Friday & sad news

Today I woke up to my alarm, watched some Angel and got a phone call from mom. She hadn't wanted to tell me when I was alone and since they didn't know much, but that Sabrina has become very sick and they were taking her to the Hope Center for a sonogram. I heard from mom a little after 3 pm. Sabrina, my beanie, either has lymphoma or FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) - both fatal.

I am completely devastated, and torn apart. I decided I would go home on Wednesday to be with her and everyone for the end. It's just horrible this happened so suddenly. Sabrina is so young, only 4 years old and we've only had 3 short and sweet years together. I feel so helpless :(

Sabrina hanging with mom.

Since the cleaners were coming tonight, I had to clear everything out of the house. I had a hot dog for lunch and spent the rest of the day packing and running things over to Denise's house across the street (where I will be staying). I was completely out before 6 pm, when the cleaners showed up. I ran to the Acme and bought some bread and bologna and some comfort chocolate. I came to Denise's and we ordered Chinese food from Cape Orient. She, her son Todd and I all ate dinner. The Chinese food here is just so good, better than at home!

Then in the evening Denise and I walked Todd's sweet dog Nala around the block. I went to the house to dry my towels and checked out the house - very, very clean. I talked to mom and grandma Genie. I'm looking forward to seeing them on Wednesday. I came back to Denise's and we were watching some of Randy to the Rescue on TLC, but we mostly ended up chatting. We came up to go to bed.

I came up to my really nice room and took a shower, unpacked a little and settled in. I talked to grandma Zelda and to mom. Tomorrow I am working at Bliss from 5-9 pm and I can't wait! My first real official job!

xo, capemaychick

Sabrina eating some Matzah at Passover time.

Contemplating the wonders of the world.

Enjoying nap time in her little hidey-hole.

Thursday's Cleaning

My alarm went off at 10:30 am but I didn't feel like getting up right away, still recovering from my early wake ups for the writers' conference! Denise called at 11 am to see if I wanted to bring stuff over, but I didn't have anything together yet. I watched some Angel before getting up and having lunch - leftover chinese and raviolis. I read my book and then I skyped with Lindsay.

I started cleaning the house, sweeping up the floors inside and on the front porch. I saw Denise outside and went over to say hi and meet her son Todd. I also met one of our other neighbors. I kept cleaning and sweeping when mom called, to tell me the house Realtor wanted to bring over people who were potentially interested in renting. So I quickly made my bed and hid my lingerie that was out on drying racks. They came in and walked through. They said the house was cute, but I didn't know if they were saying that because I was there or if they really liked it.

After they left, I put tape on the top shelf of the food pantry that says "Owners only, do not use please. Thanks." and then I moved up food to that shelf and put away the food I'm taking with me. I facetimed with mom about the house and the television that wasn't working - which we got to work with some help with xfinity.

Around 4 pm I left the house to go to Walmart to get towels for when we have guests, and a grill brush. I also picked up some sun screen that was on sale. Afterwards, I went straight to Bliss to learn how to use the register and scoop ice cream -- I'm working at Bliss this weekend! I'm really excited.

Then I came home, cleaned and had dinner - spaghetti O's and salad on the porch, while reading/finishing my book. Then I came upstairs and started to pack my room and then watched The Show with Vinny and Friend's.

Tomorrow I will finish cleaning the house and move into Denise's for the next couple of days while the house is rented.

I'm sad to be leaving the house already, I've been so comfortable here the past two weeks! I'll be back into the house in a week and then will have another 2 1/2 weeks!

PS - sorry there are no photos, I didn't do anything interesting today!

xo,
capemaychick

Wednesday - Beach Writer's Conference Day #2/Last Day // Watch the Tram Car Please

I woke up around 8 am and mom texted with me. I got up at 8:05 and started to get dressed. I got all of my stuff together, grabbed something to eat and said hi/bye to Bill and left. I made good time to the conference. I picked up a danish and sat down for the first two sessions.

Then at lunch time I drove to the Tom Cat Diner but it was closed! SO I knew I had a coupon for 10% off at the Pink Cadillac diner so I drove back to there. I had honey dipped chicken, salad, fries and cole slaw. It was pretty decent, but I wouldn't be in a rush to get back there anytime soon. The cashier forgot to ring up my coupon but already ran my credit card through - so she had to void the transaction. Hopefully I don't get double charged. Things were not going my way in way of food today!

On the tram car

I left the diner and went back to the conference for the next session which was boring. The conference was called Beach Writers' Conference, so I literally took it to mean that there would actually be writing about the beach. Turns out, it was more like - we're at the beach and it's a writing conference. So there was a lot on writing BOOKS/self publishing, fictional characters, etc. I'm not looking right now to write a book, it's definitely in the cards, but not quite yet. Overall, it was a nice two days to see more of Wildwood than I usually get to.

After the boring session, I went to go ride on the tram car! It's a little trolley like train they run up and down the boardwalk. The boardwalk is 1.8 miles long (yes I wikipedia'd that). So it was nice to see the opposite ends - because I normally walk the middle stretch. I took the tram for about an hour and got dropped off at the convention center for the last session.

I had never seen this sign before!

Riding the tram on the wrong side of the Wildwood sign.

I stayed afterwards for the cocktail hour, which was very mediocre with drinks you had to pay for and a scant amount of appetizers. It was also very awkward because I didn't know anyone there and the adults immediately hit up the liquor and started getting drunk....so I ended up coming home and getting dinner from the Cape Orient (best Chinese food I've had). I had chicken lo mein, dumplings and crab rangoons. I ate on the porch and read my book and then watched four shows all while scrapbooking. I talked to my family and then I got ready for bed. I have a lot of cleaning to do tomorrow!

Came home to our door painted with our cat door knocker on it!

xo,
capemaychick

Beach Writers' Conference Day #1

I was up on and off from 6:45 am, so when my alarm went off at 7:30 am I popped right out of bed. I find that always happens to me on the first day of conferences - it's adrenaline. The second day is always harder to get up!

