Laughter

It is lavish to be able to laugh and this video of compiled animal footage combined with commentary really hit my laughter nerve today. Thanks to one of my sisters who sent it to me. Check it out! Click Here for a bigger version or simply click on the video below.

Camels and Coffee

There are two places in the small town of Culpeper, Virgina that we always have to visit when we are in town visiting family. On East Davis Street you will find the town's main retail section, where The Cameleer and Raven's Nest Coffee House are located. They are only two of the special businesses in town.

The Cameleer sells Aboriginal merchandise, much like a Ten Thousand Villages for those who are familiar with that store; however, there is something very different about The Cameleer. They sell traditional crafts from many countries including Sweden, Australia, Chile, and Poland. They also offer many contemporary goods for buyers. You can shop their array of jewelry, clothing, home decorating items, woven rugs, kitchen goods, soaps and stationary. At Christmastime they have many unique ornaments and tradtional, cultural Christmas items. I love visiting The Cameleer everytime to see what new items they have decided to bring in to the store. You can also shop online if you cannot get to the store on East Davis Street.  

While shopping in town, a caffeine pick-me-up is always needed. For that we head down the street to Raven's Nest Coffee House. The business is built around Raven's Brew Coffee, which has spectacularly clever names for all of their roasts. Deadman's Reach is their high speed, dark roast. Cherry Karma and Wicked Wolf are geared more towards the sweeter/richer side of the coffee spectrum. Anyway, it is always a treat to order one of their coffee creations (latte, chai or other), a baked good (I always go for their pistachio baklava or scones), a breakfast sandwich, or something for lunch. Art abounds on the walls asking the coffee sippers to gaze at them or even buy them. You can sit in the sun by the wall of windows overlooking the sidewalk or by the cozy electric fireplace. If you need something else to do while you eat and drink, talk to the friendly employees, pick up one of the many magazines or newspapers to read, or play one of the wooden board games that are available to customers. It is the perfect place in town to sit and plan your Virginia wine tasting route or read and learn about the places you want to visit during your next Virginia getaway! If you can't get there, you can always visit the Raven's Nest on their Facebook page.        

More Chocolate

Well, whenever I do actually blog I find myself always turning to food or confections. Coming off from the holidays I thought I would write about one of my favorite chocolates, Guylian. Not only are these Belgian chocolates whimsically shaped as seashells and seahorses, but the creamy chocolate praline truffle centers are to die for. Guylian offers an array of products, but their marbled white and dark chocolate sea shapes are their signature. How appropriate since with every box purchased, a portion of the profits are donated to Project Seahorse, which is an organization that helps protect and conserve marine ecosystems. For a chocolate you can buy almost anywhere including grocery stores, they are exceptional and I only try to buy them around the holidays or for special occasions. You can visit their website to find out where you can buy them in your state!

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!