All Things EARTH... part 2

[Anita Latte]

Thanks Sally and Lois. We’ve been out and about. Lots of take away and patio dining but no inside dining yet with the two Waffle House exceptions. I think I will pick one. We’ve been to the Wolfgang Puck in the past so I know it will be a great meal...I might study the list more just to make sure I don’t miss another opportunity.

[Lois R]

I went to Carrabba's tonight for dinner🙂 had a gift card!...sat at the bar.  It was delicious.......scallops and shrimp

with a lemon/butter sauce. Side salad and asparagus🙂

[awhfy]

14 hours ago, Lois R said:

I went to Carrabba's tonight for dinner🙂 had a gift card!...sat at the bar.  It was delicious.......scallops and shrimp

with a lemon/butter sauce. Side salad and asparagus🙂

Ooh, that sounds wonderful. Our Carraba’s here closed before the pandemic. I really miss it 

[Lois R]

Hi Melody, 🙂yes...the seafood was grilled and so tender.......yum! And healthy too. The sauce was very light but

flavorful. 

[MJC]

Here are my recent Chicos purchases. This one was white on top but I tea stained it to calm it down. Its a nice weight cotton and is so comfortable.

 

This is similar in color to a t-shirt I wore to death although the style is different. This color is a staple for me in place of white or ivory which I don't think are flattering.

 

This is a blue and ivory long sleeved Lucky tee from TJ Maxx. I love blue.  lol

[awhfy]

Margaret, you look great. I have that same top from Chicos (but I didn’t tea stain it, I look better in white than cream). Did you see all the lovely olive pieces at Chicos?

[Sailor_Sally]

Those tops look great . I am trying to horde JJill tops since there have been rumors of bankruptcy .

[MJC]

Melody, there are so many lovely colors in the fall palette. But since I'm losing weight I wanted to shop the sale prices. In another 6 weeks I'll take a look again.

 

More from Chicos.

This a-line dress is not the right blue for me but it is SO comfortable and fits so well I'm keeping it. It is a knit that might be a bit warm for summer, but it with a sweater in an Earth color and some cute flats it makes a perfect spring and fall outfit. Now that its cooler I'll play around with some looks.

 

This is a knit that is like sweatshirt material inside out? So its soft outside but more sweatshirt than sweater, and not very heavy. This is a good weight for me because I still have hot flashes now and then. It's as close to Earth yellow as I can get and still look ok. I think it brings out the blue in my eyes in comparison to the navy dress above.

 

This last top I bought for going out. I don't have many blouses because I think the collars and pockets are overwhelming on me. But this collarless blouse is in a heavy silky synthetic with nice shaping and a good length. A pretty necklace in the neckline will fit nicely. Plus it has 3/4 sleeves which I prefer. I'm pushing the ICE in my coloring but I think this will look pretty with jeans or dress pants and be pretty versatile.

 

[laurspag]

Margaret, you got some nice things!  Congratulations on the weight loss!  Blue is a nice backup color for me.  Sometimes, when I need pants, for example, and I am having trouble finding earth colors, I can get a pair of navy pants, the type that are clearer navy...not the almost black color.  I am surprised how often I can make earth colors work with it.

 

Otherwise though, I have trouble figure it out so it is great to see you wear it,  and to be able to see how it affects your skin tone or eye color.  

 

Anita, we are being cautious, but we do go out to eat.  I don't know about Florida, but in here in our area, you have to wear a mask when you enter.  Once seated, you can remove it.  If you get up to use the rest room or to leave, you have to put it back on.  I use sanitizer when I first sit down, and we use it again right after we leave.  It's a good way to boost local business for us.  There are not a lot of chains at my end of town so we go mostly to locally owned places.  

 

I have three masks, and will be picking up more.  It may seem silly, but under the circumstances, it makes sense to wash them very frequently.  In addition, it's kind of fun to wear different ones.

 

I am still deciding on the curtain color for the kitchen.  I really like them both.   I was thinking I might not like the plaid with my wall color, and that a swatch may be needed.  Here is another thing - the plaid is literally three times as much in cost.  I feel like it is a long term investment, so I am willing to spend it but I also realize that I could use that money for something else.

 

I feel very certain on the chair fabrics though.   I wouldn't say my kitchen is open to my dining room, but the are adjacent and the tables happen to be in full view of one another through the doorway.  It's a typical doorway, about 32 or 34 inches?  So I like the fact that are both suited for their areas and still look nice together.

 

Anita, I think you asked about the age of our home.  It was built in 1955.  It is a typical home for Central New York built in this era.  We are very happy here, making it more to our liking all the time.  If we didn't, I would say we would like get a restored older home.  Like...old.  We like a mix of things, but there is so much character in older homes that you just don't see anymore.  

 

The moulding you see in the house around the doorways, the baseboard, windows and crown moulding, we did.  We are very proud of it, as we wanted a nicer look, and realized by looking through homes that you can achieve a custom look using HD or Lowes items by putting multiple pieces together.  For example, the baseboard consists of three different pieces and the top of the doorways has a lot of pieces to it.  

 

When I say we like a mix of things, we like those touches and we do like to pick some classic items, but we don't want that museum feel.

 

We did not do the built ins with the fireplace.  It was built to match the mouldings we put in by a carpenter.  He is the same person who did the built ins in the family room and the bench/desk area in the mudroom.  He is wonderful.

[awhfy]

21 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Those tops look great . I am trying to horde JJill tops since there have been rumors of bankruptcy .

Oh no!  I did get that denim sleeveless dress (with pockets!) last week at JJill. Original was $99. It’s been sold out on line since July. Walked into my store last week & there 1 was & it was my size!  $22 it was mine!

[awhfy]

Laurie. Look on line at Chicos for masks. Best I’ve found (better for me than Johnny Was). $15 for 3. Only on line, not in stores some very earthy ones!

Edited September 18, 2020 by awhfy

[awhfy]

So todayvway National Cheeseburger Day. I wore my Chicos OTR flamingo jacket & JJill sleeveless denim dress & my lapis necklaces. The hamburger (& margarita) were sublime! 

[Sailor_Sally]

Margaret , Happy Rosh Hashanah !

[MJC]

Thank you Sally 😊 

 

Wishing everyone a sweet and healthy year. 

[awhfy]

4 hours ago, MJC said:

Thank you Sally 😊 

 

Wishing everyone a sweet and healthy year. 

Happy Rosh Hashanah Margaret. 

[Anita Latte]

This week has been the beginning of our new normal. DH's new work week began...on site Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Home on Wednesday and Friday. It was odd to be packing lunch and doing all the things that we would normally do on a work day. Hard to believe it's been 6 months since the last time we did all this. DH's team is basically the only team that is on site...it's like a ghost town he says.

 

In honor of the new normal, we went shopping for new normal work clothes. He was looking to continue with the casual dress but nice enough. He used to dress in dress slacks and long sleeved buttons downs with undershirts. But this just seems to be way too much for a deserted office landscape in the pandemic era...so we went out and found some really nice casual pants that aren't too campy, straight legged, semi-lightweight fabric. Tommy Bahama hooked us up with "flex" technology that's made to move with you. They look good and they are very comfortable DH says... Only available in 3 colors...we got a pair of black and a pair of tan. 

 

He also wanted regular tees. It's very difficult to find plain tee shirts that are decent looking. Urban Pipeline at Kohls hooked us up there. DH isn't used to wearing semi-fitted tees. We topped it all off with a fun pair of olive green colored Vans to wear with the tan pants. He already has decent casual black shoes.

 

So there we go. One of DH's coworkers showed up in a button down work logo shirt and members of team were like...who are you trying to impress? LOL. So DH was feeling spot on with the whole going back to the office vibe. 

 

So we did go to the mall to do some shopping. Macy's. We were probably two of about 10 shoppers in Macys. The fitting rooms were open and DH was the only one using his fitting room. He used the first room and was in and out as quickly as possible. We decided to walk the mall for fun because we haven't been there before...some stores weren't even open. The cages still down. Other workers were just standing in the entrance ways of what was an obviously empty store. The mall was so empty. I've never been in a mall that felt like that. SO so empty.

 

I can report that Victoria's Secret has closed the entrance on the pink side. And they have established an enter lane and an exit lane. And they appear to be limiting capacity at the store. There was a girl standing there in between to the two lanes that appeared to be monitoring attendance, I guess you could say. I didn't go in. 

 

Kohls was in an outdoor shopping area. There were more shoppers there but still...double 10 and you only get 20...I think there may have been 20 customers in the store. Again...pretty crazy.

