AM~Erica Goes Retro for Date Day

So anyway...

This week came to the delight of many parents & to the disappointment of most school-aged kiddos in most of the U.S.

This week marked the start of a brand new school year!!

*LOUD APPLAUSE*

*GLITTER CONFETTI CANNON*

As we are trying to settle back in the "regularly scheduled programming", this was also getting my hubby & I back on track to getting our Fridays back. While the kiddos are at school, my hubby (who has most Fridays off) and I use Fridays to keep kindling our marriage that usually included our weekly grocery shopping. Oh, the life of PRINCE CHARMING & HIS PRINCESS!

          Have you ever tried to do your grocery shopping with the kiddos? It's stressful & takes at least double the time. 
     Anyhoo...

Right now I'm in the midst of possibly getting the chance to dress up hardcore vintage/retro & maybe be an over-the-top-type character! Exciting, amm-i-rite?

          What? Why are you not acting shocked by this? *shrugs*

     Anyhoo...

I've been trying to pull the look a little more often to try it out...you know..."just in case". So I did it yesterday for hubby's & my 1st date day in the new school year.

So...my outfit was pretty close to this. Only with slightly different headwear,

 jewelry,

& footwear.

That whole sheer socks with pumps thing. It's weird, but I'm figuring it out...

Put it all together & then you get the is the gist.

My hubby looked a bit more casual...so he changed to a button up shirt to try to appear comparable. *snort*

While we were out grocery shopping, a little old man flagged me down to ask for some help getting some milk off the top shelf for him. He was probably in his 80's & was housing his oxygen tank in his grocery cart, so I was happy to be helpful to get his half gallon of skim milk for him. He was so funny telling me about how his wife, of 40 years, would tell him he was the most trying person she knew. He was a funny little man. And I carried on with the shopping...

Then, as I headed down the cereal aisle, I was flagged down by another little old man, probably in his 80's. Here was the conversation:

*~*~*

"Pardon me..."

"Yes?" 
*right here, I can't believe another little old man has flagged me down*

*he removes his baseball cap & places it to his heart*
"You are mighty charming today in your getup: your hair & lovely dress, with your socks & shoes. Just lovely."

"Why thank you so much, sir!"

"Oh no, my dear. Thank you."


           Awwwwwww...!!

*~*~*

When my hubby & I went to IHOP for breakfast, our favorite manager made sure that she sat us. She had on an amazing Chiefs shirt! We always compliment her on how she looks. We watched her, kind of from afar, for quite some time while she was losing weight & making herself over. Finally, when we connected with her, she knew who we were & we confessed to us watching her making herself over. So we do make sure to compliment her often when we go in..which is obviously often enough that she figured out who were are. So as I commented about how much I loved her shirt (since she was obviously wearing it from the first home game of the preseason), she gushed over my retro-inspired outfit...in which did include red for the Chiefs game.

As we sat there, I noticed a couple of little old ladies sitting together in a booth. They were so adorable! After a while I began to notice them looking around the restaurant & people watching, much of what I enjoy doing, and I could read the lips of one of the little dears, as I could feel their eyes fixed upon our booth:

"I really love her hair. It's so pretty."

As I have been on Pinterest lately, I have seen several (including myself) posting pictures of 50's housewives & dresses. I do see a lot of taglines to them with the laments along the lines of, "If only we still dressed like this."

Why not begin this revolution? I have seen some begin to. I've done a little & don't mind picking it up more.

The older generation definitely laments the Pinterest sentiments, too. It appeared glamorous & simple all at the same time.

My hubby loves the look, too. He likes that traditional look. It's modest with sex-appeal. Because it can happen! You can look great without EVERYTHING hanging out, yo!

So my hubby was just fine with my look. And would have no issue with me sporting it nearly everyday! hehe

But we know that if this were to happen when I head out with my hubby...it might look like this:

Modern-day Lucy & Ricky...amm-i-rite?

Oh yeah...looking forward to our Fridays kicking back up!

