new favorite things. 10 of them.

Top 10 New Things I'm Loving in the Spring of 2009

1. Molly Peck's new business venture - The Vanilla Orchid
You want good food? You want to be able to just heat it up when you get home from work?
The Vanilla Orchid is your answer!
Once a week, she creates a menu. You order by Sunday and she delivers on Tuesday.
All of her food is natural, healthy and YUM delish!
Feeds 6-8, so Linda and I get LOTS of meals each week!

2. Sharpie Pens
fine felt tip. doesn't bleed through paper. coveted at IBAT. you should try them.

3. The Reason for God by Tim Keller
Tim Keller is the pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC. The book is based off of the main questions on God and Christianity he has gotten over the years from both believers and non-believers. It is INCREDIBLE! I highly recommend reading it with a group... it generates lots of interesting discussions!

4. Twitter and Twitterberry
My description of Twitter: 150 characters worth of telling the world, or your "followers", what's on your mind, how you're feeling or sharing some news. I was, at first, a skeptic... but I absolutely LOVE me some Twitter now. Last week there was an apartment fire in the St. John's area of Austin. St. John's is in extreme low poverty, and my church, the Austin Stone, has really began to focus on this area of the city to just show the folks that live there God's love. At any rate, this apartment fire destroyed homes for dozens of families and it was a real grim deal. That is, until the Stone staff started Twittering where to bring supplies and what supplies were needed. Literally, by 10pm that night, our church had responded in a huge way... all willing love on complete strangers in the name of Jesus. It was AMAZING. God truly moved through our church and used us to love on our neighbors. I know it's all God's doing... but God did give someone the idea about Twitter... and Twitter certainly didn't hurt the cause last week... I'm just sayin. If you feel led to give money for furniture or donate any furniture, visit stjohnrelief.com.

(oh... Twitterberry is just for my Blackberry that lets me read and update Twitter!)
(oh oh... click on the Twitter logo above to go to my Twitter page)

5. My Punchbowl
Tired of the same ol' Evite? Mypunchbowl is your place to go. It's free, you can be a little more creative and it's just different. I like it.

6. Pandora Radio
Just go ahead and click the logo... and you'll thank me later.

Pandora is a free online radio station... and what's awesome is that YOU pick the music and there are ZERO commercials. How does it work? Glad you asked...

You can either create an account or not... but let's say you really like Coldplay. You just create a radio station for Coldplay, they'll play you a good ol' Coldplay song and THEN play artists that are similar in style with Coldplay. I have about 15 different stations right now... all are AWESOME and all created and played on my mood at the time. If you don't like a song they play, you just do a little thumbs down and it will NEVER play that song again.

Pandora = Radio Perfection if you ask me.

7. Beaded and Croche-accented Clothing

I'm a sucker. I love beads. I love holes in my shirts and dresses, those that were meant to be
there of course.

I either own or will soon own all of the surrounding.

8. Big Red Sun

It's a plant nursery that is my kind of place. Why? Because they do long-lasting arrangements. What do I mean by long-lasting? They work with succulents. Basically, it's plants that don't need much water. I need these plants... because for some reason, I can't seem to keep plants alive. I'm sure my Granny Grace, great-aunts on the Lefores' side and my Aunt Tresa are all gasping for air at this very moment. At any rate, Big Red Sun has these awesome arrangements and I get lots of compliments on mine in my office.

9. CamelBak Water Bottle

I had no idea that this water bottle would have such a huge impact on my life, but it has. This bottle is the single greatest thing that has happened to my kidneys since being formed in my mother's womb. Yes, that just got itallisized, colored and bolded. It's so true, I may even submit it as a marketing quote for CamelBak to use... for free. That's how much I love this water bottle. I carry it EVERYWHERE. And my kidneys are thanking me. For all of you doctors who may be reading this blog: 1. I'm single. jkjk and 2. you just need to give these out to the folks in your office suffering, yes suffering, from bladder infections. This water bottle will cure them. Just an idea.

10. My Friends... both old and new!
first with the old
Beth - preggers and moving to San Antonio in a month! And dunking me this weekend!
Ber - ENGAGED!
Mel - 4.0 Diva!
Angie - still puttin' up with me :)
Linda (aka sunny) - always on the same page as me! Yeah for vaca 09!
Beash - loves you my little tiny dancer!
Herducks - May 30th. Dance-off. get-ready.
B-Spell - wishin she would move to the ATX to make me cakes all the time
Bradley - discovering secret hiding places for lunch!!

now with the new
Molls - my new bff. So happy you decided to set up shop in the ATX!!
Bex - hugs. and more hugs. you make me laugh
the Funk - (that's the official new nickname) ready to have a feast! bring.it. :)
Suzanne - my dear friend... still being my friend inspite of maddness!
Casey - "you are welcome in my dungeon anytime"
Olivia - you're the coolest mom ever. I'm just sayin.