Productivity & Rewards

Spring is definitely here and it's been WARM

(almost 90!)

and the trees are all going to town with growing new leaves.

It's beautiful (though I get nervous because it means summer will soon be here).

The sky is brilliant blue: 

The cats enjoy my warm sunny office this time of year:

Lookit the soft widdle belly!!!

I had a busy week with work stuff, so I took Friday afternoon for a solo trip to the mall.

In one store, I found a stain on the floor that looked like Nessie the Loch Ness monster! 

I came home with a stack of wonderful stuff. 

Black leggings that feel like suede (for $18!) 

DKNY, available here

A little something . . . 

with a beautiful pattern!

And some new undies

(eight pairs):

A mesh blouse (perfect for summer!) . . . 

with a ditsy (tiny) floral pattern.

I had a skirt with this pattern in college and I can't resist it!

I loved that skirt and wore it until it fell apart.

It was the grunge era, where little tiny floral patterns were worn with boots and a sweatshirt. 

Closer yet . . .

A light blue sheer-ish blouse: 

H&M, where I rarely shop!

And a white one with a gorgeous modern floral pattern

(wildflowers!) 

I saw it first here.

H&M again

Update on the H&M blouses:

I am planning to exchange or return them because they are really baggy and boxy.  We'll see if the size down fits, but I think it will be too tight in the shoulders.

A striped drapey top with lace insets.

This top is rayon (typically maximally shrinky)

but I couldn't resist it anyway.  I tried to talk myself out of it and failed.

I can take it back if it shrinks, but I just *had* to give it a try.

Macy's

You can probably see why! 

Update: I am taking it back.  I washed it on the "hand wash" setting in cold water

and it shrunk a LOT, not just a little.

Allistair didn't like the clothes being the center of attention,

so he brought his whale, Wanda, and sat right on top of everything.

A denim jacket (another thing I tend to amass!)

with a fuzzy REMOVABLE collar!!! 

jacket: Maison Jules from Macy's

It's slightly shorter in the front than in the back

and it fits like this:

for some reason I look like a pygmy in this photo!
dress: Calvin Klein
camisole: Target
shoes: Aerosoles
bag: Betsey Johnson

Close-up of collar: 

Button where collar can be removed

(there are buttons with little elastic bands to hold the collar around the back underside):

in this photo you can also see how the cut under my lower lip is healing -
very well!

Close-up of collar: 

I think I might take this jacket back, too, sadly.

The fuzzy bit, which I LOVE, makes my hair completely and

unmanageably full of static!

Oh well, it was still a really fun day of shopping even if I didn't end up with as much stuff as I originally thought!

After such a wonderful day, of course I had to eat a wonderful dinner!

Greg had leftover roast beef and potatoes

and I had this happy belly bowl made up of 

brown rice

black beans

spinach

red sweet peppers

orange sweet peppers

mild salsa

nutritional yeast (a non-dairy topping that's sort of like parmesan cheese)

Then we played 221 B Baker Street (Greg won):

Allistair was in a snuggly mood, so I put his snuggle blankie on 

the chair right next to me.

He liked it! 

But the couch is always good, too!

The other day, three cats were all on the chaise part of the new sofa

(I think of it as the "peninsula").

Juvy, Allistiar, Stephen:

 Juvy:

Allistair:

Claude:

"Grr.  I'm trying to relax."

Stephen has found a new place to droop -

off the edge of the peninsula! 

Have a happy weekend!

Bonus gift from Juvy that she left me by her food bowl:

deceased (and dried out) gecko.