The Route 66 Obsession Continues...

What can one say about Oatman? Well, plenty now that I've been there (and we've all known me to be wordy...so here goes...)

Oatman is out in the middle of nowhere on the way from somewhere to somewhere else that you can actually get to faster if you use the new highway...well, newer than Route 66 anyway. Yes, Sunday found Rich and I out early traveling along one of our obsessions...

We found ourselves traveling to outside of the Kingman area in preparation for our perilous ride into the Gold mining mountain town of Oatman. We zoomed down Route 66, through some very dry and very hot desert areas sometimes being the only car for miles...until we came upon a gem out there...

The old Route 66 Cool Springs Camp. This little beauty has a wonderful and varied history that I was reading to Rich out loud from a Route 66 book I picked up at our library not too long ago. Only the book said it was in Kingman, and we had planned on scouring Kingman for it, only to find we were accidentally driving up to it on the Road to Oaman. We jumped out of the car and started snapping pictures...

We also went inside, as it's a little gift shop and museum. The museum boasts some pretty fantastic Mobile Gas memorabilia (including some pretty wonderful calendars with pin-up girls on them...I love pin up girls...and a whole montage of Route 66 hand tinted post cards) and two wonderful collectibles that Rich and I were swooning over and thought we'd stop to grab on our way back (they were for sale, we weren't going to pull a Bonnie and Clyde, don't worry...we don't have the right car for it anyway...and we'd left Rich's fedora and machine gun at home) which we didn't stop and grab, and now I'm regretting it. Yes, I have buyers remorse and I didn't even spend any money...

Now, I've never heard of Oatman, which is a little nuts only because it is apparently the site of the largest gold mine in Arizona (with more than $36 million worth of gold extracted from them thar hills...) Crazy still, the town boasts a population of a whopping 100...with active mines littering the entire way up there, and within the town itself. Kind of a small population for a thriving gold mining community wouldn't you think?

The town itself is cute...in an old ghost town sort of way. It has a one street downtown with little shops, a couple of places to eat, a post office, a bar, and a hotel which isn't a hotel anymore, but more of a haunted museum. I was simply amazed at the little houses dotting the hills, and the fact that they still have a dirt road for their main street, and their original wooden sidewalks...which is totally cool because the last time I've seen anything like that, I was at Knott's Berry Farm, and these were certainly authentic to the old west. The buildings are pretty interesting as well...a lot of old wood, fun facades and corrugated metal making up the bulk of their establishments...things you really don't see in existence and use outside of a Hollywood movie set.

The effect is very charming.

But, very very unsettling as well.

Like I said, I didn't know a lot about Oatman (and I cam home to read more after our jaunt) but while we were walking around, I had a rather oppressive sense of sadness and despair and found myself becoming a little jumpy...

Oatman was named after Olive Oatman, a young girl who watched her family massacred down by Yuma by a band of Apache Indians before she was marched off with a younger sister to become a slave...and was later traded to the Mohave Indians, taken in as one of their own and then realized her brother who had been left for dead was looking for her and her then deceased sister...

Old pictures are rather haunting anyway...I mean, the cameras weren't that fast, so you usually had to choose a pose that you could hold for a long time, so often I find the images sad...then again, if you lived the kind of lives some of these people did, it wasn't that easy...and I think you can see it in their eyes. And look at the ritual tattoos that Olive received indeed. I got to thinking about how hard life would have been if you'd been forced from your family to live with a tribe who abused you, found yourself in one that took you in as their own and then tried to come back to "civilization"...all in the space of 5 years? With ritualistic tattoos on your chin? I guess Olive ended up marring very well in the end, and did a lecture tour...there are rumors that she was married and had a child when she lived with the Mohave's, but since things like that weren't talked about in polite company...we may never know what really happened to her.

At one point while walking back up the main street, we both were drawn into the Hotel there...all was fine and then we both started feeling a little strange. I was enjoying reading all about Clark Gable and Carole Lombard...

They were married in Kingman and spent their honeymoon night in the hotel...and came back often to visit Oatman for the solitude. I thought that was pretty neat...and apparently they haunt one of the rooms there. Apparently there are a lot of weird things happening at the hotel...

On the way back to get lunch in Kingman, Rich and I both talked about how unsettled we felt. Rich said he doesn't believe in ghosts...but we both felt very very strange. In fact, I can't seem to quite shake the feeling I have after visiting Oatman. Being in Arizona is often very interesting...we're the wild wild west, you know (and they even have a cute shoot out on the streets of Oatman...) The was a time in the wild west that there wasn't a lot of law...and in a mining community that struck a vein of $14 million at one point, I can't imagine the kind of things that went on there. I know at one point the population shot up to at least 3500...and to tell you the truth, there is very little evidence of that there (which I find unsettling the more I think about it) Oatman was also the last stop before you crossed the Mohave desert on Route 66, and there were a lot of Oakies coming through during the depression trying to make it to California...the road was so treacherous that the locals had to go up and get them and guide them through...and there's a marauding band of donkeys running around in the hills that come into Oatman to be fed every day (they sell carrots, it's pretty great...only we didn't see any when we were there...but, we heard them!)

I have done a lot of reading and researching about pioneers and the west, and the life was hard. So, we've got lawless, hard, hopeless....I suppose it's no wonder that when I find myself wandering in and out of these little towns (and some of the more historical buildings here in Prescott) I sometimes myself feeling sad, scared and a little overwhelmed for no surface reason that I can see.

