Grocery Shopping, Masks and Fires

      Yesterday mom and I ventured out to hunt and gather...that's pretty much how I think about grocery shopping in this new age of corona virus. 

     We first have to prepare our weapons before we head out. For mom a bottle of water, a mask, her inhaler, her cane and disinfectant wipes. 

     For me I  have to first have to apply my mask (makeup). I have not worn make up on a regular day to day basis since March 18th when we were sent from the office to work at home, there was just no need. So applying makeup when you're used to a fresh face was not much fun. Then gathering up my face mask, extra wipes, hand sanitizer, my phone and ATM card and my mom...we head out. 

     We had not been out of the house other than the front and back yard since the fires in California started. We have seen the news reports and the pictures and video but we were not prepared to the heaviness and thickness of the air and not being able to see any of the mountains surrounding us. 

     Here's a time lapse video from our local news station KGET, I hope you guys are able to see it, I had trouble getting it to show up.




     You can see how horrible the air quality is and it's not getting better anytime soon. Pair that with temperatures over 100 degrees and humidity, and let's not forget that there's an airborne killer disease out there on top of it and a mask...it was brutal. 

     I could have left my mom at home, God knows at her age and with her COPD and her age it was not the best idea for her to be out, but she's also human and I can't keep her locked up in one place forever, she has to get out and go to the store and have the pleasure of buying her little odds and ends and treats.

     She did good, I on the other hand got overheated halfway through our shopping trip and had to sit down and drink some water and catch my breath. But we got through it and now we're stocked up again for at least a month. I hope and pray that the next time we have to head out like that the air will be cleaner and the temperatures cooler. 

A Day of Almost Normal and some Thrift Store Finds

      Yesterday mom and I ventured out for a little trip to Hobby Lobby so she could buy some interfacing. Mom is a wonderful seamstress and she spends the whole year creating one beautiful craft for each of her children, their spouses and her grandchildren. I can't say what she is making this year in case one of the above reads this, but she needs interfacing and she's sewing it...there's your first clue! 

     As we were heading to Hobby Lobby, mom asked if we couldn't maybe stop by The American Cancer Society Discovery Shop aka The Discovery Store. We love this place, it's one of our favorite thrift shops. I had to tell her that while I am ok in going into stores selling new items, I wasn't comfortable taking her someplace where we did not know where the items had been and who had touched them. I know it's probably ok, but I'm not taking a chance with my mom!

     The Discovery Store posts enticing photos on Facebook daily and I thought just for fun I would share some to show you what we are missing, and we truly are missing them, mom and I are huge thrift store shoppers!

     First, I know I would have been in love with this beautiful lampshade. The lamp not so much but I bet you anything that lampshade has a hand-drawn design. And my sister Lisa's birthday is in October and I might have purchased the sailboat painting, isn't it dreamy?

     Then there's this wine holder, love it! Of course I'm down to only 3 bottles of wine and 1 of Champagne, so totally not practical, but at least I would have had a chance to drool over it. I also love the black plate hanger behind it. I have no room in my kitchen for it, but a girl can want right? I guess that's why my mom and sister nicknamed me Iwanna! 

     I am not a Milk Glass collector, but I know a lot of people out there are, so look at this pretty little set for just $20! I'm sure someone will scoop that up right away. I do love the white creamer and sugar holder.

     These black shoes are so my mom! She would have loved them and the little red coin purse behind them. So I showed them to her and I saw the shine in her eye when she saw them, she said "Now those I would have loved!"

     I don't know the brand of those shoes, but check out these! Michael Kors and so pretty. But I know that that they are probably a size 9 and I wear a 6 1/2 so they wouldn't have fit anyway. A little sour grapes always helps!

     In telling mom that we didn't want to touch old things, only new things it dawned on me that there was no reason we could not visit another one of our favorite stores, Ross Dress for Less. We had not been since the shelter in place in March. Mom's face lit up when I told her we could make a quick stop there.

     Masks in place, since they are mandated in California, we walk in to the store. It was nice to be almost normal again. This was one of our typical stops on a Saturday morning. We each grabbed a basket and headed our own way. I has already warned mom about talking to people, she's very friendly and forgets about the distancing and wants to show people what she's buying and offer suggestions on what they are looking at. She promised she would talk to no one, how sad that it has comes to that.

