This past weekend, One and I went shopping in SOHO (the usual) at Opening Ceremony.  This is one of my favorite stores, not only for the great goods they offer at steep prices  but the inspiration you can find just being there.  One was on the hunt for shoes so as he was trying on his stuff, I decided to sneak away myself. 

I tried on these fabulous peep toe booties for Fall in Black Suede and paraded in front of One to get his opinion.  It's funny because ladies love to get their significant other's opinion on fashion, but most of the time, men are either ambivalent, too conservative, or confused as to why we want what we want and wear what we do! And even after this, we continue to do it for the sheer pleasure I guess of involving them in our choices.  For me, I also like to just get their opinion (because it's enlightening), although inside I already know positive or negative, if I want it, I'll have it.

One's initial comments with the facial expression: "Confused" :

"Those look like really long socks... No?"

"Won't your toes get cold in the winter?"

"What would you wear with that?"

I just looked at the sales man and said, "He won't always understand my fashion choices at first, but trust me, when I wear it out complete, he will."

 *EDIT* I decided not to buy them because I'm not ready yet. I want to see what else is out there for this fall. But definitely, the peep toe booties style are a Must.

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In other news, Welcome to the End of Wall Street and the World.  It's too much to even delve into and too depressing watching our economy deteriorate at rapid pace now.

``They're going to have to protect their deposit bases by law, and the days of high leverage are gone,'' said Charles Geisst, a finance professor at Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York, who wrote ``Wall Street: A History.'' ``The days of the big bonuses are gone.'' - Bloomberg.

A group of friends and I got together for an adventurous weekend in Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania.  We rented a house (5 minutes from Poconos White Water) which turned out to be lovely! Granted, it's not the sexiest place or most modern, but it had that old school country charm which worked with my themed weekend of relaxation (when I'm not on the rapids) & country-folking. My only complaint on the house was our bed was not that comfortable- doable- but not comfortable. It did squeak a lot...which caused a lil more effort in trying to keep it from squeaking !

Our check in time for the rapids were 9 AM.   After everyone got their gear on we waited to go through a short instructional class on process and safety. We were attempting Level 3 rapids.

On the rapids:

Let me tell you, TEAM BUILDING is a great way to describe this activity.  At the beginning our team was shaky- and had a hard time communicating, especially in the moments when our adrenaline was pumping and we were stressed in getting out of the rapids! We also were not used to paddling so much so sometimes one side was lazier than the other, but that soon changed when we realized that the float was not moving in the directions we wanted. The inconsistent paddling led to major detours into rocks that caused us to panic!  We were supposed to stay calm and do what we learned in the instructional class to get off a rock (bounce! bounce). This scary incident escalated when other floats bumped us, letting in a rush of water inside our float.  We thought it was the end! Somehow we managed to free ourselves and spent the next 15 minutes scooping endlessly. I have a large bruise the size of my knee cap on my knee cap as a battle scar! Also, our first Captain was thrown off into the water during a fierce rapid.  Thank God we found our missing mate down the river later.  She was better suited as a side front paddler anyways. 

 picture from weblinks

By understanding each person's role, we were able to propel through the final half of the rapids after lunch, dodging most of the rocks! We realized that the middle paddlers were the strongest so we placed our men there, and I was better at maneuvering the back Captain seat where I could watch both sides and use my paddle as needed deeper, slower, shorter, backwards, or forward.  We did so well that our team ended up finishing the trail FIRST! No, it wasn't a race, but why would you diddy daddle in the waters if you're doing well? You obviously want to keep moving forward!

During calm waters, we were able to enjoy the luscious mountains and hill tops.  All I wanted to do though after the rapids was take a nice clean shower! Our clothes and shoes smelled like dirty river/mud waters,, aka SHIT.  People were using the river as a toilet during lunch time in front of everyone!

Breakfast/Brunch @ The Covered Dish

I assume this would be the "hot" spot to get breakfast with the locals because this was on the list of recommended spots for tourists. Greasy, very local, with long waits for your for eggs (I think they waited for the chickens to lay them).  Pretty interesting, but you will leave feeling guilty for eating lard. Not much to write, you can make your own assumptions.

When in Rome... Biscuits and Gravy with a side of home fries. $4 (love the price!) Amount of sit ups afterwards = 1 trillion.

*cannon sd1000*

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In the Kitchen this week...

Of course, I'm always keeping it simple and keeping it real in my kitchen because homegirl (me) has a career. My new snack I make for lunch or dinner!  Who can resist cool summer tomatoes and mozzerella!  It's also pretty filling, so it's a great substitute for those on low carb diets! The key to this dish is the dressing- I add in honey and a touch of pesto to the rice wine vinegar. Top off with salt and pepper.

The colors in this pasta make it eye-candy! I used whole-wheat spaghetti pasta with yellow and red bell peppers, garlic, butter, shitake mushrooms, olives, and mushroom tomato sauce with ground turkey! You don't have to give up eating good food when you're eating healthy! My tip is just to replace each item to low fat... as best you can!

Easy dessert idea: Bake some fruits (I used peaches and apples) and add your homemade sauce of brown sugar, butter, and apple sauce which has been stirring on the stove.  Final ingredient: Haagen DazsVanilla Yogurt (healthier than ice ceam!)

*cannon sd1000*