A weekend getaway...
We headed to St. Louis this past weekend, to take in a St. Louis Cardinals game (they won, I was shocked) and just toodle around as we visited my sister. She'd been unable to come down here as she usually does in the spring because we've had so much rain there was always a danger the main highway that connects our area with hers could have shut down and left her to drive hours out of her way to get back home. We decided that it wasn't worth the risk.
It was too hot and sticky to do anything as elaborate as visiting the big zoo or botanical gardens--we'll save that for a fall or spring trip--but we went to several different shops on Saturday afternoon, plus had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, so now we have all kinds of yummy leftovers to eat throughout this week. Hubby has long had a thing for really nice bath towels--it's a funny little quirk of his that I think is adorable. Our towels are all serviceable enough even after 30-some years (I don't give a fig about fancy towels and ours may look meh but they still do the job and that's all I care about). He finds this unacceptable, however, and in true hubby fashion, he has been reading reviews to seek out the best bath towels. He narrowed it down to some at Pottery Barn, a store that's lovely but far too pricey for me. So we sought out the Pottery Barn, which in St Louis is in the "posh" mall that has stores like Neiman-Marcus that carry high-end brands like Christian Louboutin shoes (those ultra high heels with the red soles that all the starlets seem required to wear). I used to be mildly interested in how the other half lives, way back when I lived in St Louis as a teen but these days I don't give a fig, but it was interesting to see shoes like that "in person." Dink has never been to a high-end mall--only the outlet versions of sort-of-high-end places, so it was fun to see her reaction, which was largely "deer in the headlights" combined with "they looked at me like I was going to rob the place"... which is exactly how I remembered feeling at her age when I dared venture to that particular mall.
Anyway, back to the Saga of the Bath Towels.... hubby bought one bath towel to try, and if it's to his liking, he'll buy more. This is a case of "you're the one that makes the money, so I won't argue", but inside I'm kinda O.O at the thought of making investments in... bath towels. But he rarely indulges in luxury items for himself and works very hard, so if a bath towel makes him happy, I'm happy. He could, after all, be out looking at Lamborghini's.
A couple pics from the alternative-to-the-zoo, which was a small park dedicated to farm animals, one I remember going to many times as a small child:
https://instagram.com/p/Bz6A0rkDj6f
And another park in my same childhood neighborhood, overlooking the Mississippi River:
https://instagram.com/p/Bz6AcYDjNHn
It was a nice trip full of small pleasures. I like those kinds.
This week may be exciting: the Great Puppy Hunt begins with seeing a lady about a Havanese puppy that looks remarkably like our sweet Domino tomorrow night. I'll let you know how that goes! I'll be spending today and tomorrow puppy-proofing and picking up the odds and ends that we need for having a puppy join the household (puppy food, bedding, toys). I'm excited (and a wee bit nervous. Been 10 years since I had a puppy and I'm sure I'm underestimating the chaos, however joyful, one brings to the house)!
It was too hot and sticky to do anything as elaborate as visiting the big zoo or botanical gardens--we'll save that for a fall or spring trip--but we went to several different shops on Saturday afternoon, plus had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, so now we have all kinds of yummy leftovers to eat throughout this week. Hubby has long had a thing for really nice bath towels--it's a funny little quirk of his that I think is adorable. Our towels are all serviceable enough even after 30-some years (I don't give a fig about fancy towels and ours may look meh but they still do the job and that's all I care about). He finds this unacceptable, however, and in true hubby fashion, he has been reading reviews to seek out the best bath towels. He narrowed it down to some at Pottery Barn, a store that's lovely but far too pricey for me. So we sought out the Pottery Barn, which in St Louis is in the "posh" mall that has stores like Neiman-Marcus that carry high-end brands like Christian Louboutin shoes (those ultra high heels with the red soles that all the starlets seem required to wear). I used to be mildly interested in how the other half lives, way back when I lived in St Louis as a teen but these days I don't give a fig, but it was interesting to see shoes like that "in person." Dink has never been to a high-end mall--only the outlet versions of sort-of-high-end places, so it was fun to see her reaction, which was largely "deer in the headlights" combined with "they looked at me like I was going to rob the place"... which is exactly how I remembered feeling at her age when I dared venture to that particular mall.
Anyway, back to the Saga of the Bath Towels.... hubby bought one bath towel to try, and if it's to his liking, he'll buy more. This is a case of "you're the one that makes the money, so I won't argue", but inside I'm kinda O.O at the thought of making investments in... bath towels. But he rarely indulges in luxury items for himself and works very hard, so if a bath towel makes him happy, I'm happy. He could, after all, be out looking at Lamborghini's.
A couple pics from the alternative-to-the-zoo, which was a small park dedicated to farm animals, one I remember going to many times as a small child:
https://instagram.com/p/Bz6A0rkDj6f
And another park in my same childhood neighborhood, overlooking the Mississippi River:
https://instagram.com/p/Bz6AcYDjNHn
It was a nice trip full of small pleasures. I like those kinds.
This week may be exciting: the Great Puppy Hunt begins with seeing a lady about a Havanese puppy that looks remarkably like our sweet Domino tomorrow night. I'll let you know how that goes! I'll be spending today and tomorrow puppy-proofing and picking up the odds and ends that we need for having a puppy join the household (puppy food, bedding, toys). I'm excited (and a wee bit nervous. Been 10 years since I had a puppy and I'm sure I'm underestimating the chaos, however joyful, one brings to the house)!