Shoe Emergency

First and most importantly, if you haven't said hello yet go on over and say Hi to Boy J - he's started blogging!

And now for the heart of the post:

I'm going to totally girl out on you by the way.

Last night I picked out my outfit for work just like I always do.

I threw the shoes in my bag - just like I always do. (I wear sneakers or other outdoor shoes into work- keeps the good shoes looking nicer)

So this morning I got into work, turned on the computer and while it was booting up I took off my sneakers, grabbed my shoes and went to put them on. OH MY HORROR. They looked absolutely painfully awful with the outfit. Not just, please don't look at my feet awful, but flashing red neon light pointing at my feet, can't miss it awful. So I did what any self respecting shoe psycho would do. I put my sneakers back on, called Girl J and explained that I had a shoe emergency. She met me in the lobby and we hoofed it over to Macy's.

Good thing they have a big spring sale going on. And good thing they had just the right shoes to go with the outfit. And truthfully, a pair of shoes in a color I've been needing. So all's well that ends well.

I've set this damn standard for myself here at work. I'm known for my shoes. People stop me in the hall so that they can see what I'm wearing. I'm a sort of a shoe guru. Go figure. Me, without a lick of fashion sense is known for having great shoes. The fun thing is that I get them all on dirt cheap clearance so it's not as if I am the Carrie Bradshaw of the Twin Cities. I don't own a pair of shoes that cost over 50 bucks. Most average between 10 and 20.

Speaking of Twin Cities we caught a blurb on the news about the tourism board here is planning on rolling out a new catch phrase for the Minneapolis / St. Paul area. They want to change us from being referred to as the Twin Cities to something hipper and more metropolis. They tried to claim that no one outside a 5 state area knows that the Twin Cities is Minneapolis/St. Paul.

So, a lot of you are outside the 5 state region - did YOU know that Twin Cities referrs to Minneapolis / St. Paul? This is an honest question. If you didn't it's not like I would call you dumb. Cause honestly, I'm not sure I knew before moving here that it was called that. I truly can't remember if I knew or not.

And aside from "Colder than Hell 9 months a year" what the heck else could they come up with that is hip and trendy and screams wonderful metropolis? I mean really?

What suggestions could you have for our area?

The Antarctic of the US?

Cold but fun?

Cold nose warm heart?

Well, Spring and Fall are nice here......

Any good ideas out there to rename our lovely metropolitan area?

I'll close with another picture of one of the cutest little peanuts on the planet.

WWC

Busy

Content

I smell SO good

After 30 odd years I have found MY smell. First there was my Aunt's smell - Woodhue. I love that and always have. And since finding it again I have been wearing it practically every day. But, it's not my smell. It's the scent of my childhood. It's the scent of fond memories and of being loved. And to wear it fills me with comfort and a sense of unconditional love.

I have tried various perfumes throughout my life but have never found one that I could become devoted to. One that would be my trademark. One that I would always wear and people would know me by.

My Aunt has Woodhue, my mom has White Shoulders, and now, drum roll please: I have mine. Allow me to introduce to you: Donna Karan's Cashmere Mist.

You might already know about it. But I didn't. Until I got on the elevator at work Friday morning and the woman that stepped on with me smelled incredible. Bat for the other side incredible. I could have stayed in the elevator all day with her just to have that scent surround me. Thankfully she knew what she was wearing. Because of course I had to ask. You can't be touched by nirvana and not know.

So off I went with Girl J to the mall Friday night. She and I had planned to go anyway because we were in a shoe slump and determined to get ourselves out of it. We stopped in at Macy's and I tried out the cologne. And it smelled great on me. So I got a bottle.

This might all sound crazy to you, or a tad weird but honestly, I'm so excited about this. I have always wished I could find a scent of my own that I loved to wear. That I put on every day like I do makeup and jewelry. And now I have.

As for the shoe slump? I'm still stuck in it. But Girl J found a fabulous pair of sandals to go with a new suit she bought. She also found a really cute pair of shoes but unfortunately they couldn't find it's match. If slipper count we found the most incredible summer slippers. They are made by Laura Ashley and they are flip flop style made out of the softest fabric you can imagine. It's like our feet are floating on pillows of air. They are simply fabulous.

A happy addendum

A happy addendum to my crazy un-newtlikeness below.

"Everyone has one true love in their life, someone who fills their life with light and turns their bones to water..........."

This was a line in the book I just finished, Deathstalker Rebellion by Simon R. Green. I thought it was beautiful and I just had to share.

Happy Friday - My To Do List

I am feeling ambitious about this weekend. So my big plan is to tackle some projects I have been putting off.

1. Clean out our pantry. It has cans of stuff and boxes of food that were there when I moved in. Not to mention that we have had some moisture issues in the basement which has caused the walls to get a little weepy and thus made the shelves a titch damp. So, I plan to toss a lot of old unused stuff. Line the shelves and organize everything. No small project. Especially considering it’s a tiny little room in our basement. Poor lighting, cramped space. But TONS of crap. Sigh………………..

