Sundays in My City: Park Day
Today at Burn’s Park!
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| Together and still for one picture |
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| Wooden Bridge |
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| The Yellow Trail (Like the Yellow Brick Road?) |
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| Jumping a Train |
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| Rocketship Park |
Come join the fun here:
With Ten Minutes and $1
What can you do with a ten minutes and about $1 (or so?)
Make 12 quarts of laundry detergent
and
1 quart of *tub scrub!
*Today I deviated from my “Rub a Dub 3 Men in the Tub Scrub” recipe and added Citric Acid instead of True Lemon (because that’s what I had) and added Bergamot essential oil drops (about 4) to make a nice citrusy smell. Smells lovely!
So easy I didn’t even have to get out of my PJ’s!
On Customer Service
What the heck has happened to customer service in this country?
I try to be nice. I’ve worked in every role in the restaurant business so I understand bad days. But still, I get so annoyed I’ve ended up walking out of several places (and maybe I should walk out of even more.)
Today for example…
We went to a “froo froo” cupcake shop in town. We had 30 minutes before girl had dance so I thought I’d treat the kids to an overpriced cupcake (which I’m willing to do for a local place.)
We weren’t greeted or acknowledged AT ALL.
Honestly, how hard is it to say “Hi! We’ll be right with you!” There was a woman in front of us that was ordering cupcakes for her son’s birthday next month. NEXT MONTH. She didn’t have a clue what she wanted and would have gladly looked at the book of ideas while the lady waited on the line- that was by now six people deep. Instead of smiling at us or waving to the people behind us coming in the saleslady picked up the phone and called another store to see how many cupcakes a day they could bake in FEBRUARY. That’s when I noticed there was ANOTHER worker in the back that could have been called up front. Well, after ten minutes we walked out (at minimum a $20 loss.) If the people behind us ended up walking out that was at least another $20 or more out the door. In a small business that can be a lot. Being nice PAYS people. Literally.
Where do I shop?
I try to shop local first. And then, where people treat me with respect even if I’m in my gym clothes (which I wasn’t) and where they at least act like they are happy to get my business. I’ll go way out of the way to get a coffee at a local place where I feel welcomed even if it means spending a little more. Remember you have a choice where you spend your money.
No more Picniks?
OH NO!
I just found out that my favorite website Picnik will be closing in April!
I adore Picnik (an online editing site-think photoshop) and have made some neat things with it, like my blog headers,
and these:
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| Collage for November 2010 |
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| Before and After – Book Organizing |
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| My “Balance” picture |
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| Before and After- Kitchen Clean out |
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| Header for Recipe (Recetas) Page |
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| Easter Card- Outside |
Not sure why they are closing, but they said they will refund my premium membership which makes me feel no better honestly…
The only good news is that they are giving everyone Premium Membership for free until they close in April. So, if you haven’t tried Picnik, get on over and make some fun before it’s gone forever!
(I am going to be busy! Think I’m gonna make a month collage for the past few years at least!)
On Day Trippin’
Sunday we drove up to N.W. Arkansas to check out Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. It’s a pretty drive through the Boston Mountains so no one complained about the 3 hrs each way in the car…(not too much anyway.)
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| Crystal Bridges Museum |
We planned on meeting my grandpa (aka Popie), mom, and aunt there but were really late getting on the road so we imagined they would be done by the time we got there. Funny thing was as I was calling them to see where in the museum they were we happened to look across the pond and see them looking out the window of another gallery!
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| Ceiling is a work of art |
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| My “artsy” guys |
The grounds and building alone are enough to warrant a trip to
Bentonville to see the museum. But the collection inside is also
amazing. One of the most comprehensive American art collections in the
world. Here are some highlights:
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| Can you imagine the dinner conversations with this family? |
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| Hi, George! |
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| Mary Cassatt is my favorite |
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| This reminded us of Scott’s grandma |
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| Maxfield Parrish’s “The Lantern Bearers” is so dreamy |
We met up with some friends for dinner in Fayetteville and drove the kids around on a mini- tour that sounded like this:
“See that- that’s where I had geography.” (Dad)
“That’s the dorm I used to live in.” (Mom)
“That’s the dorm I used to live in.” (Dad)
“They didn’t have this cool stuff when we went here.” (both of us)
“That’s where Grammy and your grandpa lived” (mom)
“That’s where mom and dad met.” (Mom)
“That’s where I took your mom on our first date.” (Dad)
“That’s where I used to eat tacos.” (Dad)
Don’t know if they heard us but it was fun anyway!