Rainy Day

A rather beautiful way to end this dreary, rainy, gloomy day.

Thrifty Nifty

When I was younger, my mother and grandma would drag me in and out of thrift stores on the weekends either at the jersey shore or down in Florida.  I rarely minded because I always left the stores with some crazy thing to dress up in when I got home. But when I got a little bit older, somewhere in my teens, the thought of going to thrift stores and buying someone's used stuff grossed me out. What a bitch. Now that I'm older, wiser, and swimming in debt, my passion for thrifting has returned.  And it's really perfect timing -  I do live in the mecca of "consignment boutiques." 

I have unearthed an ungodly amount of treasures in these thrift stores. Well, treasures to me, anyway.  I've found toys for my classroom, books, kitchen supplies, furniture, clothes, etc - all in excellent condition.  I'll be posting my pirate's booty as I snatch it, or if I care to discuss some of my previous finds.  I might not be able to resist as I love to share the joys of a good bargain!  These are two of my favorite purchases:

Cow Ice Cream Scooper.  I don't know why, but this cracks me up whenever I see it. 

And it's honestly the best scooper I've ever own.  So smooth!  $6.

Calvin Klein jacket.  It fits like a glove.  I haggled my way down to $20. 

It's in almost brand new condition, with a few minor spots on the arm.  SUPER excited about this one.

There are so many good buys to share, but I'll stop at that.  Just remember, second hand stores are not only great places to save a few bucks, but they are eco friendly.  Reusing someone else's old "trash" means one less thing thrown into a disgusting landfill.  

This photograph is awesome for so many reasons.

1) I look crazy hot at 14 years old. 

2) It was taken with a POLAROID camera!  Can you believe that only 13 years ago we were using polaroids and now they are almost nonexistent?  Nuts.

3) <back story>  I flew home to New Jersey this past week for my spring break.   Sitting on our mantle in front of a little box that now holds my dog was this picture.  It is one of the only pictures we have of Sidney when we she was a puppy.  She was so tiny!  I think it goes without saying that I balled my eyes out when I saw this.  The tears flowed continuously throughout the rest of the week.  And they certainly haven’t slowed down since my return back to Florida as the sound of my dog’s tiny footsteps on our kitchen floor hauntingly resonate in my mind night after night after night.  My heart is very quiet knowing that I won’t hear that sound again.  

I know it’s completely irrational to expect a dog to live forever.  But sometimes emotions overtake one's rationale and can turn you into a complete lunatic who craves nothing more than one last lick from a furry friend.

I was two weeks away from my trip home when the dog died.  It has not been easy keeping  my emotions in check so far away from my family.   I’ve been extremely fortunate to have people around me who are understanding of my erratic emotions having experienced the loss of a pet themselves.  Each hug I have received and each tear that they’ve swept aside from my face has made it that much easier to cope. 

I asked my friend at work today how long it takes to get over the death of a dog.  Her response: a very long time.  It eased my mind when she told me that she continued to talk and visit her family dog after he died and was buried in her backyard.  I don’t wish this kind of sadness on anyone, so please don’t misunderstand me and think that I was happy at her grief. However, I found myself feeling like I wasn’t alone in this period of mourning.  

13 years is a long time to have a constant companion in your life.  Really, how often do you even manage to cling on to a human friend for that long?  I can pretty much count on my one hand how many friends I’ve remained close with since I was 14.  But Sidney;  she was there.  Always.

I took my amazingly awesome photo back to Florida with me on Sunday.  It now sits on my night stand next to my CareBear (I’m so mature).  I hope that some day soon I can smile more than cry when gazing at it.  After all, I never felt anything but happy when holding my little puppy girl.  

Road Trip

This weekend, my boyfriend and I finally made the 3 hour trek to the east coast of Florida to visit my family.  Our drive started off rocky - I ran over my first animal, and it wasn't even running on the ground! A black bird flew so low in front of my car that it caught my tire.  THUD.   A peek in my rearview mirror confirmed my terror as I saw poof of feathers explode onto the road.  Ugh I thought I was going to be sick.
Thankfully, that didn't set the tone for the rest of the day.  It was so wonderful to finally see my grandma who had broken her hip almost two months ago.  I was also thrilled to spend some time with my aunt's dog, Abbey.  My family dog, Sidney, passed away two weeks ago, and it has been overly traumatic loss for my family.  Getting to pet and play with Abbey was very therapeutic.  She really let me love on her all day :)

Our time on the east coast was spent chatting with my family and taking a walk to the beach with my aunt and uncle.  How unbelievably gorgeous is this?!  The sound of waves crashing was music to my ears!  95% of the time the gulf is as flat as bath water (which can be a good thing since I'm not the best swimmer in the world).  This view was absolutely stunning and made me miss the ocean a bit.

We continued our afternoon with lunch and dessert at my aunt's house followed by a trip to the bar on the beach.  Being the lame-o that I am, I opted for a soda.  Watching the pelicans and boats sail in and out of the inlet made that soda taste delicious though!  

After a much needed relaxing afternoon, Mike and I said our goodbyes and began our journey home.  Unfortunately, the weather had taken a turn for the worse.  The sky was gray and thick clouds were teasing us on the horizon.  Of course we drove directly into a surge of rain, but, as usual, it only last about 15 minutes.  I'm actually very thankful that it down poured on us for this reason:

I think the last time I saw a full rainbow in the sky was when I lived in Ireland.  It was so beautiful, as was so much of our day.  I can't believe I'm leaving this to spend my spring break in cold NJ.  EEEeeek!