Random Thoughts...

We just finished watching "The Road". Okay, totally depressing. But I have to say, much better than 2012. That being said, we are now watching Casino Royale. Obviously, much better than both The Road and 2012, despite the fact that its on USA, with commercials. (Ugh).

Next? Next is an observation: Why is it that in order to purchase all of the various food items I need for the fam for a week I have to visit at least two (but usually three) different grocery stores? I can understand why I might need to go to both Wegmans and Whole Foods (since generally, Whole Foods has fresher meats/produce and they don't carry normal things like soda and oreos.... though they do have "Newman-O's"). But really, should I also have to throw in Shop-Rite or Stop n'Shop (or Target) into the mix? Why is it that Wegman's can't seem to carry Yellow Rice??? Or Newman's Own Lemonade/Iced Tea? Let's not even get started on the Newman's Own frozen pizzas. Those only seem to be at Target and Stop n'Shop. Stop n'Shop and Shop Rite are also home to the Stella D'Oro 100 calorie pack chocolate "S" cookies that are favorites of the Husband and Baby. Then there's Rye Bread by "The Baker". Again-- only Stop n'Shop... oddly, Whole Foods carries other breads by "The Baker", but not Rye bread. Aqua Panna in plastic bottles? Stop n'Shop. Unfortunately, Stop n'Shop (while convienently located near our house) is generally a scary shopping experience with 9 items out of 10 being close to or actually expired. Not to mention that it has weird hours and the people who work there love to close off one of the entrances well before closing time which is annoying since that's the door right next to the "self-check out". One other observation-- when I'm doing self-check out, I'd really appreiciate it if the folks who work at the store would refrain from bagging my groceries. If I'd wanted assistance bagging, I'd have gone through a manned-check out lane. I chose to self-check out because I don't want anyone else touching my stuff!

Otherwise not much else is going on.

I have started reading "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".... so far so good. Thoughts?

Oh, one last thing. Got to love the local dry cleaner. I brought in a suede Banana Republic Skirt (which I recently got for $5.29.... same place as the vintage Missoni) and asked how much it would be to have it cleaned. (It doesn't actually need a cleaning based on looks, but I always have "vintage" stuff dry cleaned.... yeah. $45.00 (?) $45.00??? That's 9 times what I paid. So needless to say I'll be looking for some other dry cleaning options!

$5.29

is what I paid today for a vintage Missoni top.

Score!

Pictures to follow...

Check out all that extra room!

Yup, I pretty much think I could park that car anywhere...

Samurai!

Here's a picture of the wacky samurai figures I scored at the Rummage Sale!

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest....

is out on May 25th!!!!!

By the way, is it just me or is Mikael Blomkvist TOTALLY Stellan Skarsgaard???

It's that Time Again....

for the twice yearly VNA Rummage Sale! You might recall that we visited the sale in the Fall when the Mom and Dad were in town and we made a delightful score at bag and box day. Well, this year I went on Friday with Miss B. (it was a full price day) and got a bunch of neat fabrics from the Dry Goods tent, a wacky oil painting, a J. McLaughlin silk jersey button down (the style is the same as shown in the link but the pattern is different), a bunch of books including a first edition of Toni Morrison's Beloved, a really cool print of a detail of a Greek Vase from the Met for the Husband and a bunch of other goodies.

Today, for Mother's Day, the Husband and baby took me back to the sale for the infamous "bag and box" extravaganza!

I started off strong by sprinting to the "Bon-Ton" tent where I had spied some really cool Samurai looking porcelain figures on Friday. They were originally $18 each and I wasn't up for paying that kind of cash for them, so I wanted to see if they were still around. Sadly, the small portraits of George and Martha Washington ($28) and the Longhorn Skull ($150) were already taken.... but my samurai were there! Unfortunately, though, there was a limit of 19 shoppers in the Bon-Ton barn at any one time and there was an elderly woman seated at the door acting as a "bouncer" and she was taking her job very seriously. Thus, I had to wait in line. However, it mostly went quick and once inside I not only got my guys but I also got a Westmoreland piece of milk glass for the Mom. I saw the same piece on Ebay for $79.95... I paid $9!

Then it was on to the "Dry Goods" tent. (This is my favorite haunt... for $10 you can pack a grocery bag full of goodies-- whatever you can stuff!) I got tons and tons of wacky fabric remnants, craft projects, hook rug canvases and my favorite find of all-- a partially completed needlepoint of The Blue Boy! (The Blue Boy has sentimental significance from back when the Mom was a decorator...) I am probably one of the few people on the planet who love half-completed needlepoints... but that's part of my charm.

Finally, I also got a nifty hat for Miss B. (she does, after all, love her hats) and three books! (Two John Grisham first editions and a book about some kind of zen meditation for knitters...)

Afterwards, we also hit up the Trenton Kennel Club Dog Show. It was pretty windy out. The Husband was rather disappointed (as was I) that by the time we got there the folks with the Italian Sausage and Pepper concession were packing it in for the day. But we did get to see a good number of dogs and Miss B. petted some very adorable English Springer Spaniel puppies. Very exciting!

Marathon Man just came on... why does this always happen at 2 am?