Road Trip!

Look, sandpipers piping!  We were up at a semi reasonable time this morning and headed off to the beach.  The beach is Liesl's favorite place on earth.  When we got there the tide was in and all of these little shorebirds were running back and forth as the waves came in and out.   I threw Liesl's ball but she really likes to carry it like a fashion accessory that she can show off to the other dogs.    

After the beach, it was my day to go to Gilroy, about 45 minutes away.  I brought Liesl because 1) she is a great companion in the car and 2) sometimes traffic can get horrendous and I worry about her being alone any longer than her little bladder can handle.  Someone had loaned me a CD of dog calming music that I put into the CD player.  They have done these studies and found that dogs are calmed by music with a certain number of beats per minute.  It is a collection of recognizable piano classics.  Liesl is pretty mellow, particularly in the car, but it was lovely.

The first stop was at Lowe's.  I was so impressed by Lowe's.  The merchandise was a little more upscale than Home Depot and the prices were reasonable.  The employees, however, are a bunch of troublemakers.  My credit card is smokin'!  I went in looking in for a specific semi flush mount light for my kitchen.  It is beautiful with pearly mosaic.  However, when I went in, it was unlit, so I was a bit unimpressed and picked up another cast iron type light.  I decided though to ask them to light the one I originally wanted so I could see it.  It was gorgeous lit.  The nice man helping me asked me a lot of questions about my kitchen and said that he thought the one I came in for would look best with my colors and layout.  

After he put the box in my cart he asked me if I had seen the backsplash tile kit that would totally go with the lamp.  I told him that I had and it totally matched my countertop because it was displayed with granite similar to that in my kitchen.  We walked over and he put the tile in my cart, then walked me over to get some matching grout.  He had another helper walking around with me, too.  I also got some under cabinet lights that will look great.  They were so helpful.

I also got another chandelier for my hallway and a really blingy (gaudy) crystal chandelier for my bedroom.  I have always always always wanted a crystal chandelier.  So I now have one.  It makes me happy.  My cart was full and the nice employees who had walked me around even offered to help me load everything in the car.  They were so awesome and helpful.  But I think I just financed a race for Jimmie Johnson's number 48 car.  Oy vey.

Meanwhile, back in the car, I still had a very sleepy schnauzer.  Gilroy has the closest Sonic, and I was looking forward to going there.  Now I have to tell you that Liesl goes crazy for hot dogs.  She gets a half of one a year at one of our employee parties.  I figured it is my birthday this week, so we had a party in my car and I split a hot dog with her.  She also liked the cheese drenched tator tots (just a couple of bites.)  We had lunch and I continued on with a couple more stores I needed to run into (it was a cool day so she was safe in the car with the windows open.  I also had water out for her.)  

I ran into Homegoods but found that a number of people had decided to bring really tired children shopping so the screaming was at a fever pitch. (poor kids) The other end of the spectrum had children who had obviously been fed Snicker bars, Twinkies, and Red Bull for lunch.  The kids were given shopping carts and they proceeded to race down the merchandise laden aisles.  I felt badly for the sleepy children who just wanted to go take a nap somewhere.  The shopping cart NASCAR and the impending disaster of broken glassware made me edgy and I quickly decided I was over it.  Liesie and I headed for home.  

My best friend is coming over Wednesday to help me paint.  I figure we will do the backsplash, too.  It is going to be very dramatic behind my stove and under the microwave.  Love it!