Lots of wonderfulness!!

So much is going on in my corner of the world, here in Raleigh, NC. The trees have exploded into GREEN and sky is Carolina Blue. Whether you are a fan of UNC or not, the sky here is most definitely a special shade of blue which can only be called Carolina Blue. Spring here is a mixture of "let's sneak one last frost in before we send the heat" and delicious thunderstorms. Not the blow the house away Oklahoma and Texas storms I grew up with, but lots of rain to wash away the yellow pine pollen that tells us that April has come combined with a few good rumbles. When I was a very little girl, I was told that it was the potato man who had overturned his wheel barrow full of potatoes that made the noise. I rather like that memory.

OK - besides SPRING being here, The Carolina Hurricanes are in the playoffs and are headed to NJ for the final game of the quarterfinals. They're playing like men posessed and it's amazing to watch them. I'm not a cradle hockey fan - I grew up in OK & TX, I'm a cradle college football fan, but this year I've discovered ice hockey and our Hurricanes are obliging with wonderful games to watch.

I taught a soldered charm bracelet class to a wonderful group of 5 women at Ornamente yesterday. We laughed and talked and cut and pasted and soldered and jump-ringed ourselves into wonderful projects. I'm not sure which part of teaching is the best - meeting great new people or seeing what direction they take a class project. What FUN!

And last, but far far far from least - The Busy Bee Cafe has opened in downtown Raleigh! www.busybeeraleigh.com (yes, I know, it looks like busy beer) The Busy Bee was a cafe in Raleigh in the 20s and the building has had a few more incarnations, but Chris and Woody have returned her to her fabulous-ness and have an amazing coffee shop-restaurant-rooftop patio-live music stage-bar hang out. It's on Wilmington Street and you MUST go! Dear friend Jackie is the manager of the coffee shop and would you believe, didn't buy flavored syrups to go in her coffee. Nope - she hand crafted each one!! Saturday she made me an almondy-caramely wonderfulness wow! I had lunch there with friends the first week they opened, great food too! They have photos of the old cafe on the walls, exposed brick, lots of wood and an amazing honeycomb scuplture as you first walk in. Check them out and tell them Laurel sent you!