I Love Sugar - A Fantastic Fun Candy Store In Myrtle Beach, SC

Look! Mermaids! Their tails are made from candy

I don't have enough words to describe how much I love this store. It is I Love Sugar - a candy store in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Fun, colorful, kooky, sweet, happy, huge I could go on and on. I get so much energy and inspiration from bright fun colors and when I walk into this store I can't do anything but smile.

Candy filled tables and very comfortable chairs

It is located on the main "strip" of Myrtle Beach very near the boardwalk. This store is gigantic. The first time I went into the space, mouth just dropped. It is beautifully appointed with all kinds of fun treats to each for children and adults.

Look at how organized everything is. I love how everything has it's place and it does not feel cluttered at all. I don't know how in the world they keep it so neat and clean. The creative merchandise displays and art are an big part of what makes the store so appealing.

If you have been following my blog for a while (and please do on Blogger LOL!) you know I am obsessed with mermaid. I look up and saw this beautiful mermaids and knew this place is going to be one of my favorite places to visit in Myrtle Beach.

 



Hopefully one day I will meet the owner. I would love to ask him where he came up with the store's concept and who designed layout and displays of the store. It is a happy place that kids will love on sight. It is so much fun to watch the kids run around and enjoy the store.

Usually I don't like cement flooring, but it really works in this colorful crazy decor. It actually calms down and centers all the many colors and grounds everything.

 

 

 You can buy the candy in boxes or individual wrapped pieces. But I always get the loose candy sold in the self serve bins that you put into cute clear plastic bags with tongs or a scoop. There is a huge selection of loose candy in several display units around the store. Then you take it to the register and the sales associate will weight it.

It is a little pricy but I always just get a little bit at a time. Also along the store's back wall is a very impressive row of tall jelly bean dispensers. Just be careful not to pull the lever too hard or a huge splash of jelly beans will fall into your bag.

These tables face the street next to a floor to ceiling window. I enjoy people watching especially seeing how people's faces light up and smile when they look in at the all the candy and the bright colors. I was so inspired by this. I want to create things (words and art) that make people smile and laugh.

Mermaids are my spirit mystical beings. When I see a mermaid random somewhere, I think that mermaids find me where ever I am. I was really impressed with how these mermaids were done. I am very picky about mermaid art. I love this concept of photos of women with the candy creations for the mermaid parts.

A very close up shot of the preserved rock candy enclosed in the glass table top. I would love a table like this at home.

The gummy bear table close up. Followed by the M&M table. The tables are not very big in size. They are definitely eye catching. I wish I had thought of this idea.

To top things off there is even a Gelato ice cream counter beside the cash register. All the bases have been covered for any kind of candy you could think of .

I prefer visiting when it is off season and not very crowded. This store is special. You have got to see it for yourself and have fun while you are there.

Thank you for reading my post.

Thomasina

A New Day. A Clean Slate. Don't Waste It.

Myrtle Beach    January 2016 with a CanonPowerShot ELPH 170 IS

I love sunrise and sunset at the beach. The symphony of soothing colors playing in harmony on the brightening or fainting sky is truly awe inspiring.

Watching the sun rise over the ocean waves gives me have so much hope and enthusiasm for the fresh new day. At the end of a day at the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean horizon, I feel thankful to have lived another day of life.

Life is too precious to be wasted. Every breathe is a gift. The older I get, the faster time seems to fly by. I appreciate life so much now. Getting through the hard times in life has made me stronger and more aware how precious life is.

My goals are to have a peaceful, creative and productive life. I love encouraging people to be their best and live life to the fullest.

Watching sunrises and sunsets fill me with respect for the Creator and the creation. I hope you will have a wonderful inspiring day today. Go pursue your dreams today. Give yourself permission to live the life you always wanted.

Thank you for reading my post.

Thomasina

My First Tommy Bahama Necklace Purchase and Review

I have walked into the Tommy Bahama store in Crabtree Valley Mall for years wishing I could afford their beautiful beach themed jewelry. Usually it is very much out of my bargain budget of how much I will pay for costume jewelry. The prices can range from $50.00 and up.

In January, I was on a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC and I stopped into the Tangers Outlet that has a Tommy Bahama Outlet store. The outlet store was having a 50% off sale Wow! I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Interesting fact about the regular Tommy Bahama stores: They do NOT do markdowns.


This amazing bib style necklace is a statement piece composed of very shiny gold tone and rhinestone sprinkled sea life pendants. The pendants in the shapes of pieces of coral, shells, round shapes with the imprint of sand (?) and other random faux pearls and plastic beads.

