This month has been A LOT at work, but I've worked hard to find lovely things. They're almost all about food, but let's all admit that food is one of the best things in life.
1) Potato chips: One of my besties in Wisconsin has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Canada. I once made an offhand comment about how much I loved all dressed potato chips, which are a Canadian delicacy that one cannot find easily in the States. Now, whenever she goes to Canada, she brings me larger and larger bags of this chips. Last week, I got a giant, Costco-sized bag. What a dream. They're also labeled as gluten-free, so Dr. BB can also eat them. (Note: Dr. BB referred to them as a low-rent BBQ chip, so he's banned from eating them. He doesn't GET IT.)
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| I'm included for scale. The bag is the size of my torso. |
2) The public library: Recently, my library stash started getting a little low and I went on an absolute rampage ordering things from the library. Look at this pile!
3) Late morning: We were having someone come over to the house to look at something and so I was hanging around to help with Hannah on a workday morning. Here are the good things that came out of that.
a) It was raining, so it was a perfect opportunity for Zelda and I to sit on the couch together. She was purring and I was "reading."
b) When the workman pulled in the drive, we put Hannah in our downstairs bathroom. Hannah barked for about a minute AND THEN STOPPED. She did no damage to herself or the bathroom. Maybe we can have worker people in the house for small periods of time without me having to just take her out of the house.
c) My workday was two hours shorter. Yay!
4) Dunkin?: A Dunkin has opened in the town where I work. It's actually kind of sad because they bought out a location that once housed a local coffee spot, but it's great news for me because I'm hoping it puts the Starbucks across the street out of business. HOWEVER. They are definitely not operating at 100% yet. I was so excited last week to treat myself to an iced decaf americano. When I got to school and looked at it, I saw this.
Maybe you can't read it, but what it DOESN'T say is decaf. The last time I had a caffeinated americano, I thought I was going crazy because I could not control my racing thoughts. I was already at work, though, so I didn't want to turn around. I instead just put it down the sink (after offering it to everyone else who was at work - no one wanted it) and sent my husband a sad text.
And then!
He made a special trip in to work to bring me one! (Note that the tag says "Hot" - he had been given a hot one and had to go in to exchange it for an iced one.) What a super husband.
5) Ice cream: One very lovely June evening we walked over to the local ice cream spot where I got myself a turtle sundae. It was perfect.
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| Yes, I do wear this white gauze shirt over everything this time of year. Don't judge me. |
Bonus!
I bought my kids ice cream, to make up for a disappointment. We made a special trip to the town I work in to drop off books at my office and visit the cats at the rescue shelter. Unfortunately, due to road construction, ,we couldn't get to the shelter and no place near that we could park.
ReplyDeleteHappy? I finished the library summer reading program and got a prize. Last book read Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher.
Did the ice cream make up for the lack of kitties? That would be a tough one for me!
DeleteDid you like Wolf Worm? It sounds great! T Kingfisher can do no wrong in my eyes.
This was such a cheerful post, Engie! I'm glad you are finding good and happy things even when work is tough.
ReplyDeleteI get such a kick out of themed pet stuff. It must exist because enough people want their pets to experience the holidays; I am not one of those people, but I love that there are people who are. (I have strongly considered buying a Christmas tree cat tower though, so maybe there's hope for me?)
I have not had ice cream this week but I have high hopes that this weekend will include a trip to the ice cream place! Hopefully they have my favorite summer flavor!!
My pets have NO themed anything in their lives, the poor babies. I have a red tie and red bow tie that I sometimes make Hannah wear for holiday photos, but that's about it. I certainly would not buy random dog treats because of patriotic packaging!
DeleteWhat's your favorite summer flavor? Our local soft serve place had pistachio as a flavor of the week recently and it was AMAZING.
I love your happy things! I hope your town's Dunkin gets it together soon. I probably would buy patriotic dog treats if I saw them! How super cool of you to write praise for Alex - and an extra boost of coolness that he got a little bonus because of it! That makes me very happy!
