dream a little dream

i am so bummed to report that my very favorite pair of havaianas are officially out of commission. i got out of the car and almost fell on my ass as the strap popped right out of the top of the sandal, and it was broken beyond repair. *sigh* stupid overpriced "world's best rubber flip flops."

so since i hadn't been successful in picking up my much-needed ribbon on monday, we decided to make the trek down early saturday morning. as we talked about it the night before over our outback dinner, we invited the ILs to come down for the drive and to grab breakfast somewhere near the beach.

it turned out to be quite an overcast morning - rather chilly, but that was okay. we were leaving 80+ (and rising) temperatures behind, so we enjoyed the cooler weather down by the ocean. at that early hour, we hit no traffic and found ourselves here in about 45 minutes:

since i knew exactly what i wanted, the hub and MIL opted to stay in the car while FIL took the bean inside to stretch her legs a bit. and as i meandered through the aisles, getting myself acclimated to the new layout of the store (it'd been months since my last trip), they wandered around and played with the merchandise.

talk about ribbon heaven. racks and racks of ribbon in every color you can imagine, satin and grosgrain and patterned and lacy. i love this place.

they actually do carry bolts of fabric, too, as well as yarn and party supplies and pretty much anything you can think of for most any kind of crafty hobby.

when we were done, we piled back in the car to find breakfast and found ourselves in the path of a giant group of folks walking to save the ta-tas.

after we drove up and down the main street and found parking, we settled on this place for our meal.

the bean was fascinated by the fish tank. "mo!" she said. all fish are "nemo" to her. but i felt sorry for these poor fish, because look at how nasty that tank is! sheesh, shorehouse cafe. when's the last time you cleaned that thing? i'm surprised the nemos are still alive.

i chose the stuffed french toast with a side of corned beef hash. it was pretty yummy (and the bean agreed), but my beloved flappy jack's is better.

we decided to take a stroll after breakfast, and although i was totally full, i was drawn like a moth to a flame to this display of giant cupcakes.

high atop her perch on the hub's shoulders, the bean rocked her "chanel" sunglasses and waved to everyone she passed.

for the second time in less than a week, i found myself in my new favorite place - candyland.

the rest of my group walked around the store as entranced as i'd been when i went before. MIL is a huge chocoholic, and she gets a kick out of silly novelties just like i do. FIL took one look at the vosges "mo's bacon bar," scooped one up and paid for it before i could tell him that i still had an entire bar at home. "that's okay, you'll still eat it," he said as he handed it to me. and, well, despite the fact that i wasn't in love with the bar, i sure wasn't going to turn it down. aw, i have a kick ass FIL. well, you already knew how fabulous all my ILs are.

i wondered what made this imported british candy bar "not for girls," but i didn't care enough to buy one and find out.

they were getting ready for halloween. look at this nasty ass candy! gross.

i smirked a little at these. since this is birthday princess week, i was tempted to pick them up - but i didn't.

even the hub had to agree that it was a cool ass little shop. it's almost exactly like what i've always envisioned as something i wanted to open myself one day. i've always had a ridiculous sweet tooth and i'm a total sucker for silly little gift shop-y novelties, and it would be so cool to have access to all that fun stuff and share my fun finds with whoever wants to play along.

one day. even if it's not till i'm old and gray (shut up, i'm not THAT old and my grays aren't THAT bad), i will have my dream shop. count on it.