Patagonia Weekend!

Some people get excited for Memorial Day weekend because they get to go camping, or they BBQ, meet up with family and travel. My reason? The Memorial Day Weekend Patagonia Outlet 40% off sale! The Patagonia outlet in MT is located in Dillon, a good 2.5 hours away from me. That has never phased me! It's always worth the drive! The outlet store has wonderful prices anyway, most things 50% off or more. And I LOVE Patagonia clothes. They're well made, comfortable and fashionable (they just usually cost a pretty penny!) The outlet store is the perfect compromise, and on this particular weekend, they take 40% more off all the low prices! Hallelujah! So, at 7:30am this morning, my sister and I climbed into the car (we got to borrow my Mom's cool Jeep!) and headed South East toward that little town. We left early so we could be there when the doors opened. It was chaos when we got there! People everywhere! The first year I attended this sale event, I noticed there were huuuuge rubbermaid tubs with handles everywhere. I thought, 'they don't have baskets to carry? They have TUBS?! There's no way I could fill a tub'....I was proven very wrong. :) This year I did myself proud once more with an armful of fantastic finds. I was in need of a new down coat, and found two that I could not live without! One is trench-coat length, and dressy enough for chilly, formal events. The other one is dark purple and actually a child's size Large! LOL! They didn't have any women's puffy coats I liked. I'm small enough to sort through the Girl's stuff though! I also found a skort (I love skorts!), shirts and a lovely dress. At a normal store it would have cost me $600.00! But at the outlet store? Only a mear fraction of that. Wahoo! It felt good to shop! The check-out line was insane! And I noticed while waiting that there was actually a line of people outside the store still waiting for their turn to come in. We were at capacity! After they rung me up, and I handed them my money grinning, I walked out of the store and told the line of people that "it's so much fun!" They all laughed and agreed, and couldn't wait to get their chance. I came home and tried on all of my new clothes once more. Very little money spent, but now my closet is complete with some very quality items. What a fun way to spend a Saturday!

Stiletto Night!

I'm finally mostly mended! Teeth are happier and I'm healing. Whew! It's been a long month and a half! I've finally been able to talk again and be social, and tonight I'm gettin' dolled up and hittin' the town. My friend and I have made it a habit. See, she's a PhD student that came to my University about 3 years ago. When she arrived and started her first lab rotation in my lab, I was charged with the task of familiarizing her with the town and keeping her entertained. I took her to lunch one day and we hit it off. She's this funny, spunky, wonderfully sarcastic, fellow nerdy scientist, who enjoys fashion....and most importantly...shoes! Yes! I finally found my "sole" mate! She moved to Missoula with a box of high heels, and I was so excited to finally find someone who loved them as much as I!

Me, Montana raised, who enjoys actually being barefoot more than anything else, has a surprisingly large amount of shoes. Next to the running shoes, hiking shoes, and dozen warm-weather sandals, are my beloved heels. Most are stilettos and sky-scraper tall, in varying shades and patterns. My father even pin-striped a pair! They sit beautifully in their clear shoeboxes and beckon me every time I open the closet. Pastel hues, patent leathers, metallic blues, vintage reds, Sex & the City fuchsia pink! T-strapped, peep-toed, or sling backed---I love them all. (Especially the never-before-worn, copper painted, red suede pair I acquired on a whim in San Francisco!) And now that the ice has left the sidewalks, and the chill of snow has left the air for good, it's time to bring them out into the public! My graduate friend loves her many stilettos just as much as me and not long after she came to this town we started having "Stiletto Nights."

Hailing from a big city in the midwest, she was used to night clubs and the wardrobe that went with. Folks here in Montana don't tend to dress up quite as much and the same clothes and shoes that wow in MN can look out of place in MT. She was bummed with this realization. No reason to dress up? That's no fun! So we came to the decision that we would dress up anyway! Who cares?! So, out of place, in fun tops and funky skirts, fancy heels and curled-up hair we hit the town. We stir our fruity drinks, and gossip and talk and compare our wonderful shoes. I love these nights and the click, click, click our dolled up feet make as we cruise the sunny evening streets in search of cocktails and conversation. Thank goodness for summer! And beautiful stilettos!

I'll be back!

Oh it's been awhile since I've written! I've been working around the clock trying to catch up all the work I missed recently. No time to blog! Tomorrow is finally my oral surgery appointment, which should bring all of this to a close. Once healed, I'll be back in the blogging groove. Time now to get my chores done so I can be lazy tomorrow! Be back soon!