Think Globally, Shop Locally

There's this coffee shop close to my house called New Grounds. Their coffee is pretty good. Probably every bit as good as Starbucks....and just as expensive. But here's why I love them:

1) They're local. And I think it's really important to support local businesses. Every time I go through their drive through I say a little prayer that they will survive.
2) If you order a muffin from them they warm it up for you. Do they ask if you want a warm muffin? Nope! They just do it automatically. And I love them for this.

So, shop locally my friends. It's a good thing.

This Little Piggy

I got this amazingly adorable piggy bank at Target last night. Only $9.99 for a ceramic piggy bank. Pretty good deal, don't you think? They have a ton of super cute ones in all kinds of great designs .... like pink polka dot and light blue argyle. I'm going to grab a couple when they go clearance for baby gifts. I think piggy banks makes great baby gifts! Love it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all! I just spent some time trying to figure out the connection between St. Patrick (you know...the guy who drove the snakes out of Ireland), Leprechuans and green beer. I mean, my name is Erin after all, so it's kind of like my own special holiday. (My friends Shannon and Katie will agree with me on that one.) Turns out, there really is no connection! Americans have pretty much made up the whole wearing green thing. What about pinching people who aren't wearing green? Yep - that's pretty much made up by Americans as well. See, back in the 1700s, people thought if you wore green, it made you invisible to the Leprechauns. Apparently, Leprechauns have a nasty habit of pinching anyone they could see. So the pinching is to warn and remind you about the Leprechauns. Hmmmmm.... I won't go into too much detail. I have a couple of super smart friends who probably already have all kinds of historical info on their blogs already, so click the links over there on the right if you want some real education. (Morgen and Shannon, I'm talking about you!) It's still a fun holiday, dontcha think? I personally don't think I'll be partaking in too much green beer today. I went in to work at 4am and am fighting either allergies or a bad cold. Beer + Tired Erin + Benedryl = Not a pretty picture. If you're out and about today, be safe and watch out for Leprechauns!

Birthday Ideas Needed

What do I get the sister who has everything?? I've just spent the past hour looking online for ideas for Amanda's birthday gift. Her birthday's right around the corner, and I probably won't be able to go with the parentals when they go see her next weekend....so....I should probably get something now.

I thought about Sephora, because, like myself, Amanda is a makeup whore. But all I did was find a lot of stuff for me.

I found some candles that sound amazing....but they're waaayyy too expensive and I just wanted one for me. (Do you see a theme here??)



I thought about a gift card to Barnes & Noble, because Amanda loves to read. However, in general I just don't like giving gift cards. I think they're so impersonal.

See, the problem with my sister is that if she wants something she just buys it. (Uh...kinda like me I guess....) She makes fun of my craft projects, so I won't be making her anything homemade. If she does read this, I'll get yelled at. But it's true. She mocked my handcrafted envelopes made with recycled antique sheet music and my decoupaged clothespins. And, if I must say so myself, those clothespins were freakin' adorable and perfect for holding bills together! So, I give up.

Any ideas???

New at Target!

So it's been probably close to 2 weeks since I've been to Target. Crazy, but true! I was amazed to find this new line called "Liberty of London for Target". Liberty is a department store in England, and they're kind of known for big, crazy floral designs (the one above is one of my favorites). They (meaning Target) have several endcaps of this new line....one in home decor, one in stationary. It's really cool and I love it all. It combines two of my favorite things: all things British and Target. Way to go, Target!

Poor Sid

Perez always has the latest scoop! According to one of his most recent blog posts, Sidney Crosby (aka my 2nd favorite hockey player) had his equipment stolen after the gold medal game on Sunday. WTF??? Poor, poor Sid. This is just wrong! I'm so disturbed I can't even come up with a joke about "Sidney Crosby's stick"....

Here's what Perez says:

Sidney Crosby, who scored the winning goal for Canada in the Olympics, had his hockey gear stolen!

After scoring the game-winning goal in overtime Crosby's equipment got lost in the shuffle and now he doesn't have his gold medal-winning hockey stick or gloves!

Hockey Canada is launching a full investigation. His mouthguard was already returned and supposedly his helmet as well, but the stick and gloves are still missing.

Well whoever snatched them can't put them on eBay now without getting caught — he or she should probably just send them back!

Do the right thing and send them back! There's a Sidney Crosby museum in Nova Scotia, dontcha know? His gold medal winning stick should be there!

Oh Canada!

Okay, let me set the record straight. I was totally rooting for the US to win last night's hockey game. Even though one of my favorite players ever was on team Canada, I still wanted Canada to win. Now, to be fair, I did watch Canada play hockey every chance I got. And I complained every time those mean boys went after Sidney. But Sidney gets roughed up a lot, so I'm used to it. (Hey - I guess that's what happens when you're one of the top players in the world....)

And, in case you missed it, it was Sidney Crosby who scored the goal in overtime that gave Canada the goal. (The picture of him above is him just after he scored the goal.) And today I'm feeling a little conflicted. I want to be happy for Sid, but I really did want the US to win. Memo to Canada: You may be better in hockey, but we could still take you over if we wanted to.