The Birthday Trip

Stephen had been gone for 4 days to Vegas to teach and will be gone again next week to Houston.  I missed him much over the weekend and I was so glad to get to spend the weekend with him.  We had invited several other couples, but it didn't work out for any of them.  While I missed the comradere, it was so good to reconnect with one another and just focus on us.

Much time was spent eating.  Sushi at Okada, Brunch at Black Bear Diner off the Strip and Botera Steakhouse for the actual birthday dinner.  Now some of you may really cringe at this, but I got my childhood favorite for my appetizer--Bone Marrow and Onion Jam. 

I know you are probably totally grossed out.  As a kid, my Mom would buy the roast with a bone in it for our Sunday lunch.  We would spread the marrow on a piece of bread, salt it and eat it.  YUM!  I remember "fighting" my grampa for it.  Since then, I have never seen bone in roasts at the grocery store and never seen it at a restaurant.  Happy birthday to me!!!

Then there was pool lounging, a bit of a shopping spree at H & M, trying on really expensive clothes for my friend Ainslee who interns for a designer, Victor de Souza, and of course people watching.  Vegas is THE best place for that. 

It was a great weekend and one of the best birthdays ever.  Thank you again, Stephen.  I love you!

What Not to Wear

Last weekend while Brenda and her family were over we got to talking about fashion and clothes and how I needed a whole new fall wardrobe. We talked about the show What Not to Wear and decided that Brenda could be my "Stacy."

This afternoon I spent 2 hours going through the clothes in my closet and ended up with 2 garbage bags full of clothes, and 3 grocery sacks full of coat hangers. I reorganized and sorted. I threw out just about everything I hadn't worn in 5 years. Basically, it was a lot of teacher clothes from Talbots that are out of style or the wrong cut. Some of it I looked at and thought "what was I thinking???" It was kind of hard throwing out perfectly good wool pants that were lined (think at the waist with pleats!). But, I knew that even if they hung in my closet, I wasn't going to wear them. I'll donate them and somebody will enjoy them.

So, fashionista Brenda came over and went through my closet and threw out just a few more things and made a pile of clothes that need to be altered. She claims she has a great lady who is dirt cheap. Afterwards, we hit the stores. I came home with 4 tops, 1 cami, 1 pair of pants, 2 pair of shoes, 1 pair of earrings, a necklace and a clutch--all for under $300. I also found a to-die-for-dress that I hope to pick-up tomorrow. I'll call it my birthday/Vegas/Christmas party dress. I'm not letting Stephen see it till Vegas. In fact, Brenda and I may send the boys to another room while we get dressed. (She found a smashing one too!) If you hadn't figured it out, I am meeting Stephen in Vegas after he is done at LVI for a little birthday celebration a little later this month. Brenda and her husband are going too.

Anyway, I wore one of my new tops, shoes and jewerly today and felt so much better. What I learned: Fun accessories make you not feel like such a "Mom-in-T-shirt-and-jeans" boring. Thanks, Brenda and I look forward to the next episode!