My mom texted me right after my alarm when off, and Bill called up too to make sure I was up, LOL! I got up, dressed and ate breakfast. Bill kept me company while I ate and talked my ear off before I left. I left about 8 am and got there, parked, registered & had a danish by 8:30 am.

#SWAG!

We got a swag bag full of magazines, NJ info, tram pass, dolphin container, flip flop gummies, note pad and pen, flip flop key chain and coupons. The first few speakers were interesting. They left us on our own for lunch. The swag bag had a coupon for 15% off the Doo Wop Diner on the boardwalk, so that is where I ate lunch. I ordered a "Miss Piggy" sandwich - which is a Taylor pork roll sandwich. Best bread ever and it cake with french fries and a pickle, I also had a diet coke. A good buy for $12 (with tip and 15% off). I didn't want to go to the playwright session because that is not my niche, so I drove over to the Walgreens to buy some magazines and Wildwood postcards. Then I went to the post office to buy some stamps since I didn't have a chance to do that in CM the other day.

L-R Clockwise upper left: Ferris wheel on the board walk, Beach Writers' Conference on the Wildwoods sign, bottom two pictures are my yummo lunch. Yes yummo not yummy.

I drove around a bit before going back. Everything was running on beach time (ahemlateahem). The last session ran over 20 minutes and then I went home. I had a snack and then went to the boardwalk. The surf shack was closed, so I had a milkshake from Rita's. Underwhelming but satisfied a craving. I came home and made the rest of the ravioli from the Ravioli House and a salad. I ate on the porch. Then I watched Pretty Little Liars: A LiAr's Guide to Rosewood, talked to grandma Genie, watched Full House, talked to grandma Zelda. Then I watched Awkward and got ready for bed.

Tomorrow is the second and LAST day of the conference! I will do an overall summary of what I thought/learned while I was there either tomorrow or on Thursday. I also will have a lot of cleaning to do for Thursday and Friday because we have a renter coming in on Saturday :( Of course they come in once I'm all settled!!

xo,
capemaychick

Kitty Lovin'

I didn't fall asleep last night until about 3 am so I stayed in bed until noon. I talked to mom and then I got up and got dressed. I ate my leftover pigs-in-a-blanket & green beans from dinner last night. It was raining when I left, so I drove to the mall. I looked in Splash and saw some very pretty jewelry! I went to Bathtime and bought a perfume I had smelled there last night that I thought about all night! So I'm looking forward to wearing it :)

I went to the Acme to pick up a few grocery things that I needed and some sushi for dinner. I dropped my groceries off and changed into my Animal Outreach shirt. I stopped at CVS to get some bacitracin ointment for my ear piercing - it feels infected, joy!

I went to Animal Outreach from about 3:15-5:30 pm. I had such a nice time! I got to play with all the same kitties as last time. I met the volunteer who did the morning shift and Eileen who I had met last week when I came in. I helped her feed the cats and then I scooped all the litter boxes! Then I played some more with all of the cats before coming home for dinner.

I had a smorgasbord dinner: sushi, a corn salad, raspberries, green beans and crab fingers. Then I watched the last two episodes of Teen Wolf from last season. I showered and talked to my grandma Genie. Then I had dessert and watched new episodes of Cake Boss and Teen Wolf. I talked to my grandma Zelda and then went upstairs and laid out all my stuff for the conference tomorrow.

I talked to mom and got ready for bed. I have to get up at 7:30 am! Need to be in Wildwood at the Convention center by 8:30 am, so it will be a long but fun day!

xo,
capemaychick

Girl's Lunch!

Today I got up around 10 am and had to get ready quickly to go meet Jenn at Bella Vida by 10:30 am. I got there on time and was waiting for Jenn and sent her a text to let her know I was there and she was going in the direction of the house, oops! We met there and waited a while to be seated. Another couple came in and got seated right away, so we were wondering why we hadn't been seated already! There were a few open tables. I was hungry too, since I didn't eat before I went. The hostess thought for some reason we wanted a booth! Weird, but we got seated. They were very busy!

I tried something new - I know I know, branching out :) with the breakfast burrito. It was tasty. Then again, everything at the beach is tasty! We came back to the house and sat on the porch for a while.  Jenn gave me the most adorable blue shell post it cubes, a pair of anchor earrings and a blue anchor bracelet - so totally me, love them! We talked for a while before Jenn left.

I went to Swain's Ace Hardware to pick up some toilet scrubbing brushes (super fun right?) that we had ordered. I put some money in the meter and then went to the mall. I looked around and saw so much more cute stuff. I still haven't been to all my favorite stores yet! I wandered into Tina's photography shop and spent some time chatting with her.

I came home and watered the flowers. The petunias are drooping. I'm such a crap flower lady, it's the cats' fault! They're having a hard time with the sun I guess. I also broke the corroded handle off the hose - good job right? At least we have a handy man who can fix it.

Super corroded and dirty from being outside at the beach! At least we can get it fixed - I felt so bad!

I walked around the corner to my neighbor Barbara's, who I have known for quite a few years. I write with her regularly during the year! I'm going to check in on her cat this week while she goes down to her grandson's elementary school graduation -- see, I'm always in the market for pet sitting cats no matter what state I'm in!

I came home, scrapbooked for a while. I was doing a book about our cat May who passed away last August. It made me really sad and realized how much I miss her! It's so weird not having her but I've almost gotten used to her not being around which made me feel terrible. I'll go snuggle with the cats at Animal Outreach tomorrow which will make me feel better. They have tabbies there like May so it's like her spirit is following me. I watched Long Island Medium while I did my scrapbooking - had to catch up on last week's shows!  I made myself dinner and chatted with mom while I did so. I had homemade pigs in a blanket and green beans. I did laundry afterwords and then sat out on the porch while I talked to both my grandmothers.

