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Meet Lawrence and Herbert

They’re from Martinsville, VA. 

They apologized for “being in the way” and tried to move when I was taking some pictures the other day. I told them, you are the picture if you don’t mind of course! They happily participated and we chatted for a bit.
It’s always a treat to talk to some impeccably wrinkled folks who’ve been around for a while and have good stories. If you click on the picture you can see that Lawrence’s hat says- Life is simple; eat, sleep, fish. How perfect.
Hope you enjoyed the rest of your day Lawrence and Herbert. So nice to meet you.
(Readers,
You’ll see an anonymous comment below just sent to me. I only think it’s fair to publish all comments, not just the happy dappy frappy stuff, as being real and truthful is what I want Blue Lollipop Road to be. Saying that, this commenter happened to be “disturbed” that this photo showed:
1.) A guy on oxygen and still smoking. 
2.) That a WII tournament was happening Monday at 6pm. 
Dear Anonymous, 
Thank you for commenting, I love commenters and am happy to receive the good and the bad anytime!
As for #1 disturbance to you, I completely agree, but also think it’s an eye-opening view of how people are so different from each other in the decisions they make. #2? Really? I am not a big WII gal myself, but I say play on WII-ers! Rock it out!)
Thanks again Anonymous, keep them coming!
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Some Things Just Never Get Old

Like the Jolly Roger restaurant in the Outer Banks, NC. Oh the entertainment.
The woman who owns this place is super sweet with her chatty way and big hair. She buzzes around and greets everyone with big smiles. She’s been the same way with every customer every single time I visited there for 10 years. She and the other staff always have some article of clothing on that resembles pirate gear. (As in, some type of scarf or flowy pants.) I really don’t think they plan this, somehow that’s just how it is. Just one of the many reasons this place is so entertaining and a must-see.
The breakfast eats are de-lish. The pancakes are the size of frisbees, the homemade bread is yum and they serve bloodys and mimosas aplenty. Add in some scrambled eggs with cheese and full bellied, fat and happy you’ll leave every time. Don’t forget to check out the home of the permanent 50% off gift shop; The Jolly Roger gift shop. Yep, 10 years I’ve been a patron, same sale. No joke.
But lets talk about the most important and entertaining thing; Decor. The ceiling of the main room is covered in what appears to be some type of foil. There are about 50,000 (Ok, so its a bit of an exaggeration) hideous Christmas bulbs and lights covering every square inch of space. In addition, there are some posters and pictures littered about on the walls that are warped and under absolutely no theme whatsoever along with some ceramic mermaid sculptures. In the other rooms of this quirky joint, are some simultaneously ugly and adorable random sea creatures painted about. The chairs, tables and booths have no rhyme or reason either. They’re just there to function, old and mismatched as they are. All in all the Jolly Roger defines tacky, absurd and ridiculous. 
Lastly, karaoke. Ahh, of course they have karaoke! What would a place like this be without the Christmas decor, mermaids, tie-dyed tees for sale and karaoke?
Jolly Roger, you’re something else. We love every second of our experiences there and every piece of you.
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Gabi You Are Awesome!

I am thrilled to write that Gabi (who is a perfect stranger) and lives in Brazil? (Or wait-where are you Gabi?) just sent me this salsa recipe. Gabi found me somehow months ago here and has been a follower ever since. Strangers that find Blue Lollipop Road somehow, post occasionally and send salsa recipes because I wrote that May was National Salsa Month?! How cool is that?! 

Of course I wanted to thank Gabi, but don’t have her contact info. Bummer. It’s OK because I can thank her in a bigger way here now. I found this link she had on her profile. Apparently she and her fiance’ are suggesting donation to charity instead of gifts for their wedding. Kudos to you guys. Love that idea. Really love when super amazing total strangers find this little project of mine and follow along.
So through this blog, I can somehow babble about and explore things and people I think are interesting and fun, highlight companies doing great things and giving back, post silly pictures and connect with total strangers that send recipes just to be nice. Then pass them on to you.
Wow. I can do all this and so much more for free. This makes me so happy. Somebody pinch me. 
THANK YOU GABI!
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Too Excited And Too Much Fun To Pay Attention?

I see now that I wrote Fast Food Gingle instead of Fast Food Jingle as the title to my last post. I corrected it for about 5 minutes after a few of you wrote to inform me, then I changed it back because I think it’s funny. Sunday night I was too busy coming off a 6 hour road trip high (with a super special pal) to pay much attention to my spelling. HA!

Thanks for calling me out though! It’s as if I have my own personal editors as readers out there. So here’s to a Gingle AND and Jingle! I love that I can still get excited enough in my life about small things to misspell a simple word like that.
I Wonder what makes you all out there excited enough to do the same.
I’d love to know. You should write me a note and tell me…
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Fast Food Gingle

Bathroom pit stop at a fast food joint during a journey this weekend. Walked by the trash cans and thought this sign was funny. 

