I am at home on my lunch break. Today I decided that I’d take my break a home with the dogs. I came home and I let the dogs out in the backyard. If it wasn’t that cold, I’d probably still be outside right now. The dogs seem to love it when I am home. I have about 10 more minutes and then I will have to go back to work. Uggh.
I wish I could stay at home. Work from home. I really wish I could do that. That would be really nice.
Well. My new Etsy shop is going to be ready soon. I might go ahead and start selling today. I have someone made the banners and an avatar for $8. That is pretty cheap. I love it though. It turned out pretty good. Once my shop has inventories in it, I will announce it here.
Today is the day this country hold the innaguration of the new president Barrack Obama. I hope he will do a good job. I guess we can only hope and pray, right?
Ok. I have to get ready to go back to work. I will be back in 2 hours. I hate going back to work. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
I would like to dedicate tonight’s blog for one of my favorite animals sanctuaries, The Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary. They are located in Montana. The ranch is a very special place for disabled animals. You;d think those disabled animals don’t deserve a good life? WRONG. At the Rolling Dog Ranch, they get second chances. The owners/founders of the ranch, Steve and Alayne, rescue disabled dogs, cats, horses and they even have goats!!! I swear, these couple are the true living Saint Francis. They have the biggest heart and love for animals. I truly admire the works they do. If only more people are like them, the world would truly be a much better place.
Being a huge animal lover, I have a special place in my heart for this sanctuary. Each month, I donate some money to the ranch. It’s not much but at least it’s the least I can do for them. I would love to do some volunteer works for them but I live too far away. I plan on visiting the ranch sometime next year when they are open for visitors. I might volunteer for a week there. It has been my dream to come visit the ranch someday.
I encourage you to visit their website to learn more about the sanctuary and also about disabled animals. Steve writes beautiful blog where he tells stories about the animals at the ranch. I read his blog everyday.
Here are the websites. Please visit and support the Rolling Dog Ranch Sanctuary!!
http://rollingdogranch.org/index.html
http://blog.rollingdogranch.org/
Lastly, I would like to close my entry tonight with a beautiful quote from Mahatma Gandhi:
I am still not in a good mood today. I don’t know why. The weather was gloomy. Someone stole our cat food (that we left outside to feed the stray cats). What is going on in this world? Oh and I got slapped with 4 more overdraft charges although I have not done any financial transactions involving my debit card since last week. I am closing my account tomorrow. I am tired of this. The idiot at Compass bank who I talked to on the weekend lied to me. He did not refund the overdraft charges from last week. That was my last straw. If he could not keep his promise, how could I trust the bank in general???? I hate Compass Bank. I have asked my payroll person to stop my direct deposit to my bank so this Friday I am getting an actual check until I have a new bank account. So, now I am shopping for a new bank. I am thinking Wachovia just because one of its branches is close to where I work and there is actually one branch in my neighborhood as well.
I am hungry but don’t know what to eat. I have been so lazy cooking lately. I wish my husband knew how to cook that would be nice. I am tired today.
I hate my job. I guess it is nice to have a job in this current economy. As crazy as it sounds I want to win the lottery. I want to be able to go to church every morning at 7.30. And help with the church. Volunteer everyday at different places. Build a no-kill animal sanctuary. Pay off my debts. Pay off my house. Buy the house accross the street. Donate this house to a family that needs it. Travel to my home country. Buy my mom diamonds and jewelries. Pay for my sister’s wedding. Send her to honeymoon around the world. Open my own grocery store. Organic grocery store with a bakery inside and a little book shop. Spend time with my dogs.
Ugghhh. I cannot wait for this workweek to end. I am just so sick of this week. It has been a bad week from day 1.
I guess I am going to eat something now.
Another day I started early.
I woke up before 8AM. But I didn’t really get up until about 8.15AM. I went to catholic class at 9AM. Class started at 9.10AM. Another nice class. Today was our 3rd meeting and I enjoyed it so much. My husband joined me at church for the 10 o’clock mass. We enjoyed free donuts and coffee after mass. I know it’s kinda bad but I thought it was nice of the church to provide us with free donuts and coffee after each mass on Sundays.
We did laundry after church. We spent $7.50 today. Oh yeah, we had seafoods for lunch today. We had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon so we used that. Lunch for two was $16.00 (tips included). I had some leftover lunch so I will take that for lunch tomorrow.
After laundry, we went to Target to check out some of their Hallowen stuff. I didn’t buy anything for Halloween yet though. Maybe in a week or two. I am waiting for candy sales. I am sure stores will be having some serious sales soon. I am excited. I think Halloween is the start of the holiday season. Ok sure some people think Halloween is satan’s holiday but I don’t think that way. I didn’t grow up in this country and back home, we did not have Halloween. So to me, Halloween is just a fun day to give out candies to little kids. I always give out good candies too–chocolates mostly. I don’t give kids nasty stuff. I plan to spend between $25 – $30 on candies this Halloween. But if can get them on sales, I probably don’t have to spend as much. I am going to decorate the house again this Halloween. My husband is going to register our house as one of the safe houses in our neighborhood so kids can come and do trick-or-treating. It’ll be fun.
