Autumn & Jerry » Shopping

Finding Wisdom in the Grocery Store

Autumn — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:28:17 +0000

Who knew that a package of frozen dumpling could be so smart?

I didn’t buy them, if you’re wondering. But I did appreciate the good advice!

And it’s true, you should always say no to drugs. It’s so much better to be alert so you don’t miss awesome, uncommon little gems like this in everyday life!

Aeropress Love

Autumn — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:48:54 +0000

Jerry found out about this nifty little gadget a few months ago thanks to Wired magazine, and it was perfect for us. Not only was it affordable, garnering excellent reviews from tough critics, and appealing to my coffee connoisseur hubby, but our beloved french press had been broken by someone sweet who shall remain nameless. (Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm…who me?! It was an accident, I swear!) For realz. So, with a few winter weeks left we ordered one on Amazon and put it to good use when it arrived on our doorstep. Interestingly enough, I was not even much of a coffee drinker, preferring hot tea, but this machine changed that. I look forward to this delightfully fresh-ground stuff, hand-pressed and perfect every time. At first, we were both drinking more than one cup a day, but now we’re back to our usual levels. We can just rest easy in knowing that each cup will be awesome. And, shortly after falling in love with the Aeropress itself, I added an AeroLatte to the mix and haven’t looked back since. Who knew I would be such a huge fan of homemade lattes topped with cinnamon & cocoa, laced with skim or soy milk? Yum-o. I am almost looking forward to cold months so I can embrace this daily cold-weather induced indulgence again…but for now, I shall prance about in my sandals and sundresses, drinking my hot tea and an occasional spot of coffee. Life is good.

P.S. I have so many more wonderful pictures to share since moments spent with a hand-whipped latte or a good cup of coffee at home seem to make the best photo-ops, but I’ll just share a couple for now.

Anniversary Trip, Part 1

Autumn — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:07:54 +0000

Our first stop was Savannah, and we had an amazing time in this eclectic little coastal southern city. We dined Paula Deen style at her awesome restaurant, The Lady & Sons, and let me just say we left fat and happy. We then attempted to walk off some of that delicious food by strolling along the River Walk before crashing in our lovely little hotel room located perfectly between the City Market/Downtown area & River Walk. I took a short nap, having been awake for exactly 24 hours, and then we were up & out again.

We explored, shopped (I bought an amazing thing called a Kariza – I now want to start a collection!), and strolled a little more before settling in at Moon River for a couple of beers – yummy local brews! Then we posed for pictures in a lovely little park square before enjoying an amazing dinner of tapas & sushi at Tantra Lounge. Awesome atmosphere & amazing food! Go there if you’re in town…you won’t be disapointed. After dinner, we made one more stop at Molly MacPhersons for another beer & some Old Bay seasoned peel & eat shrimp that were to die for. We squeezed a lot of fun into one day, and we were just getting started. A very happy anniversary indeed, great memories were made, and good times were had with the one I love!

Summer = Sandal Time!

Autumn — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:10:24 +0000

I love these!!! I want them

Shhh! Don’t tell hubby. He thinks I have too many shoes already…but he just doesn’t get it. He’s a dude, you know.

Ahhh, summer. I look forward to meeting you again.

Swoon. <3

We Love Our Coffee…

Autumn — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:50:47 +0000

…and we just ordered one of these:

AeroPress Coffee & Espresso Maker

J recently read about it in Wired – it’s sold on Amazon, is inexpensive, and has great reviews across the board. A no-brainer, right? So, today after sweet J cleaned the whole office all by himself without even being asked to, I decided now was the time to order him a little gift. It should be on our doorstep in a few short days, and we will surely be posting a review of our very own! Hopefully, we’ll love it and then I can try out the matching milk frother…mmm, homemade cappuccinos here I come!

Happy Saturday to all…a very rainy one for us, but productive and happy nonetheless! We have company coming in tonight, and look forward to hanging out with our cousin Jen & her friends as they make their way home from the beach. Besides, everyone knows there is no better or wilder way to wrap up your Spring Break than to spend a weekend in Macon! Especially when the Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing…watch out! Hopefully, the rain will slack off in tme for tonight’s Street Party, or at least for tomorrow’s Mulberry Street Festival. Fingers crossed!

Night Out, Night In

Autumn — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:27:46 +0000

Work has been exceptionally busy & stressful lately, so I am positively thrilled to have a four day weeked to enjoy, completely work free! It’s already started off wonderfully, after a good workout at the gym first thing after work, a good solid nap during a heavy rain shower this morning, a long lunch at Panera with my mom & aunt, shopping at two fabulous stores (Ulta! & DSW!) with mom, strolling Downtown for a bit to admire the abundant cherry blossoms with my sweet hubby, then off to enjoy this week’s Cocktail Hour, and finally, back home to get comfy on the couch with dinner and this week’s American Idol! Looking at that long sentence, I certainly accomplished a lot in one day. But it was relaxing rather than busy, and all around lovely. Yay.

There’s Nothing Better Than a Smiling Sky & a Happy Birthday

Autumn — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:00:25 +0000

Check out this photo from National Geographic – I can think of few things more wonderful than living under a sky that smiles. We actually noticed the alignment Sunday night when driving home from TN after Thanksgiving – nothing like standstill traffic to allow time for stargazing. I wondered aloud if the brighter star was a planet, and it looks like I was right. Cool.

I cannot possibly thank everyone enough for making my birthday wonderful. We really stretched it out – celebrating with an early (unbeatable! amazing!) gift from hubby on Sunday, family the day before, and friends the day of. I received countless calls, texts, cards, emails, and messages – I feel so loved! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now, aside from birthdays and smiles and astronomy appreciation, I do have to share about my recent/prolonged experience with Beach Camera. I must say, beware. They do have great products and reasonable prices, but those attractive offerings are no good when you can’t purchase them easily. This was our second time using them, first last summer when we bought our sweet LG high-def fancy TV, and this week when I found a good deal on a new camera. However, they use some sort of system in billing to test the credit account by filing a small transaction, calling it an “authorization”. This did not pass the fraud filter of either VISA or my bank, so the transaction was denied. I failed to remember until that moment that the same thing happened last time, with our TV. So I contacted billing and the representative was very hurried and careless – skipping any introduction or formalities to launch straight into the “order number?” prompt, so I do not know her name. Lucky me, I’m 2 for 2 with her in my calls…anyhow, I explained what my bank said and she cut me off, saying “do you have another card?”. I didn’t care for her approach, but I tried AMEX next, which is typically fail proof - it worked with the TV purchase in the past, and I wished I’d used it from the start. However, it seems this associate never filed the second transaction since I received no confirmation via email, there was no record on my order history, and I received a duplicate email the next day stating that I needed to contact my bank and the billing department. Amateurs! I vowed then & there that I will not be doing business with this company again. But, the story has a happy ending: I canceled my order with Beach Camera first thing today, and placed an order with Amazon – I am getting my spiffy little pocket Canon afterall – with free shipping and for $10 cheaper, even better! Moral of the story – go with a company you can trust. The end.