Category Archives: shopping

Hail Caesar!

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For our mini, last of the summer, before Sean goes back to PSU vacation, we are going to Atlantic City for a couple of days and staying at Caesars! Many of you know, my father-in-law takes the bus down there weekly. I was getting tired of the ho-hum (but peaceful) last few places we’ve gone. I sit on the beach and that’s about it. At least there is more stuff to see and do here. We could only get a Sunday through Tuesday reservation. Bri’s dad has rewards, so that saved up tremendously on the room- a big thing. We are taking my mom. Even if she can’t walk around a lot, she can certainly see something different right in the casino. The beach is nicer too, so Sean says from his excursion last weekend. I’m not a gambler. I’ll play a little, but I keep thinking-gee with that $20 I could have gotten lots of stuff at Michael’s Craft store. : )

Not much else is new. I can’t do much outside because of the heat and humidity. The grass is drying up. The weeds are taking over. I don’t care right now. I’ve been making ATCs to keep me busy. Also been running out every night to water things I can’t enjoy during the day. Sean and Bri help a bit with that. I should be cleaning, but that’s too much work in the heat, even when you have air, you still get hot, especially at my age.

I may be going out with Sean in a few hours to do a little of shopping. His friends are all tied up doing other things, so he relies on me sometimes. I don’t mind one bit.

A couple of my new ATC-homage to historic figures:

And this Stargazer lily, which is in a pot, smells delightful!

We ♥ Commerce Bank

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Sean and I went out for a few hours this afternoon. We had to exchange some trousers I had bought as a gift for him. We also had two huge bags of coins that we have saved for many months. Commerce is open on Sundays and they have a free coin counting machine. So we guessed we had $124.00 (they ask if you want to guess) and after all was said and done-we had $197.00! Yes! We split it up and I saved Bri $50 (Sean got $100 since he will be driving the most for his internship) and then we went to Macy’s. Sean got an extra pair of trousers and a few shirts in another store-from the coin money! We then went to a shopping center where Old Navy and Michaels is-I went to Michaels and Sean to O.N. I picked out some things there and went down the clearance aisle and I started to chat with a nice lady there. She asked if I had ‘a coupon’ which I didn’t. It was for after 4pm and for 25% off your total purchase. She had an extra and gave me one. I thanked her and headed to check out and saved $10!

We ate in Friendly’s and shopped a bit in Trader Joe’s then headed home. I called my mom and she had talked with brother #2 and they may be seeing eye to eye again. I seriously hope so. He tends to get mean about things that he doesn’t agree with. I still am not crazy about being chummy with him as I feel like I don’t know him anymore and he talked about me behind my back that night he horned in on our ‘girl’s night out’. I wish mom hadn’t told me he thought I looked fat. He had said that to my face when we went down to visit him in Florida in 2002. Nice isn’t he? I’m not having high hopes about this, but at least, and I’m praying, he’ll treat her nice and with respect.

Anyway, here are some yard shots for your enjoyment. They sure make me smile. : )


This is what I call my herb bed. The Roma tomatoes are taking it over. There’s basil in the front along with fennel and cilantro.

My favorite lilies are blooming too! I missed the first blooms a few days ago.

A pretty hanging basket with pinkish daisy like flowers and portulaca

Look how big the butterfly bush is! You can see the rain gutter there. Not a ton of blooms, but we cut it back a lot last year.

Sean got a B- in his English class he just finished. My boy’s not a writer, so he was happy.

Neither bright-eyed or bushy-tailed

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I thought my walk around the gardens would help me to feel all refreshed today. Nope, just had allergy issues-so did Bri. The Chestnut trees are dumping their catkins now. They look like fluffy rat’s tails and they smell like funky corn chips. Also had to proof a 6.5 page research paper for Sean that was due tonight, his final night of class. I burnt the midnight oil doing that. And then today I went food shopping. Does anyone enjoy it anymore? ; ) I’m fine if I am buying ingredients for a special dish or cookies, but the same old thing is so boring and the stores are too big! I see elderly ladies pushing their carts around probably thinking the same thing.

