Eating and Shopping and Eating and Shopping. And Eating.

We have done a LOT of those activities. In fact, throw in video games and I have just summarized our entire Christmas experience.

This laptop is currently resting on my very enlarged stomach which is digesting Kari's birthday dinner at P.F.Chang's. Eight of us enjoyed an evening together and according to my very precise calculations we ordered one of everything. In fact, the entire party was clutching our stuffed stomachs at the end of the meal, staring at CLEAN PLATES, at which point we ordered one more round of Oolong Marinated Sea Bass and passed around the platter so we could put the deliciousness directly in our mouths. Because of the problem we have with moderation.

Oh, and then we sped directly home and ate some of the best chocolate birthday cake and Blue Bell ice cream I'd ever dreamed of in the history of double chocolate cakes. I did not even have room for coffee, which is saying something because coffee is a liquid and doesn't need as much space in my stomach as the entire menu of P.F. Chang's and chocolate cake.

And now for the shopping report because my stomach hurts just typing about food.

The day after Christmas was quite the jackpot. Starbucks was our obligatory first-stop and it was maahhvelous. One of our favorite shopping establishments has a huge carousel in the middle along with the Disney store, which is on currently on hiatus in Colorado. Whoo hoo! With the kids entertained, I swarmed the post-Christmas sales like white on rice.

Brad is especially excited that we are well-outfitted for Christmas next year because he thought our home was particularly under-decorated and not festive this year. I find such JOY in ornaments that were formerly $10, marked down to ninety-nine cents. It was such a blessing.

Kirkland's had a HUGE sale at which, among other things, I bought lamps and other large home accessories that will not fold up nicely and fit in our suitcases to go home. But really, it would have been wrong NOT to buy them.

And then there is Sam Moon.

Formerly a seedy, shady, dive on Harry Hines, it's now a proper shopping mecca, with plans to expand all over Dallas. Let me just say up front that I cannot possibly describe the retail transformation it has undergone. It used to be located in an area of stores that offered (among other things) photography, massages, and lingerie. COUGH. COUGH.

Come Saturday morning, the store was absolutely swarming with beautiful Dallas women desperately searching for a nice Coach bag, David Yurman jewelry, and some Louis Vittioun luggage. Factory direct, I believe.

I love a good, cheap handbag straight from China, along with earrings, necklaces, and wallets. At one time, you could purchase a purse, then the store-owners would carefully STICK-ON the designer label on at the register. Now doesn't that sound legitimate and very upscale all at the same time?

As in life, my shopping standards are VERY high.

There was an absolutely perfect purse/bag that I acquired, but it really deserves it's own blog entry, so I will write more another time.

Hopefully, the digestion process will come to a halt within 2 or 3 days, at which time my head will clear considerably and I'll go get some barbeque.