Recent Purchases
Since I bought ice skates for V for his birthday, we've been doing a lot of ice skating as a family. He's planning to attend a beginners hockey camp for the local league and Riyan is now planning on taking skating lessons in Nov. So I decided I should get my own skates so I don't have to keep renting dubious ones. I ended up deciding on hockey skates over figure skates. I tried them both a couple times over the summer and hockey skates are just better. We made the mistake of going to Wheaton Ice Arena to break them in, I also broke in my elbow and wrist a bit. The ice there was terrible - there were puddles for crying out loud! Anyway, skated, then got them baked. Then skated again last week at Cabin John (so much better), they still have some breaking in to do even after the bake, but I think things are progressing in the right direction.
Saturday we spent almost the entire afternoon/evening at College Park Honda. We test drove some Highlanders and Pilots over the summer and were leaning towards the pilot as it was roomier for the kids. The $3500 trade in for my 11 year-old corolla pretty much sealed the deal. So now I have a black cherry 2011 Pilot with black interior and it's pretty darn nice. Once I figured out how to adjust the steering wheel so I could read the instrument panel that is. Didn't get any fancy bells and whistles like nav or leather seats, but it is a vast improvement over the corolla and the kids don't have to fight over space anymore.
The other thing I bought this week (other than an anniversary present for my honey which will be revealed at a later date) was an inordinate amount of tea. Ever since I ran out of the Mate Vana tea that was bequeathed to me by the lovely Christine (which went fast during the snow storms), I've been wanting to get more. But Teavana is a bit expensive and I don't often find myself near one. Adagio which is my usual go to online tea shop did not offer it... until now. They now carry several varieties and even included a free sampler pack with my purchase. The Mocha Nut Mate sounded like the closest match, so I went out on a limb and bought the 16oz size. It did not occur to me until I was checking out that 16oz is actually a pound of tea. The good news is that I tried it this morning and it's really delicious and exactly what I wanted. I also got a couple varieties of Chai to try out which also sounded yummy - a Chocolate Chai and the Masala Chai - the Apple Spice Chai was very tempting as well, but maybe next time. The only problem I have with the Mate is that the leaves are so finely ground it's almost like coffee and is not well contained by my tea diffuser (even the superfine gold filter).