Some of my favorite things

-Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm: I always have this with me.  Soothes and cools.

-Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Peony: Subtle color for day or night.

-Aveda's Rosemary Mint Hand and Body Wash: So fresh and awakens the senses.

-Aveda's Be Curly Cream: The best product to tame these curls.

-Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Dish Soap and Liquid Hand Soap in Lavender: Environmentally friendly yet gets everything squeaky clean.

-Avalon Organics Vitamin C Refreshing Cleansing Gel: A lovely orange smell.  A nice wake up in the morning while removing impurities.

-Plum Tea from Rostov's in Richmond: Doesn't have an overbearing plum taste.

-Honeybush Tea: Naturally sweet with a lot of healthy benefits, but I mainly drink it for the taste.


I will keep adding to the list...

Saturday Adventure

My friends, Katelyn and Tiffany, embarked on an adventure to places we have never been in our own town.  First stop was the Bizarre Market which is made up of local artists who sells goods that have been re-purposed into something else.  A lot of neat stuff at decent prices. They are having another Bizarre Market November 20th at Quirk Gallery.  We then headed to the Clothes Rack on Cary Street.  It is a small thrift store sponsored by the junior league. I got a 1982 Southern Living Cook Book for $1!  Next stop was to several antique stores in Carytown, but my favorite stop was to Penzeys Spices.  All spices are fresh and quickly shipped to their warehouse where they dry and ground the spices/herbs by hand.  Many obscure/hard to find spices are here as well as new ones such as different seasoning salts or combinations of spices.  One of my favorite to smell was the Ceylon Cinnamon.  They had a fair amount of Central and South American inspired spices, which are by far my most favorite dishes to cook and consume.  I also had a lovely little chat with an employee about the awesomeness of fresh rosemary and how it is one herb we refuse to use in a dried form.  I am glad someone else feels so strongly about that as I do!

Another great thing about Penzeys is that all the recipes are from customers.  The company itself does not publish its own recipes whatsoever. Each recipe in the catalog has a story from a customer who sent it in. Very cool if you ask me. If you do not have a store near you (they have 49) then you can also purchase the spices/herbs online. But, it is fun to go in and smell all the rich herbs and spices and get some free recipes.

Afternoon Tea

Oh, how I love tea.  It is truly my favorite beverage whether it is served hot, cold, or with lemonade mixed in.  I love having afternoon tea.  I truly loved this concept when we visited London.  I feel the urge to host an afternoon tea one Saturday or Sunday when fall comes.  Robust tea alongside tiny scrumptious sweets and sandwiches.  Please stay tuned.

This is currently my favorite tea cup.  I love the little birds and flowers.  I found it at a consignment store in Ashland.  I forget the name of the store, but my friend and I found it by accident.  It did not come with saucers unfortunately.  The cupcake tea pot was a valentines gift from my aunt.  It is great for brewing a small pot of tea and only using one tea bag.  You can get two cups out of it and it is super cute.

Cheers!

Papel Picado

Papel picado is the Mexican folk art of paper cutting. Usually they are elaborate designs. It is kind of like a doily or a snowflake. They are displayed in times of festivity such as religious holidays, Day of the Dead, weddings, quinceaneras, and christenings.

When we were in San Antonio many houses had them displayed. I really wanted the flags and Chuy found them for me. Now, we are not Mexican. Not even close. But we just love all of the Mexican folk art and traditions. Our living room is full of it. People may just think the "flags" are tacky (especially with the plastic flamingos on the lawn- they do not help), but tacky is in the eye of the beholder. What I consider tacky.. actually probably is tacky to most. For some reason I am just attracted to some of that crazy stuff.

I can see us retiring in Mexico.

Welcome Back!

I would like to express how ecstatic I am to have two things back in my life:

1. Chocolate Ice Cream- being lactose intolerant was very upsetting when I had to give up my Turkey Hill Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream. I recently found out that the Lactaid Brand now makes chocolate ice cream.

2. Flats- My feet somehow decided they were going to be particular and hurt every time I put on shoes. Then I woke up and I could not walk on one foot. My metatarsals dropped and that was the end of cute shoes especially flats. As most know, I had to give away/sell most of my shoes to people/consignment stores. This upset me very much. I got custom orthotics (expensive) and my chiropractor told me that I need to buy well structured shoes and slip in my orthotic. A lot of the shoes that are very structured are also ugly. Skinny jeans/dresses/skirts with flats/flat boots were finished. This all happened last year. With much continued searching I have found a cute, well structured flat that my orthotics actually fit in and my feet never hurt!  Check these out if you have similar problems. I got them at Macy's. I could not find them on the website, but they have them on zappos. I am usually an 8, but got an 8.5 because my orthotics are thick.

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