New Year's in the woods

My sister organized a Minty-style outdoor adventure for our New Year's Eve celebration. (Thanks, Anne!) What's Minty-style? Luxurious, of course. Our "cabin" had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full-size kitchen, hot tub, TV and, most importantly, heat.

Now before you suggest that we weren't really "roughing it," you must acknowledge that there was no internet connection, no cell phone access, no DVD player and no video-game system.

What did we do on our three-day wilderness adventure? We went hiking, though technically it might be considered more of a walk. We ate a lot. We listened to music and danced. We caught up on our sleep. We stared at the gas fireplace. We watched some TV, but only classics like "Die Hard" and "True Lies."

Oh, and the peaceful woods provided the perfect setting in which to read. I read two books using my Kindle IPhone application. Ah, nature and technology. I love thee both.

Redneck Riviera, we love thee

Jeff and I went to Panama City, Fla. for a few days for our summer vacation. It's a popular spot for Georgians to visit, and is affectionately referred to as The Redneck Riviera. Why? Imagine a college spring break that lasts 365 days a year. Panama City is the home of jello shots, buy-one-get-one-free T-shirts, fried-food baskets, jumbo cocktails, ladies' nights, roadside daiquiri stands, nonexistent dress codes and inexpensive everything.

It also has beautiful beaches with white sand and clear water, restaurants serving delicious fresh seafood, seemingly hundreds of mini golf (and real golf) courses and cute tourist shops.

Here are a few photos from our vacation.

The view from our condo was awesome as long we focused on the beach and not the beach goers many of whom chose to wear too-small-for-their-large-belly bathing suits and none of whom had cover-ups.


We went on a sunset boat ride and saw dolphins which refused to be photographed.


Dawn and Jeff can't stop smiling when they realize that the condo complex has no cell phone access. Bye, bye work.


Jeff devoured some tasty key lime pie. Dawn had one teeny, tiny bite which immediately went to her thighs.


Dawn poses for a photo shoot on the bay and dreams of the beach house she'll one day own.


A quiet little cove where the super rich park their yachts.


Dawn took 123 photos before finally capturing this streak of lightning. Thankfully, it only stormed for about an hour one morning during the trip.


Anne and Luke are the best doggie sitters ever. This is their dream home. It's not on the beach, but it sure is charming.


Sassy and Alley were happy to jump in the car for the ride home.


Our neighborhood geese arranged this parade for our arrival home. It's nice to be missed.

Beach, booze and books

Soon I'll be spending a couple of days at the beach. (Jealous?) A trip to the beach is always precipitated by a trip to the bookstore to stock up on beach reads.

I have very strict rules about what makes a book a good beach read. Here they are:

1. The book can't be sad. Tears, sunscreen and sand do not mix. Who wants to be crying into her frozen cocktail when a hot, shirtless guy struts by?

2. The book must be fiction. The beach is not a place to read biographies because people die and death is sad. (See rule number one).

3. The book could never be considered suitable for a school reading list. There are too many junior high memories that will haunt me if I pop open "The Great Gatsby."I'm no longer the girl with the frizzy permed hair and untrendy clothes. On the beach I'm the glamorous sunbather with the modern bikini and cute cover-up.

4. The book must be humorous. Laughter is fun. The beach is fun. Enough said.

5. The book must be engaging enough to hold my interest but not so fascinating that I can't put it down and head to the beach-side bar for another round of margaritas.