I want to make a small project for a pal’s July birthday. I need to get the fabric and floss pulled for that.

I was looking for Sean’s long lost Social Security card (which he really needs for the internship) and ran across old photos of me trying to sell things at a craft fair that a local neighborhood had years ago. I sold like two things. My mom had made things also. It should have been canceled as it was pouring rain. The only person who sold anything was the lady who made American Girl doll clothes. I had short hair and was pudgier-I should burn those photos!

Sean needs to exchange some nice trousers I bought for him (he needs a size bigger around the waist), so I may go with him tomorrow. It’s going to be a scorcher!

Ok here’s a nice photo:

The Bell Tower, waterfall and lake at Longwood Gardens

Tuesday night light show

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We had a wicked rainstorm with tons of lightning go through last night. Earlier we lost power 5 times which was a pain as we had to keep resetting the clocks. It did considerably cool things off in the evening, but it was warm again today. My father-in-law lost power and it’s still not on after 24 hours. When they had their windows replaced years ago (on the lower level), my late mother-in-law decided to put in windows that didn’t open for ‘security reasons’. I questioned her about if she burnt something in the kitchen and she said she would use the stove fan and open the back door. Well, he is really suffering from not being able to have proper circulation in there. Glad something like this doesn’t happen often.

Sean took me grocery shopping over in our town’s new Acme which is 6 miles away. I know, we live closer to the mushroom town-lol. I think he wanted to check it out. We ran into Lowes to get Bri hot peppers. That’s all he talked about last week. They are something he just has to grow it seems. Anyway, the store is huge and I just wanted to zoom around in there and grab what I needed, if it was priced right. I wanted lemons-79¢ each-picked up about 3 and the last one was moldy on one side. I put it back, mold side up-bought nada ! I can go to the farmer’s market and get some at 5 for $2 and they are perfect. What’s going on here?

Got strip steak for dinner-two pieces in a package for $11! Not a lot for 3 people, but we had enough of other things-red potatoes, peas and Focaccia bread (and mini eclairs for dessert) that we were quite happy. I cook steak in a pan, with a little butter and steak rub-just what you buy in the spice aisle. I brown it well to get a crust and pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes to cook the middle. Rachael Ray said not to put ice cold meat in a pan as it ‘seizes up’ and makes it a little tough. I have to remember that. It was good!

My brother hasn’t gotten around to fixing my mom’s car yet. Guess he got held up on something tonight. Now she can’t go spend the day with my uncle on his 85th birthday tomorrow. We sent him cards, but it’s not the same. I will probably go and help her food shop before Sean goes to night class. Maybe we can do something for him over the weekend.

I’ve been working on ATCs and have some cute ones to share, I just need to photograph them. I have a series called ‘Rose babies’. Jennifer over at Sweetpea Stitches had sent me beautiful rose stickers and they were my inspiration for the two I have made so far, but I have 5 new ones altogether!

Someone in my graduating class passed away over the weekend. She was a cheerleader and an art major. Not a friend, but it’s sad to know someone my age has passed-too soon. She had two sons and still lived in our hometown. They are asking for donations for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, so I am wondering if that was what took her too soon.

I wish the idiots who use my blog for spam would take a hike! I can see what you are trying to do and I just delete it from my spam finder. They stick URLS, etc in the middle of my posts-lame!

Nor’easter blew out power for 5 hours

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We just got technology back at 4 pm-it was gone from us since a little before 11! What a pain! It’s too rainy and chilly to do anything outside, and a bit dark to do anything inside! I did go through some bags in my bedroom and condensed them. I had been in my bedroom all day Saturday doing the winter to summer clothes switch-a-roo. So proud to be on my 3rd bag for Goodwill donations. Sean did add stuff though.  I never have enough room for my clothes in the armoire. I take pretty good care of them (line dry many things) so I have them for years!