I just can't quite put my finger on what it is...it seems to slip in and out of my consciousness...but the overwhelming feeling I got when we were there has been hard for me to shake completely...I keep thinking that if I write about it, the feeling will go away. It's not. I have realized through this experience that Rich and I are quite sensitive to our surroundings, and that's OK...

Creepy, but OK.

Only it was hard for me to stay at my house last night...and I didn't want to get out of bed this morning...Good heavens! I still had a wonderful time yesterday...and would love to go back and ride the Route all the way to Black Canyon city...

I just might stay in the car when we go to Oatman though...

You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover...

Only you can.

I silently argue this fact every time I find myself at the library in town. Only I don't really have to do it silently anymore, because ever since they redid the library, and made it all fancy...calling it "Prescott's Living Room" (which is nice because they have better furniture than I do) and installed a coffee bar (oh yes, a coffee bar) and that cork flooring (which is very cool, unless it's raining or snowing outside...or I've just run through the sprinklers...and then it becomes a big slip-and-slide) I don't have to do any internal musings. I could dress up in my old high school flag girl uniform and march a band through the center of the library and sing "You Can't Judge a Book By it's Cover" and no one would bat an eye (except that I'm a leeetle bigger than I was in High School, bodily speaking, so my uniform may be a little tight and not close in strategic places) They even stowed all the kid stuff downstairs so the kid noise wouldn't bother anyone (See: Prescott one of the #1 places to retire...and I've already raised my family land) but really? With the marching band and all the people hopped up on caffeine slipping around on the cork floors...whats a bunch of kids giggling going to do? But, I was raised in a family that has a high respect for books, so I still use my inside library whisper voice while in the building, don't use my cell phone in there (which they just recently started not caring about) because I still think the library is sacred...and cool. We have a very cool library here. Even though they deaquisitioned a third of the books when they made the library bigger (I know...huh?) we have inter library loans. Which means, if my big library with hardly any books doesn't have what I'm looking for, one of the other one's in our system probably does, and my library will get it for me and let me check it out. See? Very cool...

Plus there's the whole live music/coffee/water park thing going on as well...

As it is, I am a notorious judger of books by their covers. We all try to believe that we're not judgers, but come on. Sometimes you only have a few minutes to decide whether or not something is good for you...food, clothes, men...a book? And, you may scorn me, but I usually can look at a cover, read a tiny synopsis and then decided whether or not a book is for me. Which doesn't make sense that I haven't started reading the Twilight Series before this week...I mean, I have been in love with the covers of these books since they came out. The always stop me in my tracks...luckily, my mother's neighbor has bought them all and loaned them to us...so I'm in business now. I am loving them by the way...

But heaven's this post isn't even about books at all. Not really.

It's about judging by first appearances.

And make-up.

And packaging.

I have a degree (I know this surprises you, but it's true) It's in advertising (there's some other impressive things going on with it as well, but you can email me if you really want to know what's up) I was also raised by two antique and collectible dealers...which meant that everything was more valuable in its original packaging. Pair this with advertising and this caused two things to happen to me quite simultaneously:

1. I love packaging. I really enjoy inventive and fun packaging...I am equally fascinated by the way someone is trying to reach me, and I respect that...it makes me quite giddy when I find fresh and fun boxes and paper products.
2. I have a hard time using things that I buy, and if I do use them, I have a very hard time throwing away the things that they were packaged in.

Which has now resulted in my new Benefits packaging being set and moved around my bathroom since opening it and using the products (that and they come with the best directions and I'm afraid if I throw the directions into the recycling bin I won't remember how to apply make-up and my face will fall off)

You see..the thing about Benefits is, while I am thoroughly loving their fantastic beauty products, they also happen to have the most wonderful packaging and overall theme going for them...a look if you will...just go sign up to receive one of their catalogues in the mail and you can see what I mean. I have to admit, the first time Dina showed me one of their catalogues and then some of their products? I about swooned and fell off the couch I was so adoring their look...I quickly realized that the only thing this would have accomplished was scaring her son half to death and rilling up the dog (who is always looking for an excuse to jump straight up and down anyway)

So, the real problem is, now I have all this adorable packaging sitting around taking up space and falling over in my already crowded bathroom, and I'm feeling just slightly guilty about throwing it in the recycling bin (well, it's actually usually a brown paper bag in the kitchen) because I'm worried that:

1. If I throw it away, I will miss it's packagy cuteness.
2. If I throw it away, the make-up will not have it's original packaging (even though I will use it all up and then eventually throw it away, and replace it...which will certainly lead me back to this dilemma) and thus become worthless.
3. I need to up my meds because this isn't really all that important...

Do you ever feel weird about this sort of thing or is it only me?

Should I flatten the boxes and figure out how to save them?

Should I check into some sort of appropriate facility this weekend instead of going with what I had planned...

