wanted to listen to their voices that I missed so much. Exhausted as they were, both went on and on about all the fabulous experiences they had and I just soaked it all in. The call ended with the words I love to hear and I slept soundly. All is right in universe again.

Curveballs

I have to work at throwing open the window to the unexpected. In the past month life has thrown me three curveballs. One was a bit expected, but that's not to say it still didn't sting a little. The other two, completely out of nowhere. I know we don't always get what we want, but I'd like to think that we always get what is right for us. These curveballs of life may make us duck or dodge, altering the game plan a little bit along the way. I guess in doing so we get to see things a little differently. You're forced to keep your eyes open to find the gems along the challenging pathway of life. And when all else fails, as my cousin told me the other day.... "you rely on the strength, grace and faith that your grandmother passed on!"

Expect to get sucked into the river of life without a paddle occasionally and maybe even get tossed out of the canoe. Learn to swim and go with the flow.

The Perfect Day

If I could bottle up the perfect day, I'd squeeze yesterday in. It began early in the morning at the beach on the most perfect weather day of the week. The water was crystal clear and waves were great for bodysurfing. Friends stopped by for a swim, others stayed longer and some of us even closed the place down! There were walks, long swims, delicious treats, naps, seaside discoveries and lots of reading. Throw in some great conversations that resulted in hoots of laughter and even some tears, but it was all good stuff! It lead to an impromtu dinner party back at a beach house with some more good company, eats and cocktails. More bonding, chatting and laughter went on into the night. It wasn't until a little after midnight when the last three of us decided that we needed to put a cap on what we deemed the most perfect day of the summer so far. Love those 15 hour sun kissed beach days!

Don't You Just Love A Bargain?

I for one love a bargain, and get quite excited when I happen across a good one. I wouldn't rank myself up there with those on Extreme Couponing, because quite frankly I will never need 27 bottles of ketchup. But I do use coupons, and am always looking for a good deal. I scored two this week! The first was earlier in the week at the Vera Bradley outlet. I had received a $20 coupon good for if you spent $20 or more. (Not a problem.) When entering the store I learned that everything was buy 1, get 1 free. Between the outlet prices, my coupon, and the special sale; I ended up with $100 worth of merchandise for a cool....$26!!  Yesterday's find was at the Christmas Tree Shop. It can be a hit or miss kind of place, with yesterday definitely being a hit! I found these great placemats.



They were marked 1/2 off with the 4th of July decor, the 6 of them cost me a little under $5! I love the colors and the thick fabric. The silver rings on the side make them look a little nautical too. The best part...they are reversible! Don't you just love a bargain?







Driving Miss Daisy

A few days ago I took a quick road trip to Connecticut to visit my godson for the afternoon. I was with said godson's grandmother for the ride and a bit of chit chat. It's a trip I've done hundreds of times over the past 15 years or so. But this particular day I saw things for the first time ever. Flowers on the side of the road, bodies of water I never knew existed, cemetaries, houses up on hills...the list could go on. Why was I seeing this all with such amazement? I wasn't driving! My brain wasn't focused on the craziness of Interstate 95 and my eyes weren't intently paying attention to the road. I was soaking the view in while realizing I need to make myself the passenger more often....or get myself a driver!