I wish I lived in a bread factory

Every night the Sunbeam bread factory on Washington bakes its bread for the morning delivery. I would (and still do) drive by really late at night on my way home from work and roll down the windows, inhaling as deeply as I could and feeling a little like Charlie Bucket. It was, back then, truly the best part of my day. There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread to make you feel like you belong somewhere - even if you're not particularly anywhere.

Thank you Sunbeam for bringing me home on those desperately exhausting nights and for pairing oh so well with Rudy's BBQ!

Proud of it

This past weekend, I finally got The Haircut.  I hadn't cut my hair in over 1.5 years and it was getting dry and brittle at the ends.  My hair was reaching the middle of my back and had no shape, except for being thick and wavy.  Now, mind you, I'm not one to cry if my hair is cut too short or if I get a crappy cut or dye job or if my mom perms my short hair before my third grade yearbook picture and I look like I have an afro.  So any haircut at all would have been fine.

In short, what I got in exchange for $18 was a shampoo, (awkward) neck and shoulder massage and great cut that makes me proud of my hair.  And not only how it looks.  The stylist put silk infusion product in my hair before she straightened it and my hair is still silky soft on day five.  After a couple of shampoos.  I am no longer picking a split ends or watching my hair crinkle up as it dries.  I have easily spent over $100 to make my hair look and feel like it does now.  Cheers to haircuts and being proud of your hair.

**As a testament to my laziness and refusal to wake up early and style it, it's currently up in a ponytail.  Go figure.

Wonderful, weatherful spring

Good tidings to you!  Spring has sprung in February - one of my favourite things about living in Texas.  It has been a weekend of sleeping with the windows open, wandering around outside in shorts and hearing (but not feeling) the bugs at night.  It was nearly impossible to find a seat outside at a restaurant / bar.  I'm looking forward to longer days, crawfish season and the rodeo coming to town.  I've been daydreaming of a tropical beach vacation and baking poolside with a cold drink.  Spending the day cooped up in an office environment where the temperature is perpetually 70 degrees does nothing except accentuate the balmy weather when I do get to experience it. 

Bon voyage

Tonight we bid an official farewell to one of the dear friends I have made in the Bayou City these past four years.  She and her boyfriend are spending the next year hopping from continent to continent, completely unplugged and uninhibited.  I wish her only the best of luck, health and good spirits for her journey and hope that she will be safe and sound wherever she may go.

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”

- Jack Kerouac

More book decor

Stumbled upon this today on Design Tripper.  I am such a huge fan of book decor and I could definitely see these shelves in white oak in my living room someday.  Or even the dining room.

Vacation hangover

<Sigh> I'm officially back from vacation today and have a vacation hangover.  A vacation hangover can consist of the following symptoms:

• Crawling sluggishly out of your bed in the morning
• Examining the scaley skin peeling from your nose and chin from sun- and wind-burn
• Regailing coworkers with your exciting and slightly exaggerated vacation stories
• Quelling the impulse to order a hamburger with a beer for lunch and prime rib for dinner

Mine also comes with the side effect of wanting these:

How awesome is that.  It's a balmy 70 degrees outside and I want a pair of heavy duty snow shoes to go along with my nonexistent season pass to the ski slopes and the ZERO amount of snow or ice we got this winter.

I'd rather have a vacation hangover than any other type though...

Bookshelves

I have books bursting out of the kitchen cabinets at home and would really appreciate this custom book shelf design from Kerf Design.  It's creative how they turned a doorway into a see-through storage space.  The next step to this would be flipping some of the book spines so that each side gets some colour.  More bookshelves to come...

Valentine's Day Treat

Today I'm dispensing advice free of charge to those in a bind this Valentine's Day/Season

Avoid chalky conversation hearts and cheap drugstore chocolates and send chocolate turtles from Southern Candymakers.  Pecans, caramel and chocolate - can it get any better?  I've ordered twice from their online store and each time the recipients consumed the two pound box in less than a week.  If you're lucky, they might even share with you.

Hmm...

In this age of speed, technology and instant gratification, I've got to thinking...

...I ordered and paid for a box of Thin Mints and Caramel DeLites over two weeks ago. Some little squirt owes me some cookies.

How life is like an Indiana Jones movie

Obtaining balance in your life is a lot like The Quest for the Holy Grail, specifically the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  How exactly, the inquisitive reader may ask.  If you are not inquisitive or would not like to continue reading the 1 am ranting should click back to espn.com, weather.com or from whence you came.

Anyhow.

You gallivant along The Quest (Life) trying to seek out The Grail (balance).  You are not even sure if it truly exists.  Trials and tribulations abound on the way and when you finally reach the Grail Room, there are a multitude of seemingly correct and attractive options to choose (becoming a professional online shopper / workaholic / equestrienne / skier).  It is, of course, up to you to choose the correct option, which you will eventually despite it looking boring, plain and cheap.  However, once you lay your hands on it, you realize its power and ability to heal fatal bullet wounds.  Inevitably though, it slips from your grasp and The Grail is lost to the earth forever, after your father Sean Connery yells at you to just let it go.

So the moral of the movie is Balance = The Grail.  Just don't go drinking from the wrong cup.