Neglectful Me

I have been neglectful...I know. 

Work has been crazy nuts for me the past few weeks and my baby has been neglected. For my followers, I am truly sorry! 

This summer is shaping up to be travel filled for me. I wish it was vacation travel but with the prices of gas, we won't be doing our 2 week camping/driving trip. I am soooo bummed about that. We have vacation planned as far as when we are taking it, just no definitive plans on where or what we are going to be doing. 

This makes me sad. 

You know what it is like when planning a vacation. You collect brochures and read them front to back to find the cool things to see or do. You read as much as you can about the area that you are visiting and make plans. It's all about the anticipation and excitement. 

My work travels will be bringing me to Albuquerque, Dallas, Richmond at the very least. I get to cross New Mexico off the list of states I have yet to travel to. YAY!

In the last 10 years, I have been to nearly every state in the United States. At the end of summer, I will be missing Alaska, Vermont, Mississippi and Maryland. I will get to these states one of these days, it is inevitable.

What are your travel plans for this summer? Is the price of gas going to keep you home?

Road Trip...Part Deux

Part deux~ It just sounds cooler saying it like that!

Sorry it has taken me forever to get back here and finish our adventures. It has been a crazy week. Had to prepare for the Rapture THAT NEVER happened! *rolling my eyes*

After stopping at the outlet mall and scoring(!) on the BBW stuff, we moseyed on down through St. Paul towards the Mall of America.

Can anyone tell me why the heck the speed limit is only 45 on that stretch? I didn't think so. It is so dumb! And really any of you who think I was going 45? You would be WRONG! Sorry, but you would be. My foot is made of lead. It's cute though. No hammer toes for this chick!

All the shopping anticipation made us hungry. AGAIN. My dear daughter sees the frozen yogurt shop and she waxes all nostalgic about the frozen yogurt in NYC. (Snot!)

"Can we get some?" Dumb question of the day. Sorry kid, but did you really think I could pass up a cup of cold, creamy deliciousness and even pass it off as good for you?

So this is our lunch for the day. The one on the left. It's mine. You can tell by the hot fudge. Total deliciousness. Be jealous. Be very jealous.

Don't judge. Calories on girls weekends don't count. Well, okay, maybe it's just that I don't count them. If I don't count them, they don't exist. I like that logic. 

Our goal at the mall wasn't necessarily shopping, shopping. It was more of a browsing, window shopping trip. Which is fine because usually we can't find ANYTHING at the MOA anyway. Of course, that is when we have money to spend. This day, we found a lot that we could have bought. Willpower. It sucks sometimes. 

People watching is the best at the MOA. For some reason though, the weirdos were not as numerous as I thought they would be. And you know how I like to make fun of people! The disappointment didn't last too long. 

We were walking past the Microsoft store. Side note: this store is like the Apple store only less cool. I digress. 

I turn to my left and what do I see? An animal...not a cute puppy or a sleek black lab guide dog. Nope. Can you guess? You won't be able to. A human skunk! Oh and her friend the mouse (to the right).

Now, at first I thought this was for the store and they had some weird game going on. I didn't think that Microsoft would be that UNCOOL. No, it wasn't the skunk was seen later, ambling through the crowds. Maybe this was a warning....you know what skunks do when they lift their tails? 

They spray vile smelling substances out of their butt. Just saying...don't get too close!

Gotta run, gotta get ready for dinner...SUSHI and Trans Siberian Orchestra...well not really but that will be my next post. I promise not to be gone so long next time. 

Road Trip ~ Part One

What a weekend!

As you may have read last week, (if you didn't...why not? You need to start here then come back.) we were road tripping!

There are a few prerequisites to one of our girl road trips.

1. No guys allowed. No sons, husbands or boyfriends (especially DB boyfriends).
2. Comfy shoes are a must. The Mall of America is huge. You don't need a blister to ruin your shopping.
3. No diets allowed. We eat what we want, when we want, and puke if you want to keep eating. No, we are not bulimic! So be quiet. Don't say that you don't wish you could do this.
5. NO DRAMA. We are women. This can take an inordinate amount of effort at times.


Our Saturday started out early. We were both up at 6:30 am. Normally we leave really, really, really early. We are usually on the road by 6. However, we had to stop at the outlet mall on the way and that doesn't open until 10 am. And in the world of shopping, timing is everything!

We stopped at Tobies for breakfast. Healthy? Not so much. Good? EXTREMELY!

For the record. We each ate one...the custard one? We saved that for our 1:30 am snack when we got out of the casino. So we weren't huge piggies.

Next stop. Outlet Mall.

Bath & Bodyworks. Seriously, if you don't have an outlet B&BW...you don't know what you are missing. 50-75% off lotions, sprays, candles. Yes, please and thank you. We spent $53. Of course, we had to add up the real cost of what we bought.

Just in case. Just in case I have to justify the charge to my dear hubby.

"But honey, if we would have gone to the normal store, it would have been $143. It was a bargain!"

Next up...Mall of America. This will have to wait. I have to work. To pay for my road trip.

Stay tuned.

Road Trip Planning

While the boys are away, the girls will play.

My daughter and I are planning a road trip to Minneapolis this weekend. It works out well because the boys are taking part in the the Minnesota ritual we call Opening Day of Fishing. It's a state holiday around here. So while they are off trying to catch fish for us to eat, we will be off to enjoy some mother-daughter bonding.

Shopping, music, eating, laughing and hopefully no drama!

We have tickets to the Trans Siberian Orchestra "Beethoven Last Night Tour" on Saturday night. We have only experienced them on YouTube so this will be fun. We are both so looking forward to it. My beloved daughter played the violin and sadly gave it up. :(

We are debating on shopping or museums during the day...it may just be where the wind takes us. We have two full days to get on each other's nerves. We both will need a dose of patience!

Best part? The hotel is free by using my hotel frequent stay points. Woot! More money for shopping and eating! This is one of the best perks of traveling for work. I get to rack up the points. Unlike others I know (you know who you are!) that rack them up but don't use them. It's really a shame. I do get a rush out of it.

So, stay tuned for stories of the road trip, we always end up with some good ones!