One More Detour on the Writing Road

Vacation day. Why am I busier on vacation days than on "work" days.

( dogs and pots and pans and beer )

Went to sleep around 1am. Up at 7am. Fed pups. Put on load of laundry. Shoved veggies in the oven for roasting--beets first, then butternut squash. The plan is to roast a mess o' veg on the weekend and use it throughout the week. This past week, the choices were broccoli and brussels sprouts--OK, say what you will, I *like* sprouts, especially roasted. This week, as I said, beets and squash. Squash is just finishing up now. Peeled the beets and tossed them with a little salt, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. It's the first time I've roasted fresh beets--I usually get them canned. But these came out good, so I think I will be buying fresh beets from now on.

I don't know where the week went. I needed to return a jacket to Coldwater Creek, and decided to turn it in at the local outlet in order to save the $6.95 return shipping fee.

You know where this is going.

Well, truth be told, I knew where it would go as well. I like CC's shirts, and wound up buying two for work. No iron, one in a lovely dark amethyst and the other what I can only describe as dark French blue. Add to that a dark green scarf and a dark green sweatshirt jacket, and that was that.

Then I made the mistake of dropping by the Coach outlet. Most of the bags they sell are the trendy ones with the busy designs and weird colors. I tend to stick with the basics when it comes to pricier bags, boring as it is. Black or brown, or a mix of the two if it's available. So. I would up getting a chestnut brown "business tote," essentially a large bag with adjustable straps that I can pull over the shoulder even if I'm wearing a coat. Big enough for the iPad and accessories. Big enough for the laptop, even though the weight might not be good for the bag. 66% off retail for something I will be able to use for the rest of my life--I still have my first Coach handbag, a black "legacy" shoulder bag, which I bought almost 30 years ago. If I get 30 years' use out of this one, we'll both be doing well.

Oh well. Squash is out of the oven. Work done--time to get to work.

Back home from seeing Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. Not a particularly coherent storyline, but I think the director et al did their best. Things moved along better than they did in the book, and much of the repetition was cut. Events happened that I didn't remember reading, but I honestly don't remember much of that book. Except for the repetition. And the fact that waaay too much happened offstage.

That said, I liked the movie and will buy the DVD when it comes out.

In between a fast food dinner (at Chipotle, which for all their bragging of their fresh ingredients is highly overrated) and DH, friend and I went to TJ Maxx. I hadn't expected to buy anything, but I found a black/brown handbag--I liked mixed black/brown just as I like mixed metal jewelry--some orange-scented soap for the bathroom, a CLEAN Winter perfume/body butter gift set that was about 1/3 the advertised price, and a hanger thingie with rows of tiny pockets for sorting jewelry. Maybe in the spring, I will have time to once and for all sort the earrings I've collected over the years.

Home now. Fresh coffee's been brewed. Pups are sleeping. Errands tomorrow, after which I will hunker down as we will be hit with weather, rain followed by a drop in temps and snow. Several inches possible. Then the cold settles in, with below zero temps possible at night. Winter's arrived, I guess.

And the dealers room wasn't even open yet.

( Read more... )

I figured I would allow myself one piece of jewelry. The thing is, I learned this morning that Laurie Edison is in the dealers room. I may need to stay out of the dealers room.

So two months ago, I ordered a Cuisinart slow cooker from ikitchen.com. I knew they were slow. I had already cancelled one order from them because a month had passed with no delivery--come to think, it was another slow cooker. But they answered emails, their prices were lower than average, and the model I first ordered was very popular and thus likely to be OOS. So I gave them another chance, and placed another order a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.

Two months later, I finally gave up and cancelled it. I did receive part of the order a couple of days before Christmas, but no slow cooker. Finally, after a couple of more rounds of emailing, I gave up. Still bound and determined to shop online, I ordered this slow cooker from Overstock.com. It's a little bigger than I'd like, but it's attractive and programmable and shipping was only $1. Yes, I did find this same crockpot for $35 elsewhere, but shipping was $20. Funny how those low low prices can be wiped out by the shipping charges.

But after all this, I'm afraid ikitchen.com has lost a customer. Yes, they state on their website that products can take a while to arrive, but two months for a crockpot is a little ridiculous.

Shoes, in this case. My first pair of Earth shoes, and my, are they comfy.

I brought brown pants, but since I packed l/i/k/e/a/t/w/i/t at the last minute, I didn't bring shoes that matched. I was concerned about my arch, which is feeling better and which I don't want to feel worse, so I packed sneakers and other ultra comfy shoes. Being one who trends toward the black/grey/cool end of the spectrum, I didn't pack any brown shoes even though. Brown pants.

So as soon as I settled in the room, I hiked to the show store closest the hotel. I didn't pick out this style right away, but they didn't have the one I wanted in my size. Shoe guy suggested the Solar. I put them on, and my, are they comfy. Arch feels great. They look nice, too, but. No pain.

I'm such an old biddy. It's all about the arches.