Shopping

836 posts and I've never used this title before? What's that all about? It's not like I never shop, just not like I used to. Formerly, I was a slave to the grocery store; buying food for six people, day in and day out, will do that to a person. These days, not so much. Before I got all hot and sweaty mowing the lawn yesterday I made the monumental decision to go to Publix. For those of you not from Florida, Publix is an excellent grocery store whose motto is "Where Shopping is a Pleasure." My children who have moved away attest to that vehemently; Chicago being the worst of the food shopping cities they've lived in. Seriously, I think it had been two months since I'd gone through the whole store, aisle by aisle. Thus, it took me forever because I was looking at the myriad of products available.

Oh yes, before I forget, Publix is from Lakeland where I'll be this weekend.

One and a half hours later, and somewhat poorer, I next did the unpleasant task of putting things away. Once upon a time I had a large stand up freezer which made storing food so much easier, however, it was getting so old, not to mention that it wasn't frost-free, that we took it out of use. Speaking of which, Nancy suggested that I'd probably love As Always, Julia and was she ever right! These are more than letters, they are a history of the years when I was born. There are several letters back and forth regarding the "deep freeze" as it was once known. As well, the merits of frozen foods are debated extensively. It has been a while since I've started a book that I just don't want to put down. After the food haul, the lawn mowing, and lunch, I settled in for a bit yesterday afternoon letting the book transport me both back in time and place. Letters, how I miss a real letter these days.

While at the museum on Tuesday a woman came in saying that she'd been told that her candy shop off Park Avenue was the subject of one of the "plein air" paintings last week. Indeed it was. Although she liked it she didn't love it; the $1,100 price tag undoubtedly contributed. Because I had some time to kill before my hair appointment, I stopped in. Very cute place.

Surprisingly, she said they'd been doing very well. It's funny how people perceive things so differently. Talking to Angela later in the day, she thought it was silly that she sold candy like this:

I, on the other hand, thought it was fun. I amused myself seeing all kinds of candy I'd completely forgotten about. And then there was this:

One of the absolute craziest chandeliers I've ever seen. What a conversation piece this would make in your home!

As is always the case, I've got more to say but it's time to make myself presentable for our bridge group. They are always wanting me to wear something homemade and today I will not disappoint them.

Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

This is the first photograph I've taken with the self-timer. It's incredibly hard for me to get a good night time shot because of motion. As you can see, Orlando is a city of cranes. These are only two of about twenty to dot the downtown landscape. The largest building to the far left is where Bruce is coveting a place. The ground floor will house a Publix which is the fantastic grocery store based in Lakeland. When Matt moved to Chicago he was miserable shopping at Jewel. Publix had infiltrated Atlanta, his place of residence before Chicago, it was his store of choice. Their motto is--Where shopping is a pleasure. Now I don't exactly find pleasure in grocery shopping these days, but I can appreciate a clean, well-stocked store nonetheless. I think all those years of shopping for six did me in.

Saturday I went to a Radiology conference. I intend to keep my license current even though I'm not taking x-rays at the moment. Saw old co-workers and caught up on a bit of the gossip. Who is pregnant, sick, happy, or sad. Turns out a wonderful girl who has two teenagers is due in November--surprise!

Yesterday was a skunking for me at the market--not even one sale. I could feel down about it, but I'm choosing not to. Happily Bruce took the prints over to the bistro after our set-up. He and the owner hung them along with the little statement from Matt. He took some pictures; when I figure out how to move it to the blog I will. I slept very poorly on Saturday night because I was having bad dreams about the prints. I dreamed that Bruce got there and the owner said, I don't like those at all. In the interest of time we used black matting as the framer had a lot of it. I used a new framer and I was very pleased with their work. As it was, the owner was quite pleased telling Bruce that when he doubles his space I am welcome to hang more!

An unusually rainy day here in Orlando. We are accustomed to late afternoon storms, however, it has been raining pretty steadily since about 11. Nothing of course like what England is going through. Apparently it made Matt's return from Wales more of an adventure than he originally bargained for. A big weather event is so humbling....we realize how little control we have over our lives. Around here they preach about hurricane preparedness like it's Armageddon or something. Let me tell you...there is very little that we can do about a hurricane. The aftermath maybe...the storm is all God's gig.

Yesterday one of the young woman who stopped asked me if I had any fashion related pictures. She had seen one I show from the Chanel store. I went through my stuff and decided that today while returning something to Crate & Barrel that I might try a few more. Hmmm...they stopped me in my tracks at Bloomingdales. Ma'am, there is no photography allowed in the store. Next time, stealth will be my MO.