Monday, May 26, 2008

Montgomery Missives

It is officially getting hot in Alabama. I was okay with it holding off longer than usual. I'd be even more okay with it holding off another two months or so. The weather didn't ask me, though. Stefanie and I noticed yesterday that the air conditioner has been running... a lot. We bumped it up a little so it wouldn't be as cool. We have both been loving the comfort of a cool apartment... Not sure how much we'll love it when the electric bill arrives.

On Saturday I got up and headed for Montgomery. I would like to reiterate that gas prices are hideous and, in Julie's words, obscene. In 6 months they have climbed $1.00 per gallon. That's just FYI. But, Montgomery was so fun, it was worth it. I'm just incensed about the gas prices. Thought I would rant a bit more about them (as I'm sure everyone reading this will agree with me 100%). Anyway, so I guess I mis-judged the timing for reaching Montgomery. I thought it would take me about 1.5 hours. I guess not. It was about 2 hours. I obviously don't keep good track of time when I'm making the drive all the way to Dothan. I always thought Montgomery was my half-way point. Not so much. But, this means that next time I drive to Dothan, I'll realize that Montgomery is over halfway, and that will make me happy. Except not for the drive home. Because then it's less than halfway. Of course, there's a good chance that the next time I drive to Dothan, I won't be making the drive back here anyway... But, I digress.

So, Tammy and I met up in the parking lot in front of Bed, Bath, & Beyond in Montgomery. I will just say that I love that store. If someone gave me a million bucks, I could successfully spend a lot of it there. I almost bought a little set of four mini trifle bowls -- individual trifle bowls! They were adorable! Okay, so maybe I got the froo-froo kitchen gene. I love kitchen gadgets. I have decided (as I told Tammy) that I intend to have a professional-like kitchen one day with a Subzero refrigerator. Anyway, I did manage to overcome the temptation of the trifle bowls, because they will be one more thing I have to pack. I will buy them in Washington -- surely they have a BB&B there. After Bed, Bath, & Beyond, we walked down to Barnes & Noble. Such a hazardous place to go when you are a book-lover. I'm proud to say I was able to resist temptation there, as well. But I love books. I love to walk around and browse and see what's out. I love to see what's being recommended for summer reading. I love to add to my list of books to read (the one in which I never seem to even make the slightest of dents). I am a librarian to the core. Because I also don't like the way they have things set up in bookstores. It drives me insane. It is not librarian-friendly. But, I love books. A lot. By the time we finished in B&N, we decided we were hungry. So we got into my car and I drove us over to Olive Garden for the soup, salad, and breadstick lunch.
It was fabulous, of course. And the conversation was tons of fun! Following our very filling lunch, we went across the highway to the Fresh Market. Okay, go ahead and laugh at me... (Elka will, because I did this to her in NJ when I saw the ACME grocery stores and oohed and aahhed over them). The Fresh Market is a grocery store, but it is the coolest grocery store I've ever seen! The ambiance is great. I really can't explain it's greatness. But everyone to whom I've shown it (like Julie and now Tammy) has commented that "it is a nice grocery store!" Julie thought it was as cool as I did :). Heath and I found it one time when we went to Montgomery for the day. He and I just loved it. Anyway, so they have a little bakery section -- with the yummies under the glass showcase. And so I treated us to some cheesecake. Which we took to Panera Bread, bought drinks, and sat and ate our cheesecake in there.
I think we sat in there over an hour just chatting away. When we got tired of sitting in there, we walked up to T.J. Maxx and just "window-shopped." Except I did buy something for Julie. And I saw a skirt I'd really liked to have gotten, but I was staying to my strict budget of the cash I'd brought with me, so I didn't. Then we decided to go to Best Buy and browse the movies. Again, didn't buy anything. But I like to browse and add things to my mental "to buy one day" list. Yes, I have a million lists -- not all are written down. We headed back to Tammy's car and decided we still had lots to discuss, so we went back into Barnes & Noble and went to the Starbucks. I tried the strawberries and cream frappucino. It was good. But it was no vanilla bean frappucino. I think I'll go back to the vanilla bean one. Sorry Julie... I did at least try to go with strawberries and cream (even if I don't when it is a scented candle :)). I'm just so vanilla. After about another hour or so of conversation, we decided we'd better hit the road. By this time, it was about 6:45 and we both had quite a ways to go. (You can just call me Vann-Nilla White) (Okay, I'm laughing... If you didn't get this, let me know and I'll explain ;)).
Okay, you know I have pictures. And I'm about to post them. But, first I need to tell this story. Because otherwise you might think I was vain. So, we're standing by Tammy's car talking some more. I see myself in the reflection of her car windows and I think, "huh... I don't look half bad." So, I decide to have a picture of myself taken looking "not half bad." Only the picture looks horrible (it's the one of my being "Vann-Nilla White" above). And I really can't understand how my reflection can be so deceiving! So, after Tammy and I get into our respective cars, I sit in the parking lot and take multiple pictures of myself to try to capture whatever it was I thought I saw in the reflection. Some of them look hideous, by the way. Which makes me laugh. So then I think, "Huh... I wonder what I look like when I laugh?" So I snap a picture. And it's horrible! So then I laugh even harder and snap another one. And, you get the picture (no pun intended). Thank goodness for digital cameras that allow you to "waste" space... And get immediate results. Anyway, I deleted most of them, because they were AWFUL. But there was the one that wasn't too bad, so I kept it. I was chewing gum, by the way. And since I have no shame... I am sharing it with you! Hahaha.... And I know you can all laugh at that story. That's part of why I'm sharing the picture. (Well, I ended up having to load them up individually into blogger instead of using photobucket, because I couldn't remember my password, so now it won't let me log-in... I'm annoyed).So, on the ride home, I think, "I should call Julie." So I do. And I end up leaving a message. Within 10 minutes, she calls me back. We talk for a long while. Then she says, "I'm so glad I thought to call you when I saw on your blog that you were going to be driving from Montgomery! I read that and thought, 'Oh! I hope she calls me!' But then I remembered Alysha has my cell phone, so she can't call me! So I called you on Jon's and I'm so glad you were still driving!" It was so wild to me that Julie hadn't even gotten my message... She was thinking of me when I was thinking of her! Too funny! So she pretty much talked me all the way home, which was so fun! She's still fired for not leaving a comment on my blog when she read it, though ;).

