5-day vacation

sorry for the lack of updates, people. I've been suffering from the Raging Sore Throat From Hell and Fun Dizzies That Unfortunately Have Nothing To Do with Alcohol since I got back into town and have spent most of my time a) sleeping in and coming into work late, b) spacing out and feeling dizzy at work when I should be working, c) wondering if 4:30 is too early to go home and lay on the couch, d) wishing I had some live-in help that would fan me with palm fronds and go to the grocery store to buy me fresh orange juice.

but! sickness is no excuse, and I must forge ahead with the sharing of my wknd adventures. I left Austin on Thurs for a nice, long FIVE-DAY WKND, which, now that I'm back, was exactly what the doctor ordered. we didn't do much on Thurs, and on Friday I slept in and bummed around the house with my mom... but then we went shopping and I had the Best Retail Experience Ever (theme of the post = Excessive Use Of Capitals), which I absolutely MUST tell you about.

Official Tangent to Tell My Story About the Best Retail Experience Ever
setting: Montgomery Mall

so I dutifully followed my mom and my aunt into Ann Taylor, despite the fact that I haven't bought anything at AT in probably a year and a half. they immediately begin attacking the sales racks, and I wander aimlessly around the store while I wait for them. and that's when I saw it. The Best Work Bag Ever (again with the CAPS). I had been looking for a good work bag that I could take on biz trips for a looooong time now (ever since I bought a cheap one from Target that broke during a trip to Munich due to the ridiculous weight of my ginormous laptop), and I was officially staring at the Mother of all work bags. it was large. it had small pockets on the outside for boarding passes. there was a space for my cell phone and another for my blackberry. there were zip compartments, and separate compartements for work documents. it was black, leather, had sturdy straps and was stylish enough so I wouldn't look like a moron taking it to meetings.

the price tag said $168, which was a bit steep but I decided it was completely worth it, because hello. Best Work Bag Ever. I decided to suck it up and pay the price and headed over to the cash register. while I was walking over there, I was suddenly hit with the remembrance that OMG! I have an old Ann Taylor merchandise credit in my wallet that's been sitting there for years. I pulled it out, asked the cashier to check the balance, thinking it'd save me 20, 25 bucks at most -- and then she informed me that I had a credit of $108. SCORE! so I happily handed her the bag, and as soon as she rung it up, she told me that it was on sale for $99.99. WHAT?! I love you! and THEN she took off another 15% for a tiny scratch that I had discovered in the corner that will probably come off with some good leather conditioner.

summary: I found the best bag ever, it was marked as $168 and I only paid $85 (and used up a credit that I had left in my wallet for years).

SIGH.

[thus ends the long-winded tangent]

now that the tangent has ended, I'm pretty sick of this post, as are you. heh. sorry. I will tell more wknd stories at another time, but the short version is that I hung out with old buddies, spent lots of time with family, attended two very lovely weddings and came back to Austin happy, well-rested, and sick.