minty & bright

bff = Black Friday fun !!

So who among you was brave enough to get up in the middle of the night to snag some Black Friday deals?? I'd love to hear all about the loot you scored !

It saddens me tho to see many stores now open on Thanksgiving day ... I wish the employees could have uninterrupted time with their families, to relax and enjoy the holiday.

I slept in today ... no 3:00 AM shopping jaunts for me, no way! I did take advantage of some cyber door-busters yesterday tho. But today I made the rounds to some of my FAVE stores ... at a reasonable hour. First stop ... my local scrapbook store, Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, of course! The timing was perfect ... they just stocked a new collection that I've been waiting for: Tropical Travelogue by Graphic 45. The colors and designs are absolutely stunning (and have me craving a trip to Tahiti, LOL)!

Then I met my sweetheart Sal for lunch al fresco at The Olive Garden (yum!) before heading off to Joann Fabric & Crafts. My next stop was Pier 1 Imports to pick up this fun holiday candle that caught my eye in their BF ad (soon I'll post a pic of how I "candlescape" it --- I have what I *think* will be a cute idea!). Wow oh wow is their store filled with holiday SPARKLE ... I saw glitter & bling at every turn !! I swear I could just move into that store! And I love Pier 1's clever slogan for this year's holiday season:

The final place on my BF itinerary was Barnes & Noble ... I joined Sal there to cap-off a fun day, relaxing with a chai latte and book browsing.

Hmm, where to next? I hope to stop in another 2 of my fave stores -- Michaels and Crate & Barrel -- sometime during the weekend. Let the fun continue! :-)

Happy shopping,

so very THANKFUL for .....

My sweet & precious little family!

Celebrating Thanksgiving, Florida style ... at the beach!

Ginormous newspapers overflowing with Black Friday ads!

Sal and I couldn't schedule in a trip to be with family this holiday ... too many big research proposal deadlines next week. {sigh} But, we're making the best of a working weekend .... and took today OFF to relax (toes in sand!), and to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

it's Theresa's special day!

Happy birthday today to my sister, Theresa! She lives in Clearwater, Florida.

Enjoy your day, Terry! :-)

Love,
Susan, Sal, Buddy & Aruba

that other "Where In The World?"

UPDATED*:
*click destination name for more info & video clips

Day 1 = Namibia, Africa
Day 2 = Madrid, Spain
Day 3 = Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Day 4 = Jungfraujoch, Switzerland
Day 5 = Barbados


Finally ... it's back!

It's time once again for the Where In The World is Matt Lauer? annual travel adventure on The Today Show. Love the series, and the name! {wink} It was on hiatus for a while because of the sour economy. The producers felt that no one was in the mood to see him globe-trotting from one exotic destination to another. I was disappointed tho, because we can still dream, right?

Anyway... he'll visit 5 places, all kept secret until they're individually revealed on the day of the show. The day prior to each live episode from a new locale, Matt gives a clue about where he'll be the next day, and they're usually doozies ... so difficult! As a travel connoisseur, I consider myself fairly good at geography, but his clues are cryptic, obscure. I can figure only some of them out!

This morning Matt gave the first clue since the series starts on Monday, 11/7. It's the 10th anniversary of WITW, so I bet he has some special surprises for us. Can't wait!

So ... Where In The World? would YOU like to go? Sorry, I'm not Oprah and I'm not giving away a trip. Just thought it would be fun for us to dream BIG !! Let me know ... leave a comment on this post (remember, no account or sign-in is required to comment! just choose the "name/URL" option and input your name, initials, or whatever... the URL is optional). Or, I know that some of my readers don't like to leave comments, and prefer to e-mail me instead ... and that's OK! Would love to hear what your dream destinations are!

Some of the places on my travel wishlist? The Galapagos Islands, Africa (safari), Tahiti, Easter Island, Spain, Peru, India, Bermuda, Japan, Iceland, Morocco ... OK, I can't stop! Soon I'll be revealing Where In The World? Sal and I will be exploring in 2012 !! {the planning (and budgeting) is in progress!} Maybe I'll post some cryptic clues before the reveal, LOL !!

Enjoy the weekend (and that extra hour!),