ReplyDeleteI wish Alex lots of success in this world. He seems like one of the good ones.
DeleteSo many good things!! Question - what is a turtle sundae? Also side note - I really enjoyed Of Monsters and Mainframes. It’s delightfully unhinged in the best possible way
ReplyDeleteI'm struggling hard to get into Monsters and Mainframes, but maybe I just need an hour or so of uninterrupted time with it to get into the flow of it. I struggle with sentient machines because...they're machines. But I did ADORE A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, so maybe there's hope.
DeleteTurtles are a type of candy that layers caramel and nuts (usually pecans, but sometimes peanuts or walnuts) and is coated in chocolate. The turtle sundae I had was soft serve vanilla with hot fudge and hot peanut butter sauce, covered in peanuts and included a whipped cream and cherry because YOLO. They're delicious.
Stepdog used to rock her stars n'stripes bandana on July 4th, and that's the extent of our Pup Patriotism. We've never really done bandanas with Doggo because she's gorgeous as is.
ReplyDeleteCanadians have the best potato chips! I like All Dressed but I usually don't get them because a girl can only eat so many chips and I have to save room for ketchup cheetos and poutine ruffles. How come we don't have cool stuff like that on our side of the border?
Canadians DO have the best chips. I like the ketchup ones, too, although I prefer all dressed. Apparently I can eat a small Tupperware of potato chips for lunch every day for a LONG TIME based on how long it's taking me to finish this bag! I'm not complaining, though. I'm going to be so sad when I finish it.
DeleteI haven't listened to many of the 2000s episodes, honestly, so that probably says something. I loved How to Save a Life, but haven't really gotten into any more.
ReplyDeleteAll dressed chips>>>>>>>>BBQ, and I will die on this hill, Dr BB
Do you have to go to the Mexican desert to get the 10% off?
I was just saying to Julie that I put all my library holds on pause when I went on my trip, and now they are un-paused, and I have a flood of books coming at me. It's definitely a happy thing!
Yeah, he's just WRONG about the chips, so I won't share them with him.
DeleteI LOVE that you are getting ALL THE BOOKS after your vacation. Yes!! So much happiness in those pages.
I love chips but seldom have them anymore. I wouldn’t usually choose All Dressed, but I do like them.
ReplyDeleteDunkin is supposedly coming to Canada in a big way. Maybe they will make it this time, but we are pretty well a Tims nation. Still, they must have done their research and market studies.
I do not know the last time I had chips, either. We just don't usually buy them. But if someone's going to give them to me, I'm going to eat every crumb!!
DeleteI think Dunkin is edging out Starbucks here, which I never thought would happen. It'll be interesting to see what happens if they try to move north.
So many happy things here! I love walking out of the library with a big stack of books- in tha back of my mind I'm thinking "I can't believe they're giving me these for free!" I mean, i obviously have to return them, but what else would I do with a book after I've read it.
ReplyDeleteThat sign.... ha!!! I was trying to puzzle it out. Maybe you get 10% off a Mexican DESSERT? But what does that mean anyway? It would be a weird way to put it, and besides I'm guessing the gas station doesn't sell Mexican desserts. You're going to have to go back and ask them about it so we can find out the answer!
Just out of curiosity- why is Starbucks worse than Dunkin? Is it just your own personal feelings about Starbucks or is there a deeper reason? Anyway- your husband gets an extra gold star for bringing you the correct drink!!!
I think you are correct and it was supposed to say Mexican dessert. We have a large Hispanic population and I suspect that's probably what it meant, but I am not sure. I didn't go inside to ask!
DeleteStarbucks isn't really worse than Dunkin, but SB did put our small independent coffee shop out of business, so I sort of hold a grudge. I also find that I never know what I'm going to get when I go to Starbucks. I make the SAME order and get different drinks/prices each time. It's an adventure, but I prefer Dunkin's consistency. Plus, DONUTS.
