Shopping with Jean and Brenda

It was a marathon of shopping, the Olympic trials, a quintillion shopping event. I drove, Jean and Brenda mearly shopped till they dropped. But they did good for their ages. And, oh no, Brenda turns 50 today. Jean is a "golden" shopper. Both Jean and Brenda are having big 4th of July parties at the lake this weekend. Jean is hosting the Villa family reunion, hubby John's birthday number 91, John Jr's 60th birthday, and grandson Tony must be 18.

Brenda is having a 3 day birthday bash. Starts Thursday with snacks and drinks on the deck. Friday is lots of food. Saturday is Karioke at the bowling alley. Her sisters are up for the fun, and son Jake and nephew Brian. Lots of pals. Lots of great food. Lots of fun. Lots of drunks. The perfect lake party.

So first we shopped at Kohl's, we wanted to be fresh for trying on clothes. Hit the jackpot. Jean got dressy jackets for $6.20. Good for all the charity events that they attend in Detroit. Brenda got shorts. I found 3 pair of shorts and a tee. All my pants are falling off my butt, had butt crack on the golf course last week. Where is the duct tape when you need it?

Then Sam's Club, and they had a nice little lunch buffet. Love the snacks, keeps the blood sugar up for more shopping! After we loaded 3 cases of water and 2 cases of beer into the van we had a low rider. Plus all the other great foods. I'm not cooking this weekend!

The we had lunch at the Traverse City Pie Company. Excellent as usual. I had half a Manitou sandwich and Tomato Basil Soup. Brenda and Jean had the chicken dumpling soup and chicken salad croissant and a Ruben. Brenda was so happy. When she shops with her sisters, they don't let her eat. We assured her that this is an integral part of the shopping experience.

Our next stop was Joann Fabric. They had new decorating fabrics, and I found the valance fabric of my dreams. It was 40% off too! Jean found a cart full of supplies too. Brenda went down to Fashion Bug and found two shirts. FYI the valances are supposed to be triangle shapped, each side a different color. Hoping to find some directions on HGTV, the inspiration.

Our next stop was Meijers for groceries. I was about done, but Brenda and I did our duty. No one will starve this weekend. One more stop at Rosebush to get ice, running into Paul and Tony, on their way home from golf. They won the scramble, most excellent.

It started to storm so we hurried home to unpack the goodies. Then I accompanied Paul and Tony to the Moose for a burger. Later that night we took Brenda to Ruckles for a birthday pizza and beer. So another day in paradise. And we didn't lose power in the storm!!

Oh my gosh, the daddy oriole is teaching 3 babies how to eat jelly off the feeder in my garden. They are so cute, downy and awkward, knocking each other off the swing. Last night he was feeding one of the babies jelly in the cherry tree. We have also noticed a gang of 4 or 5 young males flying through the yard, so they are on their second batch of babies. No wonder they are eating so much jelly.