Skip to main content

No Clever Title

This week I had my annual performance assessment with the federal contractor I do most of my work for. It went well and I received a small increase in my compensation.

I finally caved and went shopping at Dress Barn. I have avoided the place for eons, despite the fact that the answer to the question I've posed many of my well dressed friends ("Where did you find that beautiful dress?") is often "Dress Barn". It's all about the name. Why would I shop in a venue that infers all of its clients are barnyard animals? Regardless, I saw yet another stranger beautifully attired in Dress Barn apparel so I felt I owed it to myself to take a look at what they have to offer.

I fell in love instantly. Dresses - beautiful dresses- as far as the eye can see. I picked up 6 on sale for 60% off. A parade of dresses. My dream is to have so many dresses that I never have to wear pants ever again and this store may actually make that possible. My purchase was limited only by my budget and not at all by their selection. So many dresses that fit and looked fantastic.

To me, dresses are the epitome of femininity. The sashay of the material, the softness, the grace and beauty of it all. I pity men at times - their gender roles are much more rigid. To be female is to enjoy mucking it up in grungy cargo pants when the mood strikes but also to present oneself with grace and sophistication in the loveliest of satin and silk fabrics.

Life is good. I am looking forward to my birthday and putting together an indulgent "me" day complete with a spa visit, shopping, dining at my favorite cafes, and a toga party to cap the entire day off.

In stock market news, CBI is continuing to perform well. Abbott labs is down $50 since I bought it last week on the news that a major competitor won a patent infringement lawsuit against them. Ugh. Hopefully the price will bounce back and climb higher during the year. Today I purchased shares of Glaxo Smith

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Board Game Review: Hues and Cues

Last week we received Hues and Cues from The Op Games. We recently finished playing through Scooby-Doo Escape from the Haunted Mansion (a fantastic game in The Op Games catalogue designed by Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim, and Kami Mandell that you should absolutely pick up to play with your family) and wanted to give another game from the same publisher a go. I picked Hues and Cues because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other “test whether our minds think the same way” games such as The Mind   and Wavelength. In Hues and Cues , players gather around a large central board comprised of 480 graduating colors of the rainbow surrounded by an x-y axis and scoring table. White and black (which are technically not colors) are conspicuously absent as are shades (mixtures of color + black; e.g., grey) and tints (mixtures of color + white; e.g., cream).  On each player’s turn, they draw a card with four colors and the x-y axis codes of those colors depicted and they select one. They are in the

Board Game Review: Obsessed with Obsession

I'm completely obsessed with Obsession! I received a review copy of the updated second edition along with all the expansions (Wessex, Useful Man, Upstairs Downstairs) and from the moment I took everything out of the boxes, my excitement was over the top. Actually, that's not even the half of it - I remember I was already quite excited before the game even arrived. I'd wanted to get my hands on a copy as soon as I learned there was a game that brought the lifestyle that we all fell in love with watching Downton Abbey to the gaming table. Back in 2021, I was having a great time at the Dice Tower Summer Retreat and a new friend Bonnie sang the praises of Obsession. She had seen me eyeing the box on the shelf and gave me a summary of the game mechanics as she owned the first edition. She explained that the theme is centered on running an estate in Derbyshire and competing against others to have the best home, reputation, gentry guests, etc. Based on her enthusiasm and descripti

Board Game Review: Anno 1800

Whenever Martin Wallace designs a new game, I am all over it. This is because I absolutely love Brass Birmingham (another MW designed game); in fact Brass Birmingham is my #1 board game of all time. Over the years, his other games I've tried have been pretty good, but not necessarily amazing must-buys. Still, I keep trying each new release of his, searching for that next star performer. That's why I'm excited to report that Anno 1800 is, in fact, a star performer, and an amazing must-buy board game. Anno 1800 was adapted by the publisher (Kosmos) from a Ubisoft video game of the same name. In the board game, players take on the role of industrialists, charged with developing their island economies and exploring other islands. Each player begins the game with a personal industry board with trade & exploration ships, a shipyard, and industrial goods tiles printed on the board. A starting collection of workers (wooden cubes) of various types to produce the goods is a