Books & Shoes ...

Oh my gosh! Today has been the best day ever!

First, I didn't leave Michelle's house last night until 2AM! Yes! TWO IN THE MORNING! We were having "girl talk" until Shanu interrupted & then we had girl talk with Shanu there, but whatever. So that was loads of fun & much needed. Sort of reminiscent of the US Bitch Fests that we would have except there were only 2 of us & my nearest & dearest weren't present.

So at 9am, there was tiny knock on my door. Now my alarm was snoozing because I had to be at Michelle's by 10am so we could blow off class together & have a "girls' day." So I struggle out of my toasty bed, open my door, & lo & behold! what is there? Oh yes, my books! FINALLY! Now, had they not shown by Thursday, then I'd be calling Barnes & Noble to complain, but that is not necessary because I have my books & I can write my paper & I am SO excited! (Yes, I'm excited about writing a paper - I'm weird, okay?)

Now I have to tell you what this box looks like. First off, it's encased in a blue airmail bag that looks like a woven grain sack. The box itself is fairly big - I don't know dimensions, but it's a good size. It has SEVEN books in it - that's it! And TWO layers of packing wrap. I mean really - save a tree & use a smaller box.

So I called Michelle to make sure she was up & told her about my newly arrived mail. I proceeded to go downstairs to take a shower. Well Freddy & Jordan are sitting in the kitchen & they look as I head to the shower in my wonderful blue terry cloth bathrobe. Freddy is Freddy & wants to chat. Mentions the box. Says "Are they sending you dead babies in that blue bag or what?" He then told me how he had answered the door when the postman knocked & looked a little bewildered when the exchange was made. Whatever. I have my books now!

Finally I'm ready by 10am & I head to Michelle's so we can catch the bus. We walk to Blackpill which is about a 45-minute brisk walk (1.5 miles, we're guessing) so we could visit Clyne Farm where I'm considering taking riding lessons. We then have to walk UPHILL for I don't know how far to get to this farm! The view was SPECTACULAR! You would never guess this farm exists in Swansea! I mean really! And we find this garden, though it might as well be a park, which is gorgeous as well, complete with a dog graveyard, a Japanese bridge, a castle, & all sorts of cool stuff. Would be a great study place 'cause it is so peace & quiet & gorgeous.

By then it was 11:15 & we decided to head back towards the city because we were going to go shopping for our Thursday evening night out. We needed "sexy shirts" that we actually never did find. So we go to the city centre & decide to eat at the Bouchon de Rossi, a French cafe that we kept saying we would try.

Well! Let me tell you what! AHHH! THE FOOD! DELICIOUS! I had the cream of celery soup & Shell had the melon starter. Then I had the pasta of day which had an asparagus cheese soup, or so I was told, which really ended up being lots of mushrooms. Yes, mom, I ate some of the 'shrooms. Be proud. Michelle had the pork chops in a cream sauce with green beans & chips (fries). It was so good, yet expensive when we did the conversion, but it was so worth!

After that we HAD to walk off the meal. So, by 1pm we were shopping. Shell has been pricing Christmas trees because the guys have given her license to decorate. I needed a new pyrex container 'cause ours broke (guess it couldn't stand the heat). And we were on the prowl for shoes. Oh yes ... shoes. We love them. We're female! And I am my mother's daughter & her mother's granddaughter. I get the shoe addiction from them. I found the coolest pair of heels - & we all know how much I LOVE heels (note sarcasm please). These are REALLY comfy, about 2 inches or more high, & black with pointy toes. I love 'em! I wore them around Shell's house when we were cooking dinner to break them in some. She found a pair to for her big, UK size 9, feet.

Then we hit Jane Norman which is this new store that has just opened & they have really expensive clothes but this fab sweater I really wanted. I finally broke down & bought it. And Shell bought a black sparkly shrug to wear over a corset she has. Ah, glorious.

Next stop was Debenham's. Since we have planned to go out Thursday, I needed makeup 'cause I brought none over & Shell wanted perfume. Debenham's was having a sale on everything in the store, so I shopped at the Clinique counter & bought some makeup since the bulk of my show makeup needs to be thrown out & it's not exactly "going out" wear.

Let's see ... can't really remember what else we did. We were certainly worn out when we got home at 5pm. We shared a pizza cause we weren't really too terribly hungry after our large dinner. OH! We did try to make no-bake cookies last night. Those flopped. We even froze them & they still would not harden like they should. So we ate some cookies with spoons - quite amusing to watch anyway. But the guys, particularly Raza, liked them & joined in our cookie eating extranvaganza.

Now it is 10:15pm & I'm worn out & I have yet to open one of my new books. And I have a 9am class, so I can't stay up late tonight perusing the books. And I HAVE to work out tomorrow after class since I blew it off today - our uphill climb to the farm counts, right??? And the shopping? Those bags can get heavy!

So hopefully we will go out tomorrow night if we can convince Mel to go. Rachael is going to Edinburg so she can't join which is sad. So if Mel can't go, we'll cancel & move it to Monday when we can all go & enjoy one other's company for a glorious girls' night out of dinner, a pub crawl, & picking up guys.

But the highlight of the day ... my books & my shoes. At least I'm addicted to harmless things & not something worse, right? :-D