Then I watched new episdoes of Long Island Medium and Breaking Amish while writing in my Cape May journal and texting Malia. SOO excited for her to come up, it isn't soon enough! I found out while I was watching TV that Theresa Caputo (Long Island Medium) is coming to Atlantic City at the end of June while I'm still here. I really, really want to go. It would be amazing if my grandpa or great aunt came through! I don't know if she was doing like huge readings or what because it's a big theater. I hope I can go, but the tickets are super expensive so it's probably not going to happen.

I did dishes, laundry and got ready for bed. Tomorrow I will go to the post office, the Acme, Animal outreach and maybe the mall. I also have to get ready for the beach writers' conference!

xo,
capemaychick

Strawberry Festival // Wildwood

I woke up this morning around 11 ish am and had a lazy time getting out of bed! I got up and talked to mom on Facebook chat. Bill had the wicker furniture out back and he told me he was leaving. He also said my neighbor Barbara said I could come by - I am looking forward to seeing her.

It was a nice and sunny day, no rain date needed - but glad they had one just in case!

I had a bowl of cereal and left at 12:30 pm to go print photos at CVS. I walked around CVS while I waited for my photos and then I also picked up a really cute beach ball nail file manicure set and a ginger ale. I left my car in the lot and went across the street to the Strawberry Festival! I went to the Bliss tent to see Nicole and her girls. I took Sage and Hudson over to the Cape May Crab Cake tent to get them sandwiches. Then I went to the Empanada Mamas and picked up my lunch - walnut hummus empanada, strawberry rhubarb empanada and a strawberry cheesecake empanada (the best!). I hung out with Nicole for a while and had a strawberry honey ice cream - soo good. I'm not a strawberry ice cream person because I think it tastes too processed but obviously Nicole's doesn't since it is homemade.

The empanadas came with strawberry dipping sauce.

Then my friend Lori and her daughters Jana and Mara joined me at the festival! Lori went to law school with my dad and she is a great family friend! Love to talk to her on Facebook :) We walked around the festival. I picked up fresh squeezed lemonade. They had strawberry lemonade but I felt like I was going to OD on strawberries.

picture perfect day!

We went back to the house and got ready to head to the beach around 4 pm. It was SO nice on the beach - windy and breezy, almost chilly. We left to go to Zoe's Beach Front Eatery for dinner. I had the fish special which was fantastic - mom reminded me that the people who owned our favorite restaurant Henry's (which our cat Henry is appropriately named for) are the owners of Zoe's. No wonder the fish sandwich was so good - I used to get it all the time at Henry's, so that made me happy.

We walked back to the house and decided to go to the Wildwood boardwalk - which Lori had never been to! It's kind of a crazy boardwalk, lots of teenagers, interesting outfits and crazy shops. Everyone should experience it at least once! Warning - WATCH THE TRAM CAR!! Oh and about 2 hours is about enough there if you're wondering!

I'm totally into mushrooms. They're fashion while yummy!

We parked by the Doo Wop museum and went into a few stores. I was looking for my good jewelry store. I found it - it's called Casino Jewelry. They sell the Beijo Brasil earrings I adore, for $5 less than at Terry Ivory (one of my other fave jewlery stores). So I got a cute pair of mushroom earrings that I had even seen and liked at Terry Ivory! I also found a cute pair of mushroom studs by one of my other favorite brands - Indigo. We had yummy funnel cake on the boardwalk too.

We came back and sat in the kitchen for a while. We said good bye and Lori, Jana and Mara left since they have a little over an hour to drive back. I cleaned up a few things, talked to both grandmas and moms and then I showered and went to bed!

xo,
capemaychick

Millions of Pillows // Flowers

I woke up around 10:30 am when my alarm went off, but stayed in bed until 11:30 am. I Facebook messaged with mom until noon and then I went down for lunch. I had a hot dog and chatted with Bill. He finished painting the backyard steps, shower and the basement door.

I did some laundry and watched Full House/Say Yes to the Dress. I left the house around 2:30 pm for Walmart. I bought 12 pillows (NOT EASY, they kept falling out and people looked at me like I was nuts. Then I went to Michael's and bought two jars for my beach glass and shells and a pack of mini cards for embossing. For the house I bought two small coffee cup flower planters! Then I left Rio Grande to go to Wildwood.

Shells in the jar to the left, beach glass to the right.

I drove by the convention center where the writing conference will be next week. Then I went to the Ravioli house and bought a bag of cheese ravioli, 2 rainbow cookies and a brownie. Then I ended


up driving home on the parkway even though I would've liked to go the other way. I got up and unloaded. Then I drove to Duckie's Farm and bought two small Lavender variety flowers for the small coffee cup pots and two hanging baskets that I unclipped for our blue pots. I went to the Lobster House after and got crab fingers, mustard dipping sauce and bread. I brought it home and put it away. Then I put out the flowers in the pots. I had a cottage cheese and pretzel/port wine snack.

I couldn't get matching coffee cup pots because the other butterfly one had a chip in it, but these are super cute.

My next door neighbor Betty called me over - she and her husband Jim were home from their trips and she had a letter addressed to me from Lindsay! I think it had been there for a while too, oh well! At least I got it. I walked around the corner and dropped off a note for Barbara - she got in later tonight. Hopefully I'll catch her soon.

The flowers in the little coffee cups are a lavender variety, the big coffee cup is petunias and the bottom two are geraniums.

I had the ravioli, crab fingers and corn on the cob for dinner while I watched The Show with Vinny. Then I went to poverty beach for about 40-45 minutes for a walk/shell hunt. I only found moonies. I saw a dead shark! A couple people were fishing but other than that it was very quiet. I drove down to Morrow's Nut House and bought a fridge magnet pad for the house. I drove home and did dishes, laundry and watched I found the Gown and talked to both grandmas. I face timed mom for a while and then got ready for bed.

SO excited for tomorrow. Lori and her daughters are coming down and we are going to the West Cape May Strawberry Festival! And on Sunday I'm having a girls lunch with my cousin Jenn :)

xo,
capemaychick

Kitty Playtime

I woke up at 10:30 am to my alarm clock. Bill was in the kitchen working and I had a bowl of special K and raspberries for breakfast. Then, I left for Animal Outreach. There I met Charlotte, who our friend Harry told me to ask about volunteering. She was so nice! She showed me all of the rooms and asked what I was interested in doing at the center. I think some afternoons I will come by and help scoop/clean the litter boxes and just play with the kitties!