• Going to dinner and possibly a movie and chatting about sewing with the other half of Tombo.
• Going to lunch with Dougie boy...and dragging him along to look at new glasses frames (because the designer ones I spent my life savings on are not any better than the other you can get at CostCo, and haven't even lasted as long and the lenses are starting to get all foggy around the edges besides, so it's just a matter of time when I won't be able to see anything...and you can believe that I have the original Versace packaging for these babies) because he has good taste and will totally humor me while I try on tons of frames...he will also make fun of me, which is kind of like humoring me...it's humoring someone anyway.
• Spending Sunday with Rich (who has a new blog and website by the way...he had to find a new server because the other one kept going down all the time and his site was not accessible. I don't have any idea what that means, but the first words out of my mouth where, "Wait...what about our email?!?! I love my personal email address you set up for me, that's when I realized that you might really like me...and it makes a fun noise when I get mail, and I love that because before I met you I could never figure out how to do that and I would hate to not have a fun email alert..." Because that's how I roll...not, "gee...rebuilding your blog and a new website might be really time consuming and hard! Poor baby..." So he got all teachery and tried to explain the technical side of what was happening and how it's like moving to a new house but he's not sure if he should take his corrupted things from the old house to the new one...well, I just got excited that we were moving in together and he had to stop and just tell me that our email was going to be fine, and if there was going to be any problem with it that he would take care of it, and there would still be a fun noise...Yay! Only I don't think we're moving in together now...) We'll be doing heaven knows what on Sunday...but I'll probably grinning like an idiot the entire time...evidenced by my tech knowledge above.
• Gently placing the Benefits Cosmetic packaging in the recycling bin, um bag...and slowly walking away...

(Thank you Google Images, for all the fun Benefits...)

W.I.P.

Found :: small cabinet/frame :: fortune cookies

Waiting :: an ever expanding pile of fabric and paper :: a desire to create

WIP :: undecided...but boy is there a lot swirling around in my head...

Fashion Tips from The Stoned Girl...

Ha.

I bet you almost gave up on me today didn't you?

Ha.

I'm still here...just another day fielding the stoned girl that comes in to sell clothes, tell me what's in style and what I should be buying for the store. All in question form. She throws a pile of things on the counter at the shop...

"um?"

"These are Doc Martens?"

"I only wore them once?"

"Inside?"

"They're brand new?"

ah yes. I see now. It's all clear...

I've been doing this resale thing for so long, plus? I was alive and buying my own shoes during the first big flood of Dr. Martens to come into this country...you know...Back when you had to get them at specialty stores and couldn't buy them at Dillard's or Ross? I can spot a pair of Dr. Martens from across the room (same with Coach bags...the older leather ones. I know, it's a gift...)

She's discouraged because I won't buy them.

They are new.

They are Doc Marten's.

They are out of style.

"Even with the winter coming up?"

Yes. Even with the winter coming up. I've noticed the trend being most people do not buy this style but stick to the boots or shoes.

"Um?"

"That was like, 3 years ago?"

"No one's wearing boots now?"

"Everyone's wearing these in high school now?"

Well. That wouldn't explain why I haven't. been able. to sell. the style. that she's set down on my counter in the shop for quite some time now. Plus...we get snow in our part of Arizona, I distinctly remember seeing people wear appropriate footwear during those times...which happens more often than not, to include boots. I suppose I could go stalk the high school and wait until it gets out in the afternoon to scope out the footwear...but, honestly? There's not a lot of anyone buying Doc Martens in any style as much as they once did. Perhaps it's the phenomenon that put them in major department stores in the first place. Once they were more accessible to everyone, the originality wore off. Supply and demand...

We once referred to this as the Jocks in Docs fad.

Everyone had them and our interest waned.

Or, it could be the simple truth that Docs sometimes do not make the most comfortable shoes...they usually have no arch support. And those of us who remember how cool they once were are old enough to now base most of our shoe purchases on the comfort and support of the shoe rather than just the style...well mostly anyway. Besides, most of the newer Docs I've seen look as if they're trying to make shoes with a more comfortable foot-bed in them (Docs only make the soles of the shoes anyway and farm the rest of the shoe out to someone else...) Which should be a relief to Rich since he bought a pair for work and is usually hobbling around in them when he gets done with his day...although I think he looks very handsome in them (it may be a generational thing) I realize that not all Doc Martens are out of style, but these particular pair that are now staring back at me are a very outdated style indeed.

Stoned Girl flounced out of here...leaving the entire stack of stuff she brought in on the counter as she waved her hand dismissively...

"um?"

"You can have them?"

I watched as she got into her car to drive away. She drives a nicer car than me or any of the people I know. Sigh. She once told me she, "...moved here from California?" (which could explain why a lot of Californians have a bad rap here...or why she obviously has the last word on fashion...or why she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt)

It leaves me wondering in her question induced haze if she just got in the car one day and woke up here?

With a pair of outdated shoes and the munchies...

(that's me in that picture up there by the way...OK, just kidding...but that's courtesy of Dr Marten...and look at these! Lordie...I wish she would have brought those in!)

Mouthwatering...

I thought after yesterday's post about my discouraging body image, I would post some brand new wonderful finds on the Vintage Cookbook front (maybe explaining exactly why I don't look like a stick figure...well, a stick figure with muscles now that I'm at the gym every day...) (HA! Gotcha'...I've never actually used a recipe from any of my little vintage books...but, I shall remedy that soon...)

This little stack came to me from a good friend and book dealer in town...and I was giggling and clapping my hands and doing the Happy Dance of Vintage Cookbooks (there is one you know...perhaps I shall post it on YouTube one day...)

Now, we've got the Knox Gelatin Eat and Reduce Plan (1952) Which has come at the perfect time (considering the content of yesterday's post) not only does it have several aspic and mold recipes, but it comes with a Gelatin "Eat-And-Reduce plan menus...mmmm, gelatin. There is also a Table of Desired Weight in the back (for adults in normal health at age 25 or over with shoes on and light clothing...no need to be nakey in the 50's) I'm a bit over on their chart...gulp. Well, I'm sure it's not anything a whole bunch of gelatin can't fix...although, there is a recipe using Whipped Evaporated Milk as a topping for dessert...I can't imagine that being low fat...and did you see how nice this lady's husband is standing next to the scale and weighing her? And her little girl? Waving them both over to the "Eat and Reduce Plan" how thoughtful, "Daddy? Has mommy turned into a whale while she was cleaning your house, washing your clothes, making your meals and raising your kids? Well..." The minute my dear darling husband decided it would be a fun family activity to put me on a scale may result in gelatin being used to starch his undies...

