just a little rant

so, why is it..sometimes you get an exceptional bagger person at the grocery and sometimes you dont?? i mean, i assume they all get some sort of crash course on bagging groceries?  eggs on top.. bread on top.. cans and solid containers on bottom..  you see where im going with this? ok..so i love the green bags.. mostly (and i know it should be bc im saving the earth one plastic bag at a time or something) but i really love carrying less bags in the house, and those things just hold SO much! so.. you can imagine what my bags of watercress looked like when i found them buried beneath a 4lb bag of apples, several oranges, biggest bag of carrots they sell, half gallon of chocolate milk, bag of purple grapes and two cement blocks.  ok, sorry, no cement blocks, but it SURE LOOKED LIKE IT!!!!!???!!! poor delicate watercress:(  was so not happy about it.  the plastic bags they came in  looked like one of those storage saving bags you use for cramming your clothes into your suitcase.   seriously.... what was he thinking?? haha.. oh well, not worth crying over. however...rant, yes.

found

rummaging through the baking section of the cupboard.. look what i found.. yikes.  completely irresistable. it was hopeless..2 tablespoons later i felt as gluttonous as ever..haha but, it was so worth it. LOVE nutella...

oh..delicious chocolately hazelnut dream.. so glad i found you..

and then YOU..peanut butter pretzel..yeah.. perfect indulgent combination.. MMMMmmmm.. happy start to labor day weekend!

its official..

the shoe/ sock combo, that is. i noticed it in a j crew catalog about a year ago. thought.. ohh im a sock girl, really love that look. but, the real question is.. can i pull it off??  i planned my christmas outfit around a pair of crew socks and open-toed heels. i walked out ready to go and the reactions, lets just say.. were not very positive. at all.  most of my family thought i was joking around trying to be silly.. haha, not really the reaction i was going for. so, i chickened out. who knows, maybe people are doing this more up north?  it definitely hasnt hit florida yet..so anyway, i saw a ton of pictures on pinterest today.. and well, folks its official. im going to do it. we will see if i can pull it off or not. either way, its happening.   anyway, here is a pic of one that i love:

beet cake

i love this video.. found it on one of my favourite blogs poppytalk..  http://poppytalk.blogspot.com//

this is the kind of baking id love to do.. kind of kitchen id love to bake in.. love the storage of the flour.. so off the cuff and creative.. enjoy! oh.. and happy weekend<3

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

night ride

again.. its been a while. this wont be perfect.  it will be short. but, i just wanted to expell these thoughts running through my head.. so here:

i love night bike rides. why did i stop doing them?... oh yeah.. there was that serial killer thing. i think thats past  now?    anyway..  fresh out of the shower, drying my hair in the wind. watching my streamers dance off the end of my handlebars makes me happy. and wow.. the colour of the skies as they change. i love it.  looking at all the houses lit up so big and pretty. the balconies, the climbing vines-they make such pretty sights to see.  the confederate jasmine is in full bloom. there are rows and walls and trellises full of them, blooming so heavily dispensing their fragrance into the air around me. heavenly.  consistently amused at those people who turn every light on inside their house, yet leave their blinds open. its quite entertaining for me to see what youre doing.. but dont you know the world is watching?  a particularly curvy wall, be still my heart. who made you? who decided to make you wavy and not straight? thank you wall-builder person, youve  made quite a special wall.  a delicately lit back yard, hidden behind a sky-high ficus hedge..so beautiful..the italian opera music drifting out into the night air made me feel like i was some where else. landscaping, just like my moms. you stick out like a sore thumb, but so creative and beautiful. i hope everyone finds some spark of inspiration in you. 
turn the corner..home ahead.. ride over the curb, duck under the trees.  ive missed this.

