Savings Time! :)

Ok so you can blame it on the economy, on Clay's thrifty ways influence, or my unemployment, but I've been obsessed w/coupons and money making stuff lately. So here are a few for y'all if you're interested:

• FREE 8x10 Pic on Canvas: Sound too good to be true? I thought so too - but I've heard other people use it and I went and read this page and I'm a believer. I just need to find the perfect pic to put on it now! https://secured.canvaspeople.com/why-free.html


• Kohl's: Get a free $5 coupon on a purchase of only $5 AND 10% off that total purchase more:www.kohls.com/upgrade/registration/sale_alert_signup.jsp
  


• QT: Sign up for the QuickTrip Web group and get a free hot dog and fountain drink immediately, then each month you get a new QT coupon. http://www.qtwebgroup.com/


• Different Atlanta deal each day: www.Groupon.com/atlanta


• Creative Loafing: much like Restaurant.com, various restaurant gift certificates can be bought at half price. atlanta.creativeloafing.org
  


• Great coupon/freebie/etc. blog: blog.al.com/saving-for-eight

Any others anyone wants to share? Tell us all - I'm all about savings these days!

Happy savings! :)

What next?

Ok so I'm no longer a foreigner in a strange city (that is unless you call me a foreigner for even having lived north of the mason-dixon line for more than 6 months in the past two years, and/or you call Atlanta a strange city...), so what to do next w/my precious peach in rain?

A few thoughts - all different but all possibilities as I think I'm going to open this bad boy up into one of them multifunctional blogs.... But don't worry - this is as much of a list for me as it is for "you" out there in audience land ;)

• Money, money, money? I've been super obsessed lately w/finding any type of good coupon, freebie, or even
• Recipes? Probably goes along w/the frugal e, but Clay and I have been working on lots of money-saving and quick-making recipes - especially those we can set and forget or freeze for later...
• Entertainment in the ATL? Being a newbie in Seattle taught me many things - one of those being how to explore and learn about the city you live in. Perhaps it's time to do that at home?
• Any lasting impressions/questions about Seattle?
• Smarts and Crafts: an unemployed chica's #1 survival tip...keeping busy! :) I've been sm-afting lots and could fill anyone in who is just on the verge of falling asleep but not quite able to....
• Other blogs? So I know that many people out there (ok MOST people out there) including a few family members think blogging is a complete waste of time - and I'm not sure I don't agree....but then again there are actually one or two or ten out there that I frequent on all sorts of different topics to keep me entertained (I mean besides peachinrain :P)
• Anything else??

So wha'chy'all think??

Love and miss you all... even though I'm back in the ATL :)

-e :)

Merry Christmas from a Peach Returned...

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

....and by everyone I think I mean just me as I certainly don't expect anyone to be checking this 9 months after my last post. Needless to say I apparently feel victim to that nasty blog demon who prevents anyone from being consistent on their blogging for more than a year. I can hear the weeps and moans now...

But enough of that, I'm back in Georgia after a very interesting year and a half on the left coast. Never thought I'd be so happy to return, but then again I never thought I'd be so unhappy out in Seattle. Sure the weather, the lefties, the lack of sun, the absence of good food, overly politically correctness, (and did I mention the rain??) all led to a desperate need to return home, but the real meat in the sandwich is how much I missed my family and friends. I knew I'd miss them all, but I had no idea the extent at which I would do so!

So I'm so glad to be back in the South (although no promises to continue to be so happy come summertime) and maybe - just maybe - I'll add some good ole' South storytime items on this page in the future.

A quick debunking

....of Seattle weather, that is.

Yes.

It rains.

HOWEVER... the rainfall is LESS than it is in Atlanta (and yes, I'm sounding like my mom ;) ). It turns out it does in fact rain often around here...BUT the rain is entirely different than the "rain" I know. Back home rain is almost always in the form of thunderstorms, which, well .....they storm in and storm out. They can start at the drop of a hat and they can leave just as quickly... Fact is, thunderstorms are simply unheard of here - I have only heard thunder here ONCE. Seriously - just one roll. And that wasn't even until this last month. Vanessa said she once saw lightning here, but I'm still not convinced she didn't just blink too fast... It doesn't storm here at all! Which, surprisingly, is a little sad. I never imagined how much I would miss those days and never realized how much I enjoyed watching (and smelling - who knew?!?) a storm a brewin' sitting together in the garage... Oh to watch a storm roll in!!!