Quaker Surprise Recipes with such classics as Deep Sea Timbales, Glazed Ham Balls, Year Round Fruit Cake (because just once a year isn't enough) and, "Surprise Honey!! I've made Broiled Humdingers for dinner!!" You'll be happy to know, that Mary Alden, Director of Home Economics at The Quaker Oat Company says, "How Amazing!..." about the entire Quaker Oat thing...I'm just amazed that there's a Home Economics department at Quaker Oats...

The Twelve Dream Dishes from General Foods Minute Rice "Yours-For Delightful Class Luncheons" is actually a little folder containing more than 12 separate sheets of recipes...it is delightful in every way, and totally different since it's not necessarily in book form, but rather, recipe card form...swoon.

Miss Dine About Town "Marvelous Meals With Minute Rice" (1938) Look at her intense yet earnest face, leaning in to the person she's lunching with to tell them the wonder that is Minute Tapioca...the girl who claims not to be a cook but rather a girl who's lucky enough to be invited to a lot of interesting places, to eat a lot of interesting food. (I'm not bragging-I'm just amazed and thankful, every day of my life, at my luck!) Yeah...I'm thinking you might be single to0 girlie...otherwise how could you write a cookbook in between your household chores and taking care of your family? (and you may want to get cracking on the family thing...we wouldn't want you to end up a spinster) The Red Plum Puff Pudding looks interesting...or maybe the Chantilly Orange Tapioca?

Mealtime Marvels with Margarine...Look at that chefs face will you? He is very excited about margarine, and well...who wouldn't be? With Menus for every occasion tucked inside:

• Dad and His Cronies Enjoy a Snack (cronies, eh?)
• Teen Ager's Coke Party (margarine and Coke...there's an interesting combo...oh wait...theres a suggestion for cottage cheese and chives...every teen ager's favorite!)
• Supper When the Budget's Low (with grilled canned luncheon meat and a slab of margarine)
• Your Turn at Church Supper (with clover leaf rolls...)

19 Wonderful Coffee Recipes (1951) Sponsored by Maxwell House Instant Coffee...With such crowd pleasers as: Coffee Eggnog sundae, Coffee Dream Puffs, Chocolate Chip Coffee Fudge, and did you know you could just sprinkle the Instant Maxwell House Coffee lightly over ice cream for a quick coffee sundae? I wonder if it works with decaf too? Rich...get the instant decaf ready I'm coming over for dessert...

Coconut Glamour Desserts (1949) Chock full of Coconut Quickies! (titter) I think actually though, all these recipes look wonderful...Plus? There's a macaroon recipe in here that I may have to try...

And my current favorite from this stack? Chiquita Banana's Recipe Book (1950) Who knew that you could have a 24 page recipe book centered around bananas? Well, it also has a lot of good tips on selecting the perfect banana...and some pretty fabu recipes...Including a Peanut and Banana salad, with a picture of a cut banana with peanuts sprinkled over it (I kid you not...now that's a time saver in the kitchen if I ever saw one) there's also a Banana Melon Ball Salad (again, halved bananas with melon balls on them...)

This particular cook book starts looking a little phallic at some point, and Rich turned bright red when I showed him the Banana Pineapple Salad...Picture a peeled banana inserted into the middle of 2 slices of pineapple...Rich is always good for a blush...unfortunately he's allergic to bananas, which is sad because there's a recipe Ham Banana Rolls...

Oh...how I love these books. I think, for your pleasure (and mine) I will haul them out the next time my mom comes over and have her help me choose recipes for me to make, and I shall let you vote on which ones...How does that sound? I mean, I can hardly keep collecting these things and not using them for what they're intended for...just oogling them, waiting for my husband to come home so I can whip off my apron, grab his slippers and make him a drink...

This Broken Wing...

Did last week kick anyone elses tushie?

Just wondering.

Wondering if this week is going to be like last week? It's scaring me a bit to even consider it, so maybe I'll just try to put some disjointed thoughts together instead...ignoring that I feel utterly battered.

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't finding it too easy to get out of bed...which was odd because I didn't do a thing yesterday. Just lazed around and attempted to catch up with the self that I saw often in passing during the chaos that was last week. Last night while tossing and turning, I dreamed I had already gone to the gym, so it was with great reluctance that I drug my actual self out of bed this morning and got in the car to go to the gym...to do the actual working out instead of the just dreaming about it. I had a thought that it would be just as easy to drive myself to The Dinner Bell and have breakfast as it would for me to drive to the gym. If I actually liked breakfast food, I may have done just that...but...

But, there's this voice in my head that acts as a cheerleader and it usually kicks in on the days that I go to the gym (which incidentally is most days) The voice is still working to get me going (sometimes using guilt as a motivator) but I'm finding myself dragging a bit more and more sometimes. It's not that I don't see results with the working out, but it's just that it appears to be going slower than I want, and I'm feeling discouraged. This is why I stopped stepping on the scale at the gym...I don't think that the mini heart attacks I experience when I step up on the scale pad go well with trying to be healthy (call me crazy, but it seems so counterproductive to have a panic attack and then try to lift weights...smiling your way through your work-out like nothings wrong...it's just easier to not get on the scale and hope that what I'm doing on a mostly daily basis is working) and I know supposedly muscles weigh more...but that's a whole lot of blah blah blah when you hear it come out of someone else's mouth because you know you're dragging your butt to the gym sometimes 6 days a week. I'm still showing up and doing all the sweating though...as my mother said this weekend:

"You have to keep going because you never know..."

