My Quiet Weekend

I escaped for a 2-day "me" weekend sans family. It was a much needed getaway for me. The summer, transition to Kindergarten, increased work demands, increased family events, and Kellys lack of sleeping through the night have taken a toll.

I head up to Portsmouth, NH at around 8am on Saturday with frowny faces from the kids. I started the day at the Friendly Toast for breakfast. I chose the "Guy Scramble" which was eggs scrambled with avocado, black beans, and cheddar. The home fries were sliced thin and well-seasoned and the toast was a good 1-1 1/2 inches thick homemade wheat. I sat quietly, drank coffee, read my book and cruised my iPhone for a good hour plus. Heaven.

I then strolled through town browsing, shopping, enjoying the beautiful Fall New England sunshine and crisp air. I got a few things at Second Time Around, this high-end consignment shop that has locations in the Boston area also. I've needed pants desperately for the last few months so it was great to find a pair there for $20. Stationary store, funky toy stores, insanely cool kitchen stores...ending up at the Portsmouth Brewery. I enjoyed a beer and some chowder while waiting for my friend to meet me and join me for the rest of the day and overnight.

Great girlfriend time. I see my friends often, but almost always with kids. I forget how mentally rejuvenating it is to get a few solid hours catching up with friends. You don't realize how much you miss that until you haven't had it for awhile. We changed for dinner and had a nice meal out...I had duck (which I always order if it's on a menu and I'm not with Joe since he doesn't like it and we usually like to share/taste each others meals) and she had lamb.

We stayed at the Portsmouth Inn and Spa and enjoyed a nice communal breakfast with 2 other families before she left and I head to the spa for a massage. Fantastic massage and then I head over to Kittery, Maine to do some Outlet shopping, mostly for myself.

I'm happy to report that I've dropped a size and that hasn't happened since before I got married probably, over 7 years ago. The bad news is that I didn't do it in a careful and healthy manner...who the hell has time to eat with 3 kids????? Either way, it is what it is and it's a nice problem to have finally. I'm tired of cinching my pants with belts pulled to the last hole and looking like a hobo. I got 4 pairs of pants across the consignment shop, Banana, and Ann Taylor. I got a gorgeous silk red top for Joe's work Xmas dinner which I'm pumped to wear and an outfit for my family Xmas. I finally got some much needed black dress pumps (I've been wearing strappy year round b/c they are my only black heels!) and everyday brown low boots. Of course I got a few things for the kids. I ended my day with a Fried Clam Roll at Bob's Clam Hut (heaven...wolfed down in about 5 minutes, I might add).

Dance Season Craze

I brought Shelagh to a dance clothes/shoe store in a town near us. I shit you not, there was a multi-hour wait to TRY SHOES ON. Everyone must have waited until the last minute to buy shoes and all the dance schools must be starting this week. I took a number (seriously) and went to the farm to get the CSA. When I came back, they had gotten through 12 people and were still 31 people away from me. Unreal. Obviously I will not be waiting until the last minute next time. In fact, I will put it on my calendar to do next June.

We browsed a bit before we bailed. They had a million different kinds of leotards - a rainbow wall of them plus the ones with soft tutus, sparkles, flowers, plush, etc. They had adorable skirts and sweaters. Nothing was less than $25. A small kids short sleeved plain leotard was $28. Can you believe that????

Out of My Element

I went to Bloomingdales today and WOW - what a different slice of life. I wasn't close to dressed enough for the glamour that was all around me (note sarcasm). Seriously though, I left my Gucci at home and was a fish out of water in there. It's a new-ish store and it is unreal shiny. I walked in through cosmetics - scary ladies in there; along a wall of Chanel; past a frightening shoe department - several fancy boys with moustachioed smirks; and through some brand names I thought only celebrities wore.

I had to return a gift that Kelly got and DAMN there was some beautiful way-too-fancy-for-me stuff. I had fun. For 3 outfits that were too small, I got 3 more outfits off the 50% rack for next summer - brands I would never normally pay top dollar for were totally manageable marked down twice. Heaven.

Score @ Macys 1 Day Sale!

