Where All of My Money Will Be Going

1. I have nurtured a lifelong obsessive love for Canada.
2. I am very passionate about my tea.

Three years ago these two loves met up when I finally got to visit Canada for the first time, and while in Kingston, ON to see a performance of Anne & Gilbert, I discovered the Tea Store.

As soon as we drove by I knew that, as Liz Lemon would say, I needed to go to there. It is tea heaven. My parents and I spent almost two hours chatting with the friendly staff and some of the patrons (one who gave us a new beautiful scenic route to take to Toronto, once he heard we were in no hurry to get there), consuming delicious pastries, and boggling over the 100s of types of tea there were to choose from. It was a perfect afternoon.

A few days ago we were fondly reminiscing about that trip and about how wonderful the time in the Tea Store was. I decided I would google them just for the hell of it and what wonderfully awesome thing do you think I discovered????

This:
http://www.teastore.ca/

They sell their tea online AND they ship to the USA!!! Woohooo I can have Ice Wine tea again!!!!! Having tea shipped to me is nowhere as nice as being there, but I can always sip my ordered tea and pretend I have just visited Roots and Indigo Books.

Side note: It seems that most people I met that trip found it very odd when I told them that I had traveled from New Jersey all the way to Kingston just to see a musical. I don't think it was that odd. I really wanted to see the show and my only option was to see it there. So glad I did too! The show was great!!!

Oh Internet, You Make It So Easy to Be a Hermit!

Clearly I am not a blogger extraordinaire, but maybe one day I will be a quarter good as these ladies are:

http://fourthgradenothing.com

I stumbled across Ally's Fourth Grade Nothing blog earlier this week when in a fit of nostalgia I googled Swatch phones (blog about the teenage wonder that was the Swatch phone will come later). I was hooked from the first entry and I proceeded to spend the next two day's worth of free-time reading every single entry she has written. Such nostalgic fun! She is witty and has a really honest voice. Go check her out!

Fourth Grade Nothing led me to my next great discovery:

http://whatireadbackthen.wordpress.com
otherwise know as Are You There Youth, It's Me Nikki

Nikki's blog, where she re-reads and recaps books from her youth, is my dream blog. I wish I had thought of it first ( I was planning to write a Series Loved, Some Lost post this summer and I'm still going to do it sometime soon), instead, right now, I will bow down at her feet and tell her she's a genius. I tore through the entire blog in two or three days. While reading I kept amazon.com open so I could add books to my "Used Kid's and YA Books I NEED to Track Down List" ... that list is getting pretty long now thanks to the dearth of great material I have (re)discovered over the last few days. Thanks Nikki, you rock :)

My next stop is going to be http://dibblyfresh1.blogspot.com/

Fourth Grade Nothing: Bain de Soleil, for the St.Tropez Tan

See I'm not the only one to have fond memories of Bain de Soliel!

Fourth Grade Nothing: Bain de Soleil, for the St.Tropez Tan

Potassium, My Dear Chiquita

I should be focusing on how I really, really need to find a new full time job (as of like yesterday), but instead I am going to recount a conversation one of my best friends and I had last night about bananas.

While we were on the phone my friend had a leg cramp. I told him he needed more potassium in his diet, so he said he was going to get some bananas. Then I got to thinking aloud about whether or not there are other foods besides bananas that have oodles of potassium in them. He couldn't think of any (I was too lazy to get out of bed and head to the Internet), and since he isn't always a fan of bananas he declared this cornering of the market was so bananas could have their day in the sun. I said sometimes there is nothing as good as a banana, but I needed to further qualify that by stating that it had to be an almost still totally green banana. He instantly disagreed. He spoke up on behalf of the yellow banana that has just started to get brown spots. Turns out bananas are one of those things in life that people feel passionately about. There isn't a gray zone when it comes to how you like your banana; it is truly a black and white, clear cut issue.

So how do you like your bananas?

Dear Thursday,

I think we should agree to stay away from each other for awhile. Though you tried your darnedest to make me cry you didn't succeed ... by the way, really appreciated the super strong electric shock when I unplugged my computer to take it to the theater, and the air conditioner spitting out water and black goo... it was very cute on top of everything else you had already pulled; you're classy Thursday, really you are. I've decided to take the high road and for the foreseeable future I'm going to choose to pretend that you don't exist. Wednesday will simply slide into Friday. We'll try spending time together again when Community and 30 Rock return in the Fall, but remember if you piss me off again I can always depend on the DVR to help me to continue to pretend that you don't exist! I don't need you. You hold no power over me!

Civil regards,
me

Want My Teddy Bear

Today is bound and determined to make me cry. Absolutely nothing has gone right. No rainbows, sunshine, or lollipops in sight. So far I haven't given in, but there are still many hours ahead of me, so I make no promises.

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

It is a documented truth that I don't deal well with stress. Unfortunately my life seems to be jampacked with stressors that I just can't seem to shake. Today, since I was off from work, was declared a mental health day.

I floated in the blowup pool in my yard, but pretended I was in the Barbados.

Thanks to the pool, my float, my book, and my Boys of Summer play list for providing me with four hours of bliss.

A special MVP award today goes out to Coppertone sunscreen and Bain de Soliel Orange Gelee. These are the scents of my childhood summers. My brother and I would get coated in Coppertone while my mother, grandmother, and aunt would be basted with Orange Gelee.

The metal tube still basically looks the same. The scent is exactly the same. As soon as I smell it I am instantly transported back to Takanessee Beach Club. I spent my summers from birth to age 6 there, and if I think about it I can still hear the slap of the screen door to the Snack Bar and my grandmother's voice.