"What? When I'll die?"

"No...when it will all kick in!"

My mother used to lift a lot of weights, so she knows what she's talking about... I hope it kicks in soon. Although, I don't want to mislead you because there has been a lot of little changes (and even though I wasn't as thin as I was last Girls Weekend Out, this was the first time I can remember not wincing when I looked in the mirror in the dressing room, because as least I'm shaping up...and I perceive myself as teeny bit more tone) I suppose I'm just remembering the body I had in my early 20's and wondering how the heck I find that again...surely she's in there somewhere?

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

As it was...this morning I found myself stepping up on the cross-training machine and looking around the room. This is usually what one does when working their body in place for a half hour facing a huge bank of mirrors...everyone working our bodies as hard and fast as we can as if we're moving forward, but totally stuck on these machines and seemingly going around in circles instead, staying in the same place, yet racking up the miles, burning through the calories (listening to mostly the same tunes on my iPod and feeling slightly bored with my music, wondering again, if I could watch my episodes of Sex In The City instead and still keep up the pace that I do with the music pumping in my ear?) I often find myself looking around, but try not to stare at anyone for any length of time because I don't want to seem rude (I also try not to stare at myself in the mirror in front of me) And it's mostly the same group that's there every day, and often I find myself making up little stories about my fellow exercisers to keep my interest...

Yet, sometimes it seems so futile to be working this hard and not getting anywhere fast...just getting there more tired and sweaty instead...day after day finding yourself doing mostly the same things over and over in the same place at the same time with the same people seems a little surreal, evidenced by the fact that one of my friends walked into the gym today, walked over to the cross training machine and put her hand on my arm, leaned in and gently said:

"...this place is the Twilight Zone..."

Oh yes.

It is.

Photo Walk...

About a week ago, Rich learned that he would be the guide for Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk here in shiny (shiny because of all the monsoon rain we've been getting...not to mention all the hail that bounced it's way into Snap Snap yesterday afternoon...and can we pause and talk about the humidity for a moment? ugh!) Prescott Arizona on Saturday August 23rd...

I know, it's so exciting...

So exciting...I waited a week to post about it.
(too many other things going on as well...Lesigh)

We are excited though, and have been talking a lot about the photo walk...all the fun details and whatnot. We're starting the photo walk at Sharlot Hall Museum at 8:30 am (which houses the very first Governor's mansion and replica of the first school house...although, if you look at it and compare it to the photo they have on hand, you'll wonder why it looks so different....I mean, I do...so, we'll just say it's an interpretation of the first school house and leave it at that) and will be walking for about 2 hours and ending up at the Raven Cafe...downtown. There are also a lot of cool prizes being given out to lucky people who are participating in a sort of photo contest, and Prescott also gets our very own private Flickr group (whee!)

If you would like to join us please follow this link...Prescott Worldwide Photo walk...and sign up soon, as the group is limited to only 50 people. If you're not able to be in Prescott the day of the walk but would like to join in anyway, feel free to sign up for the walk in your area...that way we're all kind of together taking photos and walking...

At least in spirit.

Have a wonderful weekend...I'll be spending mine trying to play catch up with myself...Which is only a little different than playing catch with myself...

Because I throw like a girl.

Playing Hooky...

My alarm sounded yesterday at 5 am...

Yes, I played hooky and I actually got up an hour earlier than I normally do. Excited and happy I might add, so it wasn't really that hard to jump out of bed. Rich and I have been having bit of opposing days off the last few weeks, and it's been quite a while since we've been out on the road together...so, when we both decided it would be fun to play hooky, and Rich came up with a plan, you can believe it was met with a ton of excitement from both of us.

We went to Bedrock Village! Can you believe that this gem is just a little distance down the road from us?

And would you just look at that prehistoric Airstream!

Ok, really...Bedrock Village is just a mere hop skip and a jump from a much larger attraction in this neck of the woods. The Grand Canyon. You see...Rich has never been to the Grand Canyon. And, I must admit that it's been a long while since I've been to the Canyon myself (and I've only been 4 times in my entire long life as it is) So, we gassed up the scooter, put on some tunes and sang our way down the road.

Did you know that the Grand Canyon is only 2.5 hours away from us? Well...it is...and with Rich's National Parks Pass, we're planning on going for more visits. Hopefully some time soon we'll be hiking and camping in the Canyon as well.

We were both sooo excited to go to the canyon, I started to think I must have turned into an adult at some point. I mean, exactly when did going to a "natural" wonder...somewhere to hike and walk around and just enjoy the person you're with and the scenery...a place to quietly inhale and renew your connection with the world become just as exciting as going to Disneyland did when I was a child?

Probably when the natural wonder in question became like Disneyland...

Now, don't get me wrong, there is still a part of me that is all about going to amusement parks and the cheap thrills you get from going on rides and seeing live cartoon characters parading around pretending to be real...but apparently at some point I've turned into a bit of an adult because it's just as exciting to think of going out and hiking as an adult as it was to go see Mickey Mouse as a child. I've also been a bit spoiled...