By the way...my hubby did say that if he really did speak Spanish (more specifically, the Cuban dialect), then we really would be like Lucy & Ricky! hehe

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Got Jinxed

So anyway...

Here I've been working so hard to TRY TO STAY WELL, but ended up with a little bit of YUCKY STUFF THAT TOOK OVER anyway. But I was feeling better, just a bit rundown. Mostly.

After discussing this very thing with my hubby on the phone Thursday, we talked about how good I feel, but just do an activity or 2 & then I'm completely rundown.

Now then...when I get a cold, it usually hangs on for 3-6 weeks. No matter what I do (meds, soups, rest, drinking more, ANYTHING). So since I was trying to stay on top of everything, I wondered if I usually got rundown with a cold & just never really knew it. Because I get M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E! From not seeing straight, to blowing my nose until it probably looks like Voldy's, coughing up a lung & then the other...hardcore, to full head....it's awful! So being rundown might be in there, but I'm pretty consumed by everything else to notice. Amm-i-rite? Maybe?

So, in the last couple of weeks, I have been hitting immunity fighting big time! All while getting extra rest if needed.

Now then...Friday is my day off from social media. Many of you know that. It's my hubby's day off, too (from work, so he works in the social media break, too). Friday is OUR day! We usually do our grocery shopping, but usually try to go grab breakfast or lunch...and it's our date day while the kiddos are at school...

Now, a couple of years ago, I got hit with a yucky thing...dizziness! And...it was on a Friday! It was horrible! But hubby took such good care of me. He even went to the store by himself. And he took me to Urgent Care. I could not move. Well...I could...just not in a straight line & being nauseous from it. Turned out to be some crazy ear infection. Yeah...weird things usually like to attach themselves to me.

After having OUR HOUSE TAKEN OVER for a while...our Fridays were very difficult. We worked stuff in...but it wasn't the same. However...we finally fully got our Friday's back about 3 weeks ago! WoooOOOOOooooooo!!!! (that's me doing the wave)

And since we finally got our Friday's fully back, we haven't been able to do a whole lot. *sigh*

Since I've been fighting this weird junky-junk, it kicked in hard last Friday. Figures. So...I slept a lot. We didn't even make it to the store. I had to muster up energy (which I haven't had a lot of) to piece together a few smaller trips thru the week. Not fun. When I took my daughter to her 2nd PLAYWRIGHT ROUNDTABLE, it's done at the famous Crown Center. Did I walk around & shop? Nope. Did I sit & have something to drink? Nope. I went to my car in the car garage...and slept. I slept at Crown Center for an hour & a half. Yeah...it was that bad.

So, back to Thursday's convo with the hubby. He talked about how good I sounded & I brought up I felt pretty good until a did an activity or 2...and then it wiped me out. But it was the longest I felt good...
I paused & told him that I'd hoped I didn't jinx myself...
Enter Thursday night: my glands began to swell. Are you kidding me? Ugh! They were so sore & tender. I was hoping I'd just sleep it off & be better in the morning (after some vitamin C & cough drop, of course).

When I tried to get around on Friday...oh, it was U-G-L-Y! I was totally rundown & my throat glands were so swollen. *sigh*

For the 2nd Friday in a row, I was down-&-out for the count. We got to the store, but a different location...and I was not hungry. I couldn't even get groceries in the trunk without banging my head on it. Hubby just told me I needed to be done & get in the car...I wasn't even allowed to take the groceries in.

We put the cold stuffs away...and then he made me go to bed. I had already taken an hour & a half nap that morning after the kiddos left. We had to work in a quick meeting that we HAD to do...then got home & went back to bed just before 3:30. Ummm...I slept until 9:45! I got something to drink, but wasn't with it...and went back to bed.

I slept thru the night, even. I forced myself to get up this morning so I could get ready for LIL GUY'S BASKETBALL GAME since I have to take him. I'm not dead...so I'm not missing it. But, I will be going to Urgent Care to see what the deal is. I'm still swollen. I still have no appetite. I'm still rundown. This can't be good.

