A good afternoon of shopping

We decided that we need a new piece of luggage for the upcoming trip. One old piece is too big to take on the plane without paying an oversize fee, so we're not using that one. Another piece won't hold what we need. So we went shopping.

Macy's was our first stop, since they have a great luggage selection and often run sales. Sure enough, they had the type we wanted (Atlantic Luggage's 29" "Suiter"--the smaller 21" version can be seen here). It has a thick 1600+ Denier outer skin and is expandable. We got it at a very good price, since it was 50% off list price (which, of course, no one ever pays), and then 10% off for using my Macy's card and another 10% for taking one of the ones that was on display--which was fine, since it was spotless.

After Macy's, we went to Petco for dog food, since the kids are running low. Then we went to Barnes & Noble, where I spent gift cards I'd gotten for my birthday, as well as buying a bunch more than the cards covered--this is what happens when I'm let loose in a bookstore.

After Barnes & Noble, we went to the south shore to visit a nursery Marc likes. Aside from their usually having good plants in stock, Marc called ahead and found that they had the type of peach tree he wanted (from the grower he wanted--my other half knows his stuff!).

With all of that done, we started to head home. By then, it was about 7pm. Around that time, my cell phone rang. I was driving, so Marc answered it. It was a friend of ours.

We'd completely forgotten a plan to meet five friends of ours for dinner at 6:30. Oops! They'd gotten drinks and appetizers and were wondering where we were. We don't usually run late. It's a good thing they called, or we'd have forgotten until it was too late.

So we headed over to the restaurant. It wasn't too long of a drive, and they hadn't finished appetizers by the time we got there. We had a great time, despite the delay, and then we headed home.

Here, in the rain, we unloaded the day's acquisitions. We each took some of the flats of impatiens out of the truck. Marc put the peach tree on the outside patio area behind the garage, and then I went and lifted it out of the box it was sitting in, so the box wouldn't be out in the rain (it's in a pot--the box was just to keep dirt from getting loose in the truck).

I brought in the books and the luggage, and now we're relaxing. I'm in Mandy's chair (well, she thinks it's her chair), and it's nice to be home.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!