Hare Affair

My backyard has become rabbit central. I’m not sure where they are coming from as there are no woods nearby. My guess is a mama rabbit got busy and these are the babies. Naturally, I squeal with glee every time I see one of them outside because I love rabbits. If I have a chance to hold a rabbit (which doesn’t come up often), I take it. I have always ALWAYS wanted to own a bunny. There are many who would disagree that even a litter-trained rabbit would be swell but I don’t care.


Even though I love seeing the bunnies out there, the problems they present are two-fold.

1) I have reason to believe they have been noshing on my strawberry plant. Who wouldn’t want to eat a delicious berry right of the vine? Bunny’s not gonna pass on that action. Because they can fit through the fence slats, I cannot keep them out of the yard. I’m not terribly worried about the strawberries as I didn’t expect them to come back this year but the rest of my burgeoning garden is still quite young. The main garden has another fence around it. Hopefully that security is strong enough to thwart those munching hares.

2) Sadie, as you can imagine, has taken a strong, shall we say, interest in the rabbits. When she spies them from the back door, she starts barking her fool head off. Those bunnies are no dummies. They seem to stay just outside the perimeter of her lead and so I feel confident that no hare will be harmed if we put her outside. However, after hooking her lead to her collar, if Sadie sees a bunny then, she tears after it and clotheslines herself. Quite a sight. Then there’s the other problem of when we do let her outside off lead (which is only under supervision). Last year under my not so watchful eye, she ingested a large amount of rabbit poo only to have it quickly reappear on my living room carpet. Classy canine.

What keeps rabbits at bay? Is there any hope? While I like watching them hop around, I am concerned for their safety around Sadie and the safety of my garden around them.

P.S. I tried to capture a picture of these cute little guys but they were too darn fast.

Road Trippin'

We’re off on a road trip! Saturday morning we embark on a 10 hour journey to Vermont. We are headed to an annual family reunion and this is the first time I am not just riding in my parents’ vehicle. I feel so grown up! Unfortunately, I really hate long car rides but flying there is quite a feat. Must fly to Albany, rent a car and drive 2 ½ hours further. And don’t forget the sleeping bags, towels, etc. and so on. Better to just drive ourselves and our stuff, yes? The longest John and I have ever road-tripped together was 7 hours to visit a friend in college while we were also in college. John drove the whole way on principle. The principle that he didn’t want me to drive. Not sure why as I’m a fine driver and have received nary a ticket, citation or warning from an officer of the law. This is okay as I really loathe driving. Truthfully, I’m the better navigator anyway. I’m not sure how this happened as my sense of direction is atrocious. The fact is I’m just good at reading printed directions and listening for Penny’s (our friendly GPS narrator) instructions. I am also good at supplying the driver with snacks, playing police lookout, announcing that I have to go to the bathroom and napping. All extremely important qualities in a co-pilot.
Accepting any and all submissions of music to download for mix CD’s. Yeah that’s right, CD’s. A month or so ago I unearthed the same mix CD I made for the aforementioned 2003 road trip. Brought back a lot of memories of R. Kelly’s Ignition and the like. Would like to create the same song-related memories 9 years hence.
Also accepting good road trip car games. Be creative! None of this license plate Bingo business.
Please send your well wishes for a safe journey. Full report upon return. Pinky swear.

Shopping Score

I'm not supposed to be shopping because we are about to go on vacation but surprise I couldn't help myself. All t-shirts at the Gap were on sale and I was just lamenting to John that I have no t-shirts. How fortuitous! Somehow, the bulk of my summer-wear is comprised of tanks, tube tops and halters. Oops! So, I just HAD to buy 4 t-shirts because I needed them. Don't judge me. I accidentally bought yellow, blue, green and purple in various solids and stripes even though less than 2 months ago I declared that this summer I could only purchase pink or red tops because I had none. Oops again. They were less than $8 each. I'm nothing if not a bargain hunter. Speaking of bargains......

RUN - don't walk to your local Limited store. This little beauty is on sale for $19. You read that correctly. NINETEEN DOLLARS!

Buy Here

It's their ponte knit pencil skirt. High-waisted and oh so comfortable. I bought the navy and cream striped one pictured above (No, it's not really black). Here's a bonus for you: it's super stretchy so they recommend going down a size. Do you know what that means for Ashley? I bought an 8. That's right. A single digit sized skirt. Oh happy day! Bonus #2: all those squats and deadlifts are paying off because this skirt makes my butt look amazing and I'm not ashamed to say so. Or maybe it's my butt that makes the skirt look so good. Semantics.  It also comes in a variety of solids and a navy and pink stripe that I had to put back because I was only allowed to buy one. Not sure how long the sale lasts but it typically retails for $59.90 so skedaddle on over to your closest Limited store.

Recipe Reblog #21

Does your sweet tooth need some satisfaction?


Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting: PB on PB? Too much PB you say? NEVER! I was really craving something sweet last weekend. Not wanting to drop $3.00 per cupcake at my local cupcake shop, and not wanting a dozen sweet treats calling to me from the kitchen, I searched for small batch baking recipes and found this one. It says it yields 4 but I only got 3 cupcakes out of it. Perfect! These baked up super quick and I had all the ingredients in the pantry which was why I selected this. I had no chocolate chips though so I left those out. Also, there are oatmeal, M&M's in the frosting which I also didn't have. OK, so maybe I didn't have all the ingredients on hand but the recipe didn't suffer. Point being, you can still enjoy this delicious cupcake without those fancy extras. It makes a LOT of frosting so load those puppies up. Then sit on the kitchen floor with a spoon and lick the bowl. You won't be sorry.

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dad! He's not reading this but I'll send my well wishes just the same.

Ebates

Have you guys ever heard of Ebates? I have to thank my sister for turning my onto this awesome site. I do a lot of online shopping. I love shopping in a brick and mortar store but if I can get it online (usually for less) and find a free shipping code, I'm there! Ebates is a site that offers a percentage of cash back for 100s of online retailers. The percentage is pretty low, 1 - 3% on most things. But, they often run specials where it's slightly higher, 5-6% cash back. There are also daily doubles in which they select a store every day and double the amount you get back just for that day. It's great!

So far, I used ebates when I bought my mom's mother's day gift from JC Penney, when I ordered John's glasses online from Eyebuydirect (6% on that one!), and when I booked our Niagara Falls hotel through Priceline. The other day I got a check for $5.98 and I already have $7.75 pending. There are so many stores to shop from on here! Target, Gap, Banana Republic, Expedia, Walmart, etc. and so on.

All you have to do is set up a free account and then search for your store on their site. You click over to the retailer's website through ebates so that it will register your purchase and that's it! Pretty awesome stuff. If you refer someone, you get $5.00 when they sign up. When I set up my account, I listed my sister as my referrer and she got $5.00. Spread the wealth, right?

Now - they are not paying me for this post but I would be crazy excited if you click through this link and sign up. Then I get $5.00 if and when you make your first purchase. PRETTY PLEASE! You all love me, right? And I know you all want to save some money and earn some money.

My Jesus Year

Via

I don't remember how I stumbled on My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith by Benyamin Cohen but I saw it at the library and thought, "Eh, what the heck?" The lengthy title pretty much sums it up, right? We'll press on nonetheless.

Cohen grew up in Georgia practicing Judaism under his father quite devoutly. For many years he questioned why Jews follow so many rules and what makes his religion any better than others that are not quite so stringent. He sees parishioners of the church across the street enjoying their time of worship and hopes that he might find the same thing. So, he embarks on a year-long spiritual quest. Cohen visits church after church, seeking out many varied religions, talking to other church leaders hoping for some clarity, all while still attending temple and keeping true to his Jewish roots.

This one had its moments, sure. But, as the book went on I found my interest in his journey waning. I appreciated the interjection of humor at times and was intrigued by some of the religious cultures he studied that I knew nothing about. It was slow-going about halfway through the book though and I kind of just wanted it to be over. I stuck it out though. Not knowing a whole lot about all of the laws and rules in Judaism, I thought the parts where he discussed them at length were most intriguing. You can probably skip this one. For me it was just so so.


Rating: * * 1/2

Southern Tier Beer

I guess I'm on a little beer kick, huh. I love wine but something about summer and a cold brew just can't be overlooked. This past weekend, John and I tried two offerings from Southern Tier Brewing Company. We were excited about them because Southern Tier makes, hands down, the best pumpkin beer in the land. Looking forward to that in a few months. Today, however, we have a summer beer and a dessert beer that will knock your socks off.

Hop Sun is a summer wheat beer, one of my favorite kinds. From the website: "Filtered to a golden clarity and dry-hopped to perfection, this is a fantastic session ale with a zesty concluson." I thought it was light and easy-drinking. Perfect for summer. However, at $9.99/6 pack there are other better summer beers to choose.

I have found beer perfection. Its name is Creme Brulee Stout. Oh my stars! This is delicious. If you think you don't like beer but you do like sweet things, this may be the one for you. Usually stout is a pretty beer-y tasting brew but the sweetness of the creme brulee overpowers the typicaly stout darkness and we arrive at something magical. It's pricey. $8.99 for one of those 22 oz. bottles (what are those called? I'm sure they have a name) but it is worth it. High in alcohol content so you really only need one. Find someone to share it with, or don't. It's okay to be greedy with this. It's an imperial milk stout from their Blackwater line. From the website it says the flavor is: "carmelized sugar, vanilla custard, nicely sweet and balanced, rich and milky." Is it ever!

You also get to drink it from a snifter, which is my favorite. It feels extra classy. Get it while it lasts, people. Well worth the coin.