We did take mom out to a Chinese dinner which is usually a ‘no-no’ for me, but I got out voted 3 to 1! The restaurant smelled funny, like they had had a water leak-wet rugs. I think we should have left and gone to the Jewish deli place across the shopping center, but mom reminded me we didn’t like what we had there one time. Mom goes to this restaurant a bunch, so we stayed and shared ‘Seven Stars around the Moon’ for two. It was nicely presented (Sean has a photo on his camera phone) and was pretty good, not too much of an MSG taste. They had the shrimp butterflied and cooked with bacon-quite yummy. We also stopped briefly in a Dollar Tree and AC Moore and I got a magazine and few little gift items and things. Mom wasn’t feeling well, so we dropped her off and came home, but hit a new Target where Sean and I looked around for a bit and shopped. Oh, the entire day my left knee was so sore! When I came home (after Baskin Robbins) I used the heating pad and it went away! Amazing.

Today I did a few ATCs by the light of a little lantern. I wound up some music boxes! It was too quiet! When Sean came home from a Longwood Gardens job interview (which he says sounds good), we played Trivial Pursuit, but just answered questions without using the board part. I called my mom as she had gone to the hearing dept at the hospital and she had water in her ears’ tubes which may be causing her hearing loss to be moderate to low. She needs to go to a specialist now.

We are waiting on Bri for dinner (McDs). He brought us pizza home for lunch as I wouldn’t dare open the frig. I only ate one slice as I was feeling the affects from out dinner last night.

Here’s hoping for a gorgeous day tomorrow!

Nice to have my pal back

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Sean asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day and I said we could go over to Walmart and look around their garden center. They do have a ton of nice plants, even perennials at a good price. I happen to spot yellow flowers, my favorite color in blooms, and it was a Hibiscus! He said he’d get it for me. I looked around a little more and only bought a few other plants. I think I have enough. Now I will wait for some clearances! So I got a few more things in the store and when we checked out, the hibiscus was only like $5.44, so I got two! Not sure what the other color is, but it will be a surprise when the flowers start to open.

He headed over to Blockbuster and one of his choices is ‘Juno’, which I thought was interesting. I asked if we could run down to Lowes to see if they had any more decent hanging baskets and he agreed. They didn’t have any that I liked, but I bought another pond plant and a few other plants that I didn’t have. (what did I just say above about buying more plants?) We stopped at Wawa to gas up the van-$35 only brought it a bit over half full. We went in and got hoagies and ate them as soon as we got home as we were starving! And to think I was happy I had lost 3 pounds. ; )

Bird Alert!!!! Brian has spotted (and I have seen for a second) a hummingbird twice now! I’m so jealous! The first time was on one of the new hanging baskets that has the big flowered Dianthus in it.

They just showed a story on the news about a place in Vineland, NJ that was getting renovated. When the guy went to tear down the tin ceiling, 100s of vintage photos came tumbling down, all in relatively good shape, but unmarked-so they don’t know who the brides and grooms, etc. are. It use to be a photography studio (of course). What I could tell, they looked like they were from the 30s to 50s.

Here’s a Mother’s Day Quiz. I got 6 out of 10, so see how you do!

Spending the day

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…with someone you love and someone you are weary of, sorta sums it all up for me. Brother #2 was at my mom’s when I got there today. Ended up going to see his new apartment on the second floor of a 1908 house in our hometown. The steps to the place almost go straight up and then curve-typical old house, very dangerous. The place on the outside needs fixing up. The apartment has big rooms-he fit his king size bed in there! The kitty was hiding, but I made up with the dog. That Dalmation has a white face and black ears. He looks like a mime and his name should be Marcel Marceau!


I did talk to the cat and he closed his eyes a few times, he’s really a true scaredy cat. We went out to dinner and then walked around stores! And he told me not to take mom shopping a few weeks ago! He was buying things though. I’m pretty sure he has a job about 30 minutes away. I am trying to warm up to him, but all that sadness and hurt has made me a bit numb to him. He has a photo of the two of us, in bad shape-and it’s so cute-he’s about 2 and I’m 3, hanging on the wall with other old photos.

The last place we went (I was doing all the driving) was Home Goods. He bought a big red glass jar for his dog’s cookies. Mom bought two perfume bottles. I bought a mosaic candle holder that looks like it is a beehive, plus a mini covered clear glass cake dish with hand-painted bees and flowers. Will show you soon!

