only half of something else

ISN'T THIS A GREAT SAYING?? Yep. I've been loving it a lot lately. As in, like, since yesterday, when I saw it on SayingImages. I just love that site... even though it makes me feel like I am 13. But, sometimes that's not a bad thing. It's amazing how well some of those stupid quotes relate to my life sometimes...

So!

I guess I'm having a good week. I had a great Tuesday. From start to finish.

I was working from 10-2, but I had to drop my mom off at the doctor's for 8am. So, this left me with little time to get ready in the morning, as my goal is always to sleep in as late as possible. I basically just got dressed, packed a giant bag of things to do to kill time until work, and then we left. And we drove into York, which didn't take us long at all. Normally I dislike driving on 91, but I didn't really mind it that day. (reading this blog maybe makes you think that i dislike driving on lots of roads... but that's really not the case. in the giant, grand scheme of things, it's really only 236 and 91 that i dislike. and you have to drive on 236 to get to 91. so, double dislike.)

I dropped my mom off and then pondered a place to get a coffee and drive over to the beach. There were no Dunkin Donuts in a convenient area, which I thought was a bummer, but actually turned out to be GREAT, because it forced me to discover an awesome local coffee place in York!!

I had passed this place a bunch of times, St. Joe's Coffee, and had known of it because it says, 'Home of the Bennie' on its sign. And this kind of made Kara and I laugh. Because we didn't know what that meant.

So, I decided to give it a try. And I pulled into the parking lot, and there were two people exiting the shop with coffees in their hands, so I thought, "hey, maybe this is a good place." And I walk in, and it's the cutest, tiniest coffee shop! And they have all these great sounding sandwiches and a whole bunch of delicious sounding coffee drinks. Also, they have a pretty-full bakery case, which I make sure to study intently, seeing as my sister is a baker in Wells, which is kind of just down the street.

I get to the counter and order my standard coffee drink, an iced raspberry mocha and then I get a coconut creme donut. I'm pretty excited about the donut.

So then I'm waiting for my coffee to be made and then the guy gives it to me and says,

COFFEE GUY: So what are you up to today? Work?
JULIE: Yeah, I start work at 10, so I've got some time to kill.. I think I'm heading to the beach.
COFFEE GUY: You work around here?
JULIE: Yeah, I work in Kittery.
COFFEE GUY: Oh yeah? Where?
JULIE: At the Eddie Bauer outlet..
COFFEE GUY: Ooohhhh... cool place.
JULIE: Great discounts!
COFFEE GUY: (laughs) Well, have a great day.
JULIE: Thanks so much, take care!
COFFEE GUY: Bye!

And then I was in a great mood. Pleasant encounters will do that to you.

So then I headed down 1A to York Beach! Got a parking spot at Short Sands facing the ocean, it wasn't very crowded at all. Then I gathered my donut and coffee and sat outside on a bench and enjoyed! The donut was DELISH. Like, so creamy and coconuty. It was not a filled donut, there was a hole in the center, and it was covered with a coconuty glaze. YUMM TO THE MAXX.

The coffee was great, although I admit, I think I make a better raspberry mocha. But it had a good flavor and was made by a lovely gentleman, so therefore it was great.

It was so fun just sitting at the beach by myself! It was nice and quiet. Lots of people were on walks or jogs. As the time got later, more and more families started coming.

So, after I finished my lovely breakfast, I got out my bag of arts and crafts to do. I had been wanting to create a PAPER BAG NOTEBOOK, which Aliya invented and is totes brillz. Clicking on that link will take you to Aliya's fabulous blog with her step-by-step instructions on how to create a paper bag notebook.

Basically, you take a large paper bag that you've got lying around the house and do some easy ripping and tearing and folding actions to create a beautiful and handy notebook!! I haven't taken any photos of mine YET, but I will, and I will share them with you.

I got a lot of funny looks sitting on the beach, ripping and folding a giant paper bag in every which way.... but, I got it done and that was the goal. Also, check out Aliya's amazing blog! She's beautiful, crafty and very inspiring!!

Then, I did some texting and photo taking at the beach.

Then, I decided it was probably time to get ready for work. So I got back in my car, put on some music, and did my hair and makeup in the car!!! And then, I painted my nails!! It's a good thing I don't have a car adapter for my hair straightener, or else things would have gotten pretty crazy.

And the best part - I didn't even have to pay for parking!!! It's metered parking at the beach from 8am to like, 6pm or something, and I was definitely there after 8am, and I risked it by not putting any money in the meter. I figured that I wouldn't be leaving my car, and I wasn't staying there during prime beach hours or anything. There was even a police officer walking around the whole time, but he wasn't checking meters.

Lucky, because I don't need to not pay another parking ticket.

So, I was in a great mood at work. As much as I hate getting up early, it was really nice to not wake up, get ready for work, and then go straight to work. It's nice being able to do something before, so it doesn't feel like the whole day, or something. If that makes sense.

Work was really slow, but it went by quickly. And I bought some bermuda shorts! Nice!

Then, I went home, hung out for a long time with Kara and my mom... we all took a field trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond so Kara could get an apple corer to use to make filled cupcakes. Then, we stopped at the Mediterranean food place and got food. FALAFEL. I could eat that nonstop. Loves it.

Then we hung around the house for a little bit longer and then I went over to Greg's house to hang out with him for a while. It was really nice because I hadn't seen him in a long time. And his puppy had gotten really big.

GREAT DAY!

Wednesday was my busy day!! I worked from 10am to 2pm in Kittery, then drove straight up to Springvale to work 3pm to 10pm. Pretty quiet night in the coffee shop, but I like being there, so it was fun. Doug and I closed, so that's good.

Thursday was my day off!! I slept in - which was great. I thought Ruby was going to have me up early, but she woke me up around 9, and then went back to sleep shortly and both of us woke up around 12:30pm. NICE. Hung around a lot... didn't really do anything except relax.

OH, and I spilled coffee on my Macbook. Bummmmer. Ruby was walking around on the counter and I thought she was going to knock it over, so I grabbed the mug real quick, and spilled it myself. The keyboard light is a little shady... it's not working in all parts, and last night about half of the keys weren't working, although today they're all working fine. I think it'll be okay... but if I have any extra money, I might bring it up to the store in Portland.

Today was a busy day. At least it felt like it. I worked until 2, then headed down to the party store to look for cowboy hats for me and Kara to wear to TAYLOR SWIFT ON SUNDAY.

Yesss, that's right, the big Taylor Swift concert is on Sunday. We're getting excited. The t-shirt making party is happening tomorrow, and I was able to find some great cowboy hats. So, success!!

Saturday night we're going down to Salisbury, MA to hear my mom's cousin's son's band play!! That's less degrees of separation than it sounds like. I'm excited. They're like a rock cover band, so it should be good.

Alright friends, have a great start to your weekend!!!! I hope everyone had a great week! Any big plans for tonight?? Well, I hope whatever you do is a great time with good people!!

Take care! Be well!!