A huge collage of all the kitties!

I got to meet 9 cats in the first room. Jasmine (dilute tortie), Martha (spunky tabby), Cricket (tabby), Marmalade (orange), George (tabby), Katrina, Cuddles, Bess and Checka - whose colors I totally forget! I played with them for quite a while. They have a wonderful room with lots of places to sleep and curl up. They even have a tv with birds on it!

The next room was two little kittens who played with a toy. Then I went to the new comer room and met Nigel (beautiful black boy) and Maggie (dilute tortie) who both played a bit. I discovered Nigel LOVED to drink from the sink spout and that was just adorable. Then I met Patches, who stays in the back room of the facility (she's a calico). Finally, I met the kitties in the front: Kali (dilute calico who is polydactyl), Sylvia (black and white who is polydactyl and Kali's sister), Jennie (calico) and Chrissy (black and white). They got to come out and play and they just loved to sit and stare out the window!

The facility is just gorgeous and I can't wait to stop in and sport my new Animal Outreach adoption t-shirt! I was there for about two hours in the morning/afternoon. I would have stayed all day if I hadn't been hungry! I came home for lunch and ate leftover chicken - there is still some left but I think it's too old now. Then I went to our friend Nicole's house and got to hang out with her and her kids, Sage, Hudson and Aria! It's really cool to be close with people out in Cape May, it gives you a great sense of community. Our friend Tina who owns a photography shop on the mall, introduced us to Nicole a few years ago and Nicole's husband Mike helped us with buying our house! They own Bliss - the best ice cream place in Cape May (and probably ever too).

I had dinner with them too - a yummy turkey sandwich from the Bliss shop! I was there until a little after 10 pm so I eventually headed home, showered and got into bed. Spoke with mom and grandma Zelda. It was a nice day.

Tomorrow is Friday and I have some errands to run including a trip up to Walmart and running into Wildwood! I can't believe how fast the time is going. There wasn't time to be lonely yesterday at all. On Saturday I will have been in Cape May for a week (week one out of six) and on Monday it will be a week since I've been alone.

I'm looking forward to Saturday - I'm going to the Strawberry Festival in the afternoon, and then my friend Lori is coming down with her daughters to hang out and go out to dinner, which will be a nice time!

xo,
capemaychick

Blue Eden // Sunny Shores

I woke up on and off this morning from Bill working on the house. Mom called me at 11:25 am and I was still in bed - lazy,  I know. We talked for a while and facetimed for a bit. Then I got up, dressed and came down. There was a package on the table at the bottom of the stairs - so Bill must have brought it in! It was from Lindsay! She sent me an easy cook book, notecards, "it had to be blue" nailpolish, an iTunes giftcard (to catch up on my shows I miss) and a sweet note :) Shout out to Lindsay, thanks for making my day start great girl! Love you!

Thanks L! Can't wait to use everything!

Lindsay sent it yesterday from her grandpop's house in PA, so it was very fast that it came today! It made me feel good. I texted her and my mom about it while I had a bowl of rice crispies with raspberries. I updated my blog and also posted a Wordless Wednesday post on Sandpiper Cat Blog. I got ready to head up to Stone Harbor. It only took about 20~ minutes to get there on the Parkway.

I got to my friend Caroline's store, Blue Eden, at about 1:30 pm. It was so nice to see her, I haven't seen her since December! She greeted me warmly and gave me a hug, and introduced her friend Jenna - who makes all the beautiful beach glass jewelry in Caroline's store! She sounds like she could make my red beach glass into a ring, which would be really cool.

Left to Right: The bracelets from Blue Eden, Blue Eden Store, Sandpiper Necklace from Terry Ivory.

I talked to Caroline and Jenna for a while and spent a good while looking around the store, it is adorable and everything in it is so chic and beach-y fun! I settled on two bracelets - made by Jenna! One silver and one copper, each with a little bead and a piece of white beach glass. Very fun!

After saying good byes, I put some more quarters in the parking meter and looked in Making Waves and then Terry Ivory, where I bought a beautiful Sandpiper bird necklace, because it reminds me of my cat Piper (who is actually named Sandpiper). After that, I left to go home and got there about 3:30 pm. I ate lunch - a turkey and cheese sandwich on yummy hoagie bread. I got ready to go to the beach, it was sunny, 80 degrees out and just gorgeous!

I drove down to the new Exit Zero store, because I wanted to make it before they closed. I bought the May issue of Exit Zero Magazine, because my neighbor Denise's late husband is featured in an article! I bought three postcards to send to friends. I then hopped across the street, put quarters in the meter and took a short walk on Perry Street beach. I also found some great shells, MORE moonies (I really never have found quite this many) and a small piece of brown beach glass, a small conch and a BIG conch - which I have never found. I've heard they are usually easier to find in the winter when the beach isn't crowded. I'm totally kicking myself for not going on the beach in December or March when I was here. Clearly I will next time! I read my latest book - Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich and then left about 5:30 pm because I was paranoid my meter would run out. I got a cheesesteak to go from Louie's Pizza and went home.

I brought in the trash can, put my cheesesteak away, facetimed with dad and his secretary Janet (who is very jealous I'm at the beach, can't imagine why ;) and turned on the air conditioning via dad's instructions. Since most of the windows aren't finished, I can't open them for a sea breeze.

Then I brought my cheesesteak out on the porch with a peach salad and read my book. Bill came by to put the storm windows in or something. I have no idea. I'm sleeping in the master/parent bed room because he is going to work in the rooms tomorrow. After dinner I came inside to watch Melissa and Joey, Baby Daddy and Psych (which I missed because I spent some time talking with mom). I also spoke with Grandma Genie and Grandma Zelda! It's nice to hear everyone's voices. Tomorow I will skype with Lindsay.