Back to today’s activities. After Target, we went grocery at Publix. I spent about $50 on grocery today. Got a lot of buy-one-get-one-free deals. We bought meats (pork chop, T-bone steak, and ground beef)for my husband to eat for the week, olive oils, spinach, sweet teas, dog bones, gallon water, fruits, dry pasta, and 2 pieces of tilapia fish. I made my husband pasta with meat sauce for dinner tonight. There were enough to make 2 dinners and 2 lunches. I baked 4 garlic breads as well–frozen. Tomorrow, I am thinking I can grill the steak for my husband. I have some fresh green beans I need to cook tomorrow. And some spinach too. Yum.
Ok. I am so tired now. I cannot wait until our house is completely done so we can relax on weekends at home. Doing nothing. Nothing. Just relaxing with the dogs…..
I am entering my 2 Chihuahuas to a Pet Idol contest. Yes I know. I am such a dork. I have to donate $10 per pet but it’s ok. I want my dogs to be famous. The prize is pretty awesome too. I will be mailing their photos tomorrow. I am pretty excited.
Also, I am going to replace my current license plate with Animal Friend (Spay and Neuter) special edition license plate. I think it costs $25 for the plate. I am going to place an order this weekend.
We finished day 2 in Savannah with great success. We started the day with a sweet visit to Back in the Day Bakery (www.backinthedaybakery.com). Tell me what a better way to start your day than having a cupcake as breakfast? I had a Vanilla cupcake with pink icing (it’s basically vanilla on vanilla). My husband got the blue one. We sat on our little table next to the window. I loved every moment I spent in that place. I savored every bite of that cute little cupcake. I even had the courage to order 3 more!!!!!!! to-go of course. I had the chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, coconut-lemon cupcake, and another traditional vanilla on vanilla cupcake. I left that place happy!!!
We then head off to downtown. The intention was to have small lunch at Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady and Sons (www.ladyandsons.com) . I saw the menu online the night before and I already knew what I wanted–crabcake. That was it. I love crabcakes so every time I go to a restaurant that serves crabcakes, I always try one. Anyways. After several rounds trying to find a parking spot, we finally parked somewhere and walked to the restaurant. We saw a line–wasn’t that long. But it never moved. So I said to my husband, let me go to the gift shop (there is a gift shop next to Paula Deen’s restaurant–it’s owned by Paula). I was at the store for about 5 mins when my husband came up to me and said, we can’t lunch at the restaurant. I asked why. He said because we didn’t have a reservation. Ah what a bummer. We left the place.
I decided to visit a kitchen store called Kitchen on the Square. It is located not too far from Paula’s restaurant. I bought all sorts of cookie cutters, pie weigh, and some scoopers. I really took my time at the store. I just loved it.
Well, by the time I finished shopping, we felt kinda hungry. So we decided to eat at a small restaurant called Zunzi’s (http://www.zunzis.com/). We’ve always gone there everytime we visit Savannah. They have vegetarian-friendly menus. I orderd my favorite Portabello Mushroom’s sub (served on a baguette). Oh it is sooooo yummmyyy!!!! And it is HUGE!!!! My husband had the Beef Curry served on white rice. We both ordered African sweet tea (one of the owners is from South Africa). It was the perfect lunch. Affordable and very very good for your tummy.
After that great lunch, we decided to do some window shopping. We walked around downtown Savannah (Broughton street). I bought an antique gilded mirror ($60); bought two lottery tickets ($2); bought one supersize + super cute ring ($32); and bought 2 vintage wire caddies–different sizes and style ($21 and $10). I saw some cute clothes but they were too expensive so I didn’t buy them.
We also went window shopping on Whitaker street. We visited so many great furniture shops on that street. I found a cute little boutique called Custard (www.custard.com) that sells chic clothes mostly for under $100. The owner showed me a rack that filled with 40% off clothes. I found several pieces I loved and decided to buy 3 of them ($182).
It was already past 5 when we finished shopping. We deciced to go back to our hotel to walk our dogs. We spent few hours with the dogs before we headed back to downtown (River street) area to grab dinner. That evening we went to have dinner at Tubby’s Tank House (www.tubbystankhouse.com) on River street. The lines was long so we had to wait about 45 minutes. We walked along the River street to kill time. I bought some sweet goodies at The Peanut Shop (www.thepeanutshop). We visited many other shops as well. There were so many local artists showing off their talents that night and we truly enjoyed that. We had a good time that evening!!!
We left Savannah the day after in the morning. Before we left, we grabbed some breakfast. I ordered a to-go breakfast from the Firefly cafe (www.fireflycafega.com) –spinach and crab omelette and strawberry+banana smoothie. Breakfast was good but a bit pricey. My husband had some Gyro at a Greek restaurant on River Street. It was good–and affordable– he said.
While we were driving, we passed a Dog park!!! We decided to stop by. The dog park (www.savannahdogpark.com) is not a public dog park so you would actually have to have a membership but since we were visiting, they let us stay. The dogs loved it. They were running around–happy. We stayed there about an hour and a half. We continued our trip to the Forsyth park. We put the dogs on their leash and we walked around the park with them. Fun!!!!!!!! They enjoyed meeting new people. They sniffed and wagged their tails to everyone they met.
When we left Savannah, we felt so tired but very happy indeed. Our dogs were too tired to do anything else but sleep in the car. What a fun weekend we had. I enjoyed this trip as much as my other trips to this city. Savannah will always be in my heart.
I cannot wait to go back there again in the fall….
My husband and I (and the dogs) are visiting Savannah again this weekend from Friday – Sunday. We arrived today around 3PM. We’re lucky we don’t live too far from Savannah. This is our 4th visit to Savannah in almost a year and a half. I am so in love with Savannah. If I won the lottery this weekend, I am going to quit my job on Monday; buy a house in Savannah and move here!!!!!
Savannah is a charming little city. It is packed with histories and old homes–just the way my husband and I like from a city. Although I am only 30 and my husband 28, we both have true love for old homes–Victorian to be exact.
Walking through the streets of Savannah, I always feel some kind of dejavu-like-moments. Like I belong here…my past was here…
I just love it here.
Tonight we went walking down the Riverfront area. We had dinner at Huey’s. I had my favorite Shrimp and Grits while my husband ordered Crawfish Ettoufee. Sure, they are not originally from Savannah (more like Louisiana origin) but they’re still representing the Southern foods strereotype. And of course, we always drink Sweet Tea with our meals when dining out.
Tomorrow morning, we are going to visit my favorite bakery, Back in The Day Bakery (http://www.backinthedaybakery.com/) on Bull Street, to get some yummy cupcakes. The owner has been featured on Paula Deen’s show. Paula Deen is also from Savannah. We plan to grab some lunch tomorrow at Paula Deen’s restaurant, The Lady and Sons (http://www.ladyandsons.com/). Although we have been to Savannah several times, we haven’t had the chance to eat at the restaurant. People say it’s not so good but I love Paula Deen so I’d like to try her restaurant and be the judge myself!! And not far from Paula’s restaurant, there is a kitchen shop I love to visit (and I visit this place everytime I go to Savannah!!), Kitchens on The Square (http://www.kitchensonthesquare.com/). If you love to cook, this place is a must to visit!! Last time I went there, I bought a bunch of cookie cutters in different shapes and sizes!! Very cute.
Anyways. That’s my report from Savannah for now. I will be posting some pics and more stories tomorrow. I love Savannah!!!!
I’m wondering.
I personally feel that everything does get more expensive but we’ve been trying to be frugal anyways. We’re not electronic junkie, we don’t have cable, we only use pre-paid phone service… no expensive hobbies… We go to the library to rent free DVDs instead of going to Blockbuster. If we want to watch new-released movies on DVDs, we rent it from RedBox at McDonald’s or WalMart. I shop for buy-one-get-one-free items at Publix or we go to Walmart.
Most people at work have cable and they say they pay between $100 – $250 a month for the service. Most people have monthly phone service $50 – $200. Some pay cleaning ladies once a week $100. Some pay someone to mow the lawn. Some have very expensive hobbies.
When I compare our expenses and theirs, ours is really basic; mortgage, foods, utilities, pet foods, gas. We have at least $1500 left over a month. I still think we should be able to make that $2000 a month. Yet I still think we are spending too much.
I am so glad that my husband is very frugal. He does not like to shop at all. He never demands for us to buy anything expensive. Last year, we bought a flat screen TV during Black Friday for $500 (regular price at that time was $800) I think and that was after we did A LOT of research before deciding to buy one. Currently, we’re trying to eat everything we have in the refrigerator before we shop for grocery. I have some frozen meats that I can cook. They should last us for about a month or two easy. I need to buy white rice this Monday on my day off and I will probably need to buy some fresh veggies to go with the frozen meats but that’s about it.
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I hate thinking that I am going to have to go to work tonight. Today is Saturday. I wish I could lazy around the house all day and cook something delicious in the evening. Spending time with my family–my husband and my pets. Having dinner under the stars and watching great old movies afterward.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22844052/
Sweet story on some of former Michael Vick’s fighting dogs. Everyone who knows me know that I am huge animal lover. My husband and I rescue so many animals. We volunteer heavily with our neighborhood’s animal rescue group. I refuse to eat meats–all except fish. I know, I know, someday I will be a full vegetarian. Anyways. I love how this story in the article ends. So sweet. I pray so that all of them get adopted. And as for Michael Vick, I hope he rot in jail and hell.
