Saturday Morning Coffee

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday morning is sit in front of Saturday morning cable tv and sip home-brewed Starbucks coffee. I love that this is the one time during the week (and sometimes it's not even that often) that I have the luxury of time to lazily wake up and enjoy of my most favorite of life's simplest pleasures. It soothes me to watch home renovation reality tv and indulge in a tall mug of Starbucks with Splenda and tiramisu-flavored coffee creamer. The rest of the day seems to hold endless possibilities during this hour (or so). Running, shopping, pampering my face with free samples of Clinique's "15 minute facial" goo, finally cleaning out that dresser drawer full of too-big workout clothes, baking something (wow, NEVER get to do that anymore)...even homework feels less daunting when I've got coffee and HGTV.

Here's to a great Saturday....when you can do anything you want.

Chocolate

My boyfriend is not a fan of chocolate. I absolutely do not understand this about him. It baffles me. How do you NOT like chocolate? He doesn't even have much of a sweet tooth, but he does have a HUGE weakness for any kind of fruit-flavored candy. This makes his tastebuds slightly more comprehendable to me. All morals concerning selflessness, theft, and sharing go out the window when he is in the same room with sour gummy worms, gummy bears, jelly beans, you get the picture. THIS I get, because I'm almost as bad about chocolate. However, when it comes to our preferred desserts, we agree to disagree. We just shake our heads in bewilderment at each other in the candy aisle as we reach for our Sour Patch Kids (him) and Reese's Peanut Butter cups (me). The plus side: we'll never have to share our candy with each other.

Last night, while on a family vacation in San Diego, my parents and I visited the Ghirardeli's Ice Cream Shop, because we heard that their hot fudge sundaes are to die for. Personally, I was all in after just hearing "Ghirardeli's." Bring on the chocolatey goodness- I don't know the meaning of "too much" chocolate. We arrived in the Gaslamp Quarter, found our destination, and I all but floated through the front door of the shop. The smell was amazing-melted chocolate and fresh-made waffle cones. I was already on a chocolate high. We looked at the menu and each picked out our own decadent sundae: Mint Dream, Espresso Escape, and Peanut Butter Hot Fudge. We did NOT plan on sharing at all. The three beautiful confections arrived at our table, and my eyes grew by about 10 inches.

Isn't that beautiful? I dove in head first. Savored every bite, while whatever happy chemical it is that chocolate has went straight to my head. This was the best. dinner. ever. Then, about halfway down, I ran smack into a chocolate wall. I have never in my life hit chocolate overload, but there is a first time for everything. This was unprecedented. I almost didn't believe it, so....I kept going. I got to the melty-chocolate ice cream end, and the only thought my brain could form was, "whoa!" You can clearly see that thought on my face:

Now, my boyfriend knew about this impending sundae adventure, and as we were walking back toward the car, my phone rang. My first words after I hit the answer button were, "I never want to see another piece of chocolate ever!" Somehow, he didn't believe me, and I had to relive the whole glorious, overwhelming experience for him all over again. Then I restated my new anti-chocolate stance, to which he replied, "Yeah right. I give you until tomorrow morning before you want chocolate again." Okay, so he knows me way too well, but I'm sticking to my guns for another 8 hours or so.

Outlet Malls

Why are outlet malls so addictive? I love them, and will drive hours out of my way for a good day of bargain retail therapy. Add that day to a week of vacation, and you've got one happy girl. The idea of getting a $80 top for only $9.97 seems to give me the freedom to spend hundreds of dollars in one short 6-hour span of time. Sometimes I wonder if my method of outlet shopping is normal. Some people innocently choose an outlet mall, show up, and meander around. I go armed with a mission, a website printout of store listings, and shopping center maps (the only thing I was missing was a budget. Ha!). I went into 8 stores today (all of them pre-screened and selected thanks to the Las Americas Premium Outlets website), and am now the proud owner of full bags from 6 of those stores. I Banana Republic-ed, J. Crew-ed, and Nine West-ed till I dropped. I'm still on that "yeah! New clothes!" high with no sign of buyer's remorse in sight. The purple Nine West wedges are keeping any negative repercussions far, far away. =)

Back Home

Wow, I must say, it feels odd and really fun (in a nerdy kind of way) to be back in the blogging saddle. I was quite the addict in college, and then a dry spell hit. I had plenty to say, but couldn't find the time or the energy to write it out. Ha. Like I have that kind of time now. My life is blessedly full: full time work, full time school, a boyfriend/best friend combo (that's my favorite), and part-time trying to keep my parents and church family happy (and yes, guilty. I'm a people pleaser. I also love parenthetical expressions). All of that leaves less than zero time for the blog world. But I miss it. I miss ranting, I miss sharing stories that are funny (to me, anyway), and I miss pretending like I'm profound or insightful. And so, here I am again.