2. Wash/scrub the living room and dining room floors.

3. Wash/scrub the kitchen down

4. Clean up the dog poop.

5. Clean out the brush that we left from last year. The plants are just starting to peek out of the ground so it’s easiest at this point and time to remove the old growth.

If I accomplish even one of the five I’ll be pretty proud of myself. But I’m aiming for the whole list. Aiming is good. You gotta have goals. But it IS the weekend which means I can easily be distracted.

Aside from not so interesting goals – let’s see what else…………….Oh Yeah, A rant. So, if you only want to read the positive side of Newt - I'll tell you when to stop reading.

Michelle was talking about a co-worker that was upset over her daughter eloping. So Michelle called her mom to see how she felt about her having run off to marry the perfect man. And her mom assured her that the man was WAY more important than the wedding. Anyway, I just thought her conversation with mom was TOTALLY sweet.

When I told my dad I was moving to Minnesota because I had found the man I wanted to be with the rest of my life he said “Honey, if he is getting you to move to Minnesota I can only assume he’s your soul mate.” And all my parents have ever wanted for me was happiness. They didn’t care where we got married or who did the ceremony. It should never be about the wedding.

OK, at this point, if you don't want to hear Newt going a little negative and off her rocker that's okay, I moved my little rant to my page. Seeing as I make an effort to keep this blog of mine a happy place I decided that my rant on marriage belonged, well, on the rant page. Why else is it there.

So, Have a great weekend!

You did NOT just do that

So, last weekend I went to the local little city zoo here with Ellie. And we stopped for lunch at the zoo’s café. It’s cafeteria style so you walk in, order what you want. The cook fry’s/cooks it up for you and then you go to the line for the register. So, I have my freshly cooked up pasta special all hot and ready to eat and I am standing in line.

Enter the crabby old lady with the walker. She ordered her soup and bread. And then got very upset over the fact that the café was out of trays. They were all being washed. It was just past the lunch rush on Saturday of the first “warm” day in the cities. So you can imagine how crazy busy the place was. Anyway, she looks at me and starts to put her stuff on the counter heading toward the register. She then snidely says to me: “Can I just put my things down here, I have a walker.” So I say of course, no problem. Don’t mind at all. But then she decides since it took her SO long to put her soup on the counter, and to actually maneuver herself and her walker around that this was her new place in line. And I’m thinking to myself: “She is not going to just stay there in line is she? I mean after the snide request to just put her things there so she didn’t have to carry it to the back of the line?, practically accusing me of getting upset about cutting in line before I even had the chance to get upset? She would never be so rude as to actually just cut in lie. Would she? Would she?

Well folks, of course she just took this new place in line. As my pasta grows colder. But, I figure, I’m gracious, ok, no big deal. It’s a beautiful day. I won’t let her ruin it for me.

And then she gets up to the cashier and starts yelling at the poor girl. First she wanted to know where the drinks were. The girl told her the fountains were on the other side of the counter. Then she wanted to know if they had diet pepsi. The girl told her no, they had diet coke. Then she yelled at the girl for not having diet pepsi. And after she yelled at the poor child she informed her that she had a walker and that the girl was just going to have to get her her drink for her and take it to her table. Thankfully at that very moment the daughter of the cranky old lady came up to this growing fiasco. And said “What are you doing? Why didn’t’ you wait for me so I could help you????” and the crabby ol’ lady said “I WAS HUNGRY!” So the daughter very kindly says that she will take care of the drink and get her mom’s stuff to the table.

So, her total was $4.86. And what did she do??? WHAT DID SHE DO???? Come on, you can guess this one folks, I know you can.

Start to write out a check painfully slow?

That would have been a good guess but it was even better.

She pulled out her change purse. One Quarter, One Nickel, One Dime, One Dime, One Quarter, Penny, Penny Penny – well you get the picture. She paid for the whole thing in small change. Which she insisted on counting THREE times to make sure she wasn’t paying a penny over. THREE TIMES

I was SO close to paying for her lunch you have no idea. Anything to get the line moving. But I also came to the great realization that what happened right in front of my eyes was what I like to refer to as BLOG FODDER! And so I stood there, happily typing away in my head. Thinking, wow, you can’t make this shit up.

By the time I actually got to the table to join Ellie my pasta was cold and congealed. But I was smiling and happy and of course as soon as I sat down I had to tell her excitedly about my blog fodder gift.

Things that go Bump in the night

Tend to be in my mind. But they wake me up and keep me up just the same.

I’m my own worst critic and my own worst enemy. I get my panties all in a bunch over the stupidest things. And I will lay awake night after night worrying about things I have no control over or situations I have blown up and out of proportion all in my mind. I try to let these things go. I try to remind myself it is never as bad as I think it is going to be. And I try to let a lot of things just go. But on average I never manage to do that.

The hubster says you just have to tell yourself to go to sleep. That never works for me. He also says you just have to stop thinking about those things. Nope, that doesn’t work either.

So, tell me, what do you do to help yourself fall asleep? I’m open to suggestions and ideas. Cause I’m tired of staring at the ceiling at 2 am.