I got showered and ready for bed. Tomorrow I am going to go to Animal Outreach in the morning to find out about volunteering and cuddling cats as well as heading to Wildwood to get some noms from the Ravioli House and driving by the Wildwood Convention center where my beach conference will be next week.

Thanks for the support!

xo,
capemaychick

Rain go away! // Beach glass

Well, I made it through my first night alone. Mom and I face timed in bed Monday night and she showed me all the kitties before we both went to sleep. I definitely was feeling panicked about being alone as I did when I woke up this morning. It was raining when I got up at 10:30 am, but that didn't really matter.

Face-timing with Sabrina, trying to get her to blink at me.

I wasn't hungry since I was stressed about being alone so I didn't eat. I feel how I felt when I was alone in New York in November 2011, at the Cat Writers' conference. It's a scary feeling but I made it through that weekend - and I had to travel all by myself! I don't even have to do any traveling here, except for the occasional shopping road trip :)

I headed out in the rain to CVS for some lotion and then headed to the animal center where I'm hoping to volunteer - but it was closed. I headed to Rio Grande for Bed, Bath and Beyond but I got lost. I was able to figure out the right way with my GPS, but I got upset when I got to the parking lot. It's really hard not being able to know exactly where I'm going all the time, so I spent a while with my mom on the phone working through it. I briefly looked around the store and saw a lot of things I liked, but decided to save my money for when I go back there with mom!

I drove back home with the GPS on the parkway and it took me through a toll - my first use of the EZ Pass! #milestone. I made myself a bologna sandwich, which was really yummy. I helped design business cards for the Cool Cat Cottage and dad looked over the design. We also ordered stickers and post it notes which are really cute branding! It will help with advertising. Just found out this morning too that we got another rental! Just a few more weeks left to book.

I went outside and read on the porch for a long time. I was reading Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. It was really funny and a super easy read that I finished later in the evening.

Poverty beach now sort of bleeds sand into the street - thanks Hurricane Sandy.

I decided to drive down to Poverty beach and go on a walk. It was pretty much empty! I found soo many shells and pieces of beach glass, which was so exciting! I was sending my mom pictures to show her what I was finding. I found a whopping big piece of aqua blue beach glass, my best find!

I found a whole moonie, not something I usually find!

I came home, heated up my leftover chicken, made instant mashed potatoes and had leftover fruit from Avalon that mom had picked up on Sunday. I read the Mindy book while I ate. Afterwards, I stopped in at my neighbor Denise's across the street. I will be staying with her for a few days in June when the house is rented. She showed me where I will be sleeping, which is very nice!

I'm smiling because I really am happy!

I came home and read more inside because the mosquitoes were out. I watched Full House, ate some lemon meringue pie and watched Awkward. I face timed with Mom, dad and all the kitties! I called Grandma Zelda to say hi and also I talked to Grandma Genie earlier in the day. I watched Ke$ha's show and then went up to shower and get ready for bed.

Night time is definitely when I feel more lonely, but everything is always harder at night. But I have a lot to look forward to because tomorrow it will be sunny and I am taking a short road trip up to Blue Eden to visit my friend Caroline! Thursday I will go to Animal Outreach to find out about volunteering!

I miss everyone so much, especially Brooke, Sabrina, Henry, Piper, Pearl and Vickie!

xo,
capemaychick

All by myself? // the time I almost went to college

*Side note before you read my long post - we started a Facebook page for our house so visit it here: Cool Cat Cottage.

It's been a whirlwind of a day, with lots of emotions. I got up, dressed and had cereal. We worked on putting things away in the house and clarifying some of the things I will need to do before I leave for our renters the second week of June. Dad showed me things in the owner's closet in the basement, and how to use a skeleton key (difficult!!) to look our upstairs owner's closet. Our do-it-all-NJ house-guy, Bill, came by today. He has a lot of projects to do. Including coming early tomorrow morning to work on my windows. So since I don't want to scare him and he doesn't want to scare me, we agreed it would be best if I sleep in one of the other rooms while he is working in mine. It will be nice to have screens back in the windows and be able to open them.

We went to Bella Vida for lunch. Surprisingly it wasn't too busy. I tried something different, since I don't have to worry that we won't get back to try something different! A good thing about owning the beach house, more opportunity to branch out (and hopefully not just food related, though I know a great deal of my blogs are oriented around food!). So I had a waffle with banana, chocolate chips, walnuts and powdered sugar. And a side of the New Jersey delicacy - scrapple - and if you don't know what that is, don't ask. And definitely don't search it up.

Afterwards we went to Swain's Ace Hardware to pick up some cleaning products. I'll have to go back there next Saturday or whenever they get in our toilet bowl cleaners. Apparently CM was having a shortage on them?? We came home afterwards and did more packing and cleaning/organizing. I finished my book. We popped over to our friends Ron and Shelia's house, to say hi.They were getting their house ready for renters. They might be up when we're all here.

We came home and mom, dad and Michael finished packing. We had a very short and calm goodbye - probably sort of what my college goodbye should have been, except that there was no goodbye because I came home. I know that will impact me the rest of my life - despite already being at the college I wanted to go to (GMU). It still had that college abandonment feeling - but not until later.

I left shortly after them, to go to the Acme to get some food. I got lost going there, but was able to figure it out. I felt stupid getting lost because it's a place I've gone to a million times - though I have never driven there which is probably a big reason why. But I was in and out in 45 minutes, which was pretty fast considering the deli was so busy and probably took at least 10 minutes! I even got some healthy food :) but seriously I'm trying to be good since I'm at the beach and want to walk everywhere (well not really but I don't have a lot of choices) and want to lose some weight this summer. I came home, unpacked and ate some sushi I picked up at the Acme. I also marinated the chicken breasts I bought in Italian dressing, for dinner.

Clockwise starting upper left: Me marinating chicken, air plant & buttons, dinner while watching My Cat From Hell, Clara Beau Necklace.

I put on my sneakers and headed over to the mall. It was a really nice temperature out today, it if stayed around 70 degrees all summer I would be so happy! One of my favorite jewelry stores, Splash, was closed, so I went into my other fave jewelry store Henry's. I had been in March and they didn't really have many more different things. I really like their Alex and Ani bracelets, but think I will hold off until I go to Stone Harbor to shop. You never know what I will find and I don't want to blow my budget too fast. I did that two years ago and didn't have any money for a big portion of the trip. Live and learn. I save so much of my pet sitting money to buy things in Cape May, I have to be careful how I spend it as well as making sure I do save some for the rest of the summer in Virginia.

I went into Whale's Tale and found a new jewelry designer they just started carrying, called Clara Beau. I got a cute little anchor necklace. I also went over to Across the Way and picked up an air plant and a little bird glass to keep it in (I've wanted one of these plants forever) and a few buttons (my fave!).

I came home and put the chicken in the oven, since mom said it could take up to an hour to make. It only took a half an hour. I guess you never know with the oven here. The chicken came out great. I put it on top of the salad I made, with croutons and Parmesan cheese and dressing. I also had corn on the cob. It was really good, but I definitely got a wave of "I want mom" while I was eating. I don't really cook for myself since I live at home. I occasionally make the pot of mac and cheese but nothing like chicken. My mom showed me how to make the chicken last week at home so I would have easy meals for the beach. I also had lots of leftovers that will be good. Trying to eat healthy. I had bought a lemon meringue pie to have a slice of for dessert, but I didn't feel up to it. Whenever I'm stressed beyond normal standards I have trouble eating. And you know if it involves not eating dessert, it's serious. I think that living here by myself will just take some adjustment.I really, really haven't lived away from my parents for more than 4-5 days at a time - when they are in Cape May and I'm at home taking care of the cats and Michael. So it's obviously a culture shock to me.

I messaged with my friend Lindsay and she reminded me that it's a process and I have to get used to it. It was kind of funny to me that just eating a home cooked meal would trigger those anxiety feelings. I haven't felt like that really since I was trying to move into my dorm last August. It's like, after all that work moving in and getting all settled in, shouldn't I just put my best foot forward and stay? I knew staying at Longwood was not going to happen - I knew it all along. I think my parents knew too but they couldn't not make me try. And trust me, they did everything in their right minds to make me stay. I'm still grateful for that and all my friends and family who messaged me and stood behind me. It helped a lot, but I knew I wasn't going to stay.

So will it be the same with Cape May? It's funny sort of. To think that I don't want to be in my favorite place in the whole world. No, that's not really it. I just don't want to be alone here. And I'm not really alone because when I'm not doing something, I have a neighbor calling and checking in on me and my family texting me. It's not really as big of a deal as I'm making it. I mean my goodness it's only the first night! I do think that by not staying at Longwood, I lost some of my ability to deal with being totally on my own issues.  I know I'm not always going to live at home - and I'm definitely feeling ready to move out, but there are a lot of factors why I'm not ready yet.

So this post totally strayed from Cape May in a sort of non related venting session. But I think it's good for my friends and family to understand what I'm going through. Anxiety is a really hard thing to control, and as much as I have it together - I don't always have it together. But being able to write about it keeps me in check. I'm not perfect, my anxiety isn't perfect, but day by day I'm able to get through. Some days it's a struggle and other days it's a trip to the beach.

I actually have some plans for tomorrow, so make sure you check back!

Miss you mom, dad and Michael. Thank you for a beautiful beach house and the opportunity to stay here. I miss you lots. Give the kitties a pat for me. :)

xo,
capemaychick/Rachel

Mocca Chocolata

The title of this post is one of my favorite lines from the song Lady Marmalade, which I've heard in a few movies and happened to hear this morning on 98.7 The Coast - which is my favorite radio station in Cape May.

Since last night was a late night, it was a late morning. I fell asleep and woke up listening to 98.7 The
 
Coast, which was nice. I got up at noon and had a bagel for lunch. We worked on putting stuff away in the house.

Cheetah print (what else would it be for the Cool Cat Cottage) coffee planter!

Later on in the afternoon, we walked over to the mall to Bliss. We had a really good turkey and avocado sandwhich and I had a chocolate covered strawberry smoothie. Mom and dad had affigatos - which is espresso and ice cream. That was delicious! We spent time talking to our friend Nicole (who owns Bliss).

I went to Making Waves and bought cute Anchor/whale earrings that I had seen on their Facebook page, and a little sign that says "Mermaids Welcome." I also popped into Across the Way, but it was too busy to browse. I really had to go to the bathroom and between the two bathrooms at the mall, one was overflowing and the other was closed, so I ran home. I ran in flip flops so my feet are killing me tonight.

I showered and got dressed before dad and I went out to Walmart. It was a very poorly laid out store, so finding ANYTHING took forever. They didn't even have everything we needed. Like 3 ply toilet paper! My favorite things that we got were a coffee cup planter with flowers, a hello kitty pin wheel and a leopard fly swatter. Oh, and Cover Girl flamed out mascara! We got a grill too, which is what we primarily came for.

On the way home, we picked up really yummy Chinese food from The Cape Orient. Yum! Afterwards we lounged around, cleaned up and got ready for bed.

I can't believe everyone is leaving tomorrow and I will be all alone!

xo,
capemaychick

♫ On the Way to Cape May ♪

I had every intention of getting up at 9:30 am to get ready for the beach. But of course, I couldn't wake up. I fell asleep around 2-2:30 am, with sweet dreams of Cape May floating around my head. I woke up at 11 am, but not frazzled because I knew we hadn't planned on leaving until around 2-3 pm so we would beat traffic.

In all reality, I should have assumed that we weren't "together enough" to get out of the house before 5 pm. And though we got out at 4:48 pm, it was clear we were in for a long trip. We had an early lunch so we could have an early dinner.

I packed up my car, completely by myself! I regret that I over packed, but now that I'm here I know I can send some stuff home with my parents on Monday.

Yes, I blurred out my license plate :) and YES that is dad in the background! Oopsies.

We were on the road (with dad driving my car and mom driving her car). Michael went with mom and I went with dad. We stopped in Bowie, MD for a bathroom break at Barnes and Noble. Michael picked up the next book in his series.

Dad I fidgeted with the GPS navigation voice. We tested American Jack and American Jill, British Emily & Daniel and Australian Lady (I forget her name) and Australian Lee - who we settled on. Not before I tried putting the GPS in Romanian and then French-Canadien Julie!

We got to Holly's about 6:30 pm. Our regular server wasn't there!! We all had the fried chicken special and it was extra delicious. We were out about 7:30 pm. It was a long drive from there; we stopped a few times in Delaware to pee and rest. Dad and I stopped at the Wawa before going home to get ice, milk and half-and-half. We got to the house at 11:10 pm. It was hard to see the painting and new awnings, but we know it's there! We also bumped into our next door neighbors and chatted with them. A bug promptly flew down my shirt while we were talking. Why does that happen to me! Shudder.

We unpacked, checked out things around the house. It's definitely a mess. Lots of cleaning is in my future! We also might need a new table, but we have to figure that out tomorrow.

Once I got everything unpacked, showered and ready for bed, I realized how incredibly exhausted I was. But despite that, I still wanted to get a blog post out! Tomorrow dad and I will run over to Walmart and pick up some important things. Lots of house errands to do, but hopefully we can fit in a quick walk to the beach and the mall!

xo, capemaychick

Spring Update #4 // Luck of the Irish?

St. Patty's day outfit - green shirt & shamrock earrings.

Woke up a little late this morning, had to get dressed quickly to go meet cousin Jenn at George's Place. I drove there :) Dropped mom off to get in line (there is always a wait at George's, it's just too good). I had to drive around before I parked on Beach Avenue. Since we were waiting, I walked up to Across the Way to pick up a necklace charm I saw yesterday and I decided I wanted.

Just Be :) - a motto I try to live by

I came back to George's and Jenn was there. Mom had sad news; our neighbor Denise called her to tell us that the Pastor of Cape May's Baptist church, Jim Berger (our former CM neighbor mentioned in my post yesterday) had died in his sleep. We were all shocked to hear this news, as we had just seen him yesterday. So that was very sad to hear. We lost a neighbor a week ago as well, but he was a much older man. I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to know him better. Small town, news travels fast.

I had a pork roll sandwich at George's, yum! Never go wrong with that. Or really anything on their menu. Dad even let me have a bite of his banana french toast - my other favorite there. Jenn came back to the house and chatted with us while we packed. It's a lot easier being able to leave the linens and towels in Cape May.

Our neighbor Denise came by, and we all chatted about Jim. It sounded like he had a heart attack and passed in his sleep. He thought he was having heartburn -- something we all should remember to take seriously. I guess if there is any way to go, in your sleep without suffering is ok.

We showed Denise the house and the current progress - hopefully by the time in April my parents go up, the painting will be done.

We left at 3:30 pm and I drove for a good hour. A little on the Garden State Parkway and then on some two  lane road for a while. Good driving, but I'm not used to driving long distances.

Stopped at Wawa and switched drivers. We met our friends Lori and Jana at the Harrison House for dinner at about 5 pm. I had Manhattan clam chowder and cheesesteak sliders (surprisingly delicious). We all had rice pudding for dessert.

Dad drove the rest of the way home, we got a little turned around somewhere in Delaware (the only state I didn't drive in this trip!). We stopped at Wawa for gas and McDonald's to pee. Finally got home around ~10 pm. Had the pretzel Lori gave us from the Philly Pretzel Factory (um, yum) and a bite of leftovers, and our brownie from the Ravioli House.

Only a little bit of time until my next trip. Until May 25, I bid y'all adieu. See you in a few weeks.

xo,
capemaychick

See ya in May, house!

Spring Break Update #3

Today was a fun day! Got up at 11 am to go meet our cousins Barbara and Murray at Bella Vida for lunch. I drove there! We had a nice time.

We even ran into our old Cape May neighbors at Bella Vida! We exchanged contact information so we could see them in the summer. After lunch, mom, dad and I looked in the antique store by there, but there was nothing good.

My new necklace

I drove us to the mall and went to my favorite store, Across the Way. I got a beautiful bird/flower necklace. Went home and then left for Wildwood, I drove again! We stopped at the Seahorse Antique store before leaving town, and I picked up three antique vinyl records, to try to make some jewelry at home.

$1 per record was a good deal

We stopped in at our friend Ginny's embroidery place, named Sandpiper - just like my kitty girl. That was nice, she told me to call her when I'm up in CM by myself to meet me in Cape May for dinner. Love our friends. We stopped in the Ravioli house to pick up some cookies and desserts. Yum.

We stopped at the Lobster House on the way back, and picked up some crab fingers to take home to Virginia. We couldn't find the can opener here so that's why they are coming home, LOL! We also got some lobster salad to eat for a snack.

After our snack, I went across the street to see our neighbor Denise. I met her through one of our other neighbor/friends on the street and have stayed in touch with her for years. I had a nice time chatting with her, she gave me an adorable cactus plant. I can't wait to take care of it at home.

We all relaxed for a little while before our friend Nicole came over with her girls, Sage, Hudson and baby Aria. I went out by myself (YAY) to pick up the Chinese food from Cape Orient. I never knew there was a Chinese place here, but I'm glad I know now since it is so delicious. We had spring rolls, crab rangoons, meat and spinach dumplings, fried pineapple rice, cold sesame noodles, mango chicken, szeuchan chicken and then Nicole brought us her vanilla ice cream and root beer. We had great rootbeer floats!

Holding Aria.

I had a great time hanging out with everyone, especially Nicole's kids. Sage is 6, Hudson is 4 and Aria just turned one. We ran all over the house with our blue sparkle cats and played around. They all imitate each other and was just really cute. They didn't want to leave!

We cleaned up and got into bed, so excited to have had so much fun here, but sad that it is coming to an end. Still, we have a few more hours tomorrow!

xo,
capemaychick

Beware the Ides of March

Woke up this morning around 11 am. Our neighbor Betty was talking to my dad downstairs. She called the editor of the Cape may Magazine about me interviewing there for an internship. She left a message and said that I should stop by their office.

I slept well except for the radiator clanking that woke me up around 5 am. I finished my Angel episode in bed and went downstairs. Had a bowl of Special K (wow, this is an interesting life I lead). Lounged around, got dressed and read my book. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. Pretty good. My mom went to the Acme and got some food to eat with our leftovers for lunch.

We ate our leftover Holly's chicken, salads from the Ugly Mug dinner we had last night and mom got some bread and butter. Had Entenmann's St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes. Sweet.

We left around 2 pm for the mall. I went to meet the Cape May Magazine editor for my interview. I gave her my portfolio, we chatted for a few minutes and I am now going to have a short unpaid internship at the Cape May Magazine this summer! I am very excited, as I have wanted to do this for so many years. My dreams coming true at last.

We went to City Hall to get our mercantile license - so we can rent the house - and our beach tags. They had cute anchor designs! We poked in a few stores. We went to Henry's Jewelry and weren't going to go in, until dad saw a cat inside! So naturally we went in...


We got to meet Booboo! Boo. She is one of the cats that lives with the women who works in Henry's and lives above the shop. She was a sweet little kitty. She is 20 years old! We stayed a while and chatted with her owner, Debby.

Me petting Booboo

Jewelry kitty

Boo approves my purchase. She liked my Hello Kitty Debit Card

There, I bought the most adorable Alex and Ani anchor bracelet. I'm so in love with anchors. Mom got a sea horse ring.

We came home and mom went on a beach walk. I read a magazine, and then picked mom up (YES that's right, I drove by MYSELF in Cape May!) from the end of the beach.

Mom saw this on her walk, how cute!

We went out to dinner at the Pilot House. It was open mic night so it was very loud, but the food was nevertheless good. Mom and dad had their award winning burgers and I had grouper fingers and Irish potato wedges. I drove us to and from the mall for dinner!

We have a lot on our plates for tomorrow, so I need to head to bed.

xo,
capemaychick

Pi Day Pie Please // Driving!

Some day, we will actually leave on time for Cape May. But alas, that was not today. I think we only got out an hour & 10 minutes later?

I'm a driving driver! Note: this was taken in the drive way, before I started the car, you worrywarts!

It was very windy when we loaded up dad's car, so we decided to go overland. Since part of the reason we were taking the ferry route was so I could practice the drive up to Cape May. So sometime after 11 am we left. I started our drive there, spending a good 30-40 minutes on 495. What a drive. Between the wind blowing the SUV all around (scary doesn't begin to describe this) and the horrible drivers with the tractor trailers swerving out of their lanes and people cutting me off (excuse me, but I'm going 10 miles over the speed limit/flow of traffic).

I got off at a Popeyes and we switched drivers. Dad drove the rest of the way over Bay Bridge (high wind warning) and to Holly's. We had our usual waiter who actually remembered us again! He asked where we were going, Cape May obvs. He asked how we made out in the storm. This made me realize a lot of people don't realize that NOT all of the Jersey Shore was destroyed by Sandy. CM better promote our little town to get the business it clearly will need!

We had good, fresh fried chicken lunch and chocolate silk pie for pi day! We took 301, took a few Wawa pit stops. Stopped in Cowtown at a cowboy clothing store. Saw some great and expensive leather boots! We stopped in Vineland at the Target to pee and let me check out the Prabal Gurung Clearance - nothing good.

We drove a whiles longer and then before the Garden State Parkway, I switched to driving again! Drove from Cape May Court House all the way to home! First time I've ever driven in Cape May.

Went home, admired the paint and house changes. It looks great, especially the blue paint! Brought everything in the house.

We drove to the Ugly Mug for dinner. Had a great Manhattan clam chowder and a huge sesame chicken salad. Our salads literally could have served all three of us, so we have lots of leftovers.

We came home and got everything set up in the house for the night. Lots to do tomorrow. So I am off to read my book and watch Angel in bed!

xo,
capemaychick

December 30/19th Birthday Update - few months later

So it is March and I am in Cape May again. I realized I never posted the last entry from the day we went home in December 2012...here it is!

Mom closed my door downstairs this morning so I could sleep in until 10:30 am. It is so noisy sleeping downstairs instead of my room upstairs. Yay it's my 19th birthday at the beach, a dream come true! I got up and got dressed.

We left for George's and parked on the street. I got up on the boardwalk to look at the ocean and take pictures. In George's I had a pork roll sandwich and we shared scrapple. Can you say yum? A great birthday lunch.

We drove down to Jefferson street beach and took pictures. It looked so different with the dunes gone. We dropped off Michael and dad and mom drove us back to Congress Hall. We shopped in the Christmas shop markets outside. It was windy but cute and fun!

Mom bought me a pink butterfly watch. At a Place on Earth I got some coconut lemongrass soap scrub. We got fudge and nonpareils at Fudge Kitchen.

We walked back to Congress Hall and got a blue pig cookie and a 2013 brownie - birthday treats. We went home, packed the house and cleaned, folded laundry. We had our snack, the brownie and the rest of our bliss peppermint ice cream. Yum! I also had a lot of egg nog.

We pretty much packed up the car and finished up in the house. We decided to go home over land instead of taking the ferry because it was super windy. Didn't want a repeat of the nauseating ferry ride here. We drove through Cape May Court House and Rio Grande before I fell asleep.

We had dinner at the Double T diner in Whitemarsh, Maryland. I had cream of crab soup, and a ham, cheese and turkey sandwich. Yum! We got lots of cookies for home. We got back to the house around 11 pm.

Opened some mail, unpacked and had our cookies. Sad to be home but looking forward to going back in March!