As for the rain here, we actually get less yearly rainfall than Atlanta. Really! But it does rain more often here, it's just that it's a VERY mild rain. Honestly it is probably better described as a mist or a drizzle...but it does rain often throughout the entire late fall to early spring, but definitely not every day. I understand the general perception (not to mention the marketing goldmine), yet living here is entirely different than what I had imagined. It is a mild nuisance, not a factor in my overall mood.

Yes, I get annoyed a few times a month at my "chronic cold, wet thigh" (only I say that, never heard the locals name it as it's probably the same thing as "Tuesday" to them) and the constant wetness and dirt that gets sucked up the cuff of all of my jeans, but overall I have yet to feel a dismal, dark, cloudy feeling come over me during this past season or two...

Next we'll debunk the whole sunless Seattle myth. It's admittedly true that Seattle gets MUCH less sunshine than Hotlanta, but it isn't as "dark" as I would have expected a city without sun to be.... There are definitely more clouds (that are much lower in the sky) and if I make it a point to look up from time to time, I realize that the sun is, more often than not, hidden behind clouds. Sure, if I thought about it, I would realize that I haven't seen a cloudless sun in a few days, but quite frankly I don't notice. For me the allegedly gloom and doom that accompanies "the rainy season" just isn't there.

Clay might be a bit different - whether it's because he works and lives in the same exact room or because he just generally is more affected by natural light I don't know, but he was definitely the only one of us to comment on the direct sunlight.


As for the overall temperature of Seattle vs. Atlanta - it is MUCH more similar than I would have ever imagined.... In Atlanta the highs vs. lows tend to range about 20 degrees per day while in Seattle it is only 10. So the average temps are super close in nature throughout the year, but Georgia gets the extremes on each side of the average - in fact Atlanta saw a much colder winter than we did here. The only time the averages are much different is in the summer where Seattle averages a cool 85 degrees. Nice, eh?!?

Bottom line? Summers in Seattle ROCK - so much so that the locals LIVE for them......but late fall thru early spring are a little tougher. Definitely not unbearable, just a little annoying. Nothing a good pair of rain boots and a good raincoat (with a hood!) can't outdo!!!!


Miss you and love you all,
-e :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

May your pockets be heavy,
may your heart be light,
and may good luck pursue you each morning and night.

My friends are the best friends -
loyal, willing and able.
Now let’s get to drinking!
All glasses off the table!

Bricks and mortar make a house but the laughter of children makes a home.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! :)

SJI Day 2: praries, wildlife, and hail

So after getting a wonderfully comfy night's sleep in our B&B (weedless though it was), we packed up and went downstairs to a great breakfast (Mom - random shout out - it wasn't Cascadian Farms yogurt - it's Cascade Fresh - yummy AND gelatin-less!) and then we ventured out to explore the rest of the island by car.

First up: South Beach. MUCH different from the only other South Beach I've been to, it was surrounded with prairie land, dark sand, tons of rocks, and miles and miles of beautiful driftwood. We also saw lots of wildlife - several deer, a couple fox, and a few local hippies. One of the foxes was particularly entertaining as it was just as curious about us as we were him - he was also quite the poser - I swear he knew he was being photographed... The other cool sighting from this park is Canada - you can literally see Victoria, B.C. in the distance just across the water. How cool is that??

After a nice walk on the beach (and Clay insisting I NOT take any driftwood. Punk.) we headed north for Lime Kiln Pt. Park - also known as Whale Watching Park. It was beautiful!! Although we didn't see any whales (the prime season for that is in the summer), I swear a saw a few porpoises even though Clay seems to think they were just waves... I definitely can't wait to go back during the high season to see the whales for sure! As we continued to meander down the trail, I was so intrigued by the trees (here are a few of my faves:

We then arrived at the little lighthouse as seen on the right: cute, eh?? After looking around the lighthouse, hovering around at each nook and cranny to try to spy a whale, and heading back up the trail, Lime Kiln Pt. was a thing of the past.... For now! :)

Lastly we decided to drive up to Roache Harbor - this provided MUCH debate as I say "roach" while Clay continues to insist on the incorrect pronunciation "row-shh"....silly Clay. But the joke was on both of us as we drove up towards town and it was almost entirely shut down for the season.... And while the weird things abounded, it began hailing. That's right, not rain, not snow, but hail! We ventured out into the dippin' dots falling from the sky looking for a place to eat, but alas the off season got us again when all restaurants were closed.

Back to Friday Harbor we drove and found a delicious Mexican restaurant - still no queso (of course!), but super yummy rellenos and salsa. Perhaps in our honor, perhaps for the old guy sitting at the bar - this Mexican restaurant came equipped with Nascar blaring on every tv in the joint, but despite that oddity, the Mexican in the kitchen made it authentic and yummy!