Not even MY HEALING SOUPS helped!

So...let's see how this goes...and I hope to find some energy to update you all. OK?

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Apparently Appears OK Thru Mediocrity

So anyway...

It's Friday. The day of the week my hubby & I get to spend the day together. Usually it involves going to the grocery store without the kids & either breakfast or lunch out. Sometimes other things we want or need to do...but that's pretty much the major gist of the day. We are an exciting couple!

Today was no different. Except we were out of milk, so cereal, oatmeal, coffee...you know, the "breakfast essentials" were a little weird to deal with. After getting the kids out the door to school, and we were having issues piecing breakfast together, my hubby offered up that we go to breakfast. Here was the deal: he had a chance to get showered & get ready; I had not. He thought I should just throw on a hat & we should go.

Well, since I had gotten the kids up, fed them, fixed them lunches, made sure they were fed, dressed & out the door in time...I obviously had not had the time to get cleaned up. As a matter of fact, I was in some baggy sweats. Nice, huh? But he was hungry, the breakfast thing at home was NOT working, so he figured we could make a short jaunt to a place we haven't had breakfast at. We go to places like Bob Evan's, IHOP, Cracker Barrel...places like that. Not today. My hubby said it didn't matter what we looked like (even though he was READY) since we were going to a different fine dining establishment...

Wendy's. They have these artisan breakfast sandwiches that my hubby has bragged about having before, he wanted to eat NOW, so...OK. I did go & put on something a little more decent than sweats since he looked decent; this included jeans, t-shirt, cardi, boots with leg warmers (it was chilly this morning), topped off with a woven beret that I added a flower too (of course) & a scarf. I put on some deodorant & a spritz of body spray (you're welcome, to all those who were standing near me) & sported my day-old makeup. Yes, I was exhausted last night after celebrating 16 years of wedded bliss, so I did not remove my makeup before crashing hard. So there. I'm pretty sure, even with a slight upgrade in attire, I was some kind of sight to behold. But, whatever...we were just going to a fast food place.

We got there & there were only a few old men gathered there along with an older woman in front of us who had just placed her order. When our order was taken, my hubby & I gave our preferences...which included coffee. I know, you're shocked. HA! While we waited, I found a spot for us to sit & hubby waited for our order to come up. As I got up to get napkins & thought I overheard the employee who took our order say this to my hubby, "blah-blah-blah- young lady - blah-blah?" I wasn't sure if it was said to my hubby or not. But when he came to the table with the order with the coffee, I realized she brought up to him that she forgot to ask the "young lady" how many creamers for the coffee. Whoa! She was referring to me!! I decided she's my new best friend. But I never got her name. But she's now a true-true friend.

Then we saw the most adorable little old lady come in & sit down close to us. On a dreary, chilly morning, she walked in wearing a coat & a straw hat while sporting a cane, red lips & sunshine on her face with a big smile. While we ate, she flagged me down & complimented my hat. Awww...cute little old lady is my other new best friend! No, I didn't get her name either...but she was a day-maker...wishing us well & warmth through the rest of the day as we left. So Adorable!! I was actually feeling pretty good for feeling a bit day-old stale. But we got our stuff together & headed to the store. No, I still hadn't cleaned up. Yes, I was still unshowered & in day-old makeup. Still a sight to behold.

We got to the store, shopped & headed for the checkout lane. Hubby tracked down our cashier...the one we try REALLY hard to get to, no matter how long her line is, and her line was completely open & waiting for us! Woo Hoo! I think she had a manager type person standing behind her & we all got into a conversation about our past week. We told her that we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary yesterday & she congratulated us. The manager & the cashier pointed out that I didn't look old enough to be married that long! Woo Hoo! They said the same for my hubby, too. But that was crazy-awesome!

Even being a day-old stale, day-old makeup, unshowered...I was being told that I looked "young". Apparently the mediocrity of self-staleness worked to my favor today. But take heart in knowing that will not be the norm. I have gotten cleaned up by now. But it was pretty entertaining.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica