dianaschnuth

The short version: Driving from Toledo to Columbus was snowy / windy / rainy (in that order). The class was moderately helpful to my job, and was more of a foundation for what I’ll be learning in later classes. The highlight of the trip, however, was visiting with friends every evening.

The more detailed version follows…
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Yesterday morning, I headed up to Michigan to hang out with Sheryl for the day. We had a great time shopping, eating, hanging out, and talking girl talk.

At my request, our first shopping stop was the Clinique counter at Macy’s. I really don’t know much about choosing cosmetics for myself, and I figured I deserved to treat myself to some nice makeup for once. The nice Clinique lady — Jill from Jersey — matched me up with a foundation color and put it on for me, then selected some powder and blush for a natural look. I already had eye shadow and lipstick at home, but I did let her sucker me into buying some brushes and some foaming face cleanser. I was splurging anyway, so what the hell.

The final total was an embarrassingly, staggeringly high amount for anyone to spend on makeup in one shot. But I now have oil-free foundation, powder, blush, three brushes, face cleanser, and some moisturizer samples.

As a side note, I put on all of my makeup when I got up this morning, just to see how long it would take me. Total time: 25 minutes. This is a major change from the two minutes it usually takes me to line my eyes and run out the door. I’m doubt I’ll be putting on my entire face every day for work; I’m sure I’ll get quicker at it as time goes on, though.

Our next stop was lunch at Baja Fresh. It’s a Mexican fast-food place that apparently has no franchises in the Toledo area. According to their website, there are a bunch in the Detroit and Columbus areas, but none in Toledo. Anyway, I got a steak quesadilla with peppers and onions, and it was quite yummy. Like Sheryl said while we were there: it wasn’t the nicest place we could have gone to eat, but after spending so much money already, cheaper was better.

After lunch, we headed off to Canton to shop at IKEA. We both went in with an agenda: Sheryl needed a file cabinet. I wanted to get kitchen organization stuff (as mentioned earlier), a Billy bookcase to replace the plastic shelving unit in the basement, and a couple of Japanese-inspired lamps for the bedroom. In addition to those things, I ended up getting a Lack endtable to use as my meditation altar.

All in all, I spent only $20 more on my IKEA haul than I did on my Clinique purchases.

Sheryl and I managed to Tetris everything into her SUV, although we were doubtful whether the bookcase would fit in the Kia for my trip home. Surprisingly enough, when we got back to her place and put down the back seats in the Kia, the bookshelf fit perfectly. Granted, we had to put the front seat all the way forward, too, but it worked!

After IKEA, we decided that we’d spent enough money for one day, so we hung out at her place and watched Princess Mononoke and snacked on some Sun Chips. Then we went to dinner at Claddagh; I ordered fish and chips, and she ordered shepherd’s pie, and we split our entrees between the two of us. I should totally do that more often.

After dinner, Sheryl and I swung past Best Buy and met up with Santa so he could give me one of Aaron’s Christmas gifts. Then it was time to go.

Once I got home, around 9pm, Mark and Rocky were here, playing Killer Bunnies with Aaron. They started their game over so I could join in (after Mark helped me bring in my loot from the car). So, the fun social day continued with a game of Killer Bunnies, then a game of Apples to Apples.

It’s not so much the shopping that I like about my Sheryl trips, although that is a big part of it. I really like just hanging out and talking and feeling comfortable and just being with Sheryl. Sometimes I forget how awesome it is to have girlfriends.

The only thing that’s weird is that I sometimes feel self-conscious about my weight when I’m with Sheryl. She’s lost a lot of weight and gotten a lot more fit over the years, and even though I lost fifty pounds myself (though I keep regaining and relosing that last ten), I’m still very aware of the fact that I’m teetering on obese, BMI-wise. I guess it’s just the fact that the Sheryl in my head is the post-Atkins Sheryl, and when I’m reminded that the current Sheryl is actually the post-everything Sheryl, I’m all, ‘Wow. She looks good.’ Which inadvertently reminds me that I don’t? I don’t know exactly what my brain’s doing, but I wish it would stop.

Again, I digress. I had an AWESOME day with my Sheryls, and I look forward to doing it again soon. Yay for girlfriends!