Surveyors and a Bowl of Clam Chowder...

What could these two things have in common you are asking? How does one lead to the other? Well my dear reader come on a little journey with me will you? May just give you a little insight into how things come about sometimes here at Casa Bean.

My other half The Bear is a Professional Land Surveyor who through out his days when working from home logs onto a Land Surveyor Messege Board and follows the conversations of the day. Now, this is a group of Surveyors but trust me, by NO means does that mean the topics of discussion are only about boreing old work. I periodically hear him burst out into fits of laughter which usually means a "Hey come and look at this" will be shouted my way soon there after. And sometimes, just to make it feel like a real office we'll send eachother Instant Messeges or Emails from accross the room!

The other day, I recieve an Email from The Bear with a recipe for Clam Chowder attached and the subject reads "Yummy". Apparently there had been a debate on the Messege Board about which is better, New England or Manhattan Clam Chowder. Somewhere during this debate a recipe was posted that peaked Brian's interest and taste buds.

So, the ingredients were purchased and the Chowder was assembled to our great delight, it was soooo very good. I mean you can't go wrong with Bacon drippings, Half and Half, and clams right?

So to keep with the interactiveness of this blog, if you are interested in the recipe, just leave me a comment and I'll send you one of my famous Recipe/PostCards in the mail.

Mmmm, don't forget the oyster crackers!

Kindred Pen Spirits and My Beloved...

Some of you may know about my pen addiction. Yes that's right, I LOVE pens, all shapes, sizes, colors, ball points, gel, fountain, it doesn't matter. If it has ink and it's used for writing then I need it. I have a problem I know. The Bear actually has been known to break out into huge fits of laughter when an unsuspecting person innocently asks Do you have a pen? Why yes I do. What kind would you like?

When I was little, I'm talking before I even knew what letters were, I would fill whole notebooks with scribbles pretending I was writing the Great American Novel just so I could use a pen. Yeah, It's that bad. Hello, I'm Rachel and I'm a pen addict.

Oh get on with it already. Yeah yeah. Well while the Moleskiners were here visiting me, we found a shop called "The Pen Haven". How could we NOT go. That is where I found THE Pen. This is Burton or Bert as he likes to be called. We are kindred pen spirits. He totally gets me. We were having a great time, chatting about all kinds of things. Like for example, did you know that Bert used to be an Architect? No, of course you didn't, but now you do! Well when I walked into his shop I think I heard angels singing. As I stepped up to the case a ray of light came down from above and there she was.

Here's Barb testing her out. See Barb, doesn't she write so smoothly?

We all lined up as Bert was letting us play with some of his lovely pens. He showed me a couple other ones just to make sure that it was true love.

Nope, my mind was made up. "I wouldn't dream of trying to suggest another pen" Bert lovingly said "I can see this is the only one for you". I think the giddy smile on my face says it all!

Bert said that it needed a new ink bladder and that he would put in himself and also give it a good shine then mail it to me. So sadly I had to leave the shop without it that day but I do think that anticipation is half the fun so I patiently awaited my beloved's arrival by post.

On time and as promised she arrived safely to my door. Isn't she beautiful?

No really take a good look! She's gorgeous, no?

Outdoor photo shoot in the setting sun. I'm sure by now my neighbors think I'm totally nuts but who the heck cares when you're this excited about stuff, right?

Some lucky person will be recieving my hand designed postcard pictured here. I thought it made for a loverly backdrop.

So folks, what kinds of "office supply" addictions do you have? Is it also pens? Or perhaps post-its, mechanical pencils, funky colored staples perhaps? Let's have it, what gets you all giddy like a school girl?

And The Mystery Gift Is...

Let me start off by saying I LOVE MAIL. I love ALL kinds of mail that people send me. I get little notes, personal made creative calanders and even postcards sent while a loved one is on vacation to let me know where they are. It all adds up to a wonderful mail day!

A little while ago my loverly cousin Noelle (aka, No No, or Noi) told me of a project that she was working on that I thought sounded like great fun! I'm ALWAYS interested to hear about what fun things my crafty creative lovelies are up to. She said that she had found some great fabric and she was making a fun purse. Turns out she was making one for ME! She's just like me and has a hard time keeping a secret so occasionally she would send me a picture of a tiny little piece of the project just to tease me. A little time had gone by and I hadn't heard any more about the project...till I opened my door yesterday to find this. What? A package for moi? Oh I was sooo giddy with excitement! I of course grabbed it, held it to my chest and immediately did the Pee Pee Dance of Happy Happy Joy Joy! And what was inside you ask?

How utterly devine! A purse made JUST FOR ME! The fabric, I was informed, was picked out just for me! Oh yeah, on the money!

I am in LOVE with every inch of this wonderful creation, right down to the round handles!

I love this so much I walked out down by the street, while the whole neighborhood watched, hung it on the tree to get the dappled afternoon light and took a photo of it! I am THAT proud of it!

Check out the detail. So much love, sooooo much love.

I was so excited when I got it that I ran into the bathroom to snap a quick (crappy quality) photo of us together in the mirror!

There is NOTHING that makes someone feel more loved than a special gift. I am not ashamed to admit I cried tears of joy, I really did. Noelle, you are a remarkable, fabulous, creative woman. Words can not express.