Sweet Little Crunchers

Do you like pretzels, chocolate, chocolate covered pretzels? More specifically do you like M & Ms or bite sized chocolate covered pretzels? Today I discovered Pretzel M & Ms, bite-sized portions of sweet, chocolately, crunchy and salty! I don't know where they are available at this point in time, but I found my bag at Target. I always find new products being test launched in that store. I love it! Anyway, look for the royal blue bag and try them out! Now I just have to figure out how to control myself from polishing off the entire bag in 2 working days....

This is The Place...

Okay, so I have a boring blog. I should be slapped with a boring blog ticket or something. I feel guilty that I've been lazy with my posts and I apologize for neglecting my blog. I will try to post more in the coming months, as summer has much to offer.

I did however, get the urge to share the following....my boyfriend and I often pass this store front in our travels and we always say we need to snap a picture one day as we go by. We certainly get a chuckle everytime we drive by. The other weekend in our travels, I readied the camera from the passenger side seat to try and capture the store front which was on his driver's side. Trying to time it perfectly going 25mph.....this was the result!

(To the owner of this business, here is some free advertisting)!

Branches of Beauty

It's too bad Magnolia trees do not last longer (and they don't make less of a mess). They are beautiful trees. My office window looks right out into the branches of one of these beauties. I get excited when I see the buds start to appear each spring. While it is in bloom I savor it because only for a few days do its pink and white petals stay attached. You can miss the splendor of these trees in the blink of an eye. I am sure they are much prettier to those of us who do not have them in our own yards as we do not have to clean up after them!

Sweet and Sour

When I was young, I wouldn't go near a grapefruit...unless of course it was covered with two tablespoons of sugar to cater to my sensitive tastebuds! I have grown to love grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and even grapefruit gummies! I admit that my current trouble is that I'm too lazy to cut and section the grapefruits myself!

In January when my boyfriend and I were on a Celebrity Cruise, my favorite way to start out the morning was to head to the Aqua Spa Cafe where they offered healthy breakfast options including halved and sectioned grapefruits. I had one every morning! Within two weeks it was back to reality and if I wanted grapefruit I was going to have to face it...I would have to cut them myself...or so I thought!

I recently tried Del Monte's Fruit Naturals, which are sealed plasic cups containing single servings of various types of fruit. You can find them in the refrigerated part of the grocer's produce isles. Red grapefruit is one of the fruits they pre-package! I know it is far from the "green" choice...all those little plastic cups, but for work, at the desk, and on the go these are great. The grapefruit tastes like it was freshly cut and there is no risk of it being rotten or too sour, as it is the perfect mix of sweet and sour. It is in extra light juice and of course is a generous amount of Vitamin C....100%! Very refreshing to pull one of these out of the 'fridge after returning from a brisk walk or a run!

Book-Movie Debut

This entry is in lieu of today's opening of Martin Scorsese's film, Shutter Island. Leonardo DiCaprio stars with a supporting cast of Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo. It was August when I first saw this movie previewed in the theater. The preview intrigued me so much that I knew I had to read the book first. The movie's original release date was October 2009, so in August I ran out and bought Shutter Island by Michael Lehane (Mystic River). The book sat on my desk for a while before I committed since I thought I was going to have to dedicate at least two weeks to reading it. I was wrong! This book was so gripping that I could not put it down and I had it finished in a week, which is a record for me. This book will draw you in and almost like the main character Teddy Daniels, you will develop a trusting/untrusting, mixed relationship with the storyline and it's characters....until the very end.

October 2009 came with no buzz about the movie. I wondered why. The release, I found out had been postponed until February 2010. Now that the film is out, I have to admit that I won't be the first in line tonight at the theater. I loved the book. It's a great story; however, we all know that books tend to be better than their cinematic afterthoughts, so I'd now like to postpone the book version of the story from possibly being damaged by watching the movie. Honestly though, I'm not sure if that will actually happen since the buzz I'm hearing today says it is going to be a hit film. Furthermore, I know myself...I'll be jumping out of my seat in the dark theater and peaking through my fingers during certain parts of the movie. The book coming to life on screen, well it brings the movie to life! Enough said. They say that despite the disturbing images, Shutter Island "will make you think more than it makes you jump". I'd love to hear the opinions of anyone out there who decides to see the movie, but promise me you will read the book before, or even after. I promise I will see the movie even if I wait until it is released on DVD so I can sit on my couch with a blanket nearby to cover my eyes.

