This week there are some men working on our street. They are slowly making their way up it, and Tuesday they got to us (I knew, because I woke up at 7 when the jackhammers started). For some reason they are cutting these big square holes (with a none-to-quite pavement saw), jackhammering out the pavement, and then covering the holes with a large, thick plate of steel. On Tuesday, not only did they cut a hole in the street about 30 feet from the apartment, they also felt the need to cut one in the sidewalk just outside our bedroom window (as I was talking with my mom), and one in our parking lot (as I was talking with my mother-in-law). So, yesterday, to escape all this, I went shopping. It was a rather cool and overcast day, a nice day to leave the windows open, tidy things up, and write as many thank-you notes as I could before the mail lady got here. But these guys were working just up the street, and I couldn't concentrate. So, I went shopping. I only intended to shop, really. But, just in case, I brought along a bit of cash. There is a very nice shopping center (Whole Foods, American Eagle, Banana Republic, Gap, Pier One, Ann Taylor, Motherhood ... )1.6 miles from the apartment, and that's where I went. I walked through it and found myself at Anthropologie (huge surprise). I browsed and shopped for quite a while, tried on a few really cute and expensive tops, and then found something in the clearance section.

Basically, John and I now have a beautiful new damask tablecloth.