     I headed for the shoes and then realized that I don't need and won't need any pretty summer sandals because I'm working from home for sure until the first of next year and maybe beyond and that's how it went, I would find a pretty blouse and tell myself that I didn't need it, there would be no where to wear it too.  That was the "not normal" part of our shopping trip.

     Also not normal was the distancing. So many people forget or don't care. They wear the masks because they won't be allowed in the store without it, but many feel they can do what they want and no one is going to tell them what to do or where to stand!

     I went into the purse aisle, following the arrows on the floor and this woman came up behind me, breathing down my neck, so I move further along and she was right there again and I moved again and same thing, finally I just left that section of the store altogether. I could have said something but so many people want you to say something so they can get in your face and my fighting in public days are over! Not that I ever fought in public, but I sure wasn't going to start now!

     So I went to find mom and sure enough she's talking to a man about four feet away from her and going against the arrows! I reminded her about the arrows and she said, "Oh, I didn't even notice they had arrows." These arrows were at least 12 inches in length made out of blue duct tape! How could she not notice. But she's 82 and she shouldn't have to notice, other people should stay away from her out of simple courtesy. PEOPLE, if you are out there shopping, look out for the senior citizens, elders, whatever you want to call them. They are the most in danger and the most unaware. Please!

     Since I did not need clothes, shoes or purses I purchased all the cool art supplies I could find. I bought some alcohol markers, some metallic crayons, blending stumps and a pretty little sketchbook that had a lovely cover that says "Fill your life with Imagination and Color." Last night I did just that, I ended my day by playing with my new markers and creating this pretty, colorful little drawing. 

     All in all, mom and I had a fun time. It is always a little stressful for me to be out with mom because I'm constantly watching out for her, but the good thing is that she doesn't realize it's a whole new world out there...for her it was just a normal Saturday shopping trip with her daughter, something we've done for years.

     Seriously people...when you are out there in the world, watch out for the elderly.

Thoughts on my time "Sheltering-in" during the COVID-19 Pandemic

I’ve been working from home since March 18, 2020 due to the “Shelter-In” order from our Governor Gavin Newsom due to the virus COVID-19.

Today is three months that I’ve been working from home and tomorrow I am taking my computer and monitors back to a thoroughly disinfected office for our formal return to the office on Monday, June 22^nd. My feelings are mixed and I wanted to write about them today so I can remember all that went on during these three months.

I was prompted to write about this because I was speaking with my sister about things, we took for granted before COVID-19, things like trips to some place fun for a birthday celebration, which is something we’ve done every year. Lisa is going to be 60 this year and we can’t even plan something special for her. Our friend Lupe’s birthday is this Sunday and we can’t do something special for her either.

Lisa sent both Lupe and I this email this morning, “So funny how your perspective changes. All this time I have been thinking “What’s the big deal – It’s just a birthday. You’ll get another next year”. But now that it is hitting home with Lupe’s birthday and the fact that this year, I will be 60 and I wanted us to go somewhere nice to make a really good memory. Now this SUCKS!!!

This got me to thinking about how you never truly understand things until you put yourself in someone else’s shoes.  I thought it was so stupid that the teachers were doing teacher parades for the kids when they shut down the schools…until they went by my house and I saw how excited they were, waving at me and mom and how they were so happy to be doing something positive. It made me cry, it still makes me tear up when I remember, it’s a memory I will always have that no matter what, there are good people in the world.

So, I came home, I’ve never worked from home, but I figured I would be here for a few weeks, a month at the most so I set up shop in my living room. Not the best idea I’ve ever had! There was constant activity, mom going from the kitchen or laundry room to her room or the bathroom. My son and daughter doing the same, all day long, all of them with different schedules. Mom would forget I was working and just start talking to me and I didn’t want to be mean and tell her “Mom, I’m working!”

After a few weeks of this when they told us we would not be coming back for at least another month I set up my office in my “art studio” (a little corner of my bedroom where I had a small art desk and ten million art supplies.) This was much better, there were still interruptions but for the most part I could shut my door and have privacy. As I get older, I realize I need to focus more on what I’m doing and interruptions could cause me to make a costly error, luckily that has not happened.

Now it’s time to go back and to be honest, I don’t want to. I’ve enjoyed my time at home, there have been some rough times, times when I called my sister Lisa just to vent, but for the most part it’s been nice being here.

