(no subject)
Back at work (*sob*) after a wonderful four-day weekend with my family.
We hosted Thanksgiving, as usual, and between my parents and myself, we put up a pretty good spread. The unfortunate part is that I work for a day and half for about three and a half hours' worth of entertaining. Half of my guests leave early for celebrations at another household, and the other half just don't stick around.
When I was growing up, Thanksgiving started in the early afternoon and continued late into the evening. I miss that, although I realize much of it was borne of the fact that we lived overseas and everyone was seeking a replacement for the family celebrations of home. Still, I imagine that other families have daylong affairs, so I'm not sure why we don't.
On Friday, I went shopping. Yes, shopping. I've always sworn off Black Friday shopping, but this Friday morning saw me journeying with my mother to a carpet center where we met the contractor who's going to be fixing the water damage in Samuel's room. I didn't count that as shopping, especially since we were the only people in the closed-to-the-public warehouse. On the way home, though, mom suggested we go ahead and visit the mall. My Christmas gift this year was to be a new suit and, mom figured, we so rarely have the opportunity to be out together and kid-free. We're also very good at shopping by surgical strike, so we reasoned that any mobs would be easily navigated.
We were right. With a couple of side-jaunts, mom and I successfully completed our mission, and then some. We discovered Soma, a Chico's offshoot and beautiful alternative to Victoria's Secret. They have a camisole bra and a 10-way sweater wrap that I covet. We took notes, and moved on toward Ann Taylor. I now have a beautiful suit (thanks mom and dad!) and treated myself to a new pair of shoes, a sweater that will be perfect for work, and a lovely top, all thanks to Ann Taylor's 40% off sale. On our way out, we dove into Macy's so I could buy a much-needed full slip and trouser slip, and then headed up one more level to peek at the Tools of The Trade cookware.
Jeff and I have been fed up with our non-stick cookware for a couple of years now, worrying about what sort of chemical gunk is leaching from the coating into our food. We'd determined that our Christmas present to ourselves this year would be a new set of pots and pans. My parents have used and loved their Tools of the Trade for more than 20 years, and I was curious to see what was available.
Oh my goodness! Macy's was selling their Tools of the Trade for almost 50% off! And even at full price, the brand is far more affordable than the other top brands. The sets we had been looking at were running around $400, and the additional pieces were all $100 or more. The Tools set was only $129, and the additional pieces (some in sets of two) were all under $50 - most of them under $30. I squealed with joy at the thought of how much more palatable this major purchase had just become.
So a Black Friday trip to choose carpet turned into a major coup of shopping success.
Open our kitchen cabinets and they *gleam* with stainless steal beauty. The dinged and scratched coated cookware is huddled in a corner, awaiting an uncertain fate.
Perhaps I gush a bit much, but maybe I needed the retail therapy.
We invited my parents upstairs for a fondue dinner on Saturday night, with the Ramey family traditional beef fondue and a killer cheese fondue. SO. YUMMY.
Sunday was spent in quieter family pursuits. Dixon and I hung out at home and I knitted while Jeff and Samuel went to visit my MIL and FIL.
Dixon's sweater is a little more than half-way finished, and my fingers are itching to get back to it. Dang job is getting in the way of my domesticity.
So that's my brain-dump. Work is extraordinarily busy; my coworker and I both feel that we have two full-time jobs each. I just hope that all this work pays off.
And with that, I leave you with a photographic collection from the holiday.
We hosted Thanksgiving, as usual, and between my parents and myself, we put up a pretty good spread. The unfortunate part is that I work for a day and half for about three and a half hours' worth of entertaining. Half of my guests leave early for celebrations at another household, and the other half just don't stick around.
When I was growing up, Thanksgiving started in the early afternoon and continued late into the evening. I miss that, although I realize much of it was borne of the fact that we lived overseas and everyone was seeking a replacement for the family celebrations of home. Still, I imagine that other families have daylong affairs, so I'm not sure why we don't.
On Friday, I went shopping. Yes, shopping. I've always sworn off Black Friday shopping, but this Friday morning saw me journeying with my mother to a carpet center where we met the contractor who's going to be fixing the water damage in Samuel's room. I didn't count that as shopping, especially since we were the only people in the closed-to-the-public warehouse. On the way home, though, mom suggested we go ahead and visit the mall. My Christmas gift this year was to be a new suit and, mom figured, we so rarely have the opportunity to be out together and kid-free. We're also very good at shopping by surgical strike, so we reasoned that any mobs would be easily navigated.
We were right. With a couple of side-jaunts, mom and I successfully completed our mission, and then some. We discovered Soma, a Chico's offshoot and beautiful alternative to Victoria's Secret. They have a camisole bra and a 10-way sweater wrap that I covet. We took notes, and moved on toward Ann Taylor. I now have a beautiful suit (thanks mom and dad!) and treated myself to a new pair of shoes, a sweater that will be perfect for work, and a lovely top, all thanks to Ann Taylor's 40% off sale. On our way out, we dove into Macy's so I could buy a much-needed full slip and trouser slip, and then headed up one more level to peek at the Tools of The Trade cookware.
Jeff and I have been fed up with our non-stick cookware for a couple of years now, worrying about what sort of chemical gunk is leaching from the coating into our food. We'd determined that our Christmas present to ourselves this year would be a new set of pots and pans. My parents have used and loved their Tools of the Trade for more than 20 years, and I was curious to see what was available.
Oh my goodness! Macy's was selling their Tools of the Trade for almost 50% off! And even at full price, the brand is far more affordable than the other top brands. The sets we had been looking at were running around $400, and the additional pieces were all $100 or more. The Tools set was only $129, and the additional pieces (some in sets of two) were all under $50 - most of them under $30. I squealed with joy at the thought of how much more palatable this major purchase had just become.
So a Black Friday trip to choose carpet turned into a major coup of shopping success.
Open our kitchen cabinets and they *gleam* with stainless steal beauty. The dinged and scratched coated cookware is huddled in a corner, awaiting an uncertain fate.
Perhaps I gush a bit much, but maybe I needed the retail therapy.
We invited my parents upstairs for a fondue dinner on Saturday night, with the Ramey family traditional beef fondue and a killer cheese fondue. SO. YUMMY.
Sunday was spent in quieter family pursuits. Dixon and I hung out at home and I knitted while Jeff and Samuel went to visit my MIL and FIL.
Dixon's sweater is a little more than half-way finished, and my fingers are itching to get back to it. Dang job is getting in the way of my domesticity.
So that's my brain-dump. Work is extraordinarily busy; my coworker and I both feel that we have two full-time jobs each. I just hope that all this work pays off.
And with that, I leave you with a photographic collection from the holiday.