{ Mornings }

Morning: My husband kissing me goodbye on his way out the door and then my daughter and I leaving shortly afterwards and having our little enjoyable car conversations as I drive her to school. The quick kiss goodbye she gives me. Me glancing to the backseat to make sure she didn't leave her lunch kit behind. Making the decision between going to work-out or going back home and spending the morning getting stuff done. Coming back home, walking into the house which is now peacefully quiet except for the sounds of two purring cats and the lingering smell of coffee.  Pouring myself another cup & opening the back doors before the heat of summer makes that impossible. Enjoying the fresh air. Watering the potted plants. Saying hello to the garden spider who lives in the pot of the hibiscus plant. Feeding the ducks who are already waiting.  Relishing in Me time & pondering whether or not it is necessary to take the laundry out of the dryer.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

Coffee Loves Winter and Vice Versa

I am the type of person who doesn't need an excuse to drink coffee (Note: I am also crazy about Starbuck's Skinny Green Tea Lattes). My husband, however, is worse. He treats every cup of coffee like it is a zen experience or a sippable portal to Utopia. The only reason he has cut back lately on his java addiction is because the doctor told him to. He was this close (pinch index and thumb together) to seeking a second opinion. We both come from the school of thought that Coffee is Great-Cold Weather makes it better. OR, Cold Weather is Harsh-Coffee Makes it Better. So here is a small list of times when these two thoughts are very very true this time of year.....

1. A cup of coffee is grand in your hand when you have forgotten to wear your gloves at an outdoor winter event.

2. Cold chilly mornings, warm pajamas, socks, and COFFEE!

3. Favorite Christmas CD playing (in my case, that would be Harry Connick Jr.), Christmas cards that need to be signed and stamped spread across the kitchen table, and a hot cup of coffee!

4. A cup of coffee is soooo therapeutic while waiting in the longest line ever so that your kid can see Santa Claus.

4 1/2. Coffee for Santa to keep him jolly. C'mon, there is no way St. Nick stays that happy on milk and cookies.

5. Coffee is a MUST on Christmas Eve just before heading out to midnight Mass.

6. Coffee is a MUST on Christmas Morning--- especially after a late night of product assembly (if you catch my drift) to keep you from looking like the Grandma who got ran over by a reindeer.

7. Coffee to go, Christmas music on the car radio, and a drive together as a family to check out Christmas lights.

8. Coffee so that you're not the parent snoring in the back row at your kid's Christmas program.

9. Coffee in your system makes it easier to plow over---I mean, shop, with all those rude gabillion people who are out at this time of year. 

10. Perhaps my favorite---- a cold winter day strolling the beach, (in my case, the Atlantic), warmest clothes, the salt spray, my husband and my daughter, gloves, and COFFEE!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

Amelia Coffee

Anytime we are spending the day strolling around Fernandina Beach or Amelia Island, Florida, we always take a little break for refreshments at Amelia Island Coffee. However, I often spend more time taking pics than actually sipping my coffee. It is a good thing I waited til after I took a few snapshots to order some ice cream. But then even so, I also had to include the ice cream in a few photos. Rum Raisin is so very photogenic!

I had to add my latest eye candy to the photo, as well.

...and of course, no coffee shop that also happens to sell ice cream is complete without a sweet little girl sitting at a window table.

---Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.