Sunday, November 13, 2011

Date Day, with a special appearance by John Galsworthy!

 About once a month Sam and I try to go on a date,; every once in a while we are able to sneak away for a date day.  That's right, an entire day kids free.  This Saturday we had eight glorious hours of not cleaning house, not wiping up drool, not arguing with a tween, and generally acting like grownups.

We started the day off by becoming inordinately enraged.  Sam went to cash his check at the bank (the bank he has an account with -- Regions Bank) and they wouldn't cash his check.  Yup.  The bank he banks with wouldn't cash his check,  scary.  Apparently you must have the same amount in your checking account as your check.  That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.  We considered staging an Occupy Regions, but decided against it.  Luckily, Wells Fargo cashed the check since that is where Sam's employer banks.  Guess who's moving to a credit union next week?

After that we went to Target.  It was glorious.  No shoveling goldfish.  We didn't look at a single Selena Gomez CD.  We bought a shower curtain and a baby gift for some friends.  It rocked.  Then on to Athens!  We don't give a flip about football and so we didn't even realize that it was the Georgia vs. Auburn game.  Whoopsy! We were stuck in traffic for a bit.  Surrounded by GINORMOUS SUVs filled with folks wearing red and black.  I watched with fascination as one debutante styled her hair with gallons of hairspray and she teased her hair like a Harpie in heat.  I nearly wept for the ozone. 

Once we arrived we decided to fork out $10 to park outside of a thrift store and spend the day walking.  It was lovely out.  We went to said thrift store and it was a bust.  I picked up one book.  We place was so bare.  I tell you -- good thrifting occurs on weekday mornings (that's when you can get the good stuff). 


Next, lunch at Siri Thai.  I had some delicious noodles and then Sam had a curry.  Then a walk to Avid Books, the new book store in Athens.  The store is adorable and while the selection is small it is very well selected.  I'll take a fiction section of 300 well-chosen titles over miles of crap any day.  I picked out a board book about bugs for Atticus's Christmas and The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald for myself. 


Then we walked over to the vintage shop Modern Star and I promptly spent all of my money.  I luv this place.  I passed up a mid-century modern teapot when I saw these:


a treasure trove of vintage Scribner's John Galsworthy novels.  The Forsyte Saga for the win!  Sam bought a vintage suitcase to make a portable art kit and then he bought me a Trifari enamel owl brooch.  These increases my enamel brooch collection AND my owl collection.  She is such a cute little owl.


At that point in time we realized we shouldn't spend any more money so we left to go visit our friends Becca and Jacob.  Their daughter, Clarice, was born three weeks ago.  I held her for the longest time.  She is so sweet and seems so tiny to me!  She is not quite 7 pounds and 3 weeks old; Atticus was nearly 10 pounds at birth and a 12 pounds by the time he was 3 weeks old.



We stayed for a bit and then it was time to head home.  The ride home was lovely -- golden, serene, and filled with beautiful autumn leaves.  We had a quick coffee at Inman Perk and then it was home to an exhausted and happy little Atticus and an equally exhausted Shannon the Coparent!

I can't wait until our December date!

6 comments:

Catherine said...

if you parked at potter's house, it's always a dud. i don't think i've been over there in months.

also, glad you had a good day in athens. :)

_Caroline_ said...

Oh this sounds like so much fun. The new book store is really amazing. I love it.

Next time you're in Athens, you should stop by Agora. They have lots of owl-inspired jewelry. :)

Andi said...

What a great day! I saw the facebook update about the evils of Regions Bank, so I was curious what went down. Glad to know it all worked out, but what a bunch of douchebags!

Lovely day indeed, and I'm in love with your owl brooch. Awesome!

AJJ said...

That baby looks delicious!

Amanda Roper said...

Yup, Catherine, that's where we were it.

Caroline -- I love Agora. I have an awesome owl necklace I bought there several years ago.

Thanks, Andi.

AJJ, it was a very delicious baby! (burp!)

AJJ said...

Snack-sized baby. Like a mini-snickers but cuddlier.
Oh, by the way, I've started reading the baby names in the Knoxville paper each week. It's chock-full of rednecky goodness. For example, the young lady named Bristol Daytona. Weirdly, people keep giving their kids your maiden name. I don't get it. You're totes awesome. I would name a fish or a cat after you. But I know you. Why are all these people in Knoxville naming their kids after you?