Going Black and Green

For as long as I can remember, I have always used some form of milk or cream in my coffee. My husband Bill, has been trying to get me to drink it black for years. I've tried it black a couple of times, and "bleck", was uttered every time.

The first cup of coffee is an important part of my day. I love coffee, it soothes me, and at times, keeps me calm. Ironic, I know, because, for most people it makes them jittery.

There are downsides to requiring milk in your coffee, especially when traveling. Milk or creamer is not always available. Hotels usually provide a coffee pot in the room, but the coffee and condiments were always lacking. No one really likes the dried up creamer packets that come with sugars and stirrers wrapped in plastic, especially me. Bleck, bleck bleck! Those creamer packets are just icky, and clumpy. This was before the fancy complimentary coffee stations and breakfast bars that most hotels offer today. As usual, my husband, would always come up with some sort of solution to solve my milk and coffee weirdness. He's an awesome human being.

Last December, prior to a trip, and during dinner with friends, I was encouraged to give it a try. Everyone who drinks  their coffee black says, "you will never go back to milk once you switch." Since I was going on a trip and didn't want to deal with the whole "milk thing", I decided it was time for a change. Why not, change has been a part of my life for the past three years. The next morning I poured my travel mug full of black coffee and some sweetener and off we went.

The black coffee drinkers were correct after all. No more bleck words uttered from this girl. I'm not a true black coffee drinker, because I still use sweetener. However, I do not and can not even think of having moo juice in my coffee.

This summer, iced coffees have become my top drink of choice. I found myself saving my plastic tall cups from Starbucks and making my own iced coffees at home. They were perfect for a take and go situation, so I thought. On one of our trips to Towne Center , we decided to take a quick tour of Bed Bath and Beyond. You never know what you're going to find in that store. They have so much stuff. In one of the large bins, Bill picked up this plastic cup. 

It's a Copco, 24 oz, BPA free, to-go tumbler with a funky stirrer on the bottom of the straw. The price was right and with a discount coupon, it came to around five dollars and some change. Eco is in, as it states on the tag and I try very hard to be as Eco-friendly as possible. I even take my regular coffee tumbler into Starbucks for them to fill. I get strange looks from the baristas because my favorite tumbler is a Christmas tumbler.

On the back of the little tag attached to the Eco tumbler were three statements. The second statement caught my eye. I had to read it twice and as for the third, I have done just that.

Similar but Different

I have a larger than normal, cosmetic collection. My lime green cosmetic bag contains a variety of eye cosmetics. One girl should not need five different compacts of eye shadows. I purchase them believing in the statement on the box "No smudge or smear up to 12 hours."  I fall for that marketing line every time.

See these two items, one is a lip liner, the other, an eyeliner. If not for the writing and color, it would be tough to distinguish one from the other. 

One afternoon, prior to running some errands, I decided to do a quick touch up on my makeup. I grabbed these two items and a couple other things from my green bag and began my touch up routine. It's so routine, I can do this blind folded, especially lining my lips. I was going through the motions, and apparently preoccupied. I was looking in the mirror, but not really looking. I applied my lip liner, and then picked up the next long thin stick to apply my eyeliner. When I work on my eyes, I tend to move in closer to the mirror. As, I moved in, I glanced down at my handiwork of lip lining. YIKES, I had drawn a perfect dark brown line around my lips. I was ready for the circus, I just needed to fill in the rest of my mouth with white paint. The dark brown line would look lovely on a bronze beauty, but not this medium white girl. 

I laughed, and promptly began to remove the clown smile from my lips. I was just glad that I had not started with my eyes that day.

The Three Trees

We have three trees in a mulch filled island in our backyard. They have grown tremendously over the past seven years. Our backyard went from half shade to full shade this year. These trees are my seasonal gauge.

I can tell you which tree will get its leaves first and the one that hangs on to its leaves the longest. The tree on the far left, sheds its leaves first. Come mid-August it gives me a sign, one leaf turns bright red. It's not two or three leaves, it's just one deep red leaf. The leaf is not located on the backside or nestled somewhere deep inside the branches. It is right out in front, glaring at me, reminding me that fall is just around the corner. I grit my teeth. My first impulse is to quickly remove that leaf and pretend I didn't see it appear. 
 

The tree on the far right hangs on to its leaves way past fall. I relate to this tree. While everyone else is applauding the arrival of fall, I'm kicking and screaming as the morning temperatures begin to drop. I'm not normal, I thrive in summer. Maybe it has something to do with growing up in Florida. I cherish those warm nights, when the humidity is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. I love wearing my skirts, tank tops, and my fish flops. I like greeting the morning on my porch, in shorts and a t-shirt. If I could hug the Equator during the cold months, I would. The Equator, so I've read, has a permanent summer.

The official arrival of Autumn was Wednesday, according to the calendar. Because I  live in what I call paradise, the cold weather will only last approximately three months. Therefore, I hang on to that thought, and set my sights on Spring.

To Blog or Not to Blog?

When I first heard about blogging, my first thought was, "I could and would never do that, PERIOD!" This past year, I discovered the world of blogging and have fallen in love with this trendy form of communication.

My interest in blogging was peaked after a friend and I went to see the movie Julie & Julia. I began searching  for some baking/cooking sites to follow. It was a little difficult to find what I was looking for, until one day, I saw an article in our local newspaper about Ree Drummond. She lives on a ranch and blogs about her life and the food she cooks. Ree Calls herself, and her blog,  The Pioneer Woman.

I love her blog for many reasons. The thing I fell in love with the most is the way she includes pictures of every step of her recipes. Those who really know me, know that for me to love a cookbook, it has to have pictures of the recipes. Ree hit that one out of the park!

The past four years have been about me stepping out of my comfort zone. So far I have taken some big leaps. As for the question "To Blog or Not to Blog?" Well,  I'm hopping over that huge PERIOD and blogging.  Here we go.

Yesterday, my pastor posted an interesting take on Ezra 3:3. I posted it on my Facebook  page and it helps to motivate me.

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Most worthwhile things involve risk. If you wait for the fear to subside, you'll never do it. from Ezra 3:3

 

You may be wondering, "What is this blog's genre?" 

It will be a little bit of everything, new purchases,  happenings around town, funny things in my life and, of course, some cooking and baking. No blog would be complete without pictures.  Pictures are worth a thousand words. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. Sometimes, it will be just quick blurbs and pictures.

I'm new to this blogging stuff, so for now, I'm pretty generic on my background and everything else. I even went to the Mt. Pleasant Library and checked out one of the gazillion Dummies books. If anyone out there has any tips, please share, I'm all about sharing and helping. 

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