Castles in the clouds.......

We went to Half-Price Books yesterday, looking for books on Germany. We found a beautiful book on German castles... filled with magical photographs of castles so tall and stately that they seemed suspended from the clouds, rather than rooted in the soil.

Our trip to Germany this summer is looking to be a tour of the castles. There are hundreds of castles, it seems, in every section of the country. My husband will make an itinerary for the regions of Germany we will visit, and without a doubt, we'll see every castle we possibly can for the length of time we'll be there. (This is getting to sound like our trip to Maine, where we saw so many lighthouses that I lost count of them.)

To drive or not to drive--- that is the question. In order to rent a car in Germany, my husband will have to get an International Driver's License. Then we have to figure out the cost of gas over there--- add that to the cost of the rental car, plus all the mileage we're sure to put on that car...... and then we'll decide if it would be better to just arrange bus tours and let someone else do the driving.
Still a lot to plan, but by the time we're set to go, my husband will have worked out all of the details.

I went to some local yard sales yesterday..... lots of them around here being that summer has finally (thankfully) arrived. I found a bright pink feather boa, which is the start of my Halloween costume for this coming October. I don't know how I'll use it, but for the one dollar that this brand-new and perfectly feather-full boa cost me, it will be fun for a costume. Maybe I'll dress up all in pink, from head to toe, and call myself "Cotton Candy."

I also bought some pretty Italian-made bowls at one of the sales----- brand new, one large serving bowl and four individual bowls.... made for a spaghetti dinner. Hand-painted with pretty vegetables, in cream and green colors. Very nice set, which of course I thought of keeping.... but then I thought of the consignment shop. I really miss the buying/selling that I used to do in J's antique shop, but I don't have time these days for the work involved in keeping up my own space in an antique store.

The consignment shop is easy...... you just bring the stuff there, they price it and display it (and keep it dust-free) and when it sells, they split the price with you, 50-50. A great deal, in my opinion. (Plus they have the responsibility of the bookkeeping and the taxes for the state--- which is also a great deal.) I've already taken things there.... my first check will be ready on the fifth of the month-- they pay their dealers once a month.... so I'm guessing that it will be a good check because a lot of the stuff I've brought them has already sold.

I was in SteinMart the other day, looking for black slacks for the summer. I found the perfect pair, and I'm sorry I didn't buy two. I may go back there today or tomorrow and buy another pair while they still have a lot of them. I was also looking for a black dress, which I found, but I didn't like the belt that came with it, so I may go back and try that on again, and go into the dressing room with that dress and about thirty belts. This way I can try on the dress just once, and keep switching belts till I find one that looks great with the dress.

I miss having a plain black dress that I can just toss on whenever I need a simple outfit. I have just one black dress in my closet, but it has a silver ruffle around the hem..... I bought it years ago in NY, and although it "works" here in Texas, it's more NY than TX because of that silvery ruffled hem, plus it's really too dressy for a lot of the times I'd like to wear it. I've been looking for the "perfect little black dress" for a couple of years now, and just never finding the right one that you can either dress up or dress down with different accessories. But if I can just find the right belt for that black dress in SteinMart, then it will be the perfect one.

I also tried on about six black skirts the other day in Stein Mart... and I'm happy to say that I didn't buy one of them. I already have a bunch of "favorite" black skirts and even though I found some pretty ones yesterday, I was determined not to add another black skirt to my closet.

The next shopping search will have to be for jeans. I need a darker color pair of jeans and I know that's going to be harder to find that the little black dress. Last time I found a pair of jeans that I liked, I know that I tried on at least forty pairs before finding the "perfect" pair. I'd like to be able to go into a store, and into a dressing room, and just stay there trying on clothes that are brought to me. What wears me out is having to get dressed again, go out of the dressing room, look for more things to try on, go back into the dressing room, and hope that the whole process doesn't have to be repeated.

And if that right there is the hardest thing to have to deal with, then life is very good indeed.