HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! Don't let the ghosts and goblins get you.

Last night I found a new blog called Heavy Tweed Jacket. As I was reading, I came across the October 8 post. This is how I dressed when I was in school. To tell you the truth, I wish this style of preppy was still popular. I may have to go through my closet and see if I can find some things that are similar and kind of update the look. I love plaid skirts with sweaters or blazers. I would wear a turtleneck under my oxford cloth blouses, but I'm afraid that I will look like a linebacker. I wish I could get away with wearing argyle socks and penny loafers with my skirts, but that would probably be too much.

Today, Queenie was talking about finding a second job. Her husband came by to get her credit card so that they could buy their car tags. She said that they had to buy five. She said that she could either buy tags or eat. That's why she had to put them on the credit card. She said things were really tight. She said that they had to turn on the heat and that would be a gas bill. She said that she didn't know what to do. I would have felt sorry for her, but her husband has not worked in over 15 years. When she left, she said that she was going to buy a gift for a departing coworker. My coworker's boss reprimanded us for getting all worked up over it. He said that there was nothing that we could do. It was her life. He was right, but he doesn't have it in his face everyday.

Today, I really couldn't talk about Queenie. I wore a camel colored wool skirt that I bought at Talbots about 10 years ago. It still looks good. I wish they still made skirts like that one. It is a lined straight 100% wool skirt that comes about mid calf. It zips in the back and the best part is that it doesn't have STRETCH in the fabric. I have expressed my thoughts with Talbots a couple of times. Tomorrow I am going to wear a black skirt that is identical to it. It just goes to show you what good quality merchandise that Talbots had 10-15 years ago. Do you think that the skirts may be a bit dorky? I think that they are classic looking. Does anyone know where I can purchase skirts like these, except for Pendleton? Pendleton has a tendency to be a little on the pricey side. I saw some nice skirts from Austin Reed, but they were just as pricey as the Pendleton. I guess you pay for quality, classic goods.

Last night, I watched the season finale of Mad Men. I was surprised how it ended. I can't wait for season three. Desperate Housewives caught us up on what happened in the five years from last season until today. That new guy really gives me the creeps. I haven't figured out who his target is yet.

I left work early today to go for my yearly checkup at the doctor. She said everything looked good.

Today, Queenie had on an off white long sleeved v-neck tee. It had 3 little buttons at the V. Over it she had a cranberry colored short sleeved cardigan. All I could think of was Gabrielle on Desperate Housewives. Gabrielle is supposed to be a frump queen this season. I dressed up in a navy Pendleton skirt, Brooks Brothers navy/light blue plaid blouse and Brooks Brothers light blue merino wool cardigan. I had on my pearls, of course, and my Ferragamo Veras. There was an out of town executive on our floor today. My coworker wore a brown tweed suit. Then there was Queenie. For some reason, she just can't get it right.

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. I really didn't have that much to say.

Friday night I went to eat with BFF. She gave me a table for my bedroom, so I had to go get it. It looks really cute in there. I got off work an hour earlier than she did, so I went to WalMart (I know, I hate WalMart). I dedided to throw away all of my Rubbermaid and Tupperware and replace it with glass storage containers. I would have bought groceries there, but their prices were higher than at Publix. Apples were almost $0.40 a pound higher at WalMart. Everyone thinks WalMart is so much cheaper. You have to be careful. I think Target has better prices than WalMart.

Yesterday, I cleaned most of the day. It looks better, but not great. I'm working on it. After I finished cleaning, I took a shower and sat around and watched TV.

Today, I think I am going to watch some TV and read the three new magazines that I have. On the front of Southern Lady, there is a white cake with candy canes and peppermint disks. It looks so yummy. It might be a good thing to make around the holidays.

KATE SPADE

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FAVORITES

I was tagged by Pink is my Signature Color. If you haven't read her blog, you need to pop on over.

1. Clothes Shop - I usually end up buying most of my work clothes at Brooks Brothers outlet, Pendleton outlet and Talbot's. For casual clothes, I hit LL Bean. Some of my preppy clothes come from The Pink Pelican in Huntsville, AL. I have never had much luck at Belks, TJ Maxx or Marshall's.

2. Furniture Shop - Most of my furniture came from Phillip's Furniture in Jasper, TN. They have an excellent selections of classic furniture. If they don't have what you want in stock, they will order it for you. They don't advertise. They don't even have a sign in front of the store. That keeps their prices low.

3. City - You know me - Williamsburg, VA because of the history. I also love Nashville and Atlanta. Both are happening places with great shopping.

