Win some City Passes to Tampa Bay!

You know me, always on the look out for a good deal! We had the good opportunity to use CityPass on our recent visit to San Francisco. Wow, what a way to see all the sights in SanFran and save some major money too!

Now they are running a contest for Tampa Bay. Check it out here!!

http://www.citypass.com/tampa#giveaway

Let me know if you win!
Till next time....

And we're Back....

Well the plane touched down and we're back at the "rat race" again. I have to say that this was actually a relaxing (although extreme ly busy) vacation. It was good to get away, but we did miss the "girls" and they were sure to let us know about it when we returned. Look for my next post to reveal some money saving tips when traveling.

CALIFORNIA!

Haven't posted in awhile, because we have been traveling the state of California (via Las Vegas). Lots to share in a future post, but I can definitely tell you that mass transit is the way to go out here. I will be sure to share some tips, but right now we are heading to the California Academy of Sciences.

Being frugal doesn't mean you have to skimp.

I started this blog to focus on budget minded items and travel ideas, but have found that sometimes quality is worth paying for. Case in point--tuna. I managed to get some Wild Planet Tuna on sale at our local grocery store and WOW what a difference!! Now I know how my dogs feel when faced with kibble or homemade dog food. Sorry, but even the dolphin safe mainstream tuna doesnt cut it once you've had wild caught, sustainable seafood.

So, I did some research on canned tuna. Here's what I found. There are two recommended companies on the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch list for canned tuna: Wild Planet and American Tuna. Only one of them is truly American owned and made and that's American Tuna. But wait there's more! Not only do you get more product, but the tuna is pole caught, certified dolphin and turtle safe and canned in BPA free cans in the USA! It's also certified low mercury tuna. Awesome! Every so often American Tuna runs specials. I bought a case on their Fourth of July sale and got free shipping too! When you price it per ounce, it really is a great deal for what you get. So this budget friendly consumer won't be buying anything else from now on.

American Tuna you had me at Turtle and Dolphin Safe.

Renter...beware!

So, looking to book a rental car for a trip to San Francisco at the end of the month. After doing much searching on the various sites (Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline), I decided to go with Avis directly which is the company I normally use anyway. I like that they have the Pay Now option to save up to 30% and it was a much better deal than the other travel sites were coming in at (and that was with a different drop-off location).

So I get my car (opted for a compact as it got the best gas mileage), get to the checkout screen and go to add my Frontier Frequent Flyer number in...and guess what?! They charge you $3.75 just to give you Frequent Flyer miles? I don't think so. The extra $3.75 is NOT worth the 100 miles I would get, so I decided to pass.

Just wanted to pass that along so you don't get charged extra for trying to earn frequent flyer miles.

Butter Cake...part 2

So, I promised you some info about Butter Cake. We had the opportunity to go to Beaufort with the girls for a mini-vacation. Beaufort, North Carolina is one of America's favorite little seaside towns. The main reason we come over to Beaufort is to take the girls swimming. The Crystal Coast is very dog-friendly, especially Beaufort.

Highlights from Beaufort:
Radio Island
Old Salt - Best. Butter Cake. Ever.
Dock House
Sunsets
Backstreet Pub
Time with the "girls"

You are also a short drive to Atlantic Beach (ABC as it's known), Emerald Isle, and North Carolina Aquarium - Pine Knoll Shores - highly recommended!

Be sure to check out the Old Cemetary and just enjoy time strolling around town and enjoying the view.

Arthur..

Just a quick post tonight. Arthur is barreling down on our favorite little seaside town. Here's hoping everyone stays safe in the OBX!

A post tomorrow about our Beaufort highlights.

Kai has cancer. Right now we are going with an oral chemo drug that we will know in a month if she is responding to it. I am glad we finally know what's up with our "girl".

 

Taking time away...

Well, the nice thing about going to our favorite little town, Beaufort, is that we get to break away from reality for a but. The downside is not much blogging happens during that time. Yes, I still need to tell you about that FANTASTIC butter cake. Stay tuned. We are currently at the vet waiting to hear what's up about Kai.

You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

Two words: Butter Cake!

More details tomorrow...

Getting schooled in Pinterest

I mentioned the other day that my friend, Mara, was going to show me how to work Pinterest. I have had an account for years, but to be honest, found it a bit overwhelming to use -- so I stopped. That was until Friday when she showed me how she uses it. Seems I was doing it all wrong! I was following folks and just sticking to the home screen. No wonder I could never get anywhere. Mara showed me how to use the search button to find different things I am interested in (for example, wine crafts), then from there I could pin the items I wanted to my board. Eureka! I spent yesterday morning cruising around Pinterest, and found it much more to my liking this time! I found some really great wine cork crafts on addition to a multitude of recipes I can't wait to try. Thanks Mara, for the Pinterest lesson! No I am off to do some more pinning!