Sunday was church, and after church, I took a nice long nap. Very long. I dreamed. And I read in my dream. It's funny, because in my dream, I was reading all these words and they actually meant something cohesive to me. But in real life, as I think back over what the words were, they didn't make sense, and some of them weren't even real words. There was one that said "cqal." But, there was "Mom" (she was who wrote what I was reading -- oh, and I should admit that I was reading blog comments on someone else's blog in my dream... dream blog-stalking). Yes, random tidbit, but weird about me nonetheless. Stefanie cooked hamburgers and sweet potato fries for us to eat for dinner. Then we went for a walk.

And, today, even though it's Memorial Day, I'm sitting at work. Blah.

Oh, and by the way... I'm watching you ;)!At least my eyes are still pretty ;).

7 comments:

Katherine Ronachert said...

totally random!
i can no longer laugh at your love/infatuations for a good grocery store. i'm MISSING them dearly!

juliebean said...

this was hilarious!! Hey, I read you blog with a baby in one arm most of the time.... so you have to cut me some slack if I dont leave comments.. :) Your not allowed to fire me during the newborn stage. I am sleep deprived, remember? By the way - U r BEAUTIFUL IN ALL THOSE PICS!!

juliebean said...

ok, i know the MOVIE. The Neverending story. I was unaware that U liked that one.

the happy thomas family said...

so glad you had fun in montgomery with my mom... it was good to talk to you that evening, even if i was venting about my extreme dissappointment regarding the whole honey mustard thing. by the way... brian went to chick-fil-a this morning (not the one in the mall, but the other one) and they had honey mustard. these people are just messing with my mind. if they have discontinued it... i will protest!

Tammy said...

Oh, to be back at Barnes and Noble...because I have been craving the strawberry heaven you got. I had such a good time; we must do it again...while you are still close by, relatively. Halfway between here and Washington is what...Nebraska???
Talk to you soon..only two more Seminary days....woohooo!

wilkinson family said...

i loved this post. we have a french market here and i didn't go in until a friend was working there, but you're right it is awesome! they make great deserts, veggie sushi, and carry hard to find foodstuffs.

oh and yes you can add me to your blog-stalk list. lol i never care who reads my blog.

wilkinson family said...

movie is atlantis by disney

your so good to go into B&N and not buy anything. i love books and have a hard time going in there without buying so i have to stay out, but i get into trouble at wal-mart. not only do they have books, they have fabric too! mmmm... and Bed, Bath, and Beyond is another store my hubby has banned me from. lol