freshly laundered travel memories

So today while I (of course) had Michael Jackson videos playing on TV, I was reading my July/August issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine. And was so taken with one of the articles that I just had to share it!

It's my fave column in every issue, "Real Travel". I love Daisann's writing style ... witty, smart, observant. In her current piece, Coming Clean, she ponders the significance of doing laundry while traveling. Yes, the significance of it ... trust me, it'll make sense when you read it.

My own fond "laundry memory" while on the road was made in Italy ... we were visiting Sal's aunt & uncle in Gesualdo, a small town in rural southern Italy. Before leaving to head to the Amalfi Coast, we decided to do laundry. And, as Daisann observed, this time it was somehow "cool" to do this usually humdrum chore ... using an "Italian" washing machine in the basement next to a huge vat of freshly-pressed olive oil ... and then unceremoniously hanging our underwear on the clothesline on their front porch. What lingered for me, though, was the utterly FRESH scent of the clothes when they were dry. I had never smelled clothes quite that fresh! Perhaps it was from the crisp mountain air? Or maybe it was just the Italian dolce vita going to my head? Whatever it was, the Gain detergent that I use here at home doesn't compare. I think I've subconsciously been trying to re-create that scent!

That's one thing that I love about travel ... sometimes you don't realize the impact that an experience has had on your psyche until you've been back home for a while.

P.S. ~~ if her article awakened your wanderlust and you're interested in subscribing to NGT, they have an awesome $10/year deal going on right now ... can't beat that!

Suddenly, I have the urge to plan a trip ... and maybe toss in a load of whites. *wink*

... round 3 ...

TGIF right?

Buddy had another round of chemo yesterday, his 3rd of six. So he's now 1/2 way done with the injectables portion of the treatments. He's not quite himself today, kind of subdued, although he saw Sal off this morning with a wagging tail. Always cute! :-)

Some great news was his remission progress exam ... his oncologist says he's doing well! And she characterized him as being in "complete remission"! {relief}

I had to coax him to eat breakfast this morning ... I keep 2 kinds of (veggie) canned food (it's soft & moist) and 2 kinds of (veggie) crunchy kibbles on hand. He prefers different types of food at various times, so this way I can accommodate him with an alternate when he "snubs" what I put in his dish. Apparently chemo can change the taste of food, and not for the better. Humans on chemo complain that their food tastes "metallic", and maybe that's what Buddy would say too.

If he's up to it tonight (when it's cooler, whew!), I'll take him for a short walk in the neighborhood ... he loves to sniff around and greet people along the way. It'll cheer him up.

Poor Buddy ... doing my best to comfort him ...

Enjoy the weekend,

Father's Day

Hey there ... hope all you Dads out there had a great Father's Day!

Sal and I spent the weekend in St. Petersburg, visiting with our families. My Dad donned his "Ask Me About My Grand Dog" T-shirt ... perfect for the occasion ... and I snapped a photo of him with --- who else? --- his grand dogs, Buddy & Aruba! They had such fun celebrating the holiday with "Grandpa".

Have a great week,

Aruba

Hi there ... hope your week is off to a great start.

Wow, our week sure is! As I mentioned in Saturday's post, we've been waiting on biopsy results for Aruba. Well, I got a call today from her vet ... the biopsy results were NEGATIVE! The growth that was removed from her gum last week is BENIGN !!!! Oh, happy day!

We are so relieved!


We love our angel Aruba so much and are so glad that she's healthy!

tickled pink (& green & black & white)

Hey there! Hope you're enjoying the weekend.....

I'm having a happy Saturday! Doing some scrapbooking; it's a great respite from worries about Buddy's health (he's doing very well this week, by the way!). And now we're waiting on results of a biopsy for Aruba, too. While cleaning her teeth earlier this week, the vet removed an overgrowth of gum tissue. Although these growths are benign 90% of the time, we opted to have it biopsied, just in case, and since she's 10 years old. The results won't be in until next week, the waiting is so hard. So scrapbooking provides a welcome distraction for me...

My Saturday scrapbooking joy started yesterday actually, with an e-mail from one of my local sb'ing stores, Scrapbook Place, announcing a "surprise sale" to be held all day today. And what a surprise it was ... 40% off the entire store (except adhesives & ribbons). WOO HOO !

But wait, there's more!

Anyone who arrived before 10:00 AM was given a special coupon for an additional 10% off.

But wait, there's more!

