It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Today was a lot of fun! I am mentoring an international student from China who is attending the university near me. This is her first holiday season in the US and she is full of questions about American traditions, customs, etc. Today I took her and her friend shopping. Of course they have shopping in China, but my mentee (Yan) is particularly curious about Black Friday shopping and  adores Christmas decorations. She and her friend (Ni) peppered me with questions about both today, and as I will be traveling out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend, we hit the stores this weekend and still managed to find a few good deals.

We started in Target where Yan immediately found a pair of jeans that she fell in love with. I wish I could find something that quickly! I did come away with a fedora hat (which I am wearing as I type because it makes me feel  like a writer somehow) and a knit cap for when the temperatures do actually get cold here. Ni found some cute little Disney princess notebooks that she bought for friends' kids. 

Also, while in Target, we browsed around the Christmas decorations and I answered several questions about those. We took pictures in front of the Christmas trees (I don't have them, unfortunately) and admired the Christmas village houses. Both ladies were enthralled with those and were so excited by all of the lights and decorations, it really was like seeing the holiday through the eyes of a child. Sheer wonderment and joy...it was awesome!

After leaving Target we had an early lunch at Panera Bread, since I had overslept and didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. Rather, I had lunch, and Yan and Ni had tea since they had just eaten before we met up. We had a great time discussing different traditions in our respective countries, and both Yan and Ni got to see a new way to serve soup---in a bread bowl. Unheard of in China. I learned that the Chinese serve rice in watermelons, pumpkins, mangos, etc. They scoop the insides out and steam the rice inside the fruit, where it takes on the fruit's flavor. It sounds delicious and I would love to try it sometime!

After lunch, it was on to Old Navy, where Ni bought a shirt each for her father and her boyfriend. I never have much luck in that store, and no joy today, either, but not to worry. We continued on to Bed Bath & Beyond where I found a couple of squeaky toys for my dog. Then it was on to Ross where we all saw a lot that we wanted, but current finances dictated a more reserved purchase. Ni found a couple of shirts for her mom that I have no doubt will look stunning on her, and Yan decided not to get anything. As for me, I will get that little red dress yet! I am still losing weight and didn't want to buy it in a larger size, only to have to get it again later after I've lost the weight so I waited...for now...

After we finished at Ross we decided to call it a day. I took the girls back home and then headed home myself since my dog's kidneys were probably doing the backstroke by this point. Got home and received an extremely warm and happy welcome home from the pooch, took her for a walk, and then just crashed. Shopping can be soooo tiring!

That's about it for now!

Universal Studios - 3

Great day today! Took the day off to run some personal errands and met up with a friend for lunch and then spent the afternoon shopping and taking in a movie! Saw a gnome, or wizard, or something on a street corner advertising for a local apartment complex. Not sure what that was about, but here are some more pics from my adventures at Universal Studios. Hope you enjoy them!

Saw this outside of one of the studios' attractions: Earthquake. Could you imagine this happening in real life?

A new attraction being built at the studios. Don't know what it will be called. The rest of the pictures are from the New York and San Francisco lots at the studio.

Tomorrow, something different. :-)

Universal Studios - 2

Short post today with a few pictures of one of Universal Studios' newest attractions: The Simpsons.

Coming soon to Universal Studios: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Universal Studios - 1

Living in Florida certainly has its advantages. The weather is pretty decent for most of the year, except for summers, when the humidity and heat combined can literally take your breath away. The temperatures also do on occasion get quite chilly during the latter part of the winter (down in the 20's and even the teens on rare occasions.)

One of the best things about living in Florida is the easy access to so many amusement parks. One of my favorites is Universal Studios. I have gobs of pictures from Universal Studios and over the next two or three posts I'll be sharing some of those with you. We'll kick it off today with several of the old model cars that can be found in the Universal Studios park (as opposed to Islands of Adventure.) Please don't ask me what models these cars are. They look cool and that's about the extent of my car knowledge. Do feel free to comment if you happen to know what they are. Here we go!

Shaggy, Scooby and the Mystery Machine!

Emmet Brown's train from the Back to the Future movies!

The DeLorean from Back to the Future

...and some older model collector's cars found at Universal Studios to wrap it up for today. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Technical Difficulties

Well, I was planning to post pictures of some really cool older model cars, but Blogger is refusing to upload any pictures today. I will try again tomorrow, have no fear! So, in the meantime...what's new and exciting with you?

Humor du Jour

Here are a few humorous pictures for today. Only the first one is mine. The others I received in various emails.

Saw this while driving down the road one day, and while the subject is not amusing in and of itself, somehow the advertising struck me as kind of funny. For the bargain hunters in your life...right up to the very end.

This is what kitty does with your toothbrushes when you're not home.

 

A daring robbery!

Ouch!

 

Lovely...

 

 

 Fair warning!

Center for Birds of Prey

Today I participated in a volunteer event at the Center for Birds of Prey. There was A LOT to be done, so thankfully there were several volunteers ready to dig right in and take care of business. For all of our hard work, we were rewarded by the staff with a tour and mini educational program about some of the raptors that were being rehabbed at the Center. We saw eagles, owls, a peregrine falcon, kites, ospreys, kestrels, a red-shouldered hawk, a caracara, and possibly some others whom I cannot recall at the moment. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

The "Audubon House" serves as headquarters for the staff, and the porch serves as a hangout for some of the smaller raptors during the day.

 

I forget the name of this tree, but a pair of nesting owls make their home in the wooden box that you can just see on top of one of the branches. The staff had to build the box nest for them because the tree is "dead" and the hole that they were nesting in has rotted away. Guess they don't believe in relocation?

I think this is meant to be a sample of the kind of nest that the larger raptors would live in, except more complete. ;-)

 

These are berries that were growing on some of the trees around the Center. Unfortunately I did not get the name of the type of tree (or bush?) Anyway, I thought it was pretty.

This is one of the Barred Owls making her home at the Center. I believe this particular one is one of the non-releasable birds, due to her severe wing injury. 

 

Last, but certainly not least, is the Bald Eagle. I had never been this close to an eagle before and didn't realize how HUGE these birds are! Wow!

That's all for today!