It is a little over 18 inches long stretched out. The center pendant (the shell) is an inch long. The extender is 3 inches long with a crystal bead at the end.  Near the lobster clasp is a tiny tag with the initials TB.

This is a back view of the necklace with the clear faceted plastic bead. Side note: My necklace stand is not covered in lint. It is actually the sun reflecting off the velvet cloth on the stand. So annoying. LOL!

I really love this necklace. I will get a LOT of wear out of it. The quality of the piece is impressive. I don't think the gold tone will faint or turn. The rhinestones have a lot of sparkle and are attached very securely. The pendants have a lot of detail and dimension.

A couple of  close up views of the pendants. It is gorgeous! Definitely a standout piece in my collection.

There are only two downsides to the necklace: it is slightly heavy on the neck after wearing it for a while and the pendant do jingle jangle a bit when you move around.  While this is not very annoying, it is a lesson learned from here out to shake a necklace to hear if it will be noisy and feel how comfortable the weight will be around the neck.

I could not believe I was finally able to buy something from this expensive "resort wear and beach home lifestyle" store. This necklace was in an end of the season markdown at a Tommy Bahama outlet store. You might not find this exact piece but I have a link to the store's website at the beginning of this post.

There is no way I would pay $68.00 for a piece of costume jewelry. I was lucky to get this 50% off plus tax. Yes I think the necklace is worth the sale piece. I love the quality and the design of Tommy Bahama jewelry but I am can find similar pieces Versona.  Tommy Bahama is a bit better quality, designs and materials but the price is not what I am willing to pay.

I love it when I get jewelry bags with the purchase of jewelry. Anything that will help me keep my vast jewelry collection organized is appreciated. It was just a thin cloth drawstring bag.

Finally this is a back view of the necklace. It has a nice good quality gold tone finish.

My inner mermaid was definitely drawn to this beach themed jewelry. I am inspired to see if I could make a necklace like this from pieces I can gather from the beach and craft stores.

I have not only a beautiful statement necklace, I have a source of inspiration.


Please let me know what you think of this necklace.

thomasinawords@gmail.com

@ThomasinaWords - Twitter


 Thank you so much for reading my post.


Thomasina

Peace

 

 

Waves from the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach

 

 

 

The beach has always been a place of peace, relaxation, happiness and mental cleansing in my life. As I drive down to South Carolina, all of my problems fade away to nothing. The constant chatter in my mind is silenced.

 

 

There were many years when I was unable for many reasons to go to the beach and my life suffered because of that. Being near the water (a lake will do in a pinch LOL!)  instantly makes me focus my calm energy and smile. I will never ever take for granted any trip to ocean after so many years of wanting to visit and being unable to.

 

 

It's my "inner mermaid" longing for her ocean home beneath the crashing waves that pulls me towards the coast every chance I get.

 

 

I am sending out this peaceful foamy sunlit wave to you. I want to give to you the same peaceful calm strengthening positive energy I receive every time I stand on the sandy shore.

 

Today is your positive hopeful productive day. Believe in your inner strength. Run towards your goals.

 

 

Peace be with you my friend.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thomasina



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statement Necklace of the Day - Forever 21 Salmon and Rhinestones

Today's Necklace of the Day is the second necklace I got from Forever 21 for the wonderful  sale price of $2.99.

It has salmon color beads surrounded by clear rhinestones in a shiny gold tone setting. It looks like a more expensive piece of jewelry. I think this can be defined as a bib style statement necklace.


The regular price was $17.80(!). Let me be honest, there is NO WAY I would have paid that much for this necklace. I try to pay as little as possible for Forever 21 jewelry because it is usually not the best quality and it is nonreturnable. It is cheap fun fast fashion.

I am impressed with how good this piece looks but I know to be EXTRA careful with Forever 21 jewelry because if it is dropped chances are, it will definitely break.

Here are so nice close up pictures  of the necklace courtesy of my "new" Nikon Coolpix L120 camera. Love this point and shoot camera I found at a local pawn shop. I got a little Canon camera too. I will do a blogpost about the camera very soon.

 

This necklace has a LOT of shine and sparkle. It has a gold tone chain and  the standard lobster clasp. I will definitely get a lot of wear out of this piece. I still cannot believe it was only $2.99. You cannot make this necklace yourself with supplies from a craft store for this amount of money. I was in the right place at the right time to find these two necklaces marked way down in price.

It is totally worth it to frequently browse your favorite stores and find out when they do their regular markdowns and seasonal markdowns. I do not believe in buying anything for regular price if I don't have to.

I don't know if you can find these exact necklaces but you may be able to find something similar in a store near you.