I do want 10% off in a Mexican desert! I love that Alex got a bonus, and that they wrote you back to tell you about it. Also, YAY Dr. BB, for getting you the right drink. I remember Dunkin’ when we lived in Philly. I was never a fan of their donuts, and my husband didn’t like their coffee, but they had cute commercials. Chips are my weakness, but I’m kind of a plain kettle chip gal. Still, I’d dive in to that bag.
ReplyDeleteI like the donuts. I mean, I am not particularly picky about sweet treats, so that might not say much, but I'll take a Dunkin donut any time one is offered to me.
DeleteI've seen and heard of these all dressed chips, but I have no idea what that means. I'm intrigued and now I want to try one.
ReplyDeleteI'm so tired of patriotic stuff everywhere. I'm not feeling it.
Oh, man, all dressed chips are so good. They're like a combo of ranch/BBQ, but somehow superior to both. Canada makes good stuff!
DeleteWe picked up a quart of orange creamsicle from that very ice cream place you frequent a couple of weeks ago. We were planning to walk over for an after-concert ice cream cone on Wednesday, but for the second time in a row, the Barrie Park concert was cancelled due to weather. That's gotta be frustrating for them.
ReplyDeleteI love that your friend brings back massive bags of chips from Canada. What a kind friend! I haven't had that kind of chip - now I need to seek them out when I'm in Canada next.
ReplyDeleteDr. BB shaved his beard - I think that is new? Is that his summer look?
Something that made me happy this week is having the offsite I planned over. It was yesterday afternoon and included 3+ hours of meetings followed by an escape room and dinner. Since I planned everything, I felt a lot of pressure to make sure it was worth everyone's time and that pepole were engaged/not bored. And then I worried about the restaurant selection (which ended up being kind of MEH AND SO DARK that we all had to pull out our mobile phones to see the dang menus).
I ADORE All Dressed Chips. I also love ketchup chips, but I think All Dressed (and Ruffles brand are THE BEST) top the list of my favourite chip.
ReplyDeleteDr. BB is... crazy. They do not taste like BBQ and they are SO MUCH BETTER. There is so much superior tang.
Happy thing. We're home. Mixed emotions on some fronts, but so glad to be sleeping in my own bed again. And to have a tumble dryer for the first time in 4 months.
So MANY thoughts here...
ReplyDelete- I'm kind of with Mr. BB that All Dressed taste very similar to BBQ chips for me. (And I'm even a Canadian!). I prefer ketchup chips - the director of our show (who is from Canada) went home on a free day and brought me (and the rest of the cast) back Ketchup chips and i think it's the nicest thing a director's ever done for me.
--We're also reading a Grace Lin book with the kids right now - i feel like her style lends itself well for reading outloud. She's Taiwanese American and I'm pretty sure my parents know her parents - I've always loved her books, especially her children's books.
-I ALSO have a white button up that I wear over everything in the summer. Mine's a linen man's shirt. I gotta protect my arms from the sun and I hate wearing sunscreen.
-We had ice cream after dinner tonight. We went to see the Tall Ships in Baltimore and I told the kids if they posed 5 questions to the sailors/ docents on at least two different ships, they could have ice cream. Well they did so we had ice cream after dinner - just whatever we had in the freezer.
Your husband--despite his diss of your favourite chips--is a superhero! What a nice thing for him to do, bring you a proper decaf. Surely that counts for something.
ReplyDeleteI've been fighting the urge to go to our local soft-serve stand. (Cholesterol, dammit) I haven't had even so much as a twist cone, let alone a hot fudge sundae. Since we're getting a massive heat wave on Monday, maybe we should just go and call it dinner.
That sign is wonderful in its mystery and misguidedness. I'm so glad you thought to take a photo and post it here.
Nance, eat a fiber rich low cholesterol meal for lunch! A big salad! Then go get your soft serve and have it for dinner. Yun.
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