Lemulating My Favorite Things

Oprah does it every year. Stacy and Sue have done it. So I might as well too. And because you want to be JUST LIKE US, like everyone wants to be like Oprah... Now you know how.

Unlike Oprah, I will not be giving one of each item to every member of the audience. Because, unlike Oprah, my income level is closer to the "average American income". I'd love to gift it all to you....but I cannot.

Yep. My Little Yellow Beetle. I will probably be getting another one next year. It's become kinda like a signature. A friend said he was waving at me in my Little Yellow Beetle only to find it wasn't me. But he still waves at Little Yellow Beetles anyway. I think I've been the one maybe twice. But it's zippy. I can get into tight parking spots. It has a great sound system. And for the driver, it's great for long drives. Not so great for backseat passengers. But this is all about me today.

The next thing kinda goes with the first thing. Revolutionary when first introduced. Unique in styling. Visually striking. And I'll get another one some day.....
I have plenty of room left on my iPod. But it will be like so many of these things, I will just NEED to upgrade after a time. This isn't mine. Mine has buttons instead of a click wheel. No graphics. But the tunes are on board and sound great coming out! My selections are eclectic. Aerosmith. Frank Sinatra. Hoobastank. Uncle Kracker. Culture Club. Arlo Guthrie. Tennessee Ernie Ford. Coldplay. Green Day. Beatles. Monkees. Bobby Darin. Cher. You just never know what you're going to get when it's on Random Shuffle. Although I SWEAR it has a pattern. Yesterday it was heavy on the Elton John. A few weeks ago, it was all 80's all the time. Apple swears it is indeed random. I guess the machine sees it as random, but the human sees the patterns.

When I'm roadtripping in my Little Yellow Beetle with my iPod on the sound system, I've usually stopped for a Large NonFat Mocha at about 120 degrees (immediately drinkable temperature). No. Starbucks isn't better. It's DIFFERENT. But not better. And it's significantly more expensive. By about 50%. And Starbucks doesn't have punch cards. Java City does. I get my Large 120 degree NonFat Mocha at my next favorite thing:



Bel Air is the grocery store around the corner from my house. Good and bad in that. It means I rarely do "big grocery shopping" and so we will run out of stuff like paper towels or vegetable oil because it isn't part of "tonight's dinner". But we've been able to manage anyway. It's good because I totally suck at planning for dinner. I can also send a kid over with a signed check (made out to Bel Air) and they can pick up a few necessities. Bad because a $3 cup of coffee is SO very close and easy to get.

Which leads me to my next favorite thing. My favorite charity. Raley's/Bel Air/Nob Hill Foods administer Food for Families. This allows all donated funds go to local food banks. All money donated to Food for Families here in town goes directly to our local Food Bank. I asked a friend who serves on the board for the Food Bank if I should donate food or cash. He said cash. Because the money taken in is used to purchase from Raley's/Bel Air at their cost. So they can take my $10 and buy more at wholesale than I can at retail. I also love that my children will drop coins in the collection box when we check out. But I'm big on charities that spend very little of donated money on administrative costs. Since Raley's/Bel Air underwrites that part of charity work, all donated money goes directly to feed the hungry. Moves it right up my list of "favorite charities" that way!

Since we're talking stores, my next favorite thing is another favorite store. I don't buy food there, so this isn't a repeat. But Emma calls Target "the best store in the whole world" for the simply fact that you can get whatever you want there. Clothes. Toys. Video Games. Decorating things. She supposes you could get books there if you were really so inclined. But she isn't so that doesn't matter so much.

When at Target I often pick up the next two favorite things. I am a Real Coke girl. None of that diet junk. Ick. Diet Coke is New Coke, with artificial sweetner. Ick. Ick. Ick. I'll have a Cherry Coke on occasion. I keep a stash of Caffiene-Free Coke for those evening cravings. But otherwise, it is Coca-Cola Classic. And when it comes to bottled water, Dansani is my favorite. It really does taste the best. Mostly I drink filtered water out of the door of the fridge. But if I go in and buy a bottle? It will be Dasani. Bottled by Coca-Cola. Coincidence?? Hmmm....

I suppose it's no coincidence that my favorite theme serves my favorite beverage. But that's not why it's my favorite theme park. It's my favorite because it is the best. Sure...there are newer ones and bigger ones. But this one is the best because it is the original. You can do it very very well in a week. No need to pick and choose what to see and what will have to be skipped. You can eat in all the restaurants you want to try. You can go on all the rides you want and go back again. It might be smaller than the other one in Florida, but it's cozier too. Florida might have been Walt's dream. But Anaheim was Walt's baby. It's where I went as a child still in a stroller. It's where I was able to stretch my wings as a pre-teen when a mom would drop us off and another mom would pick us up. It was the Best-Job-Ever-T0-Put-On-A-Resume. As any former cast member can attest... once they see "Disneyland" on your resume, they just want to know about working there. They forget about asking about the job you're interviewing for and just want to know about behind the scenes at Disneyland. I've always gotten the job after talking about my tenure at Disneyland.

A new favorite thing are these shoes. I blame Elaine and Sue. They promised the single most comfortable pair of shoes EVER. I'm starting to believe them. These puppies are HEAVY. My legs protested lugging around the extra weight for a few days. But they ARE comfortable. No toe pinch. I sincerely believe I will need another pair. Mine are the 'sport' version of the Professional Clog. Oiled brown leather. They go with a surprising large number of things. I try to wear them whenever possible to my next favorite thing. I work there so I am on my feet all day. I have become a better knitter in a very short period of time by working here. I have been challenged by my boss and co-workers to push my comfort zone and learn new skills. If not for the shop, I'd still be cranking out scarves. I would have declared the Clapotis far beyond my skills. And now it's looking like I might just finish it!

I keep my current knitting projects in one of the mulitude of this favorite thing that I have scattered around the house. They are way over priced, but I like the clean lines and how they all go together. Not only do I use the Cake basket for my knitting, but I use very nearly every single one of my baskets. They are sometimes repurposed and occasionally are set aside for a while. But all are used. I have a basket in use in every room of the house, except the laundry room and maybe Normy's office. But I'm sure once we get his office 'done' it will have a basket in use. I don't aquire them at the rate I once did, but every now and again, another one comes along. These Market baskets are going to be discontinued in January so says the website. Too bad.... handy multipurpose things they are. Hopefully something similar will take their place. And now that we have about a million and a half remote controls, we are looking at getting the TV basket. For the remotes. Because it will go with the rest of them.

I have no gift certificates or samples to hand out. But these are a few of my favorite things. Feel free to give them a try too!