 

We were only out to shop for the very specific needs for DH. This has been our approach as businesses are trying to open up...we go if we have a specific need and make use of the ready availability of being able to just go buy something instead of ordering and waiting for it. DH needed to try on the pants anyway...COVID hasn't been horrible, but the old dress pants were a bit tight and uncomfortable.

 

We're seeking distraction in the evenings. Monday we went walking at a park new to us...looking for trails to walk. Last night...I just really got the urge to go out. I'd gotten an email from EPIC theaters talking about Star Wars V 40th anniversary re-release. I just decided to look at the movies to see what was playing... Well, EPIC allows you to reserve a seat in advance. You can see how many people are at the theater...and so we decided to go to the movies last night. I think there aren't enough new releases out to fill out the theaters and so EPIC has less expensive viewings of older movies. We never saw the Harry Potter films in the theater and the first one was showing and so we decided to go see that last night.

 

 

We were the only ones in our theater. AND we were the only movie goers in the front lobby. There was one guy at the ticket counter and one guy at the concessions stand. That's IT. Those were the only people we saw. And when we left the theater...we didn't see a single worker. No one. We walked all the way from one of the back theaters and out through the lobby and there was NO ONE there. OMG. 

 

And it was great fun to see HP in the big theater. I'm so familiar with these movies. We own the whole series and have watched them many times. What I noticed more than anything were the sounds of the film. There's a lot of ambient sounds that I have never noticed before. We don't have a fancy sound system at home so anyone who does may hear these things, but I never have. For instance, when the kids are in Prof. Snapes class room for the first time...there are the sounds of the percolating potions in the room and other similar lab related sounds that I have never really heard before. Little things. Also...with the big screen, there were details that I've never noticed much before.

 

Anyway...really enjoyed the big screen. Enjoyed being out of my house for a while but in a comfy seat. That was especially novel. Lately, when we go out...we don't really sit anywhere unless it's outside. And most of our outside seats haven't been ones that you would really chill out in for 2.5 hours.

 

I think this is the benefit of being in a small town though...I don't know that my experience would be duplicated in a larger town. 

[awhfy]

I miss going to movies. Maybe we’ll try one when Les is better. He’s torn a muscle over his Hip flexor & is just miserable, no sitting for him

 

looks like I’ll have one more foot surgery 😳. I went to get a drop toe checked (I was falling). Somehow I’ve managed to break a platinum implant...who knows how. So I’ll get that fixed on Friday the 13th of November. Sigh. Should only be down a couple of weeks unless he finds more when he’s in there. Hopefully Les will be back to normal by then!

[Sailor_Sally]

Did you have to wear masks during the movie ? Regal cinemas is requiring that . I really want to go to the movies.

[Anita Latte]

Melody...so sorry to read about more troubles. 

 

Sally...we had to wear masks to enter the theater, in the concession area, and walking around. We did not wear masks once we were in the theater because we were eating popcorn and having a drink. Also, we didn't put them back on when we took a break from the popcorn. HP was 2.5 hours so we were not eating the entire time. I might have been more motivated to put the masks back on if there were others in the theater...but we were completely alone so we didn't. I can say that I probably wouldn't go to the theater if there were many others in the theater with us...I'm not sure where my cut off would be...I was really happy that we were the only ones in there...it was the main motivation for us to decide to go for it actually.

 

I want to see Star Wars V in the theater also...so that will be one to figure out how many others I can handle being in the theater with. They have some showings in the big XL theater so I think that will be the one that I would want to go see it in. Can you imagine? George Lucas was instrumental in changing the sound scape of a movie theater. I do believe that Lucas was the impetus behind THX which revolutionized the sound scape of the movie theaters. Star Wars VI was the first of the Star Wars movies to be shown in theaters with the new sound system...I don't recall if I saw V back when the Star Wars movies were rereleased before the newer ones were released. I KNOW that I didn't see it in a theater like XL...

 

I love the recliner seats and the big sound!!! So definitely going to see V in the big theater...I just have to keep watch on the seating chart to pick the right showing with the right number of people. I'll be figuring out what number that is as I go.

[laurspag]

Margaret, I have to say that I am really drawn to those goldeny beige type colors in some of the shirts.  I am not sure I have seen you wear that color before, but I think they look great on you.  It is a color that I have been looking for when it comes to work type shirts, because they are such good basics and wearing ivory doesn't do much for me.  I seem to look best with mid tones.