30 day challenge: missed my deadline

Well, I am going to have to post twice today because I missed my post yesterday. I had it already to blog about getting schooled on Pinterest, but got some bad news last night which took up my mental facilities. Blogging, to be honest, was last on my mind.

This girl, the love of my life is dying. Yesterday was not a good day for her.

We received a diagnosis from our vet back in early May that she has adrenal gland carcinoma. Now we have had lots of tests done but nothing was conclusive. Kai has a growth near her tail but otherwise she has been a high functioning dog -- until yesterday. 

My husband found her laying in her pee , because she couldn't get up to use the bathroom. This is from the same dog who greets us every morning wanting to play ball. She did go to the vet yesterday because she had to have a rabies shot (which I personally think is why she had such a rough time yesterday). The vet also recommended she go on pain meds, so a hefty $75 later, and give her one pill (half her dose), and she is very loopy.

It's a blessing and a curse to be able to decide when your pet is no longer living the quality of life they deserve. We have talked about making that decision and are keeping a close eye on her.

Kai Lani Honua has had a great life! We got her at 8 weeks and have had 12 glorious and wonderful years with her. 

So anyway, that's the scoop and why I didn't get a chance to write yesterday. Stay tuned for what I learned about Pinterest.

Meditation time...

This morning I was up early for me (5:30 am); mostly because "the girls" were up too.

I had all intentions of doing the gym thing and was already to go. And then....

1) first my better half needs my help loading the truck for a BBQ event tonight

2) I realize I have compost to drop off at school and a bearded dragon to feed at school

3) and oh yeah, by the way, I needed to run to the post office

So by the time I get all of the above done, I have 15 minutes before I have to be at my part-time retail job. No time for a workout so I hit the sauna at our local gym and get ready to get my "zen" on even if its only for 10 minutes. When voila, the sauna gets packed and the elderly gentleman next to me wants to talk my ear off. And I let him, all the while seeking my meditation from the inside. I bid the elderly man good day and left the  sauna in a good mood and a little sweaty to boot, all in 10 minutes. Well worth it!

Wow! I actually READ a book.

Now I know what you are thinking, "Why is she posting that she actually read a book?" Well, this is the first time in many years that I have actually read a book for pure reading pleasure. Not because it was required for me during teaching. The book I chose to read: Catfish and Mandala by Andrew Pham. This came recommended by one of my students and so I figured, why not?

I won't go into a long summary of the book, because you can find that information here: GoodReads
It is a memoir of Andrew's life from his move away from post-war Vietnam, to ultimately returning on a bike. I really liked how the book meshed together memoirs from his past with what was going on in his pilgrimage to Vietnam. Even though the book was published in 1999, I do believe it contains some really vivid pictures of a post-war Vietnam and how not only the refugees from Vietnam (the Viet-ku) experienced struggles, but also even the native Vietnamese themselves.

Next up, not really a pleasure read, but a book I've wanted to read for a while called Plastic Ocean.This book was written by Captain Charles Moore who is credited with being the first person to identify the "Pacific Coast Garbage Patch." Here's a summary of that book if you're interested: Good Reads: Plastic Ocean.

Well, off to the gym, since that's the other part of my 30 Day Challenge. Blog - Check!

30 Day Challenge

So I have been challenged -- to find something to do consecutively for 30 days. I have decided to incorporate two 30 day challenges. (Drum Roll please......):

The First Challenge: 

• To spend 30 minutes on Pinterest and 30 minutes blogging each day for 30 days. So Day 1 Check!

The Second Challenge: 

• To get some sort of physical activity each day. (And just walking the dogs doesn't count)

So to my second challenge answer, I have found that I've been doing exercise all wrong apparently in terms of lifting. Check this article out: http://university.peertrainer.com/10-exercises-wasting-time/

Seems like I have some more learning to do. So Pinterest, Blogger and Exercise -- here I come!

Hitting the Rails

So we decided to leave the girls at home, and take a train ride to Raleigh for an overnighter. Getting to the train station in Greensboro was as easy as pie. What we didn't plan in was the rogue ice storm that hit the Triad overnight. Subsequently our train was delayed by two hours. We finally pulled away from Greensboro at 10:45 am.