National news crews were very good at bringing the rest of the country (if not, the world) to our doorsteps, when broadcasting heart-breaking images of devistation along our ENTIRE Jersey shoreline (all 130 miles of it) in an effort to record the storm that changed the topography of our state, forever....aaaaand then they left.

We spent many staycation afternoons hanging out in Belford, NJ:  I taught my kids how to fish at the pier here.

It's been 5 months since Hurricane Sandy made landfall here in New Jersey (I blogged about our experience, once we got power back) so, some folks may be growing tired or even a little weary of hearing yet another #Sandy story.

The beach and the pier today, as well as many of the businesses here in the small fishing town of Belford, gone.

I'm going to take this moment to share yet ANOTHER story with you, but it's a good one:  the Jersey shore is OPEN!!!

My husband, Garth (not his real name) is a member of the NJ Chamber of Commerce (Northern Monmouth County...represent!) and he and his collegues have organized Shop our Shores: the BIGGEST shop local movement EVER to help businesses recover from Hurricane Sandy (the witch!) and it's happening this weekend!

So, what does that mean to those of you who do not live in Jersey?!?

Well, there's an awesome list of local shops participating in Shop Our Shores and many of these small business owner's have links to their store's website, as well.

So, grab yourself a beverage or a light snack (or both) and help support our recovery efforts here in New Jersey; with a little virtual window shopping, perhaps?

We may be down a couple miles of coastline, but don't count us out when planning your spring and summer vacations...either :)

Oh...and All the rest of the stuff you may or may not have heard from OTHER folks about Jersey...FUHGHETABOUTIT!...they wish their armpits looked so good.

Come on ova, we'd love to have yuhs!

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