November 11, 2005It was a particularly nice cool and sunshiny fall day today. I decided it would be an ideal time to run some errands and do a little shopping as Phoebe before going to my local Tri-Ess meeting later in the afternoon. So, after a few hours of transformation, I emerged from the house in my mélange skirtsuit around 12:30 and headed off down the road.
The first stop was to check the mailbox at the post office. As this was a holiday, the place was deserted. I got the few things from the box and headed up the road to the next stop.
I needed a few electrical items for a home project, so I stopped at Home Depot and went in. Going in and out I think one or two of the construction worker type customers may have checked out my legs, but otherwise no one paid any attention to me. In any case no one spoke to me. I paid for my items at the self-checkout, as that was the fastest - and I even had to wait in line to do that.
Next stop was lunch and some shopping at Northlake Mall. I first went to the food court, As I was walking past one of the food places a lady handing out free samples invited me over with a “Ma’am, would you like to try this?” I ate the sample, thanked her, and then went over to get a slice of pizza. There was some delay there, but I got my pizza and a “Sorry you had to wait, Ma’am” from the server. I ate my lunch near the fountain. If anyone there “read” me, they sure didn’t show it in anything they said or did.
I walked through the mall down to Macy’s where I was going in search of a particular style of pantyhose. Macy’s didn’t have them, so I stopped by the lingerie section, where I managed to find a bra and panties that I wanted. No problems conversing with the sales ladies and paying for the items with my Visa card.
Next was J.C. Penney’s. No luck on the hosiery there either. I did however find a new bed pillow. When I paid for it (after waiting for some other customers who were ahead of me) I decided to use my J.C. Penney credit card to get the additional discount. The saleslady looked at the name on my credit card and then asked me for some ID. Smiling, I pulled out my new Georgia ID card that has Phoebe’s photo on it and all was fine.
It was still early in the afternoon, so I decided to drive over to Perimeter Mall and try my luck shopping there. I went into Dillard’s first and asked a couple of young ladies who were putting out stock in the hosiery department about what I was looking for. They did a search for me, but couldn’t find what I wanted. I thanked them for their trouble and headed on into the mall.
When I came to a shop that sells costume jewelry, I remembered that I was looking for an imitation pearl necklace in a particular size that fits me. The shop was full of at least a dozen teenage girl shoppers. I went in anyway. As I was looking over the necklaces, a young saleslady asked if she could help. I took her up on the offer and we found one that seemed right. She even hooked it around my neck and confirmed it was the right length for me. I thanked her for her help and headed over to the cash register where I had to wait awhile for a group of the teens to get taken care of. When I did pay for my purchase, the girl at the register complimented me on one of the rings I was wearing. I gave her my thanks and left with a big smile. The teenage girls in the shop didn’t act as if they noticed me at all. I guess they thought I was someone’s mother and therefore beneath their notice.
I went to Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Macy’s mainly checking out the hosiery. The sales clerks in all those stores were very pleasant and courteous, but could not find what I was looking for. As I passed through the various stores and the mall I was asked several times by sales ladies if I would like to sample makeup, hand lotion, etc. I did take one girl up on the hand lotion. She made me promise to come back sometime and try the mineral treatment she was really trying to sell. After awhile, I left the mall and began heading in the direction of the hotel where our chapter was meeting.
Along the way, I stopped off at an REI store. I needed a new camping pad. Inside, I quickly found the rack of pads and discovered there was quite a variety. A nice young gentleman who worked in that area came over and assisted me in finding the one I was looking for. At the cash register, I needed to make sure the purchase was credited to my membership number (for future rebates), so I had to have the clerk look it up on the computer. No problem. When I presented my Visa card for payment, he asked for ID. Happily, I presented my new ID card and once again, all was well. By now it was after 4:00 PM, so I headed straight to where my Tri-Ess friends would be meeting.
At the meeting location, there were eventually 16 of us gathered (counting CD’s and GG’s). Included in the group was one CD and wife who were out for the very first time. After a few hours of catching up on what everyone had been up to, most of us decided to go out for supper. We decided to eat at Houlihan’s at Perimeter Mall. Fourteen of us headed off in three vehicles (including mine).