The Chocolate Lab

I love The Chocolate Lab. No, not the dog although they are pretty great dogs from what I hear. In honor of Valentine's Day I am talking about the chocolatier in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I stumbled across this confectionary two Christmases ago when my boyfriend and I were visiting Bethlehem for a Christmas getaway (we stayed at the historic Hotel Bethlehem). I am a truffle gal myself, so after the bittersweet chocolate smells lured me into the shop I went straight for the glass jars that separated me from them.

Unless you absolutely need Lady Godiva etched onto the box that contains your chocolates, give The Chocolate Lab a try (you can order online) and support small town businesses. Her prices are reasonable and anyway, the size of her chocolates is about double the size of Godiva! You may not find the full variety of truffles on your first visit as they do sometimes vary, but I guarantee you'll find something to satisfy your taste for chocolate!

She is located in downtown, historic Bethlehem, so while you are there you can also experience the various other cute shops, boutiques, art gallerys and restaurants right on Main Street such as the Moravian Book Shop, Topsy Turvy, Donegal Square, The Attic, Heavenly Hedgehog Icrecream, Bethlehem Brew Works, and in August you can attend the Musikfest in Bethlehem.

A Taste of the Tropics

I'm here! I'm here! I'm sorry that I've been slacking on my posts, but I must say it was great to be away from a computer for a week and a half. I was on vacation, away from the cold and snowy northeast, enjoying the Caribbean with my boyfriend. In the meantime of writing something substantial, here are a few, teasing pictures from the trip.

El Morro in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Caribelle Batik in St. Kitts

Orient Beach in St. Maarten
(yes the topless or nude beach)

Parental Honor Roll

If I asked you to name the top 2 influential people in your life, most likely you would name one or both of your parents. Now there is a website where you can honor them through photos bc My Parents Were Awesome! I discovered the website a few months ago. You can submit a picture, or a few through the website and if your picture (or I should say your parent's photo) is chosen it will appear sometime in the near future. So dig through the boxes of memories and visit the times when your parents were young and modern.

You may not like to admit it, but one day your children will be looking back at photos of you wondering what the 80s, 90s and the turn of the century was all about and why you thought you were so cool. Then one day they will realize. Thanks Mom and Dad and to all the other moms and dads shown here and here.

Happy Time

When I visited my friend in Sweden a few years ago she had the most enlivening body wash in her guest bathroom. It was called Happy Time, made by Nivea. The scent of orange blossom filled the steamy shower and I used it as much as I could without being a greedy, over-using house guest. With the exchange rate it would have been very expensive for me to buy even the smallest bottle, so I said "Hej da" to the Happy Time wash and returned to the various bottles of body wash stacked
up in my bathroom at home.

To my joy she sent me a bottle of it for my birthday. I used it sparingly since I never expected it to become available on the shelves of US stores. BUT THEN!....one day I was grocery shopping and beckoning me at the end of an isle was a display of "New!" Nivea products. I rushed over to find that Nivea was now marketing the wash in the US under a different name,"Touch of Happiness" along with it's other family members, "Touch of Smoothness" and "Touch of Bliss". I grabbed the "Happiness" and decided to also try the "Smoothness", which is also wonderful with it's clean scent. I've been enjoying both for months now and even saw more scents in this line appear on the shelves over time.

I guess that I alone, could not keep the sale of these products alive bc sadly I can no longer find them in stores....at least the ones I've shopped in. You can however, purchase items from this Nivea line on Amazon, drugstore.com, and likely other similar online sites. If staying clean is one of your goals for 2010 (and I hope every year) and you need something invigorating and moisturizing for your morning shower routine, seek out one of these washes!