Here is the link to the other $2.99 Forever 21 necklace I bought on the same day.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

Marilyn Monroe Christmas Ornament

 

 

I know Christmas was last month but during the first couple of weeks in January, you can get really good deals on discounted Christmas decorations. Plus it's Marilyn Monroe! LOL!

 

On a beach trip to Myrtle Beach South Carolina, I was browsing the clearance shelf in the Christmas Mouse at Barefoot Landing, and there she was. I was so excited.

 

This is probably the first time I have ever seen a Marilyn ornament like this before. The photo is surrounded by silver  is actually really good clear quality.  It seems to be printed (not glued) onto the center of the ornament.

 

The sides and back of the piece are a very pretty frosted dark pink and red color mixture with two stacked letters" M"in white.  It is topped by a silver shiny mesh bow and string for hanging on the tree.

 

The ornament is a 2012 Official Licensed Product from Museum Masters International. I guess this is not official Estate of Marilyn Monroe merchandise? It was regular priced $11.50 and I got it for $5.00.

 

Christmas in January? I actually enjoy Christmas "stuff"  a lot more when it not the hectic

stressful Christmas season.

 

Here is a link to another Marilyn Monroe post on my blog. Enjoy!

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thomasina

 

Necklace of the Day - Forever 21 White and Gold Statement Necklace

Hello Everyone!

I have missed you all so much. Now that I have wifi at home (Praise God! LOL!), I will be blogging a lot more often.


I walked into Forever 21 and found two statement necklaces on sale for $2.99 each. Keeping check on your favorite stores' clearance racks on a regular basis will totally pay off when you get first dibs on the new markdowns.

This is the necklace composed of white plastic beads set in a goldtone setting and chain with a lobster clasp.

When I first saw this necklace on the sales rack, I immediately thought "That is very sixties inspired" and I did not like it. But since it was marked down from $12.80 to only $2.99, I decided I had to get it and I would make it work.

You never know how something looks until you try it on. I just threw this necklace on with a solid long sleeved top and was instantly amazed by how amazing it looked. It was a perfect accent of white that brightened up the dark color of the top.

This piece is totally worth $2.99 but I would never pay $12.80 for this necklace. I once paid regular price for a Forever 21 necklace but regretted that when I dropped the necklace and the pendant pieces broke off. Thank goodness for Gorilla glue. LOL!

I will be blogging about the other necklace I was lucky to get on the same day. It is my favorite of the two statement necklaces.


Thank you so much for reading. I missed writing blogs so much. I have new cameras so my pictures should be a lot better quality.


I am so excited about my plans for my blog.


I will be talking to you again soon.


Thomasina

Happy New Year! 2016 is going to be Amazing!

Happy 2016 Everyone!

I saw this T shirt in Express today when I was in Raleigh, NC. These simple words are so true for my life. Things may look bad or sad but never give up on reaching your goals and dreams. 

In 2015, I was hugely blessed to finally reach certain goals that took many months or even years to come to reality. 

Lesson learned: Those sad dark depressing times WILL pass. Do NOT ever give up on reaching positive meaningful goals in your life. 

Make it happen! Keep encouraging yourself. Surround yourself with positive people. Get the help you need. Do let fear stop you from trying. Take it one step  at a time.

Believe in good things coming into your life. Life will definitely have difficult moments but keep moving forward. I am so much more stronger having gone through the tough times. 

Take Care and Bless You!

Thank you for reading.

Thomasina 

Holiday Wishes and Many Blessings

Myrtle Beach South Carolina - Christmas at the beach is my idea of heaven.

 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a

Happy Amazing New Year!

 

 

 

I look forward to posting many more blogs in the upcoming year. Thank you to everyone that has ever stopped by and read my little blog.

 

 

Take Care and Have a safe happy holiday!

 

 

Love you!

 

Thomasina 

Statement Necklace of the Day - Burnished Silver and Crystals

 

If you have been reading my blog for a well, you know I love statement necklaces. This Charlotte Russe  piece was one of their buy two necklaces for $10 deals.

 

This necklace has a lot going on: mesh metal, rhinestones, and fringe. Even with all of those elements, this accessory is still "simple" in design because of it's neutral burnished silver color.

 

When I wear it, it hangs down to about the middle of my chest but it thankfully is not very heavy. My favorite way to wear this is with a casual white T-shirt.

 

  

 

When I first saw this on the display rack, I honestly did not know if I would like it. After I tried it on (well held it up to me in front of a mirror) I decided I could give it a try especially because of the excellent $5 price.

 

 

Here is another post  I wrote about a statement necklace.

 

Thank you for reading my post!

 

More blogs with pictures from my new cameras to come.

 

Take Care!

 

Thomasina