A post in which I relax and shop

I knew that I didn't want to rush around this morning. Bleah. So I didn't. I got up, ate some breakfast, took a nap, and then got ready to head to Charlotte. I talked to Lee a couple of times, and he seemed a bit antsy for me to get there, but when I asked, he said it was fine.

I stopped in Duncan on the way up and had a look around. Almost immediately, I found a Windsor Diamond tray in crystal. I really shouldn't have bought it, but then I thought that I have the bowl that matches it already, and I might want to use them together some day. Also, I felt sorry for it because it was on the dollar table and no one knew what it was. So I had to rescue it. I know, silly. But I didn't know if I was going to score or not.

Windsor "Diamond" 10 1/4" pointed edge service platter in crystal by Jeannette Glass, circa 1936-1946

I do have a couple of people who's booths I regularly peruse. One of them is a nice older guy and I've bought a couple of pieces from him, but I have to watch him. His stuff is consistently pretty beaten up, chipped, etc. Also if he knows a pattern, he'll usually price it too high. On the other hand, if he doesn't know the pattern, I can pick up a deal from him occasionally. When I hit his booth today, I noticed a bowl that looked like Diamond Quilted. I was a bit leery, because I got fooled on a piece that I thought was that pattern on my birthday weekend. But I checked my big book at the end of the trip, and it was the real McCoy, so I scampered back and picked it up. I got a pretty good deal on that piece.

Diamond Quilted 7" crimped round bowl in pink, by Imperial Glass of Ohio, circa 1930

While I was there I also looked over, once again, a green Cameo piece I've been looking at for over a month. It's pretty, but has a chip. He was originally asking $15, which I would not pay. I thought it was a candy jar with no lid. But it is a pretty piece, and he had marked it down to $10. I figured that was all the money, but decided to go ahead and buy it anyway. Cameo is such a pretty pattern, and it's unusual to find a piece at all - they're usually snapped up.

I headed on up to Charlotte, and when I got there, brought in my booty for a brief gloat, and to soak the price stickers off. I looked the piece up in the book. The candy dish in that pattern is flat, not footed. It turned out that I bought a mayonnaise comport. It's unusual enough that it wasn't pictured in the book, and never had a lid. So I was pretty happy about that. It's unlikely I would ever have just stumbled across another one. Book price on it was $38, but after the price drop on all pieces this year, probably only about $30. With the chip, maybe $15-$20. But some pieces just call to me, the chip is small (I had to point it out to Lee), and it is a pretty thing.

Cameo or "Dancing Girl" 5 3/8" mayonnaise comport in green by Anchor Hocking, circa 1930-1934

Anyway, after that pleasant discovery, I confirmed that Lee was indeed antsy for the reason I suspected - he wanted to go shopping. Which was fine. About the only time I buy new clothes any more is when I go to Charlotte. Shopping seems to have become the language of our friendship. Plus Lee is fantastic shopping luck and Dillard's was having a killer sale. So off we went.

I kind of thought that he might open up and talk to me a little about what's going on between him and Clayton, but not a peep. So I just enjoyed the shopping and spending some time with him. I also got a new pair of jeans that actually fit me pretty well, AND marked down from $80 to $15. Lee is just the shopping guru. For me to find a pair of jeans that fit in less than 12 gruelling hours is just unheard of. It's like finding the Hope Diamond in your kid's sandbox. I also got a couple of shirts for work, and a new Lauren Hawaiian shirt with an orange background and Marlins all over it that I just fell in love with. Lee hated it, of course. It's pretty loud. The sales guy that checked us out is one of Lee's favorites (he knew several of the staff by name), and sensed that Lee didn't really approve of that choice. As he was folding it for the bag he said "This is a fun shirt." As if explaining it to Lee. That was pretty funny. Interestingly, Lee is still buying Clayton clothes, which I totally didn't understand, but that's his life.

When we got back, we were ready for supper. The took me to this upscale Mexican place called Cantina Fifteen Eleven. I had a truly phenomenal ceviche; the best I have eaten since the cruise in the summer of '07. I also had a great salad with jicama in it, among other things. I was thinking there was no way a restaurant in Greenville could do anything like that. Olive Garden had to tone down their salad here for being too exotic. Although for it's size Greenville has remarkably good food, there are times when the limitations chafe me.

After an excellent meal, we just headed on back to watch TV, which is how they spend most evenings, apparently. Not that I have any room to talk lately. Plus Graham Norton is on Saturday evening, and Clayton wouldn't miss Graham Norton for Armageddon. But I'm used to that. We had pound cake with truly decadent strawberry ice cream while we watched. So I was good with that. I'm kind of used to it now anyway.