Watch this space

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I hope by the end of today to get the zebras finished and posted-AMEN! What a chore they were, and I so dislike XS to be talked about in those terms. If I had just thought to do the darkest color first in the bodies, I would have saved myself much grief. The grass wasn’t easy either. I think they will be a nice addition to the quilt(s) for the twin boys. I can’t wait to do a few Christmas ornaments soon.

Yippee! Finished!!

Sean and I enjoyed our afternoon shopping, though both of us have been ‘off’ in the tummy dept. Wonder what that was? We did go to Fridays for dinner as my friend Karin had given me a gift card for that restaurant. We are sitting there and a large group of people sit behind us. One guy said, ‘Save a place for Mike D!’ That’s Karin’s husband’s name! What a coincidence!

We got some nice things for Brian (can’t say what as I see him looking here) as his birthday is on the 24th. Need to look for one more thing.

I treated myself to a few things at Michael’s crafts and Kohls as I haven’t been to these stores for a while. Shopping is fun!

Update-no stitching today-yet. I decided since it was near 60 degrees I wanted to rake out a few more areas/gardens. I created about 6 huge piles and Sean helped me pick them up. I was so happy to get his help!

Then I was trying to do the Photo Hunt for tomorrow (I finally picked a few I will use) and took some extra photos for your viewing.

I took off the netting that was over the pond and thought this leaf looked interesting:

Leaf on screen

Part of my neighbor’s huge wood pile. Notice the older wood next to the newer.
Logs
These are wings from an angel lawn ornament that I was trying to take an interesting photo of. This is next to the pond and I photoshopped it. Notice the reflection of the barren trees in the water:
Wings

Mom seems happier

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Well, maybe it’s because some of the weight of the world is off her little shoulders. It still irks me to see the dumpster there and know some things could have been rescued, but seeing her more like her old sense warms my heart. I hadn’t been down to her house for almost a month. In that time the furniture got moved around in her living room and it looks much larger. The kitchen is staying nice. Ken bought mom some nice metal shelves (on wheels) and her microwave is on it and lots of canned goods.  I didn’t help her sort things today, we went to JoAnn’s so I could use the 40% off coupon and buy myself some goodies in the form of papers, stampers and stickers. I want to redo my mantel’s garland and found pretty pink, maybe dogwood blossoms to use. We bought some Five Guys burgers and fries and off I went. I was almost home when my low fuel light came on and I had to stop in the brutal wind and get gas. I will help her next Wednesday after I get my hair done.

We are suppose to have wacky weather in the afternoon. I guess I will do a small  ‘Wipe it Clean Wednesday’ to make up for not doing ‘Toss it Tuesday’ yesterday.

Don’t waste your time renting Knocked Up. I was surprised at Katherine Heigl and all the ‘f’ bombs and just everything! I don’t really think middle class people drop it like they did in the movie. And the guys and all their references to their little pals-you get my drift. Since my mom (!) bought it, I thought Bri and I would watch it as I like Katherine in Gray’s Anatomy.  She heard it was good, but I think the name of the movie would make me put it back on the shelf.

I just saved…

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…over 8,100 sq feet of land because I shopped at the Rainforest link . I love all the different things they sell at all the links, but this one caught my eye:

MofP leaf necklace

Which I need like another hole in the head. It just spoke to me and I know I will wear the Mother of Pearl necklace and red pea pod earrings a bunch. (just the red ones down there)

peapods.jpg

Made from dried pea pods with fruit seeds, wood beads, and straw detailing. The designs which adorn the earrings are based on the tribal tattoos of the Guarani people. Designed and handmade by small communities in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil.

I also picked up some little things for my gal pals in my tribe.net group.

Woke up yesterday with a really red left eye. Being a leftie, I do remember rubbing it last night a lot. I am of course more concerned with my eyes now because of the pressures. I did put some of the $80 (yes, had to pay half for an inch tall bottle and I use it like it’s gold) Panatol medicine in it. It is still red! I’m sure I’ll be better today.

Not much else-food shopping and all that jazz.