Home Alone - the Grown-Up Version

These past TEN days without Mr. D have been weird - I feel like my parents are out of town or something (not that I think Mr. D is my parent), even though (as I complained to AB's husband in college), "I AM a grown-up." Sasha and I just don't know what to do with ourselves. I mean, there are people to see and things to do, but it's just weird. I think it's because he is missing and he is coming back.

So the fun parts have been that I get to cook and eat whatever I want, whenever I want. So, I made a batch of lentil salad (insert sisterly comments of disgust here), and ate at 7:00 or 8:30 or 9:00 depending on what I felt like. I saw a recipe for strawberry fool in the NYT. Strawberry fool is pureed strawberries and whipped cream, mixed together. Now, I'm pretty sure I have "invented" this before, as I love whipped cream (and Cool Whip). When I was in junior high (ok, high school, ok, now) I have been known to take a spoon and eat Cool Whip plain. It's hereditary, my dad does it too (and my brother, not so much my sissies). Anyway, I may have had this 3 or 4 times while Mr. D has been gone. It's really easy with the stick blender. Put strawberries in cup, puree, scoop in bowl. Put whisk attachment on, put cream in cup, whip, scoop in bowl. Stir. Done.

Another guilty pleasure is that I get to watch all the stupid shows I like on USA. Mr. D does NOT like them (though he's the reason we still watch Survivor, so....), so I usually watch them when he has a late day at the office, but this week I watched them without having to listen to him grumble.

I FINALLY got a Skype from him last night, since my brother-in-law managed to Skype my sister multiple times, and all I got was an email. The reason: they had an amazing wi-fi connection at the bar (ps they say weefee in France/Italy, how cute is that?). He called again later, so I got to meet his roommate for the trip and talk to my cousin (and hear hilarious stories of my brother's antics).

So, Mr. D is back tomorrow, but I leave tonight for St. Louis for a family trip, so I won't get to see him until Sunday night. Sasha is going to be upset when she realizes she doesn't get a whole half of the bed (and one morning she (the 20 lb dog) had managed to push me all the way to the edge.

Today on HGTV/DIY

Those are two of my favorite channels. And HBO, not that True Blood is coming back on.
Anyway, Sasha and I have been living it up, since Mr. D is on a fabulous vacation with my Dad and 20 of my Dad's closest friends.
Sasha loved it - to make up for her absentee father we went to the dog park twice and each time, we stopped at Home Depot twice. I don't know why, but my dog LOVES to go into Home Depot - weird.

Anyway, we went to Home Depot to get supplies to hand my new coathooks, which I purchased at the antique market in Paris (!!!). I had to order the little plaques, but I stained them yesterday and hung them today. There's another one too, but the picture got too small.

My new favorite work snack

Yumm - found them in line at Whole Foods (on line for you Yankees out there - ps - who says "I'm on line for BBQ - weirdos)

My Parisian shopping trip loot

I forgot to post about this earlier, but Mr D and I did take a morning to go shopping while we were in Paris.  I walked past the window of the store, checking these shoes out.  Finally, five minutes after I talked myself out of them, I turned to Mr D and told him I wanted to go back and get them!  I don't know if the picture foes them justice, but I love them!

Target Obsession

I had a bit of a shopping "episode" while we were in Houston for the wedding over Memorial Day weekend, partially spurred by my dear friend A.B.'s post on a certain collection at Target. The bride and groom of the wedding in question had registered at Target, and my cousin, the bride, trickster that she is, registered for Cheetos. The morning of the wedding, my baby sister, Mr. D and I made a trip to Target to purchase what would be 10 of at least 30 bags of Cheetos to be seen on the gift table.

As we're walking to the register, I see a sign hanging over the swimsuit section - the Calypso collection was still going on. As Mr. D wanted to hit up the Spec's, and we had to be back at the house for brunch (go Mom), I told them to get in line and I would meet them before they checked out. I ran over and scanned the rack and found this swimsuit.
I didn't even have time to try it on, I just grabbed what I thought was the right size and ran back to the register - total time, two minutes. :) Cute, right?