Our vice-president had called ahead to Houlihan’s, so when we got there we had no wait in being seated at the long table they had set up for our group. Houlihan’s has a nice variety of good food and we were served by courteous and attentive staff.
After an uneventful, but good meal, we divided up the group again between the vehicles and a number of us went over to the Westin Perimeter Mall to the lobby lounge for a few drinks, while a few went back to the meeting location. At the Westin we found several other CD friends we knew already at the bar. The bartender we were hoping would be there was not present, but the guy who was there managed to make some acceptable drinks. The hotel was not at all crowded judging from the lack of people in the lobby area. We hung around for awhile, but decided to head on our way before 11:00. After dropping my passengers off, I managed to get home before midnight. What a day!
November 12, 2005The 7:00 AM alarm seemed to be way too early to be getting up on a Saturday morning. I was ready to go by 8:30 and got a phone call from a CD friend. She couldn’t attend our meeting and needed me to pick up some mail from her along the way. No problem with that as she lives nearby. When I got in my Yukon, I realized I forgot to get gas for the big SUV the day before. After stopping and putting more than 30 gallons in the tank, I was finally on my way to my friend’s and then the meeting location. I managed to get to the meeting suite sometime around 9:30.
At the suite that morning there were some folks we hadn’t seen in awhile as well as a few regulars. About sixteen were in attendance. Most of us participated in the scheduled newcomers meeting that finished up around 11:00.
Over the next couple of hours the group broke up into several different bunches for lunch and various other shopping or outing activities. Four of us went out together for an afternoon outing to the Fernbank museum.
We decided to stop for lunch at a Burger King on North Druid Hills Road. Fast food it was not. It took over 20 minutes to get our meals. At least the food was hot. I think most people eating there were too annoyed at the slow service to notice our little group.
We finally got to the museum just in time to attend the 3:00 IMAX show (Grand Canyon). The show was good and well attended. Afterwards, we began to explore the rest of the museum. When we stopped at a good place for a photo with a dinosaur skeleton in the background, a nice woman staffer of the museum came out of her nearby office and offered to take a photo of us together. We took her up on the offer and thanked her afterwards.
As we saw more exhibits, we found that two more of our CD friends were in the museum as well, having traveled there separately. As we all wandered around the museum, no one gave us any funny looks or gave us any undue attention. I think we probably looked much like a bunch of middle-aged school teachers.
A little after 4:30, we left the museum and went back to the meeting location. There, I retired to a bathroom and refreshed my makeup and changed into a different outfit for dinner. As I changed various members slowly drifted into the meeting room until we had eighteen of us there.
Around 6:30 we loaded those that were going out to dinner in the vehicles and headed over to Alfredo’s Italian Restaurant. Several girls met us at the restaurant, bringing the total in our group to 20. Even though we had 7:00 reservations, they were not quite ready for us at Alfredo’s when our rather large group arrived. The restaurant was really packed and more people kept trying to get in while we were waiting. After about a 30 minute wait, they had our table ready and we were seated. Once we were seated though, our waiter (who was Italian) was very courteous and efficient. Considering the size of our group it really didn’t take too long to get our meals. The food was really excellent. The only Italian food I’ve had that was better was in an Italian restaurant in Europe.
Our group did attract a little attention in Alfredo’s. One couple that had spoken with some of our group next to the bar when we were waiting to get in, were students at Georgia State University. They indicated they were planning to try and get into one of the classes next semester that we give our outreach presentations to. We also had a woman stylist who specializes in hair and eyelash extensions drop by our table as well and give us her business card. A few other folks in the restaurant gave our table a few looks, but no one else actually approached us.
When we finished our meals, most of the crowd headed back to the meeting suite. After a bit of chit-chat and tidying up of the room, some of the group headed down to the lobby bar for a nightcap. The lobby bar was really jammed with people this time. We had to drag some chairs in from outside to have a place to sit. Our favorite bartender was there, but too busy to keep up. Without getting a drink after around 20 minutes there, I abandoned the bar and decided to give my goodbyes and head home. I was home a little after midnight, bringing to a close a very long and full day with my friends.
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The photos below are:
# 1 is at the meeting room on Friday after shopping, etc.
# 2 is at the museum.
# 3 is at Alfredo's on Saturday night.
