Shopping Quest

I am a recovering shopaholic. I used to work in the mall (a lifetime ago, it seems), an unhealthy place for someone with a lot of plastic and little self control. As I've aged, er, matured, I've learned to tame the beast within that NEEDS another pair of shoes or colorful new tunic or sparkly pair of earrings.

The Professor would probably disagree, but I notice the improvement. For example, I only buy three or four pairs of sandals each summer instead of a dozen.

That's HUGE, people!

Tomorrow, The Professor and I are driving to Houston. He's a finalist in the Hunting Art Prize which will be awarded at a gala Saturday night. Because Dillypoo is about a size smaller than she was a month ago, I decided to take my inner shopper out for a play date. It'd been awhile since we'd had a reason to stop at the mall. Our goal: white dress slacks to pair with a bejeweled blouse already hanging in my closet. Perfect for Saturday's party.

Little did I realize that I was embarking on a quest for the shopping equivalent of the Holy Grail.

I found white jeans, white capris, white shorts, white skirts, white cargo pants, and white tights, but not one pair of white dress slacks.

Macy's didn't have any and Mr. Dillard let me down. I ventured into JC Penney's, but the women's department smelled like decaying polyester and I had to leave. I considered forfeiting the quest for something else, but an entire new outfit would need shoes and jewelry and maybe even a new clutch.

My inner shopper started to whimper.

I tried on a few long dresses. They're everywhere which means they must be in fashion again. Dillypoo likes to be fashionable (although I admit my jeans and polo shirt staples are far from Rodeo Drive). I looked like an aging disco queen in the first one. My boobs were barely contained in the thin, Spandex-like bikini top. The second one wasn't much better. It had a hippie flair and Renaissance fair appeal (I suddenly craved a turkey leg). The third one made me look pregnant.

I gave up on the dresses.

Then I lovingly caressed the sweater sets in the upscale department at Dillard's and I tried on some sale items. My dressing room was beginning to overflow. My inner shopper started to get giddy.

And then I refocused. I stifled myself and walked away from the mall EMPTY HANDED.

Somebody please alert the media.

After three hours, I eventually found a pair of white dress slacks at Chico's and I appeased my inner shopper with a cute little yellow blouse that was on sale.

My inner shopper may cry herself to sleep tonight.

Laid Back Dillypoo

I've been a bum lately. After spending Saturday doing the family thing, I spent Sunday in my jammies doing nothing. I didn't run errands or buy groceries or wash laundry.

I ordered a movie on Pay-Per-View, and watched it twice. (I think I'm in love with Michael Sheen.)

I watched a marathon of documentaries about Egypt and the Pharaohs on T.V. Saturday's visit to King Tut carried over to Bum Day.

I played Scrabble and Solitaire on my iPhone. I have both games on my computer, but as I was lying in bed most of the day, playing on my phone was easier. Bums don't get up to play games in another room when they're just as accessible from bed.

I made fried chicken for dinner. I love my fried chicken. I found the recipe in my favorite cookbook. It's only 5 points.My copy doesn't look that pretty:

I highly recommend taking a bum day. It's kind of like Dillypoo Day, but less expensive.

Weigh Day Update: I lost 1.2 pounds for a total of 14.6 pounds! I'm crossing my fingers that I see 15 next week. And I'm still exercising. The Professor was taking measurements and may move my treadmill out of the dining room and into one that has a ceiling fan! Oh joy!

Boy Imitates Art

The Professor and I spent today with my parents and nephews visiting the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. Afterwards we ate lunch at the Nasher Sculpture Center where Nephew No. 2 was inspired by the wonderful art. This is our collaboration.

Christmas in April

The Professor bought me a new digital camera last weekend! It was a belated Christmas gift. I was supposed to get my car re-painted in January and he was going to contribute to the Paint Dillypoo's Car Fund. I waited until after Santa had come and gone to get quotes, though, and was shocked that the cost was equal to the Blue Book value. I decided to just wash and wax Baby instead.

I call my car Baby. The Professor's car is called Bob.

Isn't my April Christmas present cute? It fits in my purse, too, which should simplify and improve snapping blog shots. As much as I love my iPhone, the photo quality can be a bit unpredictable.

Here is one of the first photos taken with my new camera:

Frida wasn't as excited as I was. She's still disappointed that we didn't re-paint Baby.

Speaking of disappointed excitement, I got up early every morning this week except Thursday to walk on the treadmill. Everyone told me that walking in the morning would give me more energy.

They lied.

Twice this week I've come home from work and taken a nap. I may try walking in the evening so the exhaustion can help me sleep. That'd solve another problem, too. It's getting hot which means I'm all sticky and icky when I finish my treadmile, and Dillypoo hates to sweat. It's my biggest objection to exercise.

My other objection to exercise is that it's boring as hell. So I'm listening to Eragon on my iPod. Thank goodness for audio books! Too bad I disqualified them from my personal reading challenge.

Comeuppance

I gained a pound this week. Raise your hand if that's a surprise. If you raised your hand then you're not reading this blog regularly.

Shame on you!

Notice how I diverted the admonition to you instead of me? I'm sure there's a technical term for that. Blame displacement or something?

Whatever. This weekend's total lack of control was the kick in the shorts I needed to get moving and...are you ready for this? Dillypoo is walking! I've risen early the past three mornings in a row and used the dreaded treadmill:

The cats are so confused.

Art Festing: Day Two

One of my best friends has a downtown condo in a building that used to be an office sky rise before being mauled by a tornado in 2000. In the little more than a year that she's had this condo, I have walked past the large metal sculpture in the lobby without ever realizing that it's a TORNADO.

Sometimes Dillypoo's box of crayons isn't all that sharp.

We made the condo our base camp for hitting the Arts Festival, which was handy since that's where the wine was. We polished off half a bottle of pinot noir while waiting for the sun to break through the clouds and then poured the remainder into styrofoam cups for roadies.

A girl needs nourishment to get through the Saturday crowds.

The treasure hunting was also more exciting while under the influence. We both bought a set of these beautiful baubles:

I also almost bought a ring after I got it stuck on my finger. Trying it on without checking the size first seemed like a good idea at the time. Thank goodness the very sober vendor-lady had lotion handy.

After that I decided to stick to non-wearable treasure hunting and I got one of the glass napkin holders I spotted yesterday. Sadly, the Professor was not as smitten as I was by it's whimsy once I got it home.

The downside of spending two days at an outside arts festival (one masquerading as a wino) is that I kinda fell off the WW wagon:

I dove into that queso as if it were manna from heaven. And yes, that's a pomegranate martini in the foreground. I have no excuse for it other than it called to me as we passed through the bar on our way to the patio.

The list of my culinary sins for the past 24 hours:

nachos
hot dog with sauerkraut
cotton candy
chicken quesadilla
Pringles potato chips
chips and queso
popcorn
half a bottle of wine
one martini
cheeseburger

To spin it positively, I did NOT indulge in the following:

cream puff
caramel apple
funnel cake
sausage on a stick
warm beer in plastic cups (I guess that wasn't too hard to resist, but it still counts)
pizza

We'll see on Tuesday what the final cost was. I'm going to be a vegetarian until then.

Dillypoo Day

Today was Dillypoo Day. Did you remember to celebrate? I took the afternoon off from work to walk in the rain at the Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival, shop for new shoes and buy make up.

Friday between noon and 5:00 is the best time to go to the arts festival because there are no crowds, especially on a rainy day. I was able to wander carefree through the booths, admiring the art and munching on fair food.

Don't tell Weight Watchers, but I had nachos today. And half of a hot dog with sauerkraut. And some cotton candy. But I was walking, so it's all good, right?

Every year I try and buy something new. Usually it's jewelry or a nifty piece of art glass. I fell in love with these:

They're garden gazing balls and I want one! But I probably won't get one because I blew most of my Main Street wad at an art auction Thursday night.

I also fell in love with this whimsical glass sculpture:

Lucy and Ethel would kill this in a kitty heartbeat. The artist also had some super cute, hand blown sugar and creamer sets:

I'm a sucker for sugar and creamer sets. I inherited the DCF gene (Dish Collecting Fetish) from my mother.

I'm planning to go again tomorrow with a girlfriend, weather permitting. The forecast is a bit gloomy but I think I need to buy this napkin holder:

Or a pair of earrings that I forgot to shoot. (Actually, I was eating the nachos when I spotted them and didn't want to get cheese all over my iPhone. I have my priorities.)

After I was done drooling over everything at the festival, I went shopping for necessities. I had to get more make up from LuAnn and I needed walking shoes.

Yes, I said walking shoes.

Aren't they the most hideous things you've ever seen? I now have $130 fewer reasons to continue avoiding this:

Happy Dillypoo Day!

Easter Boys

My parents have three grandchildren thanks to my brother and his wife (and one great niece courtesy of my cousin). The oldest grandson is a bit camera shy, but I managed to catch him on Sunday with Grandma's help:

Perhaps he thinks I'll capture his soul if he's caught on camera. He held my eyeglasses hostage until I allowed him to delete the pics from my iPhone. I acquiesced after e-mailing them to myself.

Aunt Dillypoo didn't just fall off the turnip truck. She can still outwit a 14-year old.

The younger grandson is also pretty cute:

He's not as camera shy. I couldn't catch the two girls. They were busy chasing the Easter Bunny. Grandpa loved the cake pops:

Grandpa is pretty non-discriminating when it comes to sweets. The family joke is that a 10 lb bag of sugar tossed on a picnic table is all that's needed to feed him and his brothers when they get together.

My brother was sporting a new hair do on Sunday (or should I say "hair-less" do):

You know one of the best things about blogging? It's posting silly photos of your loved ones taken at family gatherings.

Weigh Day Update: I lost 2.6 pounds this week for a total of 14.4! I finally went "shopping" in my closet and found new clothes to wear, and I put away five pairs of baggy jeans for the Goodwill. I also bought two new pair that are one size smaller than what I've been wearing. Yay!

Happy Easter!

Dillypoo's Easter dessert is no longer a mystery! I made cake pops:

Bakerella visited the Pioneer Woman recently and shared how to make these fun and really cute treats. I decided to give it a go and they were lots of fun to make, but they were also a lot harder than I expected. There are more chicks than bunnies because the ears kept falling off.

