This is what happens when you leave Nina and I alone for an afternoon

On most Sunday afternoons, our little group of friends (and it keeps continuing to shrink) go out to lunch after Sunday morning service, go have coffee, then go to evening service. Sometimes after evening service, we'd gather at Nina's house. We haven't done the latter very much lately. Our group ranged from 5 - 7 girls, now we're down to 5-6 girls ... and during the summer it'll range from 1 - 4, maybe 5 once Camp Meeting is over. Can you guess who the lone one will be for a Sunday or two? No big deal. I have plans for at least one of those Sundays. Maybe. Not sure yet.

Today, it was going to be Angelina, Nina, and me again. It was just the three of us last Sunday and we went to Corner Bakery, KMart, Coffee Bean, Dollar Bookstore. Christianne went home and Heidi went out with Caleb. Today, it was going to be the three of us because Christianne's graduation was this afternoon. Congratulations to Christianne!!! Then Angelina couldn't come because her family was celebrating her little brother's birthday. So, it was just me and Nina. We had already invited our pastor and his wife to lunch and so we included Nina's family so we wouldn't be so small a group.

The first choice was Olive Garden, which Nina isn't fond of. Our second choice was Fortune Inn. I love going to Fortune Inn. They have one of the best Orange Chicken dishes. We don't go very often. In fact, the last time I went was around Christmas/New Year's with the pastor's family, his nephew, and Angelina. Sister Janelle's fortune cookie read "You or someone close to you will be getting married". At the time, Nathan and Angelina hadn't announced their engagement yet but they were engaged at the time.

After lunch, Nina and I had some errands to run. She was looking for a purse at PacSun she wanted. I need some things from Target. We started with stopping by Sweet Factory to see if an old acquaintance of mine was working. No luck. We browsed through Bath and Body Works before heading to the other Pac Sun since the one in the galleria was gone. No Pac Sun. That was gone. We went into Old Navy to browse since I have a $20 Groupon to print and use by the end of July. I ended up finding a t-shirt and a polo in the clearance section. New clothes for work! I better pace myself. This is how I got into debt the first time around. Fortunately for me, this time I have no credit cards to use!

We headed to Rite Aid for some ice cream. Wouldn't you know it? The Thrifty Ice Cream is back to 2 for $5. I should've waited a week for my chocolate brownie ice cream. Maybe I'll pick up the vanilla for Eddie and rocky road for Ryan and the others so no one will touch my chocolate brownie. No, I'm not being selfish. I share my ice cream with my coworkers. It goes quick sometimes! We went through a cookie dough and a mint chocolate chip in two days once!

Nina wanted to look inside Gilly Hicks (I think that's what it was called). They had a special where if got a free undie with your purchase. So Nina found two things she liked and we made two purchases. She wanted to look inside H&M to see if they had a purse she liked. While we were looking, there was a pair of black ballet flats on the floor of the shoe area. I tried them on and they fit perfectly. They were 12.95, not $7 like the other shoes on sale around it. So I left them where I found them.

Finally, we made our way back to Target. First section we hit was the purse section since Nina was looking for a purse. She didn't find one, but I did! I've been looking for a new purse the last few weeks. Mine is falling apart. Literally. There are holes in all four corners of my purse. I've had it for at least 5 years, if not 6. I started working at Talbots in 2005 and probably got it either in winter 05 or winter 06. I know I got my big Talbots tote in 2006 because I took it with me to NC in 2007 and it broke while I was there! After finding the perfect purse for me, we looked at wallets. Nina told me she noticed it was time I replaced my wallet, too. She was right since it was worn out, dirty, and the zipper for the change part was broken. We found one I liked and we were set. A few more things later, and we headed to the check out line. I got in one line and Nina noticed another line was shorter. She got in line but by the time I got there, at least three people were behind her. I didn't want to cut in front of them, but Nina was only getting one item so I said I'd pay for it. The people behind us didn't mind at all. They were very nice and let me in. One of the last times I've been to that Target (if not the last time), something similar happened. My friend Pat got in line and I was right behind her. But someone got in between us. Pat told her, "Excuse me, but we're together." The lady was rude about it but let me in.

You'd think we were done after Target... but we weren't. We had to run to the dollar store for Nina to get some shaving cream for school. Not for other "extracurricular activities" like her brother. On Friday night (around 3 AM so technically it was Saturday) ... some of our younger young people paid a visit to our pastor ... and left him a lovely message on their suburban expressing their love for their pastor and his wife. While at the dollar store, I picked up a few items to use at the office.

I am not a shopper. I don't like to shop. I don't like to spend hours and hours walking around going from store to store and trying things on. Trust me. By the time we made it back to church, my feet were killing me. I even went home to change into a denim skirt (good thing too because Diane was wearing the exact same skirt I was earlier - I actually find it funny when we do this and we have done it before) so I could wear my canvas shoes. I don't even spend a lot of money on things very often. But whenever I'm with Nina ... I seem to find a hole in my wallet (and my debit card).

Fortunately, this will probably be my only shopping spree for a while. Sadly, it was mostly for necessities like toothpaste, chap stick, and some office supplies and two new t-shirts for work.