 

And now we are going back and I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that we are not going back to the same world as before…get used to that idea Alicia! We are going back to a workplace of fear, fear of our co-worker infecting us, fear that we went back too soon, fear that they may let clients return to our office too soon, fear that we may get sick using the communal bathrooms in our building. We’ll have to wear masks when we speak to each other, stay six feet apart, if not more! We’ll have to wear our masks when we go to the bathroom, when we use the elevator, when we use the stairs. We’ll have to take lunch in shifts so we aren’t all in the kitchen at the same time, we’ll have to clean and disinfect after we prepare our lunch so the next person will have a clean space to make their lunch. We’ll have plexi-glass shields in our reception area and hand sanitizers stations are being installed. We won’t be able to go to lunch together and I’ll have to take my own lunch everyday as I’m still not secure in eating food prepared in restaurants for pick up and take out.

 

Just received this email from management and it’s bittersweet:

I wanted to catch you all, before you shut down your systems for the night and might not turn them on again, until Monday Morning.

1.       For those of you with an office, please keep your door closed at all times.  If you come out of your office, put your mask up over your nose and mouth (mask will be provided)

2.       Wash your hands regularly.  We have touchless soap dispensers in each of the bathrooms and one in the kitchen.

3.       Sanitize your hands regularly.  We have Sanitizer systems in each suite, by each bathroom, near kitchen entrance and one outside the conference room.

4.       Practice Social Distance.  We measured that seven people can be in the kitchen at once (four sitting at tables and one at each the coffee, refrigerator and microwave). 

5.       Plexiglass Screens are located at each Lobby and in front of the receptionist.

 We obviously have a lot to learn, how this is all going to work. I encourage you to come to me, with ANY concerns.  If I don’t know the answer right away, I will figure it out and we’ll make sure you’re comfortable.

I can’t wait to see all of you tomorrow.

Welcome back!!!!

Even though I appreciate all the extra care and attention they have given to our safety, I’m still scared. Not so much for me, but scared to pick up the virus and bring it home to my mom.

It’s been an interesting three months and I don’t know that life will ever be the same again. I don’t know if I will ever take things for granted again, a shopping trip for milk without getting suited up in a HazMat suit, trips with my friends, going to a movie, eating in a restaurant….heck, I’m even scared to go get my blood drawn or go get an eye exam.

The one positive I can take from all of this is that my employer cares about us. They did not hesitate to send us home, they didn’t worry that we were taking home expensive computers and monitors, they didn’t worry that maybe we would sleep all day on their dime and not be productive, they just wanted to make sure that we were safe and I will never forget that. 

They could have laid us all off and shut down all the offices for good, but they didn’t, they wanted to make sure that through all of this our clients were being taken care of and we were earning the paycheck we need to keep our homes, keep our families fed and pay our bills. Did they do it because bottom line they wanted to keep their source of income coming in as well? Maybe…but it doesn’t matter because in this I think we were all together. I helped them stay in business and they helped me keep my job and I for that I am grateful.

Jack of All Trades....Master of None

One recurrent theme on my blog is the quote, "Jack of Trades, Master of None." I've always loved this quote and feels it applies perfectly to me and the life I've led. 

The complete original quote is, "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." Being the Master of One just doesn't suit me.  

My blog has never been about one thing. It's not a cooking blog, even though I have pages and pages of recipes posted. I've done table-scaping posts, book review posts, low-carb lifestyle posts, Iwanna Wednesday posts and writing prompts. I've just dabble in a little of this and a little of that.

Am I just easy bored and restless and fly from flower to flower taking the best of each one? Or am I more interested in learning many things rather than specialize in just one? Hmm, I don't know. I think I would say that I am just evolving. 

At one time this blog was the love of my life, what I looked forward to the most. I love words and writing, always have, always will. It's what I come back to time and again, whether it's writing on this blog or writing in a journal, which I've come to do more and more.

But back on May 3, 2016 I found a new passion in ART. I attended a Wine and Paint class as part of a group celebrating the birthday of a friends daughter. While the wine was fantastic, it was my own artwork that amazed me. You can read that post here. 

Here's a photo of me with my first true artistic creation. Look at the smile on my face...you would think I had just painted The Mona Lisa!

Since then I've been creating art of some type. But true to my nature, I'm a Jack of All Trades and Master of None. 

I started with sketching.

