Saturday, December 30, 2006

A Happy Day

We had such a happy day today, Don and I. With the interment, Christmas, and other matters behind us, today was OUR day to get out and about, just the two of us. Krista gave us a gift certificate to Tresetti's World Cafe so we started out there. Wine, coffee (of course!!) to die for French Onion soup, burgers (but oh what burgers!!), and crab cakes - delish and we left stuffed and waddling.
Our original plan was to go to Border's to spend our gift card money and Reward card money and we did eventually get there but during the lunch it occurred to me that I wanted to take another look at Barnes and Noble for a particular quarterly literary journal that I could not remember the name of. I was convinced I would know it if I saw it so off to B&N we went. No luck for me but Don scored with three of the books you see in the picture below.

Once we got to Border's Don scored yet again. I've been looking for Nick Bantock's Artful Dodger book without luck. It's in print so I know I can order it but I was sort of hoping I might get lucky and find it since it wasn't in the Turlock store. Well, no luck in Modesto either, however, I did discover copies at Amazon and other places so I'll probably just go that route. My search though for my journal came to a successful end. I found Rosebud
at the BIG Borders as I affectionately call it, and rather than loss track of it again, I'm finally going to subscribe.

After finding Rosebud I ran across the current issue of
Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine. Have you ever experienced a mental tug, a mental whisper that turns into a shout? Well, this was happening to me. Mind you, I don't buy this particular magazine on a regular basis but today it just would not let go of me. I thumbed through it, flipping quickly through the pages, kept going back to one particular article and then finally said, "Enough" and made it my own. It wasn't until I got to the car and started looking at the table of contents that I finally understood what was going on. Corey Amaro at Tongue in Cheek was this month's guest writer. For those of you rare birds out there who have not discovered Corey's lyrical blog, be sure to click on her link and prepare to go back for many more visits.


Finally we headed home. BUT one more stop, this time at a new store in Old Turlock, The Mission Bell. The shop is own by the same lady who owns Lily's Emporium. Sadly, there is no website for Lily's to share here. The Mission Bell specializes in Catholic products and books. What a blessing to have such a store here in town and designed into such a pretty and inviting setting. One post-Christmas manger later (also in the picture) we were out the door and heading home. Don says he's not hungry - Hurray, no cooking for me tonight. Excuse me while I dive into one of my treasures.

11 comments:

paris parfait said...

Oh, Annie - and what treasures they are! Sounds like a fantastic day all round. Happy new year! xo

trailbee said...

What a fabulous day! Love doing stuff like that. Is the B&N in Turlock? I can only find Borders on Countryside. Rosebud? Happy New Year, Anne. See you next year.

claireylove said...

Happy New Year to you Annie

love bb x x x

Susannah Conway said...

Mmm, sounds like a heavenly day of shopping to me :-) Annie, i wish you a very happy new year, and know that 2007 will be full of wonderful things for you and your family. big hugs xo

Julie said...

You really did score big. I'll have to browse the magazine racks for Cloth, Paper, Scissors. I love Corey's blog; I always feel relaxed and like I've just had lunch with a friend after I've read her daily post.

vicci said...

Your day sounds great Annie! I love bookstores so much! I could spend hours and hours in them! Have a GREAT New Year...My friend!

Janet said...

Oh, I just love browsing through bookstores on a Sunday afternoon. My problem is that I find too much! I think your lunch sounded heavenly....and filling! Good for you, no cooking tonight.
Happy New Year to you and yours. We are staying in for a quiet evening.

Mary Bee said...

I just wanted to say Happy New Year to you Annie.

Pear tree cottage! said...

Annie, how wonderful your "Our day" was, The meal, the books and all. a day very much like the one we had just last week after christmas day telling ourselves that after all the feasting and good cheer an "our day" was in order.

I wish you my dear friend A very "happy new year" I just know our friendship will grow over the year 2007 and beyond.

Blessing to you your family.
Lee-ann

Tongue in Cheek Antiques said...

Happy New Year Anna!!
I too could spend a lifetime in a bookstore! And have felt that tug about buying a book. I(thanks for the nod!) Rosebud?
O Henry was hard for me to get into...maybe after all these years I should give it another try?

Beth said...

You really racked up on the books and magazines. That would be my favorite gift card. I love Borders. So glad you had a fun day!