Girls Day Out!

(This is a rough sketch for ideas for Elisabeth Bell stamps through Sugar Nellie. You can see more sketches in the SASS gallery on my site.)

Today was just too much fun! For the longest time, this has been high on my list of things I NEED to do for me to just get out and have some fun girl time with another fun girl. And having had 2 babies 2 years in a row, both c-section births requiring extensive recovery time after each delivery, my priority for my mental health's sake (and my husband's) was to simply get out and have a bit of "me" time. Clint is always extremely supportive when it comes to me and my need to relax and enjoy life, so he watched all our sweet little kidlets for 6 hours while I hung out with my friend and cousin Aubry and let me tell you, I took full advantage of our "girl time" and we both had a total blast!! I think I can speak for Aubry too in saying this!! :)

So, can you imagine it, 2 Moms finally getting the chance to get away and to get out without kids (she has 4 boys under the age of 12!) and finally getting optimal psychological air. So what did we do? Well, naturally, we went SHOPPING!!!! Without kids and WITHOUT husbands!!! Mwah-hahahahahahahaha!! Oh, that can bring out the evil side in any woman!! Heehee!

First, I stopped by at Aubry's house to check out her GORGEOUS new home. And OMIGOODNESS!!! Let me just say that the tour took alot longer than we expected (we did alot of yakking and I did alot of gushing over all her spectacular rooms and furnishings, decorations etc. - I mean really, this gal knows how to decorate her home which exudes stunning antique appeal with a modern twist) that we didn't actually get out of the door to begin our "outing" until close to 2pm. Oh, I've got to admit all the gushy giddiness was really very refreshing for a girl like me who is prone to indulge in a sense of girly girly-ness every now and then! It was a full shot in the arm with "Just what the doctor ordered" inscribed on the Rx!

Haha!

>sigh<

So when we finally left her gorgeous home, we took a quick bite of a late lunch at Panda Express (Asian fast food) then hurried over to the next predetermined destination, a must-stop-by place: Cold Stone Creamery.

Okay, so we're in the ice cream store and looking over all their yummy and delicious treats, and I spy a sign on their wall advertising their newest line of treats: NRgize. I read it aloud, slowly annunciating each letter and syllable, rolling my tongue over the "Rr's" in a highly exaggerated manner for an Ozzie like me: "NERR-gii-zah". I screwed up my face and looked at Aubry, obviously completely flummoxed. I thought, "Interesting, but what in the heck is a name like that supposed to mean?" Aubry didn't even bat an eyebrow as she looked at me with a "What-do-you-mean" expression on her face, and read the sign herself, "Energize".

It only took a moment when we both bust up laughing! DOH!!!

I don't know how I had totally missed that. It was like my brain had stopped working for a moment and I seriously thought that I was looking at a sign that read NERR-gizah. And I really, really thought that that was the most stoopidest name to call a treat, by hey, it was pretty creative too. Hahaha!! Um, who's the "creative" one here?? *Rollz eyes* So now, every time we got to Cold Stone Creamery to order one of their "NRgize" shakes, we'll only be getting NERR-gizahs! Haha!! What a dope I am!!! Too, too funny.

Then we went over to Ross. We spent something like 2 hours in that store. Needless to say, this is just one of the best stores on earth, hands down. This as well as Aubry and I as a combination can only be good for Mr. and Mrs. Ross making lots of moolah off of us!!! Sooo, Aubry bought this awesome huge clock, stunning distressed antique looking clock, with lots of encouragment from me. :P She wasn't too sure about it at first, but made the decision to do so, since her hubby has been wanting a clock in the room it was intended for too. (And to make a happy ending for the clock and all parties involved, it really does look fabulous in the room!!!)

We just had too much fun shopping and being naughty spending all that money on frivolities. Yes, I admit it. We are very spoiled. Well, when we don't have screaming, irritable kids to worry about being bored out of their brains, and irritable hubbies bored out of their brains, what more is there to say but we make good use of our time and SHOP!! It was far too easy to do with this recipe. I know, who am I trying to convince? Hahaha!

No, I won't tell you how much I spent! (But if I'd bought a clock like Aubry's too, we would have been even!! LOL!!)

It was after 5pm when we finally got back to Aubry's home, checked out how the clock looked in her livingroom space (like I said, it looked FABulous!), and by the time I got home, it was heading towards 6:30pm.

And oh, it was a wonderful day!!!! And to make things even better, my lovely hubby was already preparing dinner for our family (left overs, and that works!) when I arrived home, so I didn't have to lift a finger! And then we watched a movie (Live Free or Die Hard which I actually liked), stopping half way through to put little Cougar to bed who was already beyond irritability.

It's so hard to watch a movie properly with our little Cougstar. He always likes to be the star of any (every) moment if you know what I mean.

As for the movie, it was probably a good thing he went to bed sooner than later. Not really a kid movie in my mind. Clint was okay with it (yeah, make him look like the bad guy), but next time, we should be more selective around the kids. Yeah, I should just put my foot down!

Sooo back to the day, thanks Aubry, we'll have to do it all again! We think our hubbie's won't let us shop again together, but to tell you the truth, Clint didn't even raise an eyebrow when he saw the bags I'd brought home (all part of Lis' relaxation and calming experience probably! - heehee!) Then again, I didn't tell him how much I spent. Then again, I did get him alot of dress pants and white shirts for church, including a couple of ties. Haha, leverage! No really, they were belated birthday presents (his birthday was yesterday).

Haha! I'm not kidding. Seriously. Although he wished I hadn't bought anything for him. Such the self-sacrificing hubby that he is.

Nope! I STILL won't tell you how much I spent!

Yaayyy! So I got my psychological air! Back to the drawing board tomorrow - literally! I need to finish up the final images for the next set of stamp designs for Sugar Nellie. And back to the battle field with my sweet and crazy little 'uns tomorrow, as my beloved is back to work. I guess good things come in servings. Thankfully, my family is the whole yummy cake so to speak, and I get to have a slice of all the wonderful experiences with them every day.

And I can't go without giving the rest of all my thanks to my beloved sweet Clint, who made this wonderful day of mine possible in the first place.

Ooohhh! It's so late! I just type and type and type...such the yammer-er. Kay, gotta go! Will write again soon.

Lis xx