Ballet Shoes

I've done Impasto Art with a palette knife.

I've painted on canvas with Acrylics.

I've done Art Journaling.

Staying true to form I'm moved on to something new that I want to share and  archive on my blog for my son and daughter to look back on someday when I'm old and feeble and just want to sit in my wheelchair and yell at the politicians on TV. Then they can remember that their mother was an Artist, a Writer, A Jack of All Trades, Master of none but she had passion.

Zentangle is my latest passion. For those that have never heard of Zentangle (I know I had never heard of it), Zentangle is an easy-to-learn, relaxing and fun way to create beautiful art by drawing structure patterns called tangles. Tangles are created using a combination of dots, lines, simple curves, S-curves and orbs. You can find more information about Zentangle here. 

My life was turned upside down on March 18, 2020 when the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 which directed all individuals living in the State of California to "shelter-in" and stay home except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of federal critical infrastructure sectors. Our world as we knew it descended into something we had only seen in movies or read about in books. 

The management team for the company I work for told us at 2 pm that day to shut down our computers, pack them into our cars and take our little butts home to begin sheltering-in and working from home, until further notice. That's what we did and that's what I've been doing since that date. In a few weeks it will have been four months since I have been working from home, venturing out into the world only to purchase essential items such as food and home keeping supplies. 

Needless to say all of this weighed heavy on my heart and mind because I am the Head of Household. My mother lives with me, my son and daughter both still live at home and while they don't realize it, I feel as though they were looking to me to keep them safe and fed and sheltered. 

Thank goodness I own my home and don't have a mortgage, I kept my job and my pay exactly as before so my lifestyle didn't really change except for the fact that I had/have no life. I work at home, I eat at home, I sleep at home...I don't leave home. If I do venture out or if any of my people venture out I've had to make sure that we all wore masks and gloves and use hand sanitizer and wipe everything down with disinfectant wipes. 

How did we get from being a Jack of All Trades and Zentangle to talking about COVID-19 aka the Corona Virus? Well I found that I lost my will to be creative because I was so stressed out. I really had nothing concrete to worry about but yet I had everything in the world to worry about. I would see on the news where elderly people were dying alone in hospitals without their family by their sides because they were in quarantine and I feared that happening to my own mother. I couldn't let her get sick and die alone, no-how, no-way! 

Everyday was something new. At first I was comforted by the fact that the virus was by-passing young people, but then all of a sudden there would be a report that it was killing young people. Some days you would hear the virus is on surfaces, then next day it was only airborne. You couldn't count on anything so you had to take ALL the precautions and this was super stressful. 

Luckily one day I stumbled on a new a "Stay at Home Zentangle Class" by a YouTube artist Hannah Geddes. Here's the first video:

I was amazed how something that looked so complicated and beautiful could be so easy and I has hooked, I had to learn Zentangle and I started Hannah's classes. 

I just started and didn't really research anything about tangling or Zentangle, but I learned as I went along. I learned from Hannah to slow down, to concentrate on the lines and to breathe and I found that even though the world was still in chaos, I was able to calm my mind and help myself to be more at peace and to sleep through the night again. I've been doing Zentangle ever since, soaking up all the different patterns and watching several other CZT's or Certified Zentangle Teachers. I've been having a great time.

I watch her do each design and then I have been using Index Cards that I've cut down to 2 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches. Once I make them and get used to the tangle, I've been gluing them into a simple composition book that I've been using as an art journal, writing journal and tangle journal when COVID-19 began. Here's some of my earlier ones from weeks 1, 2 and 3. Each Tangle has a name given to it by it's creator.

DIVA DANCE

NZEPPEL

ENNIES

EMINGLE

MEER

Here's a few that I did today. These were just for fun, not part of Hannah's class.

MESHMERIZE

DIDN'T WRITE DOWN NAME OF THIS ONE...SORRY

THIS HAS SEVERAL DIFFERENT TANGLES

So anyway, this has gotten to be a rather long post and it's almost time for me to prepare for bed and work again in the morning. We are supposed to be back in the office on June 22nd, barring any further drama and chaos...wish me luck!

Pico de Gallo meets Jicama Citrus Salad

If you don't like sweet and savory then look away...look away now!

But take a look at this picture first, and I dare you to look away!

I get several recipes weekly via email by Taste of Home, I believe it's one of the best food websites ever! They have realistic recipes that anyone can make!

