We didn’t make it to a single one.

On Friday we were to attend Pensacola Beach’s lighted boat parade. It was a drizzly night so we bundled Jack up in his snowman suit and headed to the beach. We arrived 15 minutes after the parade was supposed to start, and it was already over. Instead, we stuck around the boardwalk and had dinner and looked at all of the lights. Garth and I had mushroom burgers. Jack had bananas and lettuce. He does not like lettuce.

Saturday was the Christmas parade downtown and we’ve gone the last two years and loved it! We got Jack into his costume again and walked at a very brisk pace through the slight drizzle to the best corner for catching all of the parade loot, but it was traffic as usual. Apparently the parade had been cancelled earlier in the afternoon, and we would have known that had we made it a habit to listen to the radio or watch tv. We wandered around downtown instead. Pensacola has a charming little downtown. Mr Jack slept the whole time.

Sunday was the day we meant to attend a Christmas Pageant put on by a local baptist church. The plan, when we headed out the door after church, was to run up to the church office (Garth is the clerk for our branch and generally has some work to do after church), sprint to the pageant, then meander to our friends’ house for their cookie swap. We were still at the church office when the pageant started. So we wandered around downtown in the amazing fog and took photos on our way to the gazillion cookie evening.

This is my long way of saying that sometimes that best things that happen to you are unplanned. I always like to have a plan- because the plan gets me out the door (I would have missed the glorious thick fog on the pier had we been pageanting as planned!), but it is so good to meander and let adventure dictate the next step. As long as we’re home by 7.

lots of 9-month-old-baby-open-mouth-kisses,
elle

Have I mentioned that the Port City Market has switched to Saturday mornings for the winter? It’s delightful. It’s lovely fall mornings shared with lovely people and their homegrown and homemade goods. It’s cozy. We were on the news a few weeks ago and there’s a quick view of our little booth.

Today is trick-or-treating, costume-wearing, and general gaiety at the market as we celebrate Halloween. Drop on by! We’ll have Captain Hook and at least 6 different kinds of choclate bars at the xoelle booth.

It has only happened a few times this summer- the oppressive heat lifting for an afternoon walk. Yesterday it rained all morning and although it was still humid, the air was slightly cool in the afternoon. Jack and I took advantage of it by going for a walk. We live in an amazing neighborhood just north of downtown Pensacola. We chose this neighborhood so that we could go on lots of walks (I am very fond of walks) and once we moved in we took advantage of it often. Then May came and I shut myself inside the house during daylight hours. Perhaps it is finally cooling off enough that Jack and I can make a habit of this. I hope so, oh double fudge sundae, do I hope so!

*sigh* Today the sky is bright blue and the sun and once again King. I have to run errands but am dreading it.
Convertable.
No A/C.
Ick.

xoxo
elle

hello lovely curbside recycling can.

As we were in bed this morning having our pre-day cuddle session we heard what sounded like our garbage truck outside, but different. We looked through our bedroom window and saw a rented moving truck dropping off brand spanking new recycling containers! Our twice a week garbage pick up (which I think is excessive) will be reduced to one week so that the new curbside recyling pick-up can have the other day.
Perhaps I am a recycling dork, but this totally made my day.
more to come,

elle

Totally enchanting. I’m working on customs today, but I’ll be back later in the week with something for the xoelle shop that is so rad it’s maddening.

till then,
elle!

We woke early and filled the car with all of the stuff (and Jack!). Garth rode his bike since I filled the front seat with books.

I took aprons and journals and bow ties. It was such a lovely day! Garth and Jack hung out with me off and on.

Jack was actually the star of the booth, as you can see.

These two girls were so adorable and they provided me with my first “sale” of the season, a barter. The traded me a Pluto necklace that they had made for a journal each. They helped me bind the books, and insisted that the necklace be for Jack.

I’m looking forward to a whole summer of farmers market-ness, and hope that I can improve my set-up and selection each week! =)

For those of you in the Pensacola area, the Market is on Palafox, in between the two lanes of traffic, in Martin Luther King Plaza. It is every Saturday, 8am-1pm, through September 26th. I’ll have a booth there just about every other week, or more specifically, on these days: May 16th & 23rd, June 6th & 20th, July 4th & 18th, August 15th & 29th, and September 5th & 19th.

xo
elle

The King & Queen of Spain came to visit Pensacola yesterday for it’s 450th birthday. Garth and I rode our bikes to the festivities and got to see the King and Queen (and Governer Crist and Senator Nelson of Florida, and their amazingly large entourages) visit Ft George before their public appearence in downtown Pensacola. It was a deliciously warm day and we rode our bikes in the sunshine (we even got some redness on our faces!) Afterwards we had shirley temples and sandwiches on a second story balcony right over the bustle of Palafox Street. It was nice to have the whole day to just laze-about and not have somewhere to be. I even came home and drooled on my pillow in a quiet nap for an hour or so while Garth “whacked some zombies” (that’s what he calls playing Oogie’s Revenge).

This excitement promises to continue this weekend with at least 2 Mardi Gras parades, and random other fun-ness. (we have glow bracelets for the parade tonight! yay!)

xoxox

elle