It’s May! Wow, spring is going by fast. It’s nice to pause for a moment on Fridays and look back over God’s blessings from the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, who hosts this beneficial practice.
1. A mall shopping excursion. I have not been to a mall in years. But I had ordered something from a department store online that I wanted to return. I could return it for free at the store or pay a $12.95 flat fee to send it back through the mail. So I went to the store. 🙂 I was afraid they would give me trouble returning it,. because there was nothing wrong with it and it fit fine–it just wasn’t what I thought it was. But they returned it with no problem. Then I went looking around at the multitude of pretty spring dresses. Some of the racks had a sign that said “60% off with coupon.” I heard the sales clerk tell someone else that if they downloaded the store app, they could access the coupon there. So I did that while in the changing room. 🙂 It’s also been years since I tried on clothes in a store, since I buy mine online. I had forgotten how much fun it could be to shop and try on clothes in a mall.
2. Dinner from Sarku. While at the mall, I got chicken teriyaki from Sarku to bring home. Theirs is my favorite, but they only exist in malls, so I don’t get it very often.
3. A Jane Austen-themed Lego set finished this week. I shared about it and some other bookish projects here. (Those who read here regularly, forgive me for mentioning this three time this week. 🙂 Not everyone reads every post.)
4. Timothy’s birthday party with friends. The week of his birthday was a busy one at church and school, so they waited to have his birthday party this week. I think everyone who was invited came. His parents invited us over afterward to eat leftover nachos and cupcakes and hear about it and see pictures.
5. Family time. Jason and Mittu had asked us to watch Timothy on Friday. I had a couple of appointments, but Jim said he’d be happy to watch him. He found that the Oak Ridge science museums were free that day, so they spent the afternoon visiting a couple. They went to Chick-Fil-A, then came back to our house so Timothy could gather his things. I decided to join them to take Tim back home, them we were going to get some fast food for me, since Jim had already eaten. We ended up staying a while at Jason and Mittu’s house, and she put together a nice impromptu light meal. Plus she had some lemon blueberry bread–or cake–I think from Costco she wanted us to try. It was good! I felt bad about missing out on the afternoon with Tim. But I’m glad we had some family time together afterward.
Bonus: My peonies are popping! It had even more blooms, but I had cut some off to put in a vase. This photo reminds me not to cut blooms from the front!
Happy Friday!
Stray Thoughts 
Beautiful peonies!!! Ah, the fun of time at the mall. I think it’s a dying thing. I remember enjoying shopping there during my single days and when the girls were little. I’ve never heard of Sarku? Re. Jane Austen, there’s a lady in my daughter’s dance class and who sometimes goes to our church who makes the most AMAZING JA-era “bonnets,” check them out: https://www.facebook.com/LydiaFastLGStudio
Wishing you a wonderful next week!
Sarku is an Asian fast food place in the mall. Those bonnets are elaborate! Where we used to live in SC, the mall was right around the corner, so we went often. But here it’s 20 or so minutes away. Often it’s too expensive, so I was happy to hear abut the 60%off coupons. With it being past Easter, they were probably wanting ti move out their spring dresses.
I rarely go to a mall either but sometimes venture to Boscov’s which is in the mall in the south part of town and of course the only Apple store in the eastern part of this state is located in our very large mall about 15 min south of our house. So I do go there from time to time. I’m glad you could exchange your dress and try on new ones! I love spring dresses.
How nice your hubby could hang out with your grandson while you went to appts. And it’s nice you could celebrate his birthday together. YUM…I love anything blueberry lemon!
Your peonies are so pretty. My buds are just popped up but not open yet.
Have a wonderful weekend
I’m glad that you enjoyed your time in the mall. I usually shop in smaller local stores and haven’t been inside a mall in quite some time. There is an outdoor mall about 45 minutes from here and I met a friend there a few weeks ago. It was nice to do some shopping and also get a good walk in.
Hi Barbara, I enjoyed reading your post today. Sounds like you had a fun week. I like that Lego book set. I didn’t know they had that. I need to get that for my granddaughter who loves to read and has a few Lego sets. I am glad that your mall experience was good. I have not been there in awhile either but I know JC Penney’s is having a sale that I want to check out. Have a great weekend!
What a lovely week. Yes going to the mall can be a bit intimidating if it’s busy but sounds like it went well for you. Did you buy any dresses? Nice to be able to have family time with Timothy. I like your lego set. I watched the whole series of “The Other Bennet Sister” this week. It’s based on the book by Janet Hadlow which tells the story from Mary’s point of view. I really enjoyed it. It was a BBC production. Have a good weekend.
I did buy a couple of dresses! One is a maxi, which I like ok, but I am thinking of shortening. I like having the air circulating around my legs in the summer. I wanted to see The Other Bennet Sister–I loved the book–but we don’t have the streaming service it’s on. Hopefully we’ll be able to see it at some point.
Your peonies are beautiful! I am still excitedly awaiting for mine to bloom. So in the meantime, I enjoy seeing yours.
I’m not much of a mall shopper either. I hope you were able to find some dressed you liked. And then there was the added benefit of getting the food you enjoy.
It was good that Timothy had that time with his grandpa. At least you got to spend dinner time with him.
Have a good week! Willow
I’ve been meaning to check out the science museum in Oak Ridge. Just never had. Sounds like a great grandfather/grandson afternoon!
I haven’t been to the mall in ages, but I need to go. The mall near me has a new B.J.’s next to it and I’ve considered joining it. I visited one with my daughter this last weekend in Georgia. They are amazing but I don’t know if I’d use it enough to pay for the membership fee.
I love peonies and yours has so many blooms! I, too, rarely go to the mall. Glad you had a fun time trying on dresses and with a good coupon too! How great that the guys were able to go to the museum for free!