From My Phone

Last year I took a little weekend trip to Cincinatti, OH. I wrote about it here.
This weekend we get to go back, and I'm super excited. I'm trying to finish up a lot of furniture before I leave, and hopefully I can post pictures when I get back.



I've had a bunch of baby gift orders come in this week. So many babies being born right now. What was going on last May/June???? Did I miss something?




Can you tell this is a bow hanger? Don't you love the nail hole in the picture I was too lazy to photoshop out?




I was going through my phone today, clearing out all the pictures. A lot of the pictures I take are to send to Todd. Just random, daily little stuff, especially when he is out of town.
I thought I would share a few.


I saw a couple of things at Lowe's I wanted to remember.


I think this galvanized light could be really cool in the right place. It could be painted, and even re-wired to plug-in, instead of being hard wired. The price is perfect too.



I thought this table lamp was really great too. I was thinking of it for Baker's new desk (pictures coming very soon), but I went with something I already had. I think this one was under $30 as well.


The dog wearing a t-shirt.


I think he's saying, "Get me out of here."

That t-shirt wearing puppy also likes paint. This is one of the legs of the table seen here. I was painting it, walked away for a moment, and he had licked off the paint.

He also stares at me. I thought this was cute, so I sent this picture to Todd saying so.

A short time later, I sent him this picture with a few choice words about HIS dog.

There is a story to this blurry house.



We pass this house every day going to and from school. The man that lives there is very regularly out on the porch smoking in a very fluffy, comfy robe.
But, the robes change.

He has a green one, and a blue one. We even saw him out once with his wife, and they had on matching white robes. (the short ones....eeewww)

I can understand wearing your robe at 7:30 am. But 2:30 in the afternoon? Weird.

The carpool kids have named him "Robe Man", and spotting him is like seeing an endangered species - very exciting.

We have attempted to take his picture so many times, I swear he knows my car and takes cover. He was out the other day, and the kids begged me to circle back around the block so they could get his picture. He slid inside the door just as Jackson took the picture.

I hope he's not a crafty blog reader.

Bargain Shopping in Cinci

If you have read this blog even once, you know how much I love a bargain. Last weekend, I went on a shopping trip with my mom, sister, and good friend Michelle. We headed to Cincinatti, OH to shop at 2 of my favorite bargain destinations : Gabriel's and Ikea.



Fancy, huh?

Gabriels's is a place you either love or hate. You can find some very nice clothes from some very nice designers/stores. The catch is, you have to flip thru some serious crap to get the bargains.

On one rack, there may be 12 items with some sort of defect, and one perfect pair of pants for 5.99 that fit you like a dream. You just have to take the time to look carefully. And, I do mean carefully.

I once found what I thought was the perfect pair of black yoga pants (part of my mommy uniform). I put them on in the dressing room, thrilled that they fit just right, even in the lenghth. Being 5 ft. tall, finding pants just the right lenghth is a big deal.

Then I turned around to see myself from the back.

I was crushed.

There were 4 big white letters across my behind.

M-E-O-W.

I don't really even know what that means, but I assume it isn't good.

Lesson learned - inspect the items carefully.

We had a lot of fun looking thru the racks of clothes. Squealing over the good ones, and laughing over the really bad.

How on earth could you possibly wear this??
We threw around a few ideas - baby sling, scarf, nothing made sense.


Skinny leg, low back overalls. They never go out of style.


We tried to convince my mom that if she would buy this outfit, my dad would fully fund our trip next year. She refused. I guess she's not willing to take one for the team...


Why did they waste the hanger on these pants? There isn't even enough fabric to patch the enormous hole. I have no use for seatless pants. If you do, don't tell me.


There must be some seriously well-dressed hookers in the area near this Gabe's. The short, heavyset hispanic woman in front of me at the checkout bought a pair of these. Seriously. She paid money for them.

I didn't post pictures of the good stuff - that's not nearly as much fun...
I got an Ann Taylor spring dress for 7.99,Free People sweater for 4.99, and J.Crew capris for $1.00!!


Next up, IKEA!!!
I really hope we get an Ikea in Nashville. I'm not all that into the furniture, but I adore all the kitchen and organizing stuff, and the fabrics.



Ikea offers free child care while you shop. I think that's cool and a little scary at the same time. I'm not real big on handing my kids over to a total stranger...but I did take advantage of the free lockers for our coats.



My sister broke a mug about 2 minutes into our shopping. I can't take her anywhere....:)



We couldn't leave Cincinatti without eating chili at Skyline Chili. Mom and I liked it - my sister thought it was weird. They have cinnamon in their chili. Michelle, whose mother is Assyrian, but from Iran, said it tasted a lot like the Persian food her mother used to make. I never knew she was so multi-cultural.

I knew it would be cold in Cincinatti. I had no idea our hotel room would be like a meat locker. We toughed it out by wearing our coats over our pajamas, and begging the front desk for more blankets.



A frosty and a glass of wine - it's not just for breakfast anymore.



Thinking this was an extra blanket at the end of the bed, I pulled it up to cover myself. It was a fake. A decorative, fake bedspread.

Michelle christened it the "bed dickey".



This is my mother's attempt at taking our picture.

This was before her glass of wine.

My sister must have taken after my dad.



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