4. Sweets - I could live on sweets. It is hard to pick a favorite, so I'll name a few (just a few) Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread, chocolate cake (or any cake except pound cake), mint chocolate chip ice cream, oreos, M&M's, black and white cookies, yo-yo cookies from Publix, candy corn, chocolate covered cherries (I usually eat an entire box in one sitting) and of course Godiva.

5. Drink - I mostly drink TaB, Diet Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Snapple (all flavors), sugar free Kool-aid, and unsweetened ice tea with sweet & low and plenty of lemon (fresh, of course). I drink plenty of water, also. For alcohol, I like wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Riesling) and gin & tonics. I have to be the only girl who doesn't like marguaritas.

6. Music - I like most kinds of music, except Country. I have always hated Country music. My favorite is 80's. I also like classical and some jazz.

7. TV - I never miss Gossip Girl, Greek, Desparate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Lipstick Jungle, Mad Men, Two and a Half Men, and To the Manor Born. I record reruns of Murder, She Wrote to watch when there is nothing else on TV.

8. Film - You've Got Mail, Rear Window, The Women (the original), The Wizard of Oz, Dial M for Murder and the Legally Blonde movies

9. Workout - I walk on the treadmill and I sometimes exercise with tapes of Gilad

10. Pastries - I like scones, bagels, cinnamon rolls, muffins, croissants, pretty much anything with sugar. I'm not much of a doughnut person.

11. Coffee - I don't drink coffee at all. I don't even like to smell it.

I tag:

Preppy Enginneer
Short Pump Preppy
Kappa Prep
and anyone who has not done this.

Yesterday, Queenie was telling me about her lunch at a trendy restaurant. I think someone took her to lunch. As she was telling me about her lunch, I noticed that her hair was dirty and oily. You would think if she were going to lunch with someone, she would wash her hair. You'd think she would wash it anyway. Today, I noticed that it has not been washed yet. YUCK!! I can't stand to see someone with oily hair. That's just plain lazy.

My apartment is a wreck. I am going to spend Saturday getting everything clean and organized. I am going to take everything off tables, desk, dresser and countertops and only put back what I want to go there. Everything else is either going in the garbage or packed up. I went to Target tonight to get a storage tub. They had the harvest colors on sale for $6.49. It's not the color that I want but it is $2.50 cheaper than the normal colors.

Today, Queenie was standing at my desk when she noticed that my cardigan was monogrammed. She was so amazed. Sometimes I wonder about her. I use to have a pink wool twinset. She was blown away by my shell and cardigan that were the same.

I've have been tagged by a couple of you. I promise I will get a post up soon. I have a couple of household projects that I am working on. I hope to be finished by Saturday. Then I can blog to my heart's content.

Saturday, I went to eat at an Italian restaurant. I did not eat the Cobb Salad. I had a 10" pizza with sausage and mushrooms. I ate the whole thing. Then I went home and ate some candy corn. Earlier in the day, I went to Walmart. I bought two of the tees suggested by Tickled Pink and Green. I bought the green with navy stripes and the blue with navy stripes. I plan on wearing them with sweat pants around here and at the store.

Sunday, my mother and I went to my cousin's graveside service. We had to climb up a steep hill to get to the cemetery. Then we had to carefully walk back down. We held on to each other most of the way. They had to bring the casket up on a wagon pulled by a 4-wheel drive. It was a nice service. My cousin was an Episcopal priest. He died in Jackson Hole while on a hunting trip. They had to carry out on horse back. It took a couple of days to get him back to the resort.

After the funeral we went with my sister to appraise a huge house. The family that lived there was at the beach. The laundry room had laundry piled up everywhere. There were about 30 pairs of shoes on the floor and the dryer was open with laundry hanging out. In the kitchen, there were dirty glasses on the counter. Some had liquid in them. The dishwasher was open and the top rack was pulled out. The master bedroom was a disaster. There were diapers on the floor in the hall. I hope they weren't used. I really don't want to know. There were toys all over the driveway. My sister said that the husband must not have told his wife that she was coming to appraise the house. She said that she would kill her husband if he arranged something like this.

I'm sorry to be so bad about posting. I've been lazy.

It was a very quiet week at work. One day Queenie was complaining about someone being out and the next day she left at 8:30 with an upset stomach. I have to tell you about her outfit on Thursday. Skirt: black with tulle overlay (great for someone young to wear for after-five), white satin camisole, top: black long sleeved with v-neck and empire waist, sweater: light blue cardigan, shoes: old lady loafers. Bless her heart. At least she covered her cleavage with a camisole.

This morning I weighed for the first time since I got back off vacation. I GAINED 7 POUNDS!! I didn't think I ate that much, plus I did a lot of walking. I've been trying to watch it this week. Maybe it's because I'm not used to eating the way I did. Tonight, I'm suppose to go eat at an Italian restaurant. I think I'll just have the cobb salad.

