More Post-Holiday Luxury.

I spent some more of my gift cards on a lovely sweater. I had some gift cards which can be used at the Gap, Old Navy, or Banana Republic, so I tried the Gap first. Disappointing. After looking around at Banana Republic, I found the perfect sweater. Isn't it handsome? It bothers me a bit that the Banana uses mature-looking models. Does this mean their clothes appeal to that age group? Never mind that I'm in that age group...

Anyway, I love it. And I didn't pay a penny for it. And it's warm.

And I look good in it, if I do say so.

Better than that old guy in the picture.

Post-Holiday Luxury.

The Starbuck's Gift Card is a lovely thing to receive. I so enjoy the Cafe Verona, strong, with lots of light cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons of organic sugar (thank you, Michael, for turning me on to that).

I received many Starbuck's Gift Cards for Christmas this year. When I added the total amount of all of them, I discovered I had a whopping $80 worth. So I decided to visit Starbuck's to see what I could do with all that money (besides buying 40 cups of coffee).

And then I saw it. The Krups Burr Grinder. I salivated when I saw it... similar to the way I salivate at photos of certain hot men. It was not cheap, but at $60, it was within my gift card price range. Oh, it's amazing. I've had coffee grinders before, but this one has a coarseness setting, as well as a "number of cups" setting. I can now pour in the whole Verona beans, choose coarse (for my percolator), and choose the number of cups. No thinking required, no measuring, just lots of good, fresh, delicious coffee.

I've been awake for days.