shoes back on

the day before christmas eve and im up at 7 am.. WHY am i awake?? sleep in, gina! sleep in!!!  nope.. for some reason, i just cant anymore, regardless of what time i go to bed.( insert BIG frowny face here.)    i hope this phase ends before too long!  so, well, i am up.. may as well do something.. it had been- uhm... yeah, like a MONTH since i went for a run.. (i shamefully admit)   so i figured time to get those running shoes back on.  for the life of me i just dont know what happens to motivation sometimes? where does it go? where are you mr. motivation??? when will you return?  ok.. well he peaked his head around the corner yesterday and i yanked him by the collar and went for a run. AWESOME! beautiful south florida morning.. super cool out(even wore a jacket- WHAT?! yep.)   went along the intracoastal, sun rising on my left moon falling on my right.  so much to take in.  passed a church and a  maintenance crew was getting the grounds all set for Christmas eve service(i can only guess?)   i love the smell of fresh cut grass.  and while i dont care for the smell of gasoline at ALL...i LOVE it when i smell those two together.  its one of those smells tied to childhood memories.  brought me back to sitting on the riding mower with my grandpa mowing their big hilly yard.. i used to think we would tip backwards going up the hill and i would be crushed beneath he and the lawnmower.haha.. the good ole times;)  yet, i totally loved it.  

shortly after that nostalgic smell, i picked up on something else.. not so nostalgic though.. the smell of construction.  if you dont know, this time of year three years ago, we were completing a maaaajor renovation on our home.  the project had taken approx. 10 months so far..  it was christmas time.. we had been staying in a friends (a very gracious friends) cottage for FIVE months, we thought it would be two.. but you know how that goes..i was ITCHING to get home. i wanted to wake up in our house, have christmas with our family, have more than 500 sq feet of living space!!!!  the walls had seemed to just close in on me the last few weeks of cottage living and i was going to do whatever it took to get home.  so we did, but that is another story in itself.  so, i smelled the concrete block, the tar paper, the sheet rock, the mud, the dampness that lingers in an open house under construction.  and all i could do was say thank you Lord, that we are home this christmas.. that chapter is complete-THANK YOU!  it feels like more than three years ago, and i am so very grateful.  :)

so, there is this street, my one mile markerish.. elwa.. and im looking.. gosh, elwa.. youre not as close as i remember??  uhm, yeah, gina.. thats what happens when you slack!  elwa, elwa, elwa...? you out there?? and just when i thought the street had disappered off the face of the earth.. there she was!  my green light to head back home.. past the field that looks like bunnies would have fun hopping around, past the house under construction and finally grass and gasoline.....so glad i got those running shoes back on.

surprises

if you're a mom.. you' re going to find them. recently, i noticed how many little surprises, aka "junk piles, messes, oddities" i've found around the house. like i said.. if youre a mom, im sure you can relate.  so, i kept my camera handy and documented my finds throughout this week.  first up..
typical....

a sticky mandarin mess in the fridge... oh yeah, and on the floor too.. crazy thing is-NO one has eaten mandarin oranges lately.. well, not that they will admit..imagine that????




second up.. hello, random??? what little creative person tried doing this?? i really have no idea. it could've been any of them.  apparently they thought it might be interesting to tie the ends of tissues up w small hair bands...looks like one of them ripped off in an attempt to create...and lets throw a few pennies in this box and a plastic princess ring..while you're at it.. add optimus primes flaming plastic sword. do you have ANY idea how long we had been looking for that sword thingy???

 third up. heres my take on it:  kid gets hungry, grabs snack, walks out of the kitchen with it(which is against the rules..but who listens to mom anyway?? ) spots something more interesting and fun to do, gets distracted, forgets about picking up the mess, goes off to do something in the play room.  oh, the ear plugs..? i have no idea?? maybe they were tuning me out?? haha :)

  AHHHH! seriously.. i dont need to say anything other than i THOUGHT there was a snake in the bathroom.. this could be part responsible for the snake nightmare i had a couple nites ago???... hmmm..

i have to say, theres always something im cleaing up.. sometimes its tiring , sometimes is REALLY messy, and sometimes its just plain amusing.  but, regardless, they are continually crossing my path.   unfortantely,  i am aware that a day is approaching, all too soon for my liking where these little "surprises" will be farther and fewer between.  until sadly enough, there will be a day where i barely see them anymore and their existence has dissolved into phtographs and memories. its a good reminder for me to love them for what they are.. the the messy, the frustrating and the amusing.