you're everything i need and more, it's written all over your face

So my blog last night did not tell the whole story. After I blogged at midnight, I made the mistake of picking up my Kindle -- and the next thing I knew, it was six a.m., the birds were singing, and the sky was ominously bright. Perhaps it seemed ominously bright because I was reading a book about vampires (you know you have a problem when you stay up all night reading about creatures who don't exist...although in my defense (questionable defense at best), I never really got into "Twilight" because I prefer my vampires darker and more complicated. Sparkling in the sunlight instead of igniting in it, endlessly going through a cycle of high school/college attendance rather than doing some truly fun and crazy shit with your immortality, and insisting on having a virgin bride does not count as complicated.

I shall stop talking about vampires before I scare off the non-vampire-lovers amongst you (although your numbers are lower than you might think, if I have a good pulse on my friends' tastes). Because of my stupidity, I only slept four hours last 'night', from six to ten a.m. Then, I dragged myself out of bed, attempted to make myself presentable, and then sped out of my apartment to make it up to the city in time for a noon appointment. On the way, I talked to my parents, who were in fine form despite me calling them about six hours earlier than I usually do, and it certainly helped me to stay awake for the drive.

My appointment was at Nordstrom; I am apparently such a valued shopper (code for I have a problem) that two different saleswomen called me over the last week to see if I wanted to make an appointment with them to preview the anniversary sale items before they go on sale this Friday. Previewing the sale was rather strange -- basically, she took me to this little room on the top floor, where I was able to browse around a weird hodgepodge of racks with a few other previewers. If I saw something that I wanted, she wrote it down, and I'll be able to pick everything up next weekend after the sale has started.

The anniversary sale deals were fabulous; I was in the market for some new unmentionables, and the ones in the sale were gorgeous and 30-40% off. And the items on sale aren't those sad, unloved end-of-season remnants; this the fall collection, and they put it on sale for two weeks before the price actually goes up (rather than down, like most stores). I generally stuck to my plan, focusing on unmentionables, although I did have a lapse and preordered a purse (in my defense, it was a gorgeous saddle color that doesn't resemble any other bag I have, and was 40% off). But, I successfully put down the Pucci sunglasses and walked away from them, so I was proud of myself.

However, it all took a bit longer than I anticipated, since I had to try on the unmentionables (I'm trying to see how many times I can use "unmentionables" in the same blog post), and the saleswoman had to write down all the product numbers rather than getting any sort of automated scanner like they have with wedding registries. By the time I left Nordstrom, it was two p.m. and I was absolutely starving. So, I went to Samovar, where I had the usual (salmon quiche, fruit, scone, masala chai). The staff seemed happy to see me, and the waitress remembered my usual order even though I hadn't been in for two months. I stocked up on tins of masala chai and their perfect English Breakfast looseleaf blend, since it will likely be awhile before I go again; I've been getting back into drinking looseleaf rather than bagged tea, so stocking up was critical.

The day slowly declined after that; I should have gone to Chris's birthday party, but by the time I got home, I was so exhausted that I bailed and took a nap instead. Then, I spent the evening cleaning out my fridge, cleaning off my desk (it looks really lovely now!), taking care of some work stuff, and doing a variety of other random things. And now, I really should go to bed; I can't stay up until six a.m. if I intend to get up then to write, so goodnight!