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Now I really did it :((

Hi NIRDIs!

Callie, I hate when I lose a post. It’s always a large one that took me forever to type too. I am sure Marty and Jeff wouldn’t mind living on the beach either. I imagine there would be a golf course nearby. Stay in out of the heat this weekend. Woo hoo for AC. Too funny Jeff calls us the diamond girls. I have that song going off in my head now. That would be our sound for our doorbells on the beach.

Missy, the more I thought about it the more irritated I was about my entire dealings so far with BGD. I wrote them this morning and said I wasn’t going to move forward with this project at this time. I got the feeling they weren’t that interested in my business. I agree WF would probably be better for me to deal with on this project. Yes, as Kristie suggested a NIRDI compound would be a great idea. We could have those big diamond doorknobs. I hate to hear you are sick. I am sending you speedy recovery dust and lots of it! Feel better. I’m with Jimmianne and Callie on gargling with hot salt water. It seems to help me when I have a sore throat.

Jimmianne, good idea to start cleaning up, cleaning out and shredding some things. I think that is a great idea having someone come to help you too. You are so right too; jewelry is very portable and doesn’t take up much room.

I am so glad it’s Friday. Today seemed very long.

Marty cooked us a small steak on the grill, grills some peppers and baked some potatoes and rolls for supper. Our operation clean out the frig is coming along. I think we are down to some ice cream (easily polished off), 2 frozen burgers, a few Jimmy Dean breakfast bowls and assorted jars of things in the frig. Marty only has a few beers left. He worked diligently at polishing off the bear from his man cave.

I think I’ll make some of my famous death cookies tomorrow. When the guys deliver our frig on Sunday I wanted to have cookies for them. We want them to move our current frig to the man cave and bring the small frig up stairs and put it in the garage. My dishwasher is hopefully going to be installed on the 22nd.

Take care!
Marcy
 
Good morning girls!

Marcy, I am on the same page as you. Very disappointing behavior from BGD and not worth the trouble of giving them your business. I know how some PSers rave about them but I think you are not the only one to experience this type of behavior from them. I am sure you can do/find better whether that be with WF or another jeweler.

Haha big diamond doorknobs. LOVE it. :bigsmile:

Your dinner last night sounded delicious and yay for the weekend! Sweet Francesca just asked me what's a weekend? LOL the princess never worked a day in her life so every day is the weekend for her. :cheeky:

Ooh wish I was delivering that fridge for you so I could get some of those "Death by Cookies" you are baking. :lickout:
Thank you for your good health wishes and advice.

Callie, thanks for the advice. I woke up with my head still pounding but I feel it might break into a cold and I hope it does it soon because drawing it out like this is a real pain. Literally and figuratively! Not going cycling today. Feel too poorly and the weather is too unstable with thunderstorms predicted on and off all day. Tomorrow is out too because I refuse to cycle when it is above 90 degrees and you know what? I am glad I am not being as OCD (not sure if that really fits my behavior just using it loosely here) with cycling these days. It's OK not to cycle every possible day I can yanno? At least that is what I am trying to convince myself of haha.

Are you and Jeff going out for spaghetti tonight? I am craving that now that you mentioned it and I cannot think of the last time I had spaghetti. One of my favorite childhood dishes was green spaghetti with cottage cheese and sugar sprinkled over it. I know it sort of sounds disgusting but believe me it tasted delicious. Of course now I wouldn't dare have it LOL.

Have a good night out and I hope you are having lovely weather finally by you.

I hope everyone is going to enjoy a lovely weekend! See you girls later I hope. :wavey:
 
Hey girls, sorry if this is gonna be a two part post. Now that I am back I want to tell you all about the vacay. And I have to do driving soon so I will have to post what I can.

Thanks for being with me and letting me share about the bracelet buying while I was doing it. I really loved it and even though we were stretching our budget buying it so soon, my sweet DH knew I could not resist buying it in PARIS. So to me, this purchase really is a sign of his love for me, wanting me to be happy. I love the RG more and more. I did get a much better deal in Paris cause of the VAT refund and cause of sales tax savings. Everything in Paris was a better deal, but Louis Vuitton especially. You saw the scarf but I didn't buy that fabulous bag. I regretted not getting more LV in Paris after I arrived in London. So in London I bought a gorgeous bag, that was still a good deal as compared to USD.



I have wanted a new small cross body bag for a while so this perfect. I will take a modeling shot soon.