One of my father's cousins passed away last week. Actually it is my father's stepmother's nephew, but we are extremely close to the family. We have always been real close to her family and consider each other family. This particular relative was an Episcopal priest. He had a heart attack while on a hunting trip to Jackson Hole. They had to carry him out on horse back. It took them a couple of days to get him back to civilization. How awful! The funeral is tomorrow at a small family cemetery on "the hill" between my grandparent's old house and her sister's house. My sister doesn't want to go because she doesn't want to go to a funeral where they bury someone in the yard. We have tried to tell her that the cemetery is not in the yard, that it is a good walk from the house. She just thinks that it is weird.

I hope everyone enjoys the remainder of your weekend.

I had to go back to work today. It was hard. I had several voicemails and 81 emails. There was mail stacked on my desk. It didn't take long to go through everything. After lunch, I had a chance to sit back and relax a little. I hope tomorrow is not very bad.

After work tonight, I had to go get a new headlight. Before I went, I called the store and asked if someone there could help me install it. They said "YES". When I got there, the guy said, "I don't know, I'm the delivery guy." Another guy that worked there helped me to install it.

After my stop at the auto parts store, I went to BFF's birthday party. It was supposed to be a salad party. I took waldorf chicken salad and pumpkin chocolate chip pound cake from The Fresh Market. We also had lasagna, cheese ball and crackers, fruit salad and tortellini pesto salad. We had a great time visiting with old friends. I ate so much that I had to loosen my belt. That's sad. I'm going to try to do better tomorrow.

As promised a list of my buys while on vacation:

Outlets in Sevierville, TN and Pigeon Forge, TN

Shadowline - lingerie
Pendleton - navy skirt, 2 pair of pants: black and navy
Brooks Brothers - Light blue merino wool cardigan and white cotton tank ($9.99)
Wedgeford/Waterford - Johnson Brothers blue willow scalloped bowl and Emeril baking dish
Lenox - Kate Spade trinket box

Outlets in Williamsburg

Brooks Brothers - navy merino wool cardigan, blue/white striped oxford blouse, faux pearl earrings, brown argyle socks
Cosmetic Company - Bobbie Brown gray eyeshadow
Le Creuset - green loaf pan (on clearance)
Clarks/Bostonian - 2 pairs of clogs: navy and brown
LL Bean - natural/pink boat 'n tote, pink turtleneck, olive twill pants

Shops in Historic District/Merchant's Square

Williamsburg at Home - navy/white checked chair cushion
Craft House - pineapple highball tumblers (for BFF's birthday), Chowning Tavern 9" soup bowl, crystal pineapple salt/pepper shakers
Pink Cabana - Vineyard Vines navy with red/white stripe lined hoodie, 3 Eliza B key fobs
Dubois Grocers - jams and Virginia peanuts
Closet Envy - Longchamp Le Pliage bag in Black

Now to find a place for all this stuff.

I am so lazy today. I have done nothing today but watch all the shows that I recorded last week and catch up on all of the wonderful blogs that I read. I need to go to Target and the Fresh Market to pick up a few things. I think I diserve a day to do nothing.

I"M BACK!!!

Yes, I'm back. I got back at 8:30 this evening. I am so glad that tomorrow is a holiday. I had a great time. We stayed at the Williamsburg Lodge from Friday until Friday. Then we moved to the Brick House Tavern. The Williamsburg Lodge was very nice, but the Brick House Tavern was like a prep school dorm room. We went to Jamestown, Montpelier and to an antique textile workshop at Ashlawn-Highland. We also did a lot (and I mean, a lot) of shopping. I also ate a lot. King's Arm Tavern, Shield's Tavern, The Lodge Lounge, Sal's Restaurante Italiano, Christiana Campbell's and of course, The Old Chickahominy House. If you've never been to Williamsburg, I highly recommend it. Since I have been several times before, I felt like I didn't have to cram too much into this trip. I was able to relax and enjoy the trip. We usually didn't wake up until about 8:00 am. I felt like I also got plenty of rest.

I'll update you on my shopping tomorrow.

My bags are packed except for my blowdryer and makeup. I leave Friday morning at 3:00 for Williamsburg. We are stopping in Pigeon Forge/Sevierville to do some quick shopping at the outlets. I plan on hitting Pendleton, Shadowline, Brooks Brothers, Wedgewood and Clinique. Then we'll be on our way. I'll try to remember to wave at Short Pump Preppy as I pass the exit for Short Pump. I hope it is not too late when we get to Williamsburg. I probably won't be blogging any next week because neither of us are taking our computers.

I hope everyone has a good week next week. I'll catch up when I get back.