I have totally forgotten about what it's like to go to a major attraction and how crowded it is with people. Usually when we're out and about in our part of Arizona, there aren't huge crowds...and to get reintroduced to this aspect, I found myself immediately being shoved off to the side of a path into a hand railing as someone had to push their way past me to get to the California Condor that was sitting on a rock (now I can see why there are the signs all over telling us to be careful around the edge of the canyon that depicts someone falling into the Canyon...it's not because of the fear of loosing your balance, it's the fear that an overzealous tourist will push their way past you and poof...see you later Grand Canyon and we hope you brought a parachute...)

The Condor was very cool...Apparently this Condor is part of the reintroduction of these rather large fluffy birds back into the Canyon area...Rich and I thought they were vultures at first, but they were very large...and usually they have balding pink heads but we couldn't see it because this guy was content enjoying the view in front of him instead of looking at the large crowd behind him (not unlike the large elk that was grazing on the side of the road that caused frantic tourists to stop their cars in the middle of the one lane road into the canyon so they could snap their pictures) Who knows? Perhaps the Condor was a tourist?

We decided to try our luck closer to the lodges thinking the crowds would be a little thinner this early in the morning, and we were right. We did actually meet a lot of lovely other people during our tour of the Canyon...people who were quick with a laugh no matter what language they were using to communicate.

We decided to try our hand at hiking a little bit down Bright Angel Trail to get some unobstructed pictures of the canyon. We didn't get too far because of the squirrel.

Did you know that the leading injuries to people at the Canyon is Rock Squirrel bites?

I was terrified...

I stopped dead in my tracks hardly daring to breathe...

There was this teeny tiny fluffy squirrel on the trail that was looking at me with those liquid brown eyes, coming closer and closer every time I talked to it...It looked so young, but clearly it was looking for a snack. Not me squirrel...I saw the signs "Keep the Wildlife Wild" no snacks from me...I don't care how many times you bite me!

Actually, we decided to turn back because a storm was rapidly approaching and we wanted to get some other pictures before all the clouds rolled in...The last time I was there, the entire canyon filled with clouds and you couldn't see a thing...of course, there was also snow on the ground.

We decided it would be fun to drive the East highway of the Canyon for some other views, and stopped at an Indian ruin. It struck me as odd that the ruin was so far away from the amazing views of the canyon...then again, it could have been due to water in the area instead right? I mean, one could just walk to the edge of the Canyon if one wanted to.

We also stopped at Moran Point...which we quickly renamed Moron Point after almost being backed into no less that 4 times by a guy in a BMW who refused to look behind him. Rich handled it well, just trying to keep out of his way while I sat in the passengers seat and said things like "aaaaah!!!" and "eeeee!" while clutching my stomach...it was like a bad episode of The Wheel of Fortune. Luckily we have a small car and there was no one behind us...Rich didn't even honk, and I was about ready to get out of the car and give this man a few driving pointers, but we decided maybe we weren't meant to see this particular view and drove onto the next instead.

This one was more crowded with people jabbing and scurrying down the rocks, which prompted Rich to lean over to me at one point and say, "Are we the only Americans here?" which made me laugh because I just heard a little girl say the exact thing to her mom...The storm was really rolling in by this point...so we decided to head home.

We made it back in time to have a lovely lunch and rode over to watch the new Batman movie (strangely enough this is our very first movie date in a theater together) it was an amazing, movie but very intense, and I found myself needing to take a lot of time to really calm down afterwards.

This was a wonderful surprise day off in the middle of the week, made even more special because I got to spend time with Rich...see his reaction to viewing the Canyon for the very first time...and thank you for your well wishes, but what's with all the winks and nudges? I mean, sure there was hand holding, smiles and a lot of giggles...but there usually is when we're together. Most of the groping that happened was from tourists and the only times Rich grabbed me in passionate embraces was to keep me from being nudged over the edge and into the canyon. But, even after all of that, you can believe we'll be going back more and we made the promise to bring at least one of the digital Elphs to that we can have someone take our pictures together...we just didn't feel safe handing over the SLR's...

Shhhhhhh...

Rich and I are off today...

Together...

Alone...

Totally playing hooky...

It's been a while.

I will be back tomorrow with pictures.

Have an amazing day...

The Shoe Report...

For some reason, I had been looking forward to shoe shopping (we've all seen my closet, so this is no surprise is it?) when we were down in The Valley this weekend. Specifically shopping for heels. I didn't actually buy any of the kind of heels that I thought I would...

I'm thinking that I was having a bit of a heel quest in my head after watching the Sex in the City movie. And, while I admit that I love heels (and found much to my surprise when I dropped weight after the divorce, that not only could I wear heels, but suddenly I didn't walk like a man in drag would, like I had always thought I did...well, heels have a special place in my heart) unfortunately, heels aren't that practical for my lifestyle...seeing as I'm on my feet quite a bit during the day, shoes that are a bit comfortable are a must, and I don't go out enough to warrant lot of fancy heels.

So it was with extreme delight that I found a sweet pair of Keds with a modern cow print on them...and they're Mary Jane style...at the Macy's shoe sale (for well under $20) and as I eagerly put them on yesterday before work, I felt a little like it was my first day of school, instead of all the kids that went back to school yesterday...well, I suppose they felt like it was there first day of school as well, since it actually was the first day of school for them...but new shoes? Well...you know what I mean.

I found not one but, two pairs of Campers at Last Chance. I about fell over on that one...I love Camper shoes, and wasn't even aware that Nordstrom had started selling Campers, and I was very excited when I ran across these beauties.

