I’m kind of wishing we had a few days in Phoenix as part of out upcoming US trip. It’s an appealing idea, to go someplace where I know where to get anything I want. Ideally we’d stay right by our old house, to maximize this effect. I would start with a quick trip to Fry’s to get Snyder’s of Hanover hard pretzels to munch on during the visit. I could visit one (or more!) of the yarn stores and bead stores in the area to restock on some needles I want oand on bead findings, Walgreen’s for the Nyquil on my list, one of the two Gaps nearby for a new pair of jeans, the Sears in the mall for a Lands End white stretch wrinkleproof shirt. Dinner would be big hamburgers and good ale from BJ’s or Four Peaks. In the morning I’d go for a row on Town Lake, then over to Massage Envy for a cheap and good massage. I’d go back to the mall to Barnes & Noble because paperbacks cost roughly half as much in the US, then to the spa in front of the mall for a pedicure. Dinner would be steaks and big baked potatoes with lots of butter, at Outback if we didn’t want to spend much or Fleming’s if we did.
Sigh.
If I’m lucky I’ll get to do most of that anyway; it’s just less efficient when you’re in other people’s cities. (No pedicures or massages are likely, unfortunately.) But there are good bead stores and lots of good brewpubs near my in-laws, Sears and Gap and Outback by my parents. Books and some knitting tools have already been ordered and shipped to my parents, and when I bought this necklace from Elise I asked her to ship it to my brother, so it will be there to meet me. There will also be soft pretzels, the one item of Philadelphia food I always have to have.
On a less materialistic plane, whether or not I get to be a shopaholic it will be a good trip; I’ll be able to see lots of relatives, both Rudder’s and mine, and with luck three old friends too (ooold friends – friendships of 33 years, 23 years, and about 5-6 years, if plans fall into shape). Yay!
On a completely unrelated note, why do so many men feel the need to use amounts of gel that make their hair look like it’s been extruded? Is this the pernicious result of too much time spent playing with Ken or GI Joe dolls in thier impressionable years? Have they internalized the idea that men’s hair should be plastic?
Speaking as one who lays her hand on many Rock Springs heads every month– only 5% of adult heads are ungelled.