We will always have Paris!

I needed a coat. Silly, silly me, needing a coat in MAY. Dug around the tank tops, shorts and flip flops before finally asking where the coats might be.

This whole seasons thing that the stores have going on really cracks me up. Here in Seattle it is cold. Cold and Rainy. Cold and Rainy and Windy. I don't see anyone in shorts, except for joggers and they don't count. I don't see anyone in flip flops or tank tops. I see sweatshirts, snow boots, mittens, hats, basically every cold weather item is still being worn here. Not according to the mall. It is summer people! Get on your shorts and stop being such cry babies about the weather.

Me needing a coat was met with blank stares and disbelief. What a stupid planner I was to actual want to buy a coat in May. The salesperson pulled out the few they had in stock and handed them to me. I obediently trotted off to the dressing room. Good Lord, it was like I had put on a pup tent. Could these coats have been any bigger? The neck was nice and fitted but other than that I could have 4 other people in here with me. Hell, break out the hibachi and call it a party! We are all nicely covered from the weather.

I asked for something a little more fitted. More of the single family home as opposed to the condo building. Lovely sales girl helper brought in a few more choices. Something I was pretty sure was a rug with a rip in it for your head. Something with fringe. Some plaid items, just to round out the living hell shopping experience I was on. And a black coat.

Plain and black. With one button. Simple. I never in a million years would have picked this up to try on. It was my last option before buying the condo coat, so I put it on. It was gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! I felt like Audrey Hepburn. I twirled around and it was just as awesome from the back as from the front. The one button was perfect. It was fitted in the right areas and flowed beautifully. It had 3/4 sleeves and two lovely pockets. I felt like immediately taking off for Paris and meeting some debonair french man. I wouldn't know what he was saying, he wouldn't know what I was saying but we would both be so in love with the pretty coat that we would fall instantly in love, for two days and then have a sad scene in the airport. I would pantomime that I couldn't stay, he would pantomime his heart breaking and I would dash up the runway to make my flight, the lovely black coat flowing behind me, I would turn and say "We shall always have Paris and a little black coat."

The scenario would all come true with the little black, perfect, wonderful coat. I took it off and flipped over the price tag.

$1200.00! The scenario burst, the beautiful french man turned out to be a gnome, my flight was delayed, and I was hung up in the security checkpoint. Poof! Gone.

I looked at the condo coat. I looked at the GiGi coat (I had named it that in honor of Paris). I stared at the price tag. Could I get my kidney out and sell it right from the dressing room? Than I thought, what if I do something truly evil, diabolical even. Buy it, wear it, return it. I see this done on movies and TV shows. Is it wrong? I bought the coat. I'm going to take a chance on having bad karma. I'm going to wear it and return it.

If the Paris dream comes true though, all bets are off about returning it.

We take to the big city

Greetings from another day of vacation. Today we headed into Portland for a day of shopping fun.

So yesterday the power went out about 27 times. Came back on 26 times. We went to dinner. The restaurant was opened and had food. Came back home and called the power company. The power company came out in under 10 minutes. In Seattle no one comes out in 10 minutes, not even the police.

We had half of our power on and half off. The weirdest thing I have ever seen. It wasn't like half the house was on and half was off. It was two lights in the kitchen were off, everything else on. The kids room off, his stairs on. The living room one light on and everything else off. Internet on! Entire upstairs floor off. Entire basement on. We have some screwy wiring in this house, I'm guessin.

The repairman got in his power bucket, shot up to the power line and fixed it. Amazing! The repairman liked me. Said I was hot! I'm hoping that bodes well for my power outages in the future. I know next week he is coming and putting up some new power thingies that will help avoid power outages. They could have done it today, but he didn't want to inconvenience me with stoppage of power. I could grow to love this town! Seriously.

But I needed a big city fix. I wanted books. And shorts. And food. So we headed off this morning on a road trip. I drove. The kid talked and talked and talked and talked. Hours and hours of talking. Finally we arrived and parked. The kid talked. I walked faster. The kid talked. I think my ears started to bleed. The bookstore came into view. I entered, quickly. Hid in the peace and quiet of the decorating section.

