Kreativ Blogger Award

You guys!!! Look what I got:

Sweet Liane of Enhabiten gave it to me. Shucks. So now I share 7 things you don't know about me and give this puppy out to 7 other bloggers.

1) Thank god for this award, because I'm clearly not winning any Poppy award. A woman from France who makes polymer clay food earrings currently has 303 votes.
2) I think I like to be scared (by movies, books) and then instantly regret it when I actually start getting creeped out. And then I'll have nightmares and really regret it.
3) I have a serious microwave popcorn addiction. My poison of choice is PopSecret Homestyle (in case you're looking for a quick way to gain 5 pounds, too). mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
4) I don't like monkeys. I'm sorry, they give me the willies.
5) I have that thing where cilantro tastes inedible to me. It's a thing, really!
6) One of my life goals is to see all of this big, beautiful country; every state, every national park. Maybe in a car, maybe in an RV, with as many hikes as possible.
7) The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that my dream job would be trail maintenance. As in hiking trails. But only if I could come home at the end of every day and take a long, hot bath.


Now to spread the love. I want to give this award to:
1) Melis! http://mloves.typepad.com
2) Kateri! (Leaves of Glass) http://katerimorton.blogspot.com
3) Cindy! http://quainthandmade.blogspot.com/
4) Amy! http://theb-line.blogspot.com/
5) Jennifer! http://odetteny.blogspot.com/
6) Laurel! http://laureldenise.blogspot.com
7) Shanon! http://myfinegarden.blogspot.com/

4 year Etsy-versary & a nomination

I've been nominated for a Poppy award!

If you wanted to take a moment and vote for me here, I'd be sooooo frickin' pleased, you don't even know. Voting wraps on Sat, Jan 30th.

Oh, and guess what today is?? My 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY as a seller on Etsy. 4 YEARS. That's a long-ass time. I want to do a big sale or giveaway in celebration of all my great customers and online friends. Anyone have a suggestion for what it should be? :)

Goodbye to all that

Goodbye gorgeous cove and strange boulder hills that look like Koala bears.
Goodbye sweet hosts and food I gorged upon.
Goodbye weird plants and warm sun.
Goodbye sand dunes and daytime moon.
Goodbye unused post office and cargo trains.
Hello New England Winter.

The Bunny Club

On our second day in the desert, we went to The Bunny Club.

Through a locked gate, up a winding, unpaved drive, to a little hole in the wall like nothing I'd ever seen before. It's built directly into the rock face of a mountain, a tiny vacation cabin for a family that has ollllld ties to the area. On a bookshelf inside was an old National Geographic from the '80s with an article about the Mojave--and a picture of the Bunny Club. Whoa, freaky -- I should have taken a photo of the photo, that woulda been so trippy!

A small door inside the main room lead to a cave fitted with platforms and mattresses. Cave sleeping!

We had a nice picnic and then we all made the obligatory stop at the smelliest privvy I've ever experienced. Before we left, we had to lock everything back up and burn the toilet paper. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime visit.

Into the High Mojave Desert

Ahhh, from the ridiculous to the sublime. From Vegas we went southwest and were treated to some of the most amazing landscape I've ever seen. Across the Nevada border and into California, past one of the densest stands of Joshua Trees on the planet, to the far end of the Mojave National Preserve—and through a big gate into the wonderful, hidden world of the Sweeney Granite Mountain Desert Research Center. Amy, Matthew, Miles and the sweet old Yellow Lab Aspen welcomed us into their home—and cooked us some kick-ass food. Well, Aspen didn't really help with the cooking so much. Just the cleanup. Would you look at that house, that view? Amazing.

Glamtastic

The weirdest things about Las Vegas:

• People smoking inside. Everywhere. But mostly at the slot machines.
• The sheer number of naked statues. Naked statues with protruding boobs and bits that compel everyone who passes by to take a photo with their hands on them.
• You never have to go outside. You can move from one casino to another and another inside.
• There are wild animals caged on the ground floor of your hotel.
• Each night on your way to the elevator bank that serves your room floor, you will pass go-go dancers posed in the Os of the word 'Revolution.' Which will not seem very revolutionary.
• Couture label stores (Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Louboutin) everywhere without a soul shopping in them.
• The slot machines no longer take quarters. When you go to the cashier and say "I have $50 in quarters" they will not change them into bills for you.
• By the time you make your way to The Bellagio and see the giant Chihuly installation in the lobby, you will be underwhelmed because of all the other crap you've already seen.
• The food is generally really good. Like, unexpectedly good.
• The facade of the Venetian is actually pretty. And the "canals" are swimming pools with boats instead of people.
• There's a volcano at The Mirage that "explodes" every hour. And you will enjoy it.