Took the kids to see Alice In Wonderland - it was great! A real heroine movie with a Jabberwocky, what's not to like? (I happily remembered my Dad quoting the Jabberwocky often during my childhood.) Think six impossible things before breakfast! We all agreed that without the costumes and art it wouldn't have thrilled us as much. There are great ideas in there for a birthday party (those ideas are for younger kids, but I'm thinking about R's 16th birthday that is 9 months away! The drinks in little bottles with "Drink Me" tags, little petit fours with "Eat Me" written on them, playing chess and cards, funky tea party with broken and mismatched dishes, and a vial of Jabberwocky blood attached to a silk cord as the party favor. ) and Halloween costumes - not the cheesy, real dressing up!
After all the fantastical things in Alice it seems right to make paper flowers - click all the way through Martha's list, there are roses and peonies and poppies and apple/cherry blossoms. (While we're on the subject, Martha continues to bug me - several of these crafts I saw years ago on other blogs. So that's what crafters get if they're nice enough to offer a free tutorial - poached by Big Sister Martha.) The cherry blossoms remind me of our tree outside. The blossoms go so quickly, making a branch like this would remind me of spring. (I'll leave the birds off, I'd have Alfred Hitchcock type nightmares otherwise).
Rach and I went to a consignment store. I had to explain what a consignment store is to her to get her to go, "It's second-hand clothes, but better than Goodwill. Macy's clothes on a Goodwill budget." It wasn't a teen store, and she's a picky girl, and she still found a shirt and a necklace. I found a dress (I haven't bought a dress in years, they either don't fit, aren't modest, or are matronly), a beautiful green blouse that happens to be silk (silk scares me, I'll ruin it just as sure as I shrunk that cashmere sweater), a necklace, earrings, and another brooch for my purse. Brooches are lovely, especially when they're $5, but I feel weird wearing them on anything but a coat. So I've got two on my purse, a bee and now a butterfly.
Then Rach and I went to a used bookstore that recently opened near the consignment store. It felt like the clouds parting and the sun shined down upon us - hardcover of Eldest, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Cat's Eye, The Bell Jar, and The Friday Night Knitting Club all for $25 bucks! Owning books gives me a special thrill, mine mine mine!
These things a personal trainer learned over 20 years made me think. Funny thing is he went against several things he posted - he's selling things and he has a book and a blog. I guess he didn't see the irony there. Is it also irony that I keep reading how bad sugar is for me and I continue to consume it in vast quantities? What might work better in my body if I could step away from the sugar bowl and soda machine?
Not wanting to end on something as sad as giving up sugar, I'll tell you about lunch. DH and I went to a local farmer's market (the same one I visited with my parents when they visited). It was bustling and loud today, the epitome of Eastern US culture. We decided to eat at the Mediterranean restaurant, I had a chicken swarma wrap and DH had a Gyro - yummy! It was hard to choose where to eat though, there was a southern food booth, a pizza booth, a pretzal booth, many bakeries, several sandwich shops, a salad booth, a seafood booth, a candy booth, a bagel booth, a comfort food booth, and on and on. We could eat there everyday for a month and not tire of it.