It’s the great American road trip season people! Gas up the cars! 
If I had a dollar for every funny sign I saw…wait! Ok, maybe it’s time to put all the hilarious photos I do have together and get a book published. Sell a million copies and buy all the gas I’d ever need to go on more road trips. Hmmm…
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Take Me Out To The Baaack Yard, Take Me…

I just looked back at the notes I keep of all I want to write about. This info. about NY Yankees seed and sod was on one of my favorite sites today. I had a note about it from back on March 22nd. Today is June 5th. I guess that means I am so ahead of the curve?…Or way behind actually. There are so many interesting and cool, things to write about I am back-logged. It’s great to never be bored.

Anyway- there you go guys. Get yourself some authentic stadium grass supply or have a great gift idea for Dad’s day. 
…buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks…
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THIS IS MY 200th POST!!!

YEAH!!! WAHOO!!! YIPPEE!!!

Who whoulda thunk it? I have YOU all to thank for it.
In this 200 and as of today, June 4, 2009- I have somehow managed to:
*Post my random babble and sometimes overly emotional thoughts pretty much every day. All during the most deliciously enlightening and heinously hard 6 months of my life. (And somehow you all don’t think I am a freak of nature 🙂
*Acquire 47 followers, inclusive of some complete strangers. (That is so flippin awesome. Just flippin awesome.)
*Have an additional crew of non-followers tell me they read my ridiculousness everyday too. (Yay.)
*Have an author of a book I wrote about, find this somehow and write me to post a comment thanking me, then write me a bunch of emails too. (How cool.)
*Impress a few people with my writing. 
(Huh? No lie- a bunch of people randomly have said things like; “I really like your blog. You’re a really good writer” and “It’s my daily dose of such and such.” Huh? Yeah, I am shocked too. If I ever thought some people that are not my mom, sister or best buddies legitimately would think that I have the slightest talent for even putting two words together- well, I never would have believed it, so thank you. I’m not sure I agree that I am any bit of writing talent, but I’ve certainly learned that when you practice at things you get better, if you commit to yourself you get better and if you do what you love, you’ll always thrive. I LOVE writing this blog, so I guess that means I’m thriving and might be getting better at it? Ok. I’ll take that.)
*Make people feel something they otherwise wouldn’t, do something they might think they shouldn’t, or just laugh.
(This is my favorite bullet point. I’m amazed, flattered, humbled, thrilled and just crazily ecstatic that anyone would ever credit me for helping them do or be anything, simply because they read what I write. One of the most incredible things I can imagine in my life is that anyone would ever thank me for writing what I do. That’s like someone thanking you for being yourself. That, is the ultimate compliment. Thank you so much to all who have written and thanked me.)
I love these nights when I sit silently typing away. Sure sometimes I am exhausted and think damn! I didn’t post anything yet. (Then I drag my butt to the computer and post away thinking, I have made an every day commitment dammnit! Nothing is going to stop me!- As I fall asleep on the keys…) The majority of the time though, I hungrily read the paper, books, magazines and other, look around curiously when I’m driving, listen to and talk to strangers and pay attention to lots of little things in my day. Those things get me geeked out and excited to write. Sometimes I wish I could actually jump in my laptop I get so jazzed up. I have pages and pages of all I want to write about. Just wish I had more time or could make a living at this right now. I would explore and write and write and explore all the days and all the nights. I’ll get there someday. I’ve got plans. 
Thank you for letting me write 200 times. I hope you’ll be with me when I hit 2,000 and 20,000 or when this turns into all it’s meant to be.
What’s beyond main street? The Blue Lollipop Road- and man do I love living here!
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Snail Mail Rules!

I got this letter in the mail from my grandparents today. I won’t say why, but it was the best letter I have ever gotten from them. If you can’t clearly see the round things, they are smiley face stickers. Awesome. On the back of envelopes my Grandma always writes; W.L.Y. which means “We love you.”

How lucky am I?
I have always been big on cards and letters. I think they’re the best. When my mailman walked up with our mail today, I happened to be sitting in a rocking chair on my porch. He handed me this letter saying “It’s a great day, I love my job.” Gotta love that.
I think we should all start sending snail mail again. It’s always a total treat and surprise when it comes in the pile of bills. Forget you Twitterbookspacelinkedintoeverythingandeveryone24/7 . I’m off to write a real note. 
Thanks Gram and Gramp. Love you. You’re the best.
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Complaints? Come on!

Really people? Traffic is closed off and now you can sit in lawn chairs in the middle of Times Square. How cool is that? Who cares if the chairs are cheap? I think this is great. Chilling out for a few sure beats a taxi speeding by and running over your toes.

Maybe I’ll jump on the lets encourage everyone to relax and sit a while bandwagon and move to NYC to start a lemonade and sweet tea stand. Wouldn’t that be a site to see. Maybe I could join forces with the Naked Cowboy and become a mainstay.
Now to plan my perfect outfit…
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