They are both leather with embroidery and have just the slightest hintof a heel...and to make things even better? The pink ones are Camper Twins (which means they have a design that goes from one shoe to the other) and they have a sweet ankle strap as well! I am very excited about the styles and colors because I think they'll actually match a lot of the clothes I already have...so, there's that.

Plus? I spent under $30 each on these beauties...which, is quite the deal if you follow the extreme pricing on Camper shoes at all (not that I do, but every once in a while I'll go drool over at Zappos)

So, the shoe shopping was good, as you can see, even if it didn't include all the heels I was envisioning...three new pairs isn't all that bad...although it makes me want to go clean out the ones I have and pass on pairs that I'm not currently wearing...not that I'm sitting here wearing all my shoes at one time...you know what I mean...

Girls Weekend Out...Recap...

Picture style!

Ok, well...not so much picture style, but I did actually remember to take a few more (and better) pictures than last time.

With Pictures!

(better? Yes, I think so...)

We rolled out of the mountains up here at about 7:30...dropped Niko off with grandparents, and made a beeline for a little breakfast place called Blondies, so we could fortify for the shopping. After having a lovely breakfast, we really got on the road and didn't stop until we hit the Nordstrom parking garage...

Urban Outfitters was our first stop...not much to see there. Tried on a couple of things (cute fabric) looked bad...noticed someone staring at the horrible bumps on my legs...she would look away every time I looked towards her...but, I figured it out.

LeSigh...

It was kind of like that all weekend though...stupid mosquitoes!

Left with a cute pair of panties that have a lovely vintage kitten design on them, I'm thinking it's the 3 Little Kittens? Who knows...they are too cute though...I must figure out a way to display these things so I don't ruin the cute by wearing them...


Decided to pop into Nordstrom for a quick potty break and realized the exact reason I was feeling a little more heavy (and bloated thankyouverymuch...it's not like the mosquito bites were enough of a bummer...) We quickly found some Chai tea with soy for a bit of a kick and headed over towards Tiffany's to look at their charms. Ms. Dina and I were thinking perhaps that we would commemorate our trips with yearly charms for our bracelets...

Tiffany charms are very expensive.


Went to Sephora instead and sniffed every perfume until Dina and I both decided that the heavier Prada scent was the one for me. Yay...a new scent! Much better (was actually worried that we may not find anything to buy this trip...yeah. right.) Continued to run around like maniacs stuffing everything we could into those black Sephora buckets...and then weeded out and re stuffed again, walking around with our fair share of new girlie accoutrement's for our faces. Dina scored all the samples this time though...apparently they have some sort of system for remembering us? (hahahaha!)

Skipped into Anthropologie...found some cuties to try on. But only for me...Dina sat on the overstuffed chairs in the dressing area and commented on what I was trying on. Heaven love the girl too...because she kept finding things to hand me...now, they were all size 8's mind you, but she kept prefacing each one with, "they don't look that small..." They of course, were...but I love shopping with someone who thinks I'm that small. Coveted briefly the size 8 Marimeko dress...it was about $39, and the only one in the store...and would have cost double that to buy the fabric and make it myself. Drat. Left with an oversized gold sweater for the fall instead...

It's about this time we discover it's time for our afternoon snack at Sprinkles. Run over there hoping to meet up with Flutter (she had a hard week though and wasn't able to make it, so definitely soon) and find that they have the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes I was after...Choose 4 cupcake flavors for a snack and hightail it over to the Hotel Indigo to check in. The Hotel Indigo down there is quite lovely...Very modern looking with the most amazing art all around...pictures, plants and rocks...but any place that has Aveda in the rooms for guests to use is spectacular in my book.

After getting up to the room, we have a knock at the door...the concierge heard us talking about our girlie weekend, and came up to give us a thick coupon book with all sorts of goodies inside! We were so excited we decided to celebrate by eating our cupcakes...

Red Velvet
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Limited Edition Cherry
Coconut

I was most excited about the peanut butter chocolate chip, and Dina was most excited about the cherry...She liked the peanut butter chocolate chip the best and I liked the cherry...which surprised me because I didn't even want that one...go figure...it was the tart/sweet. The cupcakes were good, but not the best either of us have ever had, I found them a tad heavy myself and had a hard time eating my halves...it was lovely to go to the little shoppe though.

We ran back to the mall to sandwich some other shopping before dinner, and were sucked in to the Benefit Cosmetics Counter by 2 enthusiastic Benefit employees who offered to give us a 5 minute fresher upper for our faces. Well, they did their magic which resulted in us purchasing a couple of more things from them that we didn't know about before. I'm telling you...I should have bought everything he used on my face, I looked that good...and I am sitting on my hands today so I don't go to the website...but it's like fighting a loosing battle.

He used an eyebrow kit on me, that made my eyebrows pop and look amazing (which is wonderful because I've been wanting to do something different with my eyebrows, weirdly enough...and he didn't even know that!) along with Moon Beam, for that dewy look...an eye brightener pencil, a bronzer for my cheeks and a powder that evens the skin tone. Well, I only bought the first two and I know I am going to have to get the rest...

We both looked just wonderful after that, and agreed that it was just what we needed as we felt totally refreshed and renewed! (it still didn't make us like the clothes we tried on, but hey...) I never find myself getting talked into sitting in a little chair and letting someone do anything to my face...but I highly recommend you doing it...and soon. Next time you see someone offering something at a Benefits counter jump right in. They are talented and they love to show you how to use their products. I'm sure it results in higher sales, but really...I love knowing how to use something well, especially if it makes me look better! Dina has been a Benefits cosmetic user for years (and I am quickly becoming a huge fan myself) and she's one of the prettiest people I know with an incredible knack for putting on her best face...I'm sure she could give a list of her favorites. I will try to do that this week as well...


