Shopping shock

Tony and I are in the Washington DC area looking at apartments. We have a little bit of sticker shock from the high cost of short term leasing, but nothing too different than we'd been warned about. High cost, high rises, little spaces, and long commutes. This is a major metro area, so what could we really expect?

One thing that did startle me today was this mega mall we went in. Now most people who know me can testify to the fact that I love to shop. Give me money and a good bargain, and I'm a happy camper. (Mostly it's the good bargain I love. I seem to appreciate it more if I got it on sale, or was able to talk the clerk into giving me a discount.) I've often referred to it as retail therapy. Well today we went into a mall in the Tyson's corner area of Virginia just to get out and stretch our legs. We walked into Bloomingdale's and I was overwhelmed. Two and a half years of living in Concord has turned me into a small town girl. (Yes Concord is a small town to me.) I didn't know what to do with this store. I think the entire Steeplegate Mall could have fit into just that one Bloomingdale's. How does anybody ever find what they are looking for? Luckily we weren't really shopping, since I don't think my indecisiveness would mesh well with those stores. The place is three stories in some spots, and has several wings and more than one spot that could be called a food court. Plus apparently there is a mall across the street that is considered part of this mall. We didn't even look at that one. I wonder how many people get lost? If Tony hadn't been with me, I would probably still be looking for the car.

PS: For Dillon Coil's benefit, we had lunch at Chipoltle. Mmmm....

PS

Oh I forgot to add, that except for the base, the whole thing is edible, down to the trees and chocolate roof.

Gingerbread Artwork

Finally, my work of art is complete. I am pretty pleased with my first attempt at a Gingerbread house, though I will try not to let it go to my head. This is supposed to be a New England style small town church, and I was originally going to do a covered bridge too, but ran out of space, energy and time. I worked on this for 8 days, mostly in the evenings after work, and just finished it this evening. Even though it took a lot of work, it was really quite fun. I'll definitely do this again in the future. For now this church is destined to be donated to benefit a non-profit group.
So what do you think?

Bee Movie

I've been so wrapped up in making my gingerbread house that I haven't done much else, and yes, I've been working on this for a week now. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon.
Any way Tony and I went to an activity through school sponsored by the spouses club. About 10 couples maybe a few more, and their kids went to see the "Bee Movie".
It was cute, but I wasn't super impressed. The story was kind of choppy to me. I'd probably rent it, but it wouldn't be one I'd want to own. I'd give it a "B". Ha ha.

Well Tony finally got his paperwork on his externship. He starts on the 14th of January and it runs through the end of April. So now we have to rent out our apartment, and find a new one in the DC area. It's tough, since I've been told there are a lot of bad neighborhoods and I don't really know where they are. Plus we are just renting short term. Fun stuff.

Ok, well back to working on that gingerbread house. I have to turn it in on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Best quote I heard today

(I'm not sure where I heard this today...)

"I'm not vacuuming anymore until Sears makes a vacuum I can ride on."

Oddly enough, I don't mind vacuuming, but still thought that quote was funny. As far as household chores go I think that's an easy one, which is not to say I do it frequently enough, but that's not what we are talking about. I much prefer it to sweeping, which for some reason makes my back hurt. Weird right? I guess I must be doing it wrong, because sweeping really should not hurt. Though we always see pictures of pioneer women who look pretty angry or grouchy, and it could be because they had to sweep the floors in their house and it made their backs hurt right?

Dinner Out

Food that you don't have to cook or clean up after aways seems to taste better, or if not taste better maybe it is more appreciated. But I have a little issue with restaurants.
Tony and I went out to a restaurant tonight that is pretty nice, meaning you don't need to wear a skirt or suit, but most people wouldn't walk in wearing shorts and a tshirt. The wait was atrocious, but that's kind of what you get Saturday night. Now none of that is what I have a problem with.
What concerned me was that they served my meal on a deep plate that would normally be large enough to contain say a batch of spagetti for a whole family. Now I of course didn't notice this until I was at least half of the way through my meal. But think about it, how much more food do we consume when a 16 inch plate is put in front of us compared to a 12 inch plate?
I was eating my meal, and as I'm eating I'm looking at my plate and thinking that a few more bites wouldn't be so bad, why it hardly looked like I had touched my food. Thank goodness that my stomach expanded enough so that my pants were getting a little tight and I was able to realize that I was really quite full. I'm currently feeling stuffed, like after Thanksgiving when you have to let your belt loop out a notch or two. So yes, it's my fault for eating too much, (though I think I'll lay part of the blame on the plate size), and I'll probably groan and moan all night, but at least I don't have to do the dishes, right?

I'm joinging the blogging world. How high tech is that? Ok so I'm only a few years behind everyone, but that just means I don't go with the flow like a lemming, right?
Today is my 5th wedding anniversary, which is half a decade, and longer than most Hollywood marriages, so at least on this front I'm ahead of the crowd. Tony and I still love each other and even like each other most of the time. (Examples of when we wouldn't like each other... Tony snoring in the middle of the night... Stacey whining because she's bored and her job sucks... lame stuff like that.) We probably won't do much because Tony has a big test tomorrow, but there has been talk to planning some big event to celebrate our anniversary and Christmas. Maybe a cruise in January, or just a vacation somewhere. We're undecided as of yet.
Anyway feel free to comment, and I'll try not to be a lazy blogger, and post enough to make your visit here interesting.