In an effort to be more "green", they encouraged us to bring our previously-used store bag, to re-use, and gave us an additional 5% discount for that. So, all told, I got 55% off some great goodies today ... a scrapper's dream! :-)

And over the past couple of weeks, I've been making and sending out personalized RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) to some of my Creative Escape friends, some of whom I met at CE 08 and some new friends that I'll be meeting at this year's event. And I'm thrilled that everyone's loving them! Who doesn't enjoy getting a fun surprise in the mail, right? It's a CE tradition, to randomly select people out of the online attendee database and send them something fun, whether a treat from the sb store or something handmade with our (extensive) array of supplies. So, here's the RAK I designed and have been sending out:

The official CE colors are pink, green, black & white, and since the CE staff has been hinting that the b&w will take the form of a zebra-striped pattern this year (love that!), I incorporated some of that exotic print into my tag design. And on the back I wrote my contact info so that we can keep in touch. I got out my scalloped circle punches and went to town! A 3" zebra circle with pink inked edges, overlain by a green 2" circle that's personalized with her name and "Creative Escape '09" ... embellished with a pink flower and rhinestone, and a ribbon as the finishing touch.

The gals tell me they'll be using my tags in their CE albums as a memento, and some will attach them to their scrap totes ... how wonderful. Enjoy, ladies! And I'm whipping up another batch that'll be going out to more CE 09ers soon!

So now I bet you can readily guess why I bought these fun pink & green nail polishes? (the image is a little blurry, sorry)

With shades like Pink Forever and Green With Envy, I can't resist showing up at CE with a spiffy mani and pedi in CE colors. So pretty! And such fun! :-)

bye for now,

engineers rock!

My faithful blog readers can attest that I often post about great advertising. I love it, and consider it an art form.

My new fave is one of Intel's current TV ads that elevates one of their engineers to "rock star" status. He is Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB (no small feat ... and where would we be without it?). The spot is so clever, but that's not the only reason I love it ... as an engineer, I know firsthand the years of grueling training, hard work, and long hours that a technical career demands. Sadly, the reward and recognition rarely equal the effort. It's so great to see a "geek" idolized!

If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth 30 seconds of your time:

"Kreativ Blogger" award !!!

Hey there ~ hope your weekend is off to a great start. Sal and I are enjoying a little down time, it has been a hectic week.

Sal had a research proposal deadline that made him quite scarce here at home for a while (think getting home from campus at 2:00 AM, *sigh*) ... such is the life of a professor (and his wife). If you think all that profs do is teach and grade papers ... NOPE!

Buddy had his 2nd round of chemotherapy this week also. He seems to be faring pretty well, even eating a big breakfast this morning. Next week, we'll make a trip back to the cancer clinic to make sure his white blood cell count is OK, we're trying to avoid another reaction like he had from the first treatment. Our angel !

So we're definitely enjoying some R&R this weekend ... today we caught a movie, My Life In Ruins. We're huge fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, so we were intrigued by this new one starring the same actor. Unfortunately, it lacked the charm and depth of MBFGW, but it was still OK ... the script was kind of slow at times, but it was then that I instead focused on the gorgeous scenery that is Greece! Tomorrow we'd love to get in some beach time, weather permitting (June is a VERY wet month here in SoFla!); tonight we're getting soaked.

And what a nice surprise I got this morning! Two of my Creative Escape gal pals, Timi in Texas and Shannon in Arizona, gave me a "Kreativ Blogger" award! How sweet is that? So now I'll pay-it-forward ... here are the "rules" for giving the award to someone you know:

1) Thank the person who nominated you for this award.....thanks Timi & Shannon!

2) Copy the logo onto your blog .... DONE!

3) Link to the person who nominated you for this award ... Timi's blog & Shannon's blog.

4) Share 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting ... (1) I have a mild-to-moderate fear of heights ... (2) my blood boils when I see people who clearly are not disabled parking in the disabled spaces ... (3) I'm a vegetarian for animal welfare, not health reasons (I'm often asked this question) ... (4) I love to watch TV (shame on me!) ... (5) I have a big collection of rocks & minerals (I love geology!) ... (6) my "adopted" manatee's name is Lily, and my name Susan means "Lily" also (isn't that cool?) ... (7) Sal says I have a great memory (just what every husband wants in a wife, right? LOL)

5. Nominate 6 Kreativ Bloggers and post links to their blogs:

Claudia
Celita
Michelle, owner of Everything Scrapbook & Stamps in Lake Worth, Florida
Michelle, owner of Cherry Blossom Studio in Coconut Creek, Florida
Alaina
Christa

Stop by their blogs to see what fun things they've got going on!

Enjoy the weekend,

Jonathan graduates today!

Congratulations go out today to my nephew, Jonathan! He's graduating from Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Florida.

We're proud of you, Jonathan, and wish you a future filled with good things! Enjoy the summer, and all the best as you enter The Marines in August! :-)

Love,

Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba