books are a lot like a good pair of shoes.

I was talking with by best friend... basically my sister who just happen to live in California with my California family :) and we were talking about fun comfy shoes... sadly I spent my shoe money at Chapters.... but then the conversation took and fun turn.
We decided that both a good pair of shoes and a good book can take you on a glorious adventure.

Some of my favourite pairs of shoes are my favourite because they have taken me on great adventures! or they are linked to an adventure or a wonderful memory of some kind. Books can do this too, you visit a place you have never been, they can take you to far away places that only exsist within the pages of the story you are reading and sometimes they even spur you on to "read your hero to safety" ever had that? You know the story will be in the exact place you put it down at BUT you HAVE to read the character to a safe place before you can put it down.

I recently "purged" my closet... which really means I looked at my clothes and picked out the ones I don't wear or don't fit...or are worn out so it really doesn't count... I think. Isn't the rule if you haven't worn it in a year to pass it along?
Well my closet would only have scrubs in it! for what I wear every day I have far too many "dress up clothes" I need to just start dressing up for the grocery store...
My shoe collection consists of running shoes a dead pair of dressy flats and heels that were a good idea at the time and didn't make my feet feel like bloody nubs at the time of purchase (...but worn for longer than 27 minutes and I can kiss at lease 3 of the 5 little piggies goodbye.)
But glory, the feeling of a good pair of shoes on your feet can make you feel like you can conquer the world! (which you can by the way ;) anyone who has ever fallen in love with a pair of shoes will tell you that).

Back to adventures. I booked a 3 night get away adventure to the sea shore over spring break. I love a good adventure, as does my sister. My parents did an amazing job instilling this taste for adventure in us from an early age I can remember jumping in the car and heading out to the lake after dinner to "throw our sweaty bodies" before bed. Some of my favourite times were these what we thought were spur of the moment adventures but I'm sure were thought out a least a little... and if not? All the better!

So we know shoes can take us wherever we go, its the adventures we take when we crack open a book that sometimes make the biggest impact! I have travelled down a mountain and into the sea in the pit of a giant peach, I have sipped tea with a sordid consortium of friends in wonderland, and I have walked the trails with Laura and her family across the prairies. Books can take us places we couldn't or wouldn't normally go!

What is your favourite go to book?
My favourite pairing is taking a new book on your adventure with you.
How big is your stack of adventures waiting to be read? is it as big as your shoe stash?

So I am wishing you a lifetime of adventures wherever your books or shoes may take you.

Toilet paper and other musings for the month of March.

I was recently asked why I had stopped blogging. The truth is I haven't really, I compose many entries in my head as they happen, just don't get them down on paper/online. I giggle at many things throughout the day and wish to share them with you but run out of energy to do so.
This same person asked me what happened to my "creativity".... I had to stop and think about that... My initial response was it had died-but it has just been injured. I need to revive it and celebrate it. Take time to enjoy it. So this is the first of many posts for the month of March... March Madness.

Toilet Paper

I was grocery shopping the other day and looked around and it seemed that everybody who was at the checkout with me had a large bail of toilet paper with them!

I suddenly had the urge to buy some.

Peer pressure to buy toilet paper.

I resisted, came home and checked the status on my stash.
It is something I buy at Costco. Twice a year.... don't get grossed out. but how much toilet paper can one girl go through in a year!

I noticed I had finished my Costco stash, and had replaced it with some other brand boasting of "clean ridges", not only had I purchased this under the influence of the commercials I had witnessed but if you think about it, why do they advertise toilet paper in the first place?
Everyone (hopefully) uses it- they could just have one brand and it would sell.
No need to rely on such slogans: pillowy softness you can feel, long on value, love your bum,now with clean ridges, its all in the quilting, comfort where you need it-and one I saw for an Australian brand-the toilet tissue that really cares for Downunder.
This just opens a whole other topic of conversation... if you could write a slogan for your favourite toilet paper what would it be?
 "be kind to your behind?"

**I have a fun toilet paper memory, I grew up visiting my grandparents during the summer months, this was an adventure in itself, it was like stepping into a whole different world, the world of  carpeted bathrooms, forbidden sitting rooms, a freezer full of Popsicles and of course the color coordinated toilet paper/toilet seat covers.... yep the blue bathroom had blue toilet paper, and the pink one had pink toilet paper! it was the exotic world of Boise Idaho! **

So next time I head to the grocery store I will find myself inexplicitly drawn to the muffled toilet paper aisle... 4 pack? 8 pack? single roll? double roll? family pack? 2 ply? 3 ply? recycled? shade grown-fair trade? safe for septic? no-name? brand name? bears? kittens? angels? ridges? flowers? no quilting at all? colour? so if you see a lost looking woman staring at the wall of TP its me... I should just go back to Costco and get the massive pack that fills my laundry room closet.
But having said that I find it is taken for granted. I assume I will always have toilet paper. Then when I do go to the closet of toilet paper and not find any I do through this stage of having to buy lots of it so I never am without... its not like it goes bad.. and eventually it always gets used up.

If you need me I will be out buying toilet paper... lots and lots of toilet paper..