Blog Archives

Happy Birthday

12/23/2017

On 12/22/12 I started this silly little blog. My thought was it would be a good place to store my travel memories and also let my friends view my adventures while traveling. I never thought it would last this long or that I would have so many readers around the world.
*feeling all shy and shit now.

I'm pleased to report my pictures have gotten better. (Thank God!) And I feel when I do actually write the posts are better. (Maybe not a lot, but it is a work in progress.)

I have shared my wanderlusting adventures from:
The Azores
Iceland
Italy
Scotland
England
France
Spain
USA
And Mexico, the Caribbean, Switzerland and a few other cool places. Also there have been many reviews, because I do buy a lot of stuff and blurry food pictures, because I also eat a lot, lol. Also some random rants about great deals and stuff that angered me over the years. (Surprisingly you are still reading this!)

Thank you for continuing to read these random posts and sending me nice messages. I am grateful for your friendship and encouragement through all this. Here's to another fun and travel filled year ahead!

See you at the airport!

Holiday Stress, Shelfie and Book Nerd Issues

12/19/2017

Happy Tuesday!
Hope your having a great week. I'm not sure what I've been doing lately, but I can tell you I have been doing a lot of it...cause nothing is really getting done at home or at work, lol. Once I decided not to go anywhere for the holidays I just quit giving a fuck and things really chilled out here. #WIN

I don't know about you, but I have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. I love the fun, people, activities and hate the stress. Earlier today I was reading some of the older blog posts to write some sorta riveting anniversary entry, (December 22, makes 5 years!) And I really saw how much I overworked myself on the holidays. I never enjoyed them, I spent too much money, gave up all my free time, and stressed over every little detail. Why the HELL did I do this? (Do you do this too? Do we need a 12 step program? WTF?!)

One year I handmade ornaments for everyone...AND I MEAN EVERYONE! I made over 250 artistic pieces that people probably threw in a box in the back of the closet.

Looking back I think I felt I was baking, cleaning, crafting, and giving so much to make it better for other people, you know? Making it a special occasion that they would remember. Which I think it did, because they started expecting me to do it every single year afterwards...#FAIL So the thought of staying up late reading and then sleeping in the next day, and having pancakes in bed, (before a Netflix marathon) sounds like the perfect Holiday celebration. Perhaps this will be the start of a new holiday tradition?!

#Shelfie (See it's a thing, I bet you thought I mispelled Selfie. *wink* Not this time!)

Speaking of reading, new book reviews on Goodreads up soon, as time permits of course, those pancakes aren't going to eat themselves.

I have this fantasy that I will be off work for a week and get EVERYTHING done on my list, including those 200 unfinished blog posts that are gathering dust on my lappy. But really we know I'm gonna read, watch Kodi and rest. I have a out of country trip coming up soon and OMG I'm so not ready! This is one of those trips that will require planes, trains, boats, buses, Uber, UKLetting, etc. It's so, so, so much to plan, but I am so excited!

But for today I'm not gonna worry about it all.

I have other book nerd, type problems...You know that ones only one small bookcase in that photo. I have books in every room of this house. #Obsession

Me: Okay I'm gonna only buy books once a month and it's gonna be a purchase under $50!
Me: *buys books at least once a week at a minimum of $40*
Me: ...well shit...as I wait for today's Amazon book delivery

Catch you later!

Holiday Lights

12/18/2017

Happy Monday!
Hope you had a great weekend.
I had a very chill weekend for a change, I took off early and fake baked vegan candy and cookies, we finished the Punisher and went to look at the holiday lights in the neighborhood. #WIN

I made a quick video of the lights...see above. It was too cold to get out so we enjoyed doing a slow drive by with a nice cuppa. Some of the lights were so over the top! I really like the projectors people are using to make a complete light show on their homes. I would just sit outside all the time watching it....I love things like that so much. #Nerd

Have a great week and speak soon!

My Growing World

12/11/2017

This post is about plants, another of my obsessions.

Sometime back, (I think it was September??) I went on a plant buying tangent. I love plants, but being I travel so much it's tough to keep them alive. I do have a crew of nice people that help me take care of my house/yard and animals, but.... I love many different types of plants from Orchids to Succulents so it can be a challenge for people to tend each one on it's own schedule. That's why I stopped buying plants and cleared out my greenhouse in Texas.

I have had plants on my balcony in Paris, (remember shopping for plants there? Where did I put that post?) And we had way too many plants in England, all of which I left when I moved. So I have held off on buying plants here, but I gave in and started collecting again, lol. #ItsAnIllness

I always gravitate towards pretty plants when I'm out shopping, as you can see from my IG posts.

Just say, "no!"

They are so hard to resit!

I think it was early September. I bought a set of these plants for my bedroom, but they ended up sticking out from the wall too far and blocking my entrance into the vanity area. So one ended up in the living room.

The first thing I do when I add a new plant to my collection is repot it.

I bought pots on sale at Lowe's. They are okay for now.

So anyway remember when I bought these lovely Parlor Palms?

The plants as of today.

Both plants are growing and looking pretty good.

(Spot both plants in this picture?)

They take low light well, but cannot tolerate a dry soil. With almost no humidity, (Remember I now live in the desert) and also running the heating, it is very dry inside. I have to mist them daily, to keep them healthy and full. When they do dry out they tend get yellow or brown tips on the leave fronds. So they require a bit of maintenance, but they lend so much color to the house! I'm so glad I was able to get them and keep them alive. I still have minimal furniture in the house so the plants really make it more homey and warm.

Meanwhile my veggie crop...
I didn't grow all that much this last year. I was so disappointed that the raised beds were doused in Round Up and therefore unusable. The previous tenants didn't plant or want weeds so poison was their answer. Because of this my veggies had to go into pots on the patio.

I also ended up with one more crop of bell peppers this fall.

But when the potatoes were gone, they were gone. They were outside and we had a freak hail storm and they didn't make it.

Big Potato harvest! lol

I really didn't raise the potatoes for a "crop" lol. I had a potato sprouting and thought I would just throw it in a flower pot. I chopped it up and planted the pieces. It made a lovely thick plant for my patio.

The other plants including the herbs and baby succulents are wintering well inside.

I grew this Oregano from a seed.

This is the Oregano I grew from seed last spring. It needs to be separated and it will probably make enough to share with the neighbors, lol. I love having fresh herbs all year long.

The Avocado is also doing well.

(Today)

I also added more succulents to my collection this past summer.

And these joined the collection in October. #HelpMe

Some didn't make it, but most are thriving.

With so many babies I started to get creative. (I also ran out of pots, lol) I planted a small fairy garden with the tiny succulents I rescued from the "dead shelf" of Lowe's.

I'm not kidding when I said I was on a buying binge. #Obsession

(Last summer)

(Today)

I bought the tiny mushroom houses on Ebay for less than .50 for both, lol. Because the fairy's need houses right? I think it made it look so cute and the plants do seem to be happy.

I actually have plants in every room of the house now. But I have slowed down on buying since it is winter. I plan on planting more veggies next spring after I return from Canada.

In the meantime I intend to enjoy the plants here.

Catch you later~

Shopping, Snow and Staycation

12/9/2017

It's hard to believe it's almost Christmas!
I've got most of my shopping done and wrapped. (So I will not be tempted to give it away early, lol) and just need a few little things for stocking stuffers. My list isn't that long so it will be a breeze, fingers crossed.

We went to the Dollar Store today and looked around for those stocking stuffers.

Hmmmm...I didn't find any.

I also spoke to my family in Texas today and told them I was not coming for the holidays. So Monday I will start mailing gifts to them. Well, I will mail some, Amazon will take care of the rest, thankfully.

My brother called to discuss Christmas and tell me about the freak snowstorm they had this week. It usually snows in south/central Texas once every 10-15 years and turns into ice, a big mess and lots of traffic accidents! And people freak out. (See the news story here) But, fortunately this time it was just pleasant snow for about 24 hours and then was warm again. It does make it seem more like Christmas.

(Texas snow.)

We also went to the market to stock up on fruit and veggies today. I hate seeing advertsing on fruit...#PetPeeve

It has been snowing here in New Mexico off and on all around us. But mostly it has just been cold, but it is winter after all. We have a short day trip to Santa Fe planed for next month, so we should have really nice snow pictures then!

So much stuff, so little actual food. SMH

Behold real food...are at least a real cookie!

The bananas went into these vegan flourless cookies. I think I have finally found the holy grail of oatmeal cookies. These cookies were amazing! Let me bake one more batch and then I will post pictures and the full recipe.

I also picked these up for my son to try. He devoured them! Random-I know, but if you have a picky guest, pick up a bag.

I am glad to say I will not be having any guest or be running around the country like a crazy person this year. A staycation seemed like the thing to do originally because I had so much work to do, but I actually am caught up now, thanks to an amazing new admin and extra help! #WIN!

So we could go to Texas..but the more I thought about it, the more I knew sticking with the original plan was the right thing to do. I'm so excited about taking time off from work and just staying home and not having any commitments. It may sound lame, but after the busy ass year I've had it sounds like heaven to me.

Okay, I'm off for my morning walk and then to work.

See you at the airport!

Quick Video

12/8/2017

Hiya!
I am sorting the pictures from last weeks hiking trip and took more video than I thought...
*Warning some of it looks like I didn't know the camera was on! But regardless I took it as a sign that it was time to finally start a Youtube channel for this blog. I have two other channels for work that I'm hard pressed to update, so might as well add one more into the mix, right? lol

Anyway, I promise a proper post of the hiking trip and info on this really cool, ancient sacred sight shortly. In the meantime, have a look at this video and let me know if you think I should try and post some of the old videos I have of Europe or just start fresh. I would like some feedback, if you have time.

See you at the airport!

Winter Box

12/7/2017

Add-On Love!

My Fit Fab Fun Winter Box arrived today!
I was surprised that the add ons also shipped with it. From what I had read on line it sometimes takes weeks for them to ship (and to not worry, they are in transit) so I was pleasantly surprised.

I will review the box fully in a day or two, but I can tell you now that I was happy with it.

Catch you later!

Beginning to Feel Like Christmas

12/4/2017

HI!
Can you believe it's already December? This year has just flown by!
I've just started unpacking the Christmas decorations. Most people decorate the day after American Thanksgiving, but since I've been busy buying new stuff for the house I have to rearrange everything! Arggggg! But honestly I don't mind, I'm just so grateful to be able to be here. This will be our second Christmas in New Mexico and I am looking forward to taking some time off work to enjoy it.

The neighborhood is having a lighting contest...so expect videos of flashing lights and all things Christmas soon, lol

#GoodTimes!

And it's natural hot cacao!

For the longest time, I shopped early and bought gifts all year long, but as I said in this post, I'm super bad about giving them away immediately! So the last few years I started just shopping in late Nov - early December.

Thank God for Amazon and online shopping!

Wrapping is super easy when my son wants books for Christmas!

Two down and 12 more to go!

The weather turned off warm again and we took advantage of it and went exploring. New Mexico has a lot of natural wonders and cool stuff to visit. There are ancient Petroglyph and sacred sites located all around us.