We got a few more stops in before it was decided we needed to go to Malee's Thai Bistro on Main...for our dinner (mostly because I was staring to feel dizzy and kind of strange) We were totally smart this time because last time we ordered an appetizer, soup and 2 entrees...this time we ordered an appetizer, soup and 1 entree...Which was still too much food.

Sigh.

Waddle.

Next time? Appetizer and soup OR 1 entree and soup.

We were so stuffed, we walked around peering into the art galleries that are all over Main (I admit I was looking for any that carried photos...thinking of Rich's art) trying to walk it off and feel better, but when it only gets down to 100 at night, it's hard to do without feeling both sweaty and stuffed.

We decided to skip Kazmirz this time and go back to the hotel to dip our feet into the pool.

The pool has lights in it that change the color of the water...it is very cool.

After that we about staggered up to the room and promptly fell asleep. It's funny, but this trip was a little different from last years trip. We're in such different places in our lives this time...and we only had one night down in The Valley...but, it just felt different. Not in a bad way, just calmer and more relaxed.

We hardly slept in the next morning, which was unfortunate it being Sunday (and I was tired due to the cute girls next door with found an opportunity to slam their door every 5 minutes from 10 - 3 am) which meant that most of the stores we wanted to visit open quite a bit later...We went down to Last Chance, the Nordstrom outlet, and braved that mob scene (I can only stand to be there for 1 hour before I get a headache and start weeping) I was super happy we did brave it though, because that's one of the only places I bought clothes...well, and 2 pairs of Camper shoes for very cheap...which made me quite happy indeed (I'll give a full shoe report later, don't you worry) and then ran over to the Cheesecake Factory to meet Velvet Brick...one of our bloggy friends for lunch and a chat...

May I take a moment to point out here that not only are my eyes closed in this picture, but that top makes me look pregnant (which I'm not, and the top is only a Medium...could you imagine the large?!?!) and you can see a lot of my spots as well...

ugh!

We ran over to Macy's at the Biltmore (you know, since we were there?) and I picked up a little Lucky Brand hoodie with a Lucky Cat on it that I was coveting, because it made me swoon, and it reminded me of Rich as well...the price was hefty, but they marked it down for me because it was going on sale the next day and they gave me more money off while I was standing at the register...I actually saved 50%...Whoopie!!

We headed back to the big mall to check out a few more things before I crumpled into a shopped out heap onto the floor and whined to go home...

Ok, it wasn't that bad, but I'm finding that I just don't have the stamina for this intense shopping anymore...we both agreed it may be better in the future if we plan to stay 2 nights instead of just one like we did our first trip. It's too hard to try to stuff everything into that short of time without ending up a little loopy at the end. All in all, it was a lovely trip...not too many clothes for me (something seemed to be lacking in the clothes department for me...either everything was black and white or very over sized and kind of apron/smock/maternity looking...it was odd) I did invest in more make-up this time...along with finding a few pairs of shoes...but, I managed to stick to the money I'd budgeted which makes me feel wonderful!

It was a welcome change of scenery and get away...full of great company, lots of giggles and even a bit of relaxation...Hotter than last year (for sure) yet, fun nonetheless...

Thank you Dina!

Girls Weekend Out...

Bags Packed - check
Car Washed - check
New Coconut Air Freshener opened and installed in car - check
Money Saved For Frivolous Shopping and Food - check
Plan of Action Discussed for our weekend (and discussed again) - check

Now, all I'm waiting for is today to be over, and tomorrow to come rushing in...and then Dina and I are officially off and running...and both of us need this vacation getaway, in the worst of ways.

Last night after a lovely bar-b-q hosted by Rich at the Airstream, where I spent most of the night swatting mosquitoes away...I awoke to bites. Tons of bites...I was wearing a dress and had thought far enough ahead to bring a light jacket, which I put on early in the evening...I had no idea I was being bit on the legs quite that bad...and understand me when I say that I got bit bad that I just counted 32 bites on my right leg alone.

32.

Luckily they don't all itch, but you can imagine with my lovely pale Irish skin how I look. Like I have a horrible disease, that's what. Even my mother gasped when she saw me this morning. So, I am a little bummed about going on the trip and having to walk around with these legs (I am seriously considering putting on fake tan so I don't look so bad. That way people can concentrate on the weird orange color rather than the horror that I may have some weird disease) and I am crossing my fingers that none of the mosquitoes had West Nile Virus. From now on, it's going to be Off city for me when I go to the Airstream...apparently I am just too yummy of a temptation...and you would have thought I'd learned my lesson last after last years bites...or because of the fact that this has happened to me often in my life here on the planet.

sigh.

It's making me sick to my stomach to talk about it anymore.

I am going to try to think about how much fun we're going to have instead. We are planning on paying a visit to Sprinkles...and after looking at the menu, which changes daily, I decided that we may have to visit both days...and Dina suggested buying a snack pack for the boys...um, the ride home. We'll also be visiting several of the places we did last year, as we are creatures of habit, and we enjoy doing things over and over.

We'll also be meeting up with these delightful two women...and I can hardly wait! I am taking the Cannon Elph because it's so much more compact, and the battery is charged and waiting...I will come back with pictures...

Just none containing my legs...