The kid found me. I tried to lose him in the mystery section but he was stuck like glue to me. Glue that can talk. We left.

Entered the clothing store. Bought clothes. More him than me. I bought shorts and it is now raining. Always a dollar short and a day late, that is my motto.

Had lunch.

Finished the day by grocery shopping. Left Portland. Let the kid help me navigate back to the freeway. He insisted we use the navigation system in the car. We got on the freeway going the wrong way. Got off the freeway. Got on another freeway. Found the correct freeway, no thanks to either the kid or the navigation system. Had to get off the freeway because the kid wanted his rice krispy treat.

The kid slept all the way home. It was very, very quiet. My ears have healed. I am tired. Happy, but tired.

It was a good day.

Collectible Friday - Glass Coasters

So for Collectible Friday, since I am on vacation in Oregon, I am doing small glass coasters.

Today after a delicious breakfast at the Lazy Susan Cafe in Cannon Beach and a trip to the loveliest of bookstores, I found a new antique store. It was right up my alley. All sorts of miscellaneous baubles laid out in the most appealing way. Sometimes antique stores are so stuffy that I feel like a bull in a china shop. This shop had a nice feeling to it. I bought a cute needlepoint tray that featured Victorian Homes and will be perfect for holding my dangling bracelets.

I also bought these glass coasters.I have more of these at the other house and I use them all the time. These ones feature, I think, different people feeling the effects of drinking. And a burly bartender mixing a martini. Showoff!Some of the scenes don't make sense to me but it is 3:00 and I am sober. I will look later on tonight and see if they become crystal clear. Kind of like wine goggles!

It is possible that this was a made up set. The two women, 1 is a ballerina which seems to me to have nothing to do with drinking and the other is in a risque lace dress, again not clear on the drinking aspects of a lace dress. Then we have some sort of carnival mirror fellow, he has very, very short legs, a weird looking hand and is wearing a hat with a bow on it. Who or what he is, again lost on me.
The last four are pretty clear that they are part of the same set. We have the burly bartender, a dapper gentlemen holding a martini, two tipsy dapper gentlemen leaning against a lamp post and singing and last a portly man in his pj's holding his head.
The decals are all placed on the back so the moisture of the drink won't make them come off. They are cute and if you need a coaster, these will do nicely. They are holding my GIANT iced latte right this minute and doing a fine job.

These were four dollars and it was money well spent.

Fashion Plate

Since I have become thinner, I find I love fashion magazines. When I was heavy, I just bought the first thing I saw in the largest size they had. In a multitude of colors and called it a day.

I have never really enjoyed clothes shopping. In high school, because I was the world's biggest dork, I bought 3 pairs of pants (all the same) 3 shirts (all the same) 2 sweat shirts (all the same) some socks (all the same) and a pair of shoes. I could do all my school clothes shopping before the rest of the family even entered the store. I know, it is a gift. Then I would find the book aisle and promptly sit down and read. Amazing that I got married at all.

It would drive my mother absolutely insane. I didn't care. Then I would go to school and look like some sort of nut job who only owned one outfit. I'm sure the entire school body thought I wore the same clothes day in and day out. Because, seriously, there was no difference. A fashion plate I wasn't

It never really changed. Clothes didn't matter that much and I could hardly be bothered to even replace items when they wore out. Now I'm making up for lost time.

I love shopping. I go at least once a week, oh, I hardly buy anything but I love to look. I buy all the magazines and drool over the designer clothes. Some of these outfits are seriously strange and I really think normal day to day people couldn't wear them, but that doesn't stop me from imagining the dress in my closet.

Shoes, dresses, jeans, purses, I just love it all. It is like I am making up for lost time. I have fashion blogs that I read. Vogue and Harper's Bazaar live by my bed. I am ripping out subscription cards right and left. I keep a stack of post it notes on every flat surface in case I need to flag something.

And yet, the geeky girl is still here. I never pronounce the designers name right, which delights my kid to no end. I make fun of the little tiny models and there way over the top hair do's. I laugh at the interviews of which high heels would go with which itty bitty black dress and whether they are a supper heel or a nightclub heel.

But I won't be stopping anytime soon. It is an addiction and one that I happen to do well. Plus, it carries no hangover or weight gain.