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!

Maybe Things Do Happen For A Reason....

I once had a friend who always said that things happen for a reason. It used to drive me crazy, because things would happen and for the life of me I just could not find or see the reason. The whole idea behind that saying is a bit difficult for me to sometimes grasp. However, yesterday I found the words of that very saying actually coming out of my very own mouth.
I was on my favorite island with two cousins for the day. One cousin's work friend also came along. She was a nice enough woman, but a little on the regimented schedule side. It felt a little like I was at summer camp - activity #1, move on....activity #2, move on, etc. Apparently she has never heard the expression, "I'm on island time!" All day she kept stating that we would take the 5:45p.m. ferry back to the mainland. I mentioned at one point that I didn't think there was a 5:45 p.m. ferry, but she was somewhat rudely insistent that there was. I wasn't going to argue with her, because I for one was indeed on island time! The look on her face...standing at the dock.....at 5:45 p.m.....with no ferry in sight...priceless! More time to poke in shops, explore on the beach or climb out on the jetty while we waited for the 7:30 p.m. boat - fantastic! She didn't see it that way, and then I heard myself saying those words. "Oh come on, cheer up....things happen for a reason!" And what was the reason why there wasn't and never will be a 5:45 p.m. ferry? Because then you miss spectacular sights such as this:

Starting From Scratch

You know you haven't blogged for quite some time when you log in and find that everything about creating a post has changed! Eeek! This thing, this blog, this "beast" is something I started over 4 years ago for fun. It has served different purposes for me along the way. There's been bursts of posts,
and then long periods of silence. A friend recently encouraged me to start up again, and so here I am making the pledge to take a go at it and really try to stick with it. Here's to starting from scratch again!

Beach In A Bottle

I'm a person who tends to over think things, so I'm usually not one to impulse buy. It happened though, last fall, while shopping with my oldest niece. Teenagers pretty much operate on impulse from day to day, so I fell victim to her influence! I was chasing her around Nordstrom's as she sniffed every bottle of perfume available when she suddenly shrieked, "You HAVE to have this!! It's you! Your name is all over it, you ARE buying it!" In her hands was this...

Now clearly my name is NOT on it, but I took a sniff anyway. Sweet moses, it literally smelled like the beach in a bottle....and yes, that IS me! I suddenly lost all control and found myself taking out my credit card without even assessing. Before I knew it, we were walking out of the store with a bag that contained a bottle of highly priced liquid Coppertone! But on this blustery day in February, I have no regrets. I can open that bottle and immediately I'm thinking of warm sunshine, the sea breezes and yes... the sand beneath my toes!

Simple Things That Make Me Smile

It's a bunch of pure randomness, but it's all stuff that I simply adore....

* moments of silence

* yummy scents

* hugs

* snowflakes falling through the night sky

* good memories

* music that makes me move

* gratitude

* accents

* the sound of waves crashing

* holiday lights

* humbleness

* that first gulp of oj in the morning

* the feeling I get when the ferry docks on my island

* getting fun mail

Redbox Etiquette

With the closing of most video rental stores, Redbox is now the way to go. I've been using it for several years and think it's quite a bargain! As with everything else though, there is an accepted code of usage. I personally like to have my movie picked out before I even get to the Redbox. I will often go online to watch previews and then reserve it. It just makes the whole process faster when you get to the machine. Now I know that can't happen all the time, so maybe have something in mind before getting there. At the very least, remember that there is a reason why that poster is on the side of the machine. It's to help you decide what you want BEFORE it is your turn! Let's also remember personal space. If I can feel your breath on the back of my neck, you are much too close for my liking! I guarantee you it will not make me move faster and you will most likely hear some unpleasant words!

The Perfect Hutch

I bought my condo just about 9 years ago. I moved in and instantly began doing what most homeowners do...filled it with furniture. One thing I desperately wanted was a hutch. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like...beachy, distressed white color, lots of cabinets and drawers. The problem was I couldn't find it in any store; and I searched for years across many states! Several years back a crafty friend of mine refurbished a hutch she had inherited from her husband's great aunt. She couldn't wait to show it to me. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it for the first time. It was MY hutch, but it was sitting in my friend's dining room! I would ohhh and ahhh over it every time I went to visit. I would often joke and say, "You know, someday/somehow this will be sitting in my dining room!" And now ~ it is!! My friend's mom recently downgraded to a smaller home and in the process my friend inherited her mother's dining room set...forcing her to part with the perfect hutch! And so now, it does indeed sit in my dining room!