Just Fun

Nov. 26 – Shop Small Business Saturday

/ still a dreamer

Here comes the onslaught – the endless ads and commercials on radio, TV and web -all promising you the perfect Christmas if you just buy from them. And who is ‘them?’ All the big box stores that have multi-millions to advertise, of course.

But while everyone is busy cramping about the crappy economy, they’re also busy running out to these same stores to get a deal. And this while the small businesses in your very own neighborhood are languishing and slowly shuttering their stores due to lack of sales. People … here’s the chance. Shop local!

“The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. On November 26, we’re asking millions of people to shop small at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy. When we all shop small, it will be huge.” What a great idea.

How about it? Nirvana is not really at Wal-Mart, and by shopping at the small businesses in your town or county, you keep merchants alive who are trying so hard to bring you what they think you want. Got a car wash? Get some gift certificates for friends or family – who wouldn’t love someone else cleaning their car inside and out .. or detailing it? Gift and card shop? There’s always something special for a hard-to-get person, and you’ll most likely be buying Christmas cards. Have a favorite restaurant in your area? pizza place? cafe? Again – gift certificates to eat out are a real treat in this economy, and bound to please anyone. It’s not rocket science, just a shift in thinking.

There are so many options before blowing it all at a big box store. Help your local businesses thrive and get cool stuff for your gift recipients. And although Small Business Saturday is November 26, spread the wealth and expand the time frame. Think small – you’ll feel great.

In this post you see photos of just a small portion of the wide selection of what’s in store in a small business not too far from me. It’s primarily a card and gift shop with an amazing assortment of things inside; it’s called This `N That on the Corner, and it’s located at 38 Bridge Street in Milford, NJ. Shopkeeper Tracy puts her heart and soul into searching out great merchandise and also features local artists. You can come to my neck of the woods and shop here if you’d like – she’d love it! – or maybe take a look around your own neighborhood with new eyes.  The season of giving is upon us – happy small business shopping!

Thanks, Halls, for the Pick-Me-Up

/ still a dreamer

Finally. My head was starting to clear a wee bit from this seemingly endless flu/virus/whatever and I actually had something I wanted to write about. So I popped a Halls honey-lemon cough drop, gathering my thoughts, and then was stopped in my tracks. There was a message on my cough drop wrapper!

Now, anyone that knows me or even occasionally reads this blog knows how hard I lean towards a positive or inspiring message. And suddenly, there was a whole bunch of them! I decided to scrap what I was planning to write and scan a couple wrappers just to share this unexpected little find. On the unwrapped cough drop at left, is “Dust off and get up.” Always good advice!

And here on the other two, you can read some more, plus a trademark saying Halls seems to have called “A pep talk in every drop.” Who knew?

I swear I don’t work for Halls Cough Drops and am not related to anyone who is, but this just took me aback. Do I expect a bit of wisdom from Celestial Seasonings or my Yogi tea? Of course! But my little ole OTC cough drops? Nah. Who’d think?

And what’s more delightful than a happy – and uplifting – surprise! So – keep your chin up, hi-five yourself, put a little strut in it and heal your sore throat. Go, Halls.

Ice Cream Challenge Results

/ still a dreamer / 1 Comment

And the winner in the chocolate category is ….. drum roll, please …. Friendly’s  Classic Chocolate!

Late last September I entertained a moment of frivolity and decided to pursue my own personal ice cream taste challenge, based on a link a friend had sent me where brands had been rated, first chocolate, then vanilla. Recently, I was asked whatever happened to that? I did take the challenge – tough as it was, consuming chocolate ice cream – I just never posted the results. So here we have them.

Although I never did get down to Trader Joe’s to sample their chocolate, and I did have to substitute Blue Bunny for Blue Bell, I still sampled the site’s top ranked flavors. Being a huge Haagen Dazs fan, I was pretty sure that it would rank tops on my personal list, but it did not. Indeed, the Friendly’s Classic Chocolate was the best in my book, too! Creamy, chocolate-y and quite yummy!

As for vanilla … I did try Haagen Dazs, (not exactly for the first time!),  Blue Bunny and Friendly’s Vanilla. I’ve had Breyer’s in the past and there’s so much air, it’s soup in a short time. Friendly’s? Can’t really compare to their chocolate.  But my vanilla fave, and I wasn’t surprised, is Haagen Dazs. So rich, creamy and vanilla-sweet.

Someday I hope to sample Trader Joe’s, and I will continue in my research, sampling both flavors because …. well, it’s ice cream, and it’s there! Happy summer scooping!!

Put A Smile on Your Face

/ still a dreamer

My only occasional posting has less to do with lack of things to write about … but rather more to do with not enough time to write and too many things to write about. A million things were flashing through my brain that I would have liked to write about, but were zipping faster than I could catch them, and then … I was reminded of something that I’d seen on the web awhile back which never fails to put a smile on my face. It seemed like a good thing to share.

Need a smile? Watch this …

My Own Personal Ice Cream Challenge

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

It’s not that I don’t have more serious things to write about, (Ooooh, like a great movie I just saw!), but sometimes, who wants to be serious!?

Not long ago, a friend had sent me a link where the staff had conducted a taste challenge for chocolate ice cream – a delicious subject for both my friend and me. It didn’t take long to see that these folks had also reviewed and rated vanilla ice cream! In vanilla they only rated 4, not 5.  Though one brand of ice cream is not sold in my area at all – no prob, I have a substitution in mind – and another can only be found an hour away, I decided to do my own rating. Ahhhh, what a dreary task – consuming and rating ice cream!

Below are the rankings for the ice cream as slashfood.com rated them. So far, I have consumed and ranked 2 of them, with my next food shopping bringing home  a third selection.

Chocolate Ice Cream:
1. Friendly’s Classic Chocolate
2. Trader Joe’s Ultra Chocolate (Nearest Trader Joe’s is an hour away in Princeton – I’ll get there!)
3. Turkey Hill Dutch Chocolate
4. Haagen Dazs  Chocolate
5. Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate (not in this area, planning to substitute Blue Bunny)

Vanilla Ice Cream:
1. Trader Joe’s French Vanilla
2. Stonyfield Farm’s Gotta Have Vanilla
3. Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla
4. Haagen Dazs Vanilla

Perhaps you’d enjoy this little taste test at your home – enjoy! I’ll be back with results when I’m done.