Edward Laverde is the best bus driver in the world.

I've mentioned being a tad stressed (and neglectful of the blog thing) from the day job. Well, it reached a fever pitch the other night. My mind was going in so many different directions that I left my pocketbook on the bus. My pocketbook -- with wallet, cell phone, USB drive, and the added bonus of my social security card because I needed to bring it to work to make a photocopy.

I'll pause to let you think about how completely freaked out I was.

My friends were picking me up at the bus stop and as soon as I realized my bubble-headed move, they took off like one of those storm chasers (thanks, Jay & Deb!) to try to catch the bus. No luck. Jay and I would jump out of the car and into the paths of oncoming buses in an attempt to see if they had a way to call their their dispatcher. These were New Jersey buses that travelled in and out of New York City...they should have sophisticated communications systems, right? Wrong. I kept calling my cell phone, hoping my ringing purse would be picked up by someone on the bus...Still no luck.

To make a VERY long story short, the last person I called from my cell phone was my mom. About an hour later she called my man to let him know that bus driver had my bag, called her, and left a phone number and directions to the lost and found office my bag would be at. The next day, I was reunited with my pocketbook and every last penny that was in it.

And that is why Edward Laverde is the best bus driver in the world.

:-)

So I chilled out this weekend to let my blood pressure settle back into an acceptable level. I popped into one of my favorite little haunts, Cottage by the Sea in Avon, NJ. They had some good loot, including these 1950s glass pitchers:


With 50% off, they were only $5 and $6 each. I really loved that one on the left with the blue and gold houses, but walked away (how about that? It's probably because my brain still isn't firing on all cylinders due to aforementioned purse panic). Our kitchen cabinets are filled with everything we could ever need, and more.

Speaking of kitchen, we got a new dishwasher. The old, black one that we inherited with the house had seen better days. Not totally evident from this picture:

But definitely evident from the rusted, bent and melted racks inside.

The new stainless model...

...has helped us complete our kitchen quasi-makeover. When we first moved in a full kitchen gut was on the to do list. But when I got down and dirty (literally) scrubbing the kitchen within an inch of its life, and when we perked it up with some funky art work, fresh paint, and new light fixtures, we got ourselves a "new" kitchen for around $2500 -- and that includes the new dishwasher and refrigerator. Not bad, right? I need to get her organized but I think the kitchen is soon to be post-worthy. It's no Rate My Space, but it's not bad.