I've been coveting a Le Creuset for quite some time now, but there was NO WAY I'd spend $250+ on the size I wanted (6 Qt or larger). I went to Macys today to find a Martha Stewart Salad Food Storage thingy (holds 1 salad + dressing in 1 container), which of course is still sold out. On the clearance rack was a Martha Stewart 7 Qt Round Cast Iron/Enamel braising pot on sale from $140 down to $35. I almost peed my pants! But, instead, I just bought it and despite the fact that I wanted oval and that it's electric green, I'm thrilled at my awesome deal today!

Old Lady Shoes

Yesterday, while getting ready for work, I put on a lightweight pair of corduroys that I had from Babystyle...really soft and a giving waistband without the big preggo belly cover. I realize that I have no "everyday" black shoes. For the summer I wore just flip flops, for the most part. So, I wear sandals with my corduroys and decide to hit DSW during lunch.

I approach DSW with warp speed, skipping the aisles of pumps and dress shoes (who wears those?) and going right to flats, clunky shoes, clogs, non-athletic sneakers, etc. I know what I want so I skim really quickly and start to see a pattern between the shoes I stop to look at...Aerosoles, Clarks, Hush Puppies, Naturalizer...Holy Crap! The only shoes I'm liking these days are all old lady shoes!! I ended up with good old cheap MUDD brand for $29. But, seriously, where did my funky and fancier side go who loved Steve Maddens with huge block heels and Nine West dressier shoes. Who the hell knows.

Sturbridge Girl Time

I met my cousin in Sturbridge, MA yesterday for lunch and hang out time. She lives in CT and this was the mid-point. We stumbled across this beautiful store filled with homemade jewelry, house accessories, bags, and other miscellaneous items. We spent a good hour and a half in there browsing, buying, talking...it was really great. The jewelry was so pretty and unique and not expensive at all. I was thankful I hadn't splurged at any of those Lia Sophia parties people have been having lately. I got a green, bronze, antiquey necklace and earring set and a pretty multi-color beaded necklace and bracelet set with lots of browns and pinks. I got a super cute silver necklace with a pink butterfly for Shelaghs 4th bday in May and a mothers day gift for my mother-in-law too. I also stumbled upon a really lovely beaded hanging thing that had the exact colors of my living room, so I bought that too with a soft beige wall bracket to hang it from...everything was on sale too! The store is called Sadie Greens and they do sell stuff online apparantly. I'll definintely be back there for more if I need anything.

My cousin and I had a nice 2 hour lunch afterwards just talking and catching up. It's nice to have the one-on-one time outside of our big family gatherings where we can just talk and get to know each other more as adults. I think and hope we'll do it again soon both with and without the kids. I relaxed and laughed listening to Howard Stern for the hour long trip there and back. It was a sunny crisp day out. The kids got some alone time with Joe before he heads out on his annual ski trip. It was a relaxing and nice slow day all around.

Why on Earth are Stride Rite shoes $48?

Am I a huge sucker or are these shoes actually better orthopedically and therefore warrant the extra cost? Somehow Target is getting the same job done for $12.99. Rory did a great job getting a shot at his 2-yr checkup today so I thought I'd reward him by making him go shoe shopping. Everyone was having sales today so I did get Stride Rites for him (No, Joe, I did not spend $48). Of course the ones I liked were not on sale, but I went for the ones I didn't like as much b/c it's ridiculous to pay full price in there on principal.

I love getting great deals for the next years clothes. A couple of times I haven't shopped ahead for one of the kids and it sucks to have to buy a whole wardrobe when they first come out for a season. Gymboree had 60% off today on some stuff. Let me just say that I have a Love/Hate thing with Gymboree. Some of the clothes are way too cutesy with all those hearts and little horses and balloons and crap (I'm not a fan of characters or animals on clothes despite my daughters current infatuation with all things Princess right now). But, sometimes they have cute striped dresses or boy rugby shirts. I refuse to pay full price in there also...you're looking at $75-100 for an outfit. But, the sales can be very rewarding. I got a couple of things for next year for both kids, nothing over $10, including an awesome rugby shirt for Rory which Joe will love.

By this point, Rory was melting down so I had to forego the 9.99 and under sale at Childrens Place across the way which was hard to do. I was tempted to tough it out and risk the full-out tantrum even though it was lunchtime, but it takes so much to make Rory grumpy and he already was...that would be really mean. He turned to me by then and said "Mommy, I tired" and put his head down on my leg...so damn cute.