Our place in Paris was in a cute and quiet residential neighborhood. Just straight out the front door, great Italian, Japanese, French restaurants. Bakeries making fresh baguettes and pastries every morning. A cheese shop across the street and small green grocers all along the street. We bought fresh apples, tomatoes, peaches, Nectarines, watermelon, mushrooms with dirt still sticking to the stem. Fabulous!! All except the 90-100 degrees NO AIR CONDITIONING. I read all about the French aversion to air conditioning. But since I do bikram I was ok. Everyone else wanted to die. :(. Walked a lot. Very few subway stations had escalators. Lots of stair climbing. I see why the French are skinny. Lots of smoking everywhere, all ages.

Loved Versailles. Wish I could have ran it. Tried macarons from all over the place. So delish!!!

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Some my son and I love macarons, We tried the most famous macaron purveyors in Paris, Laduree, Pierre Herme, Arnaud Lahrer (across the street from our apt) and believe it or not we still loved the La Boulange ones in SF the most. I just hate Starbucks for buying them out and closing them down at the end of the year. The top is crunchy. But the inside close to the filling is a little chewy and soft in the middle. Pierre Herme had the best in Paris to us bc we love tart and citrus flavors, and pierre's had the most amazing combinations, lemon and mint, passion fruit and rose, etc. ok sorry to digress.

I noticed that women in Paris are very casual, meaning very little make up and practically no one does their hair. All haircuts go. Short and curly, long and curly,long and straight, short and straight. Frizzy, unkempt, lose hairs flying all over. I am not at all criticizing. I am a girl who brushes or combs my hair maybe once a week. Seriously. No kidding. I blow dry my hair but never brush it. I use only conditioner and shampoo. But it was strange to see a whole city of women like that. Lots of dresses. Very few pants and shorts. Very little Designer anything. People stay up till 12-1 in the morning sitting outdoors drinking wine and smoking, and this is on a weekday in a non-touristy area. Dinner doesn't even start until 8-9.

So in the end, I do find the quiet Parisian life gety appealing. Of course our neighborhood in the 18h arr. was super nice too. The apt had 3 bedrooms and one bath. About 1500 square feet and 12 foot ceilings. Elegant farmhouse furnishings, with a modern touch. It was nice.
 
So on to London. Hope you guys don't mind me doing a self debrief of the trip.

10-15 degrees cooler, plus air con, made the trip completely different. We stayed in Knightsbridge, 3 blocks from Harrod's. Seriously!! And they were having their annual sale. We arrived at the beginning of it. So I have NEVER EVER seen such luxury in such a compressed retail space in ALL MY LIFE. Within Harrod's fine jewelry section were the following boutiques,mthat I saw and recognized. Boodles where I saw my first Ashoka cut diamond IRL. That is what Reece Witherspoon looks at everyday. The weird thing about the Ashoka cut is that the top and bottom sections don't appear to reflect light hat much. I guess it's the nature of the cut. Boodles carried many different cuts, and they were very sparkly stones. Very beautiful.

Next door, GRAFF. Saw and tried in the most beautiful 6ctw asscher cut studs. Beautiful chubby emerald cuts. Tried on a stunning 4 carat 8 main cushion. It was beautiful. My mom loved it too, and she is all about the MRB. $200k plus. Everything that they took out to show me was a G, vs1 and above. Nothing antique but that was ok. Across the way, Harry Winston, Tiffany, Cartier. In another salon, van cleef, more brands I am not familiar with. I was astounded. I could have spent a lot of days there but my mom was overwhelmed and also not so much into jewelry. He men's watch section had a zillion individual boutiques too. All super exclusive and intimidating looking too. And forget the couture salons. The shoe salons for the super high end designers were on a separate floor. Makes Neiman Marcus look like a Gap. And the purses?!? That is where I bought my LV. and let me just say, on the streets of London? Stylish, designer clad women abound. Chanel, Hermes, LV, Dior, Mulberry, Prada, all over the place. Everywhere I turned. And I was using a plain Pacsafe black nylon bag. When I bought my LV, the poor SA felt she had to explain the brand to me. OMG! LOL!! We were walking distance to the natural history museum, science museum, Victoria and Albert museum, Hyde park. It was awesome. We paid through the nose for the apt but it was worth it. Very nice place, super comfortable 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500 sq ft. Since my parents came with us, we need a large single floor apt with no stairs within. But super worth it. We saved money by eating in a lot.

So if I were to do it over? I would definitely do Paris again, to shop, and probably not London. I would try another city, maybe Madrid or Venice.
 
I can hardly believe it is over. We have been planning this trip for 12 months and it came and went. My daughter took everything in, enthusiastic tourist, took tons of pictures and read up on tons of stuff. My son was fine, if a little pre-teen about somethings. He did get strep throat in London, and we ended up seeing a doctor and getting antibiotics. But still was ok. He didn't see much of London but we did the London eye, which made everything ok. He can say that he did see all of London, although from a distance. We had a great time. No regrets. Thanks for listening to everything you guys. Hope you skipped when I got too long winded. I'll post some pics of my bracelet with my ring. :)
 
LLJsmom, I am so happy you and your family had such an amazing trip!!!
And I love your descriptions of everything. I could almost imagine myself there, thank you! I love your purchases especially the bracelet and I love that your dh wanted you to have the bracelet and the LV and everything else. Good man!

And I had to LOL when you said the French are skinny because they smoke. Darn right that's why. My dh and I were just talking about this the other day. We were watching a French movie and all the characters were smoking and I said to him that's why the French are slim. It's not because of the wine and cheese being eaten in moderation. No no no. It's because smoking deadens their appetites LOL.

I am sorry your ds got strep throat but I am glad he still had a great time.

Thank you for sharing your trip with us and looking forward to seeing more pics! Welcome home!
 
LLJs, love the travel stories, thank you for sharing!!!

How did you find your housing in Paris? I'm looking.

Re the rampant smoking, when I was last in London smoking was still EVERYWHERE, urgh. Gross. Anyhoo, Bob and I laffed that we'd look in a pram and see a cute baby SMOKING, that's how much smoking we felt like we saw. It really curtailed our pub visits because I.Just.Can't.Stand.Smoking. Fortunately some of the larger pubs had nonsmoking sections and I tried to steer Bob in that direction but some of the really really ancient ones are tiny with ginormous clouds of smoke. They have all the pub cred, haha.

I went to the UK after a bad breakup when I was 26. I was feeling all brokenhearted and alone so I thought "Harrods!" I was always hungy (still thin then) so I went to the Food Halls and saw this ENORMOUS man wearing a caftan, a greasy queue for his hair. He looked very familiar. Then I heard him speak: Marlon Brando! He bought so much food---he had a chauffeur/Bentley parked at the side door to the pork food hall, heehee!!!

Harrod's was too much for me, the mind boggled at the enormous endless floors of goods. I bought nothing there. NOTHING!!! Wha????? I liked Bond Street, Regent Arcade, and my favorite: Liberty of London (I'm a preppy at heart). I really felt my poverty in London---I was teaching at the time and I couldn't afford anything in Liberty, could only look and sigh. When I went back I could not drag Bob in there to save my life. Next time, I'm spending it up in there!!!!
 
Kristie, here is the link to the company that I rented from.

http://www.frenchyrentals.com

My property was Caulaincourt. I would hope that the other properties are as nice.

I would never be able to afford anything at Harrods if it wasn't for the annual sale. And I did love the food halls. We went there almost everyday. The had the best cheese counter.

Hope you find a place you like!! I initially found it through Airbnb.

My son goes, "dad! I second hand smoked!"
 
Perfect, now your son need never smoke an actual cigarette!!!

Bwahaha to made Neiman Marcus look like a Gap!! Too funny!!!! You crack me up!

What did your son and daughter think about the grocery stores in London/gobs of candy?????

When I rode the Tube during commute I saw the most gorgeous and well dressed men, think Savile Row, manicures, ACTUAL SHINED SHOES, watches, brellies, pretty haircuts. Dreamy until they'd smile :nono: wretched neglected teeth.
 
LLJsmom, I LOVED hearing about your trip and would love to hear more. The shopping sounds incredible and the jewelry you tried on sounded gorgeous. I'm so glad you are happy with your Love bracelet. The last time I looked at them I was with one of my nieces. We both thought the Rose gold was the prettiest. It also seems more special because you purchased it while in France. You could not go wrong with the bag you purchased. It will never go out of style. What great memories you made with your family and I'm sure your parents had a wonderful time as well. I'm so sorry your son got sick. Hopefully he started feeling well quickly after he started taking the antibiotics. What city did your kids and parents like best? Please share more stories. I feel like I am living thru you and a Jimmianne with your travels. I need to get over my fear of flying to Europe. Your trip sounