I skipped town yesterday. I crossed state lines like the bandit that I am.
All of Friday went something like this:
Calvin: I'm going to play with Chris ALL DAY on Saturday!
Me: I'm going to play with Kristin and Timi.
Calvin: Awwww! No! I want you to just stay here.
Me: But I thought you were planning to play with Chris all day?
Calvin: I am.
Me: Well, Mommy gets to play with her friends sometimes, too.
Ruby: No. Mommies don't play.
Oh really, Ruby? Well, this felafel sandwich begs to differ. As does Dr. P.
Have you ever been to Saugatuck or Douglas, Michigan? Put down your computer and go there. It's gorgeous and quaint and vibrant and coastal. Here are some observations/musings:
I really like these large, purple alliums. Alliae?
Well, I like them. Their spherical nature speaks to my heart. They offset the stripes of my soul.
Sometimes when we are driving, Silas will randomly yell, "Piggy Punch!" He has no idea what it means. He only knows that the cool kids yell it in the van. I always ask him what color it is. It is always, always green.
Furthermore, just as I was taking this photo, a black SUV almost backed into a lady in the cross walk. Homegirl went all kinds of maniacal. She ended her tirade with, "Why don't you get a DRIVER'S LICENSE!" It was really quite a scene. A good 20 seconds in length, which is an eternity in the world of Being Screamed at Publicly by A Woman in Capri Pants.
I wanted to intervene, like the time my sister and I were sitting at a red light and a man on a bike started screaming at another driver and I felt compelled to scream back at him, "Be Nice! Be Nice! Be NICE!"
Admitedly, I started getting nervous just as the light turned blessedly green. He had a flinty look in his eyes.
I don't know what came over me. All I'm asking is, Be nice, people.
That's right. I was at tilapia tacos with pico and purple cabbage on the patio. I was at Michigan berry cobbler, split three ways.
Dinner could have only been more perfect if I had passed on the chilled gazpacho. But now I know. I don't dig it. It's salsa eaten with a spoon. It's salsa without its Santita. It's just. not. right.
We bunked down at The Pines Motor Lodge. It had quaintness coming out it's floorboards. I didn't accidentally cuddle Timi during the night. Unless I did and she was too embarrassed to tell me. Did I?
Behold: Pretty Ladies.
Pretty Ladies who like rusty junk.
I wanted to bring home eight new sets of old hotel dishes.
I threatened to break up with the Ladies if they didn't buy something. And they didn't buy something.
I'm thinking they took an out where they found one.
For spite, I refused to break up.
And the yellow office chairs. And ten or twelve cabinets. And the 15-layer vintage school map.
It broke my heart to leave this behind at Anderson's Schoolhouse Gallery. $29. I tried to foist it upon Kristin and Timi but they would not be moved.
Two days of fantastic junk and I came home with the following:
8 old faucet handle thingies. You know, the roundish things. 7 black. 1 green.
3 greeting cards.
1 book to be given as a gift.
1 biscuit cutter.
1 box of tablets that you drop in water to make faux grape "pop".
I also found a back-issue of House Beautiful with a gorgeous cover along with the text, "Living Large in Small Spaces." I couldn't find a price, but I knew it wouldn't be much.
Then the guy refused to sell it to me because it didn't have a price on it. He didn't want to upset the owner of the booth, who had an entire box of back-issues and didn't price a single one. Let me repeat, he wouldn't sell it to me.
Sweeping into the scene as if an angel, a wise woman appeared and said, "Sell it to her. Two dollars."
I'd like to raise a toast to Common Sense!
{clink}
The drive home was flower-laden and circuitous.
I understand that we can't always skip town for the night. But if you have the opportunity to high-tail it? Promise me that you will. Even if it's not usually your thing. Even if the thought of it makes you nervous. Even if you're the new girl. Even if you have to mostly just window shop. Even if your kids beg you to stay.
Talk to some ladies and eat chick food. Or maybe you're a burger kind of girl, and that's allowed, too. Gab into the night even thought one of the ladies took a unisom and is trying to sleep. Eat an ice cream cone. Shoot the breeze. Live it up.
Then come home and see all over again why home is your very favorite place on earth.
I so need a day like this to get lost in the beauty of everything around.
ReplyDeleteTwo weeks from tonight I will be pulling in my driveway from my weekend away with my girlfriends. Lots of fun, good food and the best junk on the planet. It's time again for our FARM CHICKS ROADTRIP! Yipppeeee! Can.not.wait!
ReplyDeleteI love it so much : ) Piggy Punch! That is the best!
ReplyDeletewell i'd skip town if it was to go junk hunting with you! the california license plate on the piggy punch speaks to my heart. oh, and your toes have mine beat... i use a shade called Nothing.
ReplyDeleteI need a day/days like this. For now, I will take livin' it up how I can get it... my young adult friends dropping by with vanilla Dr. Pepper to chat with me after wearing my kiddos out before bedtime.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so perfect to me...
DeleteBasically I love it alllll...except your nonexistent nail polish. Promise me a color explosion because winter is OVER yo.
ReplyDeleteThat whole thing you did there with Dr P and gorgeous photos and cute kid convos?
Happy sauce. Spread thickly.
Go black on the toes. It's the new Clean Machine, only it's not: it's better.
DeletePlease tell me you thought of me when you saw the owl. And that it's on the way to my house.
ReplyDeleteI may be so jealous for the following reasons:
a. I wasn't invited.
b. I have a crush on your lunch.
c. I need a night away.
d. Your toes were in the sand.
e. Silas is so darn cute.
Not neccesarily in that order.
xxoo
ah that sounds heavenly and fun :-)
ReplyDeletePromise to high tail it out? For sure, lady! Always. I come back a better mom, wife, and overall, person. How is it possible just one night away does that? I'm not sure, but it does. Always.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us peek at the fun.
oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to high tail it to somewhere with mexican food, good friends and a margarita.
ReplyDeletelove this pictures and your words....always love your words!!
They do that! Infuriating, but that's the "policy"...if it doesn't have a tag they won't sell it. Paranoid is what it is...thinking the worst of everyone. I love rusted stuff. And fish tacos! I should have been there;)
ReplyDeleteI just google-mapped Douglas, MI - 3 hours from my house? i want to go to there.....it sounds glorious!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful weekend! From allium to circuitous routes home, just idyllic. :)
ReplyDeleteI need to do this with some friends soon! Thanks for the inspiration.
You mean to tell me you were practically in my back yard and I didn't know it? And Saturday was a perfectly beautiful day! Don't you just love it there? What a perfect girlfriend get-away destination. Now I know that I'm going to need to bring a trailer the next time I go so that I can bring home that honkin'wooden thing, the yellow office chair, and that creepy owl for Joy.
ReplyDeleteOh girl where to start? Thanks for taking us along with you! The pictures are lush and yummy and your synopsis makes me giggle. It's almost like I got away myself :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I loved the most but I do know I was recently Screamed at Publicly By a Woman in Capri Pants and I did nothing wrong. I'm embarrassed to admit I was a teeny bit shaken and spent the rest of the day lamenting the lack of Nice these days. (I might have tweeted my consternation, don't wanna say.)
Here's hoping your re-entry is smooth and easy...
That motor lodge makes me want to paint my house mint green!!!
ReplyDeleteYou were in my town! I do hope you got some coffee at Uncommon Grounds while you were there. Best coffee there is anywhere as far as I'm concerned. :) Tilapia tacos from Wild Dog?
ReplyDeleteCapri pants lady should have been reminded where she was. Things could be worse....
Just found your awesome blog - so jealous of your junking excursion. I am an adoptive mom of three also - love came in all colors, across an ocean and state lines. =)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
this looks absolutely DREAMY!
ReplyDeletei want to go this weekend. :)
My husband and I took a short honeymoon in Saugatuck/Douglas. We really enjoyed it and the beach was beautiful (it was August).
ReplyDeleteI didn't escape for an overnight, but on Saturday my friend and I left our kids with their dads and headed to Na-Da Farm Barn Sale in Illinois. It was wonderful!
I think time away for moms is so important, even if it's just for a little while. It keeps us in touch with who we are outside of being moms and wives.
Wow!! I really want to take this exact trip. Every pic looked wonderful and I have already Googled The Pines Motorlodge. Love your blog!! And I respect your love for God and want to aspire to have a closer relationship with him as well.
ReplyDeletewill you just fly to Colorado already? you can vintage shop in my garage. i will provide the chips and salsa.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I live in Ohio and have researched Michigan's cute, coastal towns to visit, as it seems that there are many of them. I envy your great trip with your friends. It's like you are in a different world when you get away from the dirty dishes, and sweet, but needy kids...then you go home, and like you said, you remember why it's your favorite place to be. We all need that mix of life to spice it up a bit and make us realize how much we love our homes and families and how lucky we are.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about your getaway weekend. Looks like you had a lovely time. You need to bring your family back to the Lake this summer for a beach day. There is nothing better than a day on Lake Michigan in the summer! (The Saugatuck Dunes State Park is a bit remote - a .6 mile hike to the beach - but is the most beautiful beach ever!) I live about an hour from Douglas and never knew about that cute store. Thanks again for sharing.
ReplyDeleteoh the places you find, I so love going on a little vicarious vacation through your blog. I was a little mad about the picture of the felafel sandwich, darn you that looks good!! and yes gazpacho just isn't good no matter how hard my hubby tries to convince me.
ReplyDeletexo
I've got this list a mile long of MI/IN gems to visit. Added on another. We have so much good packed into this place and I want to take it in. Here we go, summer!
ReplyDeleteTimi and Kristin are so darn pretty! I like them.
DeleteHow fun! Those Alliae look like dandelions for grown ups. Beautiful! And yes, I join in your toast to common sense...cheers to stores that...sell stuff! :)
ReplyDeleteI was there! I lived it with you. Or rather through you. A most intriguing journey right down to the angel entering and declaring her common sense on a $2 magazine. btw, I'll take that owl. How much, plz?
ReplyDeleteA pleasure to meet you.
-debber
It's fun playing blog-roulette :) This one's very interesting, and the fact that you were just south of here led me to leave a comment. Beautiful pictures and interesting, thought-provoking posts. Thanks for sharing!
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