Rain rain GO AWAY!

After two perfectly glorious spring days, today was absolutely dismal. The air was chilly in the upper 50's and the rain made it even worse- you know that wet, raw kind of day? Well, that was today. But I decided not to let it get me down. I put on one of the most recent "Bouche" originals- a fun skirt in white and kelly green:

As you can see from the pictures, I am also wearing my newest accessory- a bright pink iPod nano. I am addicted to it! Although, after scooting around town with it all day, I discovered an interesting side effect of having all sorts of great music right at my fingertips. Once I realized this, I sent a text to my good friend Brance telling him of my discovery. Here's how our convo went:

Renee: Dangerous side effect to the iPod: singing out loud in public. Also, spontaneous dancing.

Brance: Not to worry. You did that before.

Renee: Not with apparently "silent" music (to strangers around me). Do iPod users just hold it in? Because girlfriend needs to bust a move like Beyonce.

Brance: Hold it in until you reach the front door. Then shake and sang what yo momma gave you.

Renee: This can not be restrained. I guess I'll just have to be that crazy lady.

Brance: Attabouche*

My neighbor saw me shaking my booty on the way to the mailbox. I was immediately embarrassed, but I got over it. Anyway, back to the skirt. Isn't this fabric fun?

It kind of makes me want to "find my way" through it, you know? The skirt is another circle-shape. It's really flattering, not to mention super comfortable, just like the white dress from earlier this week. Since it was a little chilly today, I layered my favorite Ann Taylor denim jacket over my cap-sleeve white scoop-neck tee. My legs were a tad chilly, but my toes were warm enough in my Maurice's brown ballet flats. I finished off the outfit with simple accessories including earrings from Ten Thousand Villages and my baubles ring from ShopKim on Etsy. A pretty simple outfit, perfect for running errands around town.

In addition to a stop at Barnes & Noble and CVS, I also stopped by a local gelato stand for some of the MOST amazing gelato of my life. Some of you may not know it, but started blogging with a humble little blog about ice cream. I sampled ice cream from as many ice cream establishments as I could find in Lancaster. Click here for my original review of Gelato di Babbo. The company is very successful on the wholesale side, but the owner struggles with the success of the retail side of things. A less-than-fabulous location for her shop, combined with difficulties in zoning with the town of Lititz and tons of competition from other previously established shops has made it very hard. It makes me sad because her product is truly outstanding- she's the Ben & Jerry's of gelato. I'm sure that's why she's so successful with the wholesale side of things. But she truly loves the retail side- she can offer flavors that you won't likely see in a grocery store in addition to all the regulars. Flavors like Peanut butter & jelly, coconut, blackberry merlot, chocolate Guinness, to name a few. Today I bought 2 pints of gelato and I have to be honest, it was hard to narrow the selection down. In the end, I got a full pint of pistacchio as well as half a pint each of bananas foster and cannoli. Normally, I despise things that are "banana-flavored." That's because I hate banana flavoring. But her bananas foster gelato isn't made with banana flavoring. It's made with actual bananas. Just like her mango sorbet is made with actual mangoes. And the chocolate Guinness is made with 3 pints of Guinness. And the blackberry Merlot? A full bottle of wine goes into that recipe. There is no "flavoring" in her product, only real, fresh ingredients, most of which are local to Lancaster county. If you're a fan of buying local, Gelato di Babbo will be right up your alley. In addition, she makes custom flavors for any event, although I highly recommend the three I purchased today, especially the pistacchio and the cannoli. There's real ricotta cheese in the cannoli, so the flavor and texture are spot on. It also has crumbled cannoli shell and tiny chocolate chips scattered throughout. "Yum," is all I have to say about it. Anyway, the reason I'm waxing poetic on dessert is because I truly want to see this brand succeed, if only for selfish reasons (I love to eat it). With such an abundance of chemical-laden foods out there, it's refreshing to see someone making something truly fresh and pure. So if you live in the Lancaster area, head out to Gelato di Babbo next weekend and sample some gelato and sorbet. Take a pint (or two) home with you- I promise you will not regret it.

*Phrase "attabouche" copyright Brance Cornelius :-)