 

I agree that we can get worn out on the home improvement stuff.  For me, the issue is that while I either can't or choose not to go many places right now, I don't necessarily have more time at home.  I often use long weekends or vacation time to work on projects.  I gave a bunch of that up since we had the option this year to trade it in for pay due to the time off moratorium we had.  I then used the funds to pay the shortage on my daughter's car loan.

 

So, I don't have a ton of time off.  We have a week coming up in October, and we are spending three days of it in Lake Placid.  We are excited about the time off, and the nice thing is that it will be split up a bit for different things.  We will get some R&R, some work done in the house and some general errands and the like.  

 

I am still very focused on what I want to work on.  While I still have the week off near Thanksgiving, part of it is back to cooking for the big day.  It's my favorite holiday.  It remains to be seen if it will just be 2 of us, or up to 6.  My daughter and her family will already be moved by then, but my stepmom and her friend often join us. There could also be my other daughter and her boyfriend.

 

I think I have two days that I can schedule, but it will be a tough fit to create a long weekend.  I think I need that for the bathroom, since there are a lot of errands and general things I do on weekends to begin with.  We will be painting the walls, wainscoting and trim.  There is very little wall space, but I already have a picture that will hang in there.  It will look completely different with the gray and choice of picture. We have talked and would like to change out some of the accessories such as the towel bar, mirror and so on.  All our new doors have rubbed bronze handles.  We have been talking about adding that to the baths.  This is one of the reasons I went with a lighter gray - for the contrast.

 

And...my husband is in quarantine for a week.  There are two coworkers who were certain this whole thing is a hoax, and who got in trouble a few times for not wearing a mask.  So guess what?  One tested positive, then the other.  My husband tested negative, and will be retested on Monday.  Based on exposure timing, he may be able to go back to work sooner if he tests negative on Monday, but the results probably won't be back until Wednesday or Thursday anyway.  To say we are angry is an understatement.  We understand you can do all the right things and still get this virus, but to blatantly put others at risk is different.  The whole office is going through this, and one other person tested positive despite trying to be extra careful around these two guys.

 

I'll get off my soapbox now. 🙂

 

My husband will focus this week on things in the garage and on his car, depending on whether he can go to work midweek or if it is on Monday.

[MJC]

Laurie, I understand how frustrated you must be. We have made a lot of sacrifices to stay healthy and to think how easy it is to be exposed when you have tried so hard... it's easy to be angry about that. Sending healthy thoughts your way and hoping he's ok to go back to work soon.

 

My sister has been sent home twice since her bank opened because someone was exposed and needed testing before they could all come back to work. It is so disruptive even when everyone turns out to be ok.

 

It was finally time for another pedicure, so this week it's OPI Go With The Lava Flow. It's a medium orange with a slight sheen, not quite a sparkle, just a hint. It seems like a good transition color for this warm days/cool nights thing we have going.

 

I sat with miss kitty and read while it dried. Has anyone read The Two Lives of Lydia Bird? It's a bit sad but sweet too. It was finally warm enough today to take the boat for a long ride while we ate a picnic lunch. We hope to keep it in until mid-October if the weather holds up. Our neighbors across the cove are having a birthday party this afternoon and they have a Motown playlist going, so I'm enjoying the music while I get dinner ready! We are grilling a lot and eating outdoors as much as possible. Soon we will switch to grilling for lunch because it is getting dark so early now, and have a light supper.

 

[purduemom1]

Margaret, you did a really nice job on the pedicure. That is a great fall color. It looks like miss Kitty is trying to avoid the polish smell. 
 

Yes, it is so easy to be angry when we see others disregarding all the precautions and possibly exposing others to the virus, especially when many of us have tried so hard to stay well.

 

Anita, wow, a private theater experience without a private theater price-nice!

 

Laurie, your mini vacation sounds wonderful! I hope you have great fall weather and color to enjoy. Hoping your DH tests negative.

Sharon

Edited September 27, 2020 by purduemom1

[awhfy]

Ladies, check our Chicos & Chicos Off the Rack. All earthy colors!  Beautiful olives & cherrys & some browns. Excellent sale prices on some things too

[MJC]

Sharon, it does look that way! But she likes to nap there in the afternoons. :)

 

Melody, thanks for the heads up. So sorry to hear about your foot.

[awhfy]