My Easter pops aren't as refined as Bakerella's, but this was my first try:

I also had issues with the bunny faces, but I think they turned out OK in the end.

I'm going to bed now. I'm pretty tuckered out after wandering aimlessly around the internet until 3:00 in the morning and then spending most of today in the kitchen. And I still have a cake to decorate (it's JuJu's birthday and sticking a candle into a cake pop just didn't seem right).

Don't worry, JuJu. I'll be up early enough to decorate your cake and make it to the party in time.

Cakes are easy. Cake pops are not.

Early Morning Inspiration

A flash of brilliance struck around 3:00 a.m. and I know what I'm making for Easter Sunday's dessert. But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

Will Dillypoo use Spam?

Or will Dillypoo use sugar and cuteness?

It's an Easter weekend cliffhanger!

Surfing While Caffeinated

I should know better than to drink coffee after dinner.

It's midnight and I'm wide awake, web surfing for cookie recipes and mindless celebrity gossip. Evidently Stevie Nicks is not a Lindsay Lohan fan and Scott MacIntyre doesn't feel the need to wear sunglasses. These are the things that keep me up late.

In other Dillypoo Entertainment news, we have a Topsy Turvy watch started!

The Professor planted two tomato seedlings this week. You can just see the leaves peeking out of the bottom. He's a bit concerned about the amount of sunlight (or lack thereof) his babies will get, but we'll keep a watch on them and see just how big his garden grows.

My mouth is already watering in anticipation of sun ripened tomato salads this summer!

Looking for Inspiration in Canned Meat Products

The Professor and I will be spending Easter Sunday doing the family thing at my brother's house. I'm supposed to bring dessert. I'm not really allowed to bring anything else. The ban on non-dessert contributions began the year I brought a Spam rabbit to supper:

Yeah, I was feeling a bit ornery that year.

The next year I went uber-cute and tried to put everyone into a sugar coma by dipping Peeps in chocolate:

I'm not sure what to do this year. I'm thinking about bunny cookies. The Professor and I had a cookie treat in Abilene, and I had the cutest, most delicious little almond cookie glazed and decorated like an Easter bunny.

Or, I could glaze some Spam and make candied Spam Easter eggs.

Oh, yeah. I'm feeling ornery again.

Weigh Day Update: The see saw continues...I lost one pound this week for a total of 11.8 since January. Let's hope I can get off the ride and continue my losing streak. I just have to maneuver my way around the Peeps and caramel filled Cadbury eggs this week. Curse that damn Easter bunny!

Art and Camels

We took a road trip to Wichita Falls yesterday. The Professor was selected to exhibit his work in the Wichita Falls Museum of Art 2nd Biennial Survey of Texas Art and Artists. It was a terrific honor, but we almost missed the reception. We thought it was tonight but I got a phone call yesterday morning at the office reminding us it was Friday night.

A quick run down the hall to let my boss know I needed to take the day off, a dash home to pack, and we were on the road by noon. Instead of being a day late, we managed to show up 15 minutes early. Thank goodness Wichita Falls is only a two hour drive away. Any further, and we'd have been in real trouble!

The Professor's work looked great:

There were 12 artists in the show and the folks at the museum were extremely friendly. We met some really wonderful people, including most of the other artists in the show. After the reception, we were invited to a party held at a home near the museum and then we went to a local bar for a late dinner and drinks. The Professor ordered a burger and a "large" beer:

We call that a pitcher at home.

This morning we decided to head to Abilene and visit the Grace Museum. The drive from Wichita Falls was about three hours, but peaceful. We saw a coyote, a tumbleweed, a dust storm, and camels:

I'm not sure why there are camels in West Texas, but there was a whole herd of them. This fellow was pretty friendly:

I wanted to give him a little pat on the nose, but I didn't know if camels bite. Not sure how I would've explained a camel attack at an art exhibit Monday morning at work.

Foolishness

Our fire alarm went off at 2:30 this morning. The Professor hit me on the shoulder, screamed "Fire!" and leapt out of bed. As I fumbled for my glasses, I quickly realized that there was no smoke and definitely no fire - not even a whiff of burned popcorn.

The Professor, on the other hand, was running around in a panic looking for flames as the alarm wailed and screeched: beep - beep - beep - FIRE! - beep - beep - beep - FIRE!

Eventually realizing there was no fire, he grabbed a foot stool to reach the alarm, which was about three inches beyond his grasp. As I brought in a larger step stool, the alarm suddenly changed it's tune to "carbon monoxide!"

Superman froze in mid-reach, perched like a bird in his tighty whities, staring at the damn thing in disbelief.

I asked, "When did you last change the batteries?"

I heard a grunt and something that sounded like, "Didn't do it the last time the clocks changed."

After shutting off the alarm and double checking the downstairs, we went back to bed. All was quiet the rest of the night, but as I was leaving the house around 8:00 a.m., the silence was again rent with "beep - beep - beep - FIRE! - beep - beep - beep - FIRE!"

I think the house was having fun at our expense. It is April 1st.