Then lastly we hit the Whale Museum for some pretty cool looks at whale artifacts, skeletons, videos, etc. before heading back on the ferry. The sail back to the mainland was even more beautiful than the one on the way over - the sun was shining and it was such a gorgeous day! Here's the final pic of the post from that ride home:

All in all it was a great trip and you should all make it a point to come see for yourselves!! :)

Love,
-e :)

A San Juan Weekend...

Hola chicos and chicas!!

Clay and I had a WONDERFUL getaway weekend visiting the nearby San Juan islands. I'm not gonna lie to you - things started off a little rocky - but the weekend was redeemed without a doubt.

It starts with a drive 1.5 hours north of Seattle to a small town where the ferry comes and whisks you away on a beautiful 1.5 hour ferry ride to the islands (there are no bridges to the islands or in between them, so you can only get there by boat or plane). Our first stop was Orcas Island where we took a quick drive around the island in hopes of seeing the islands from the highest lookout tower which is on Orcas. Alas our weekend is foreshadowed upon a 25 minute drive that ended in a very small, yet very drive-ending sign that said "closed for the season". DOH! Ok, fine. We can continue on. If we hurry we can even catch the very next ferry and have virtually no time pass at all....

So quickly Clay drives back around the mountain up around the horseshoe-shaped island so quickly that I start to get one of my typical road-trip-induced, sun-shining-rapidly-in-and-out-of-trees, whiplash around the rural, mountain switchbacks until we arrive (early) to catch the next ferry. Whew. We made it. We saw the 'downtown' of the tiny island, we drove through the state park, know where to go when the observation tower opens up, and found a quaint little campground equipped with paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, fire pits, and cute bath houses...

Alright Captain Jeeves - on to Friday Harbor! And make it quick! (but not toooo quick!!).

A short yet scenic trip from Orcas got us to Friday Harbor where excitement turned into a moment of panic as we pulled into the dock... Anyone notice anything wrong with this pic? This is the Clay (in uniform, of course!) standing next to the freshcape and the dock is right behind him..... Ok did we get into the wrong lane? Are we actually in line to go to another island?? Because I KNOW they don't expect us to BACK OUT of the ferry!?!? Our fear grew with each inch we got closer to the dock convincing us that the ferry wasn't going to turn around... Uh oh - we see some cars pointed the other direction. We need to be in THAT lane! Uhhhhh we're Southerners - we don't have none of them ferry things down there! HELP! So Clay got the nerve to ask one of the many ferry employees standing around waiting to secure us and they chuckled a little at the silly Georgians and assured us we would all turn around inside the ferry. Phew! Yeah...we knew that all along...we're just testing you.......

So we venture up onto the island and are immediately greeted with an adorable little town with lots of restaurants, shops, and bed and breakfasts. I (of course) had done plenty of shopping around online and found the cutest B&B to stay at with the best deal and I was even more impressed in person!! Neither of us have stayed in a B&B before but we decided to finally brave the lack of anonymity that a large hotel provides and even choose a room (the cheapest of course) that had a shared bathroom down the hall. Gutsy, eh?? Well when we got there the owners gave us a free upgrade since it was so empty and we got a larger room w/our own bathroom (score!). All of the rooms that weren't filled (95% of them) were left open so we dropped of our stuff and ventured through the 3 floors of rooms peeking into each (they were all adorable!!!) and we even checked out the 2 shared bathrooms (all very roomy and clean and nice). We also looked at the cute sitting areas scattered throughout, the business center and tiny library for anyone to use, and the several shared decks - I'm in love with this place! So check it out if you're ever on San Juan Island: Bird Rock Hotel.

Ok so what to do now? Well eat or shop? Eat it is. A few recommendations from the owners and we were off for a great dinner followed by drinks at a bar where we were entertained by the locals and had a Washington first. I can't believe it took almost a year for it to happen, but it did. In all of it's glory. One of the locals was being super friendly and talkative - ok a bit TOO talkative. I should have picked up on that when he showed us his certified marijuana patient card, his certified marijuana growers card, and his Oregon NORML card (all laminated of course) - but this peach is a bit too naive I guess. After not picking up on the hints he became more direct - I told him no, I don't do that, and he asked a few more times and then finally said "I've got a pound in my car right now!". Uh, no thanks man! Shortly there after we dashed out just in time as he spilled his 6th tequila shot on the bar. Once we had escaped and were safely out of sight, Clay said "I got some weird vibes from that guy". "Nah," I say "he was just trying to sell us weed." Ahhhhh - I guess we're officially Washingtonians now, eh?

Ok our next day will be a new post.... I gotta go find a guy.......... Just kidding!