I love Jicama, but had never prepped one and was a bit scared to try it, so I went to trusty YouTube and Chef John, one of my heroes, had a nice video showing how to prep it and make it into a delicious Cole Slaw, here you go if you want to watch the video.




If you want to see the original recipe on the Taste of Home website, here's the LINK. 

Because I could not find any tangerines in my neck of the woods, I opted to use canned mandarin oranges, which worked out just fine. I also tweaked the recipe by adding Jalapeno (hence my title as Jalapeno is a staple in Pico de Gallo). 

Instead of shallots, I used thinly sliced yellow onion, I love the sweetness of yellow onion. 

We're having this as a side dish with Steak Sandwiches tonight. 

Let me know if you try it and have you ever tasted Jicama?

My Sister Says I Have to Start Blogging Again! Trip to Oxnard

Hi All! It's been a while since I popped in to blog about something. I've been wanting to but time just seems to fly by. It's funny that I always thought as I got older I would have more time, but the opposite has happened, I have less time...or maybe it's just that I get tired faster and go to sleep earlier? Regardless...here I am again at the demand (request) of my sister Lisa.

I didn't know it but she was using my blog as her own personal calendar of places we went too, things we did and when we did them. So to humor her, I'm going to try to at least blog about events in our lives.

On February 20th Lisa and I attended another one of her work conferences, this time in beautiful Oxnard. How did such a beautiful city get such a weird name? Well legend has it that the founder, Henry T. Oxnard wanted to name the city Zachari the Greek word for sugar. He was the president of the American Beet Sugar Company and the American Beet Sugar Association, but even way back then bureaucracy reared it's ugly head and he got tired of jumping through hoops and named the city after his family, Oxnard. I think Zachari would have been a beautiful name. 

We stayed at the beautiful Embassy Suites by Hilton Mandalay Bay. This is the view that greeted us as we turned off of Harbor Blvd. Breathtaking! Very California, very Spanish style inspired. 

This time unfortunately we did not have a room that overlooked the ocean like we did last time, but still...this is the view we did have from our room. Can't complain right?

We arrived on Thursday and settled into our room. Then we went down to the lobby for a Vendor Meet and Greet event with a sponsored bar and waiters constantly coming out with trays filled with delicious hors d'oeuvres, my favorite being the juicy ripe melon wrapped with prosciutto and drizzled with a balsamic glaze...mmmmmmm! 

Here's a picture of Lisa that I love! She was given a duck by one of the vendors. 

Me, Lisa and photo-bombed by the duck! It was sunset so the lighting was bad, but we had to take a picture to commemorate the weekend together. 

The next day (Friday) poor Lisa had to be in the dining room early for breakfast with her team as this was a working weekend for her. But I was on vacation, I slept in, got ready, had a leisurely free breakfast and then went to Starbucks to get poor Lisa a "medicine ball" drink as she was dying due to allergies and could not stop coughing and blowing her nose. She was pretty miserable!

Once I had her all medicated and working, I headed to The Painted Cabernet, this fabulous place that Lisa found for me where they have an Open Studio from noon to 4 pm. For $25 they provide all the art supplies and you just go in and paint to your little hearts content!

I was inspired by a painting they had on their wall to paint these cute little cactus plants in Terra Cotta pots. It was such a fun time, so relaxing, the weight of the world just melted away!

It didn't hurt that I sipped on this yummy peach Bellini while I painted!

When Lisa was done with her meetings, we took a walk on the beach and then came back to the room to get ready for the dinner that night. 

The next day (Saturday) Lisa again had meetings and I headed out to do some shopping. I didn't really buy anything, mainly just window shopping, but it was fun and relaxing. I picked up a salad at Rubio's Fresh Grill along with some chips and guacamole so Lisa and I could enjoy that once she got out of her meetings. 

I got back to the hotel in time to take a long walk along the beach with Lisa before she had to head back for her afternoon session of classes and meeting. I headed back to the room and decided I was going to enjoy my salad on the balcony...but I had a friend arrive that unfortunately drove me back to my room. Lesson no. 1, never feed a sea gull.

I'd brought some art books with me and spent a pleasant afternoon just sketching and watching art tutorials on YouTube. That evening they had their award dinner and we enjoyed a nice dinner with a couple of glasses of wine. 

The last day we slept in, took our time getting ready and had a quick complimentary breakfast and headed back home. The drive was uneventful and it was nice to have spent this time with my sister.

There you go Lisa, now you can remember this trip!

Featured on Art Group.......Again!

Do you remember in September I posted that I had been featured on an art group? In case you don't remember, you can see that post by clicking HERE. 

Well lo and behold...I was featured again!

I'm so thrilled about it!

Never, ever in my life was I ever really interested in Art. All I ever wanted to do was be a writer and write "stuff". I loved my English and Journalism classes. 

But you know what they say; it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. I'm not saying I'm old...just older!

I'm loving this Art Journey I'm on!

I'm loving this Facebook group that I'm in, Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and more. I'm loving that other people are loving my art as well.

Nina gives us a weekly prompt. This week she wanted us to get involved in doing at least one piece of art for Inktober.  

Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day for an entire month. We decided to do just one ink drawing for the month of October.

To make it more interesting, Nina published this YouTube video using a special pen known as the ELEGANT WRITER PEN BY SPEEDBALL. 



The cool thing about the Elegant Writer is that when you draw with it it's just black ink...the magic comes when you activate the ink with water.

I think Nina did a much better job with the water than I did because I was not able to get the beautiful pinks that she got, but I had fun make it regardless. Here's the piece I submitted, done on watercolor paper.

See, more just different shades of green. I may give the Elegant Writer another try to see if I can coax pinks out of the ink this time.

But the group liked it enough that it was the featured art piece for this week! I think that's a pretty cool honor for someone that could never even draw a straight line!

Memory of Going to Work with my Dad and Penny Candy

I just saw a post on Facebook that reminded me of my dad, here's the post...

When I was little we lived on the outskirts of a teeny-tiny little town by the name of Harquhala, Arizona. My dad worked as a ranch foreman for a company there and sometimes he would take me to work with him.

My dad in his Romaine lettuce fields

I loved going to work with my dad! Just being with him and having him give me little jobs to do made me feel so grown up and loved. 

One of the best things I liked is that all his workers knew me and every time they saw me they would give me money. Not a lot of money, a nickel here, a dime there, maybe a quarter once in a while...but by the end of the day I felt like Rockefeller (I'm sure at that time I didn't even know who that was).

Sometimes in a day I would have a whole dollar or more in change. My dad would take me to the only store in this little town. It was probably called Harquahala Market, I don't really remember. What I do remember is that they had penny candy at that time. PENNY CANDY! Rows and rows of penny candy and with a dollar in change I could get 100 pieces of candy! 100 PIECES!

I was in hog heaven! I would fill up a little brown paper bag with all the goodies. It was a great time and a great memory of a day spent with my dad. I sure miss him!

Love you dad!

Why I'm Washing my Tassels in the Ladies Room

My mom…ya gotta love her!

See, I have this blouse that has these two string ties on the front with little string tassels attached. Something very similar to this blouse.

So last week I wore the blouse to work with some black slacks and somehow, I ended up with one of the tassels in my coffee! I pulled it out right away and blotted it with a paper towel until it was almost dry, but all day long I had the scent of coffee literally right under my nose. By the end of the day I was sick of the scent of coffee!

So, I put the blouse in my hamper and my mom will grab the stuff in my hamper when she does her own laundry so that she doesn’t waste water and detergent and because she’s a good mom and doesn’t want me to have to bother doing my own laundry. It’s a win-win for me and for the environment! 

She takes great care with my clothes and she didn’t want the tassels to get all messed up so before placing them in the washer, she put both tassels into a small plastic sandwich bag and tied it up firmly with rubber bands.

A few days ago, I noticed the blouse was back in my closet and I saw the plastic sandwich bag on it, but didn’t give it another thought because weird things like that just happen in my house and it didn’t seem unusual. 

This morning I decided to wear the blouse, took off the plastic bag and instantly smelled the coffee smell and realized that the tassels had not been washed. I decided to go ahead and wear it cause I’m lazy and did not want to change. But all morning, along with the coffee, I’ve been smelling mildew and now I realize that a bit of water did get into the sandwich bag. Not enough to wash the tassels but enough to mildew them.

I’m off to the ladies’ room to wash my tassels in the bathroom sink…. I never thought I would be saying those words at this point in my life! 

Ya gotta love my mom!