Tuesday Shopping.... and Shopping....

.... and shopping........... and I am all shopped out.

My cousin R and I started the morning with a visit to the jewelry store.... a local jeweler that I've known since we moved here. R loves jewelry, and so do I.... this trait must run in the family. We got to the jeweler's a little after 10:30 this morning and we didn't leave there till 1:30 in the afternoon. (It's after midnight now.... so Tuesday was yesterday.... I am losing track of the days here.)

After drooling over the jewelry showcases, we went to La Madeleine for lunch.... a local French bakery and cafe. Then, believe it or not, we went back to SteinMart. By that time, it was about 3:00 in the afternoon.... I didn't have the heart to walk around that store again, since we were there for nearly five hours the day before. I suggested to my cousin that I could drop her off at the store and I could drive back home and take care of Gracie and the cats, then go back and pick her up. She also wanted to go to Marshall's and have a look-see around there.

I thought I was a good shopper..... but my cousin takes the cake. She is tireless when she's shopping and she will look at every blessed thing on every blessed rack. I sort of scan the racks looking for certain colors and styles and fabrics. R inspects everything that the store has to offer. And since SteinMart has such great variety, she had lots to inspect.

So that's what we did...... I dropped her off at SteinMart, and I drove back home and walked Gracie, enjoyed the sun for a little while, fed the cats and played with them and told them it wouldn't be long till they were allowed to come back into the house. I wonder if they believed a word I said.

When I got back to SteinMart, my cousin was trying on the huge pile of clothes she brought into the dressing room. While she tried them on one by one, I made piles of "keepers," "maybes," and "what was I thinkings." Then I felt sorry for the saleslady in the dressing room... she had all those hangers to sort out from the clothes that my cousin tried on, so I helped the woman sort the hangers into separate piles (different hangers for skirts, blouses, slacks).

When that adventure in the dressing room was over, we made our way towards the check-out counter at the front of the store. And what happens? My cousin sees something else that she likes and wants to try on. Back she went... and I went with her, so she wouldn't make another detour. When she was done, I told her to hold onto the shopping cart, look down at the floor, and I begged her not to make eye-contact with any of the clothing racks.

We never did get to see Kemah... or Galveston. We didn't get up to my friend A's house, nor did we get over to see my young friend C and her parents. This vacation was a shopping trip for my cousin, not a see-Clear Lake vacation. One thing is for sure... SteinMart loved having her visit there. I swear, I think my cousin tried on at least 200 items and purchased about 75 of them.

The two of us went to Babbo Bruno's again for dinner.... one last splurge.... another late dinner, which is why I'm up so late again. I don't want to go to sleep yet, and my cousin can't go to sleep till she finishes packing her suitcases. She brought down an empty suitcase, knowing that she'd be shopping while she was here. It's just a small one... I don't know how she's going to fit all the SteinMart clothes into it, but she says there are lots of hidden pockets in all of her luggage. R says not to worry.

One thing I am worried about...... lifting that luggage into the car tomorrow morning. R says not to worry.

When I get back from the airport tomorrow morning, I will be getting the master bedroom and bathroom back in order. I had given those rooms over to my cousin while she was here, and I slept on one of the sofas. I knew she'd need a lot of room to spread out all of her clothing and cosmetic items (she's such a city-girl), and that's the biggest bedroom and bathroom in the house. If my husband could see the cluttered state of those rooms, he would be thanking his lucky stars that I'm so neat.

It's been a great four days for the two of us, and I'm pretty sure that my cousin will come back for another visit. I can now say that I honestly know what "shop till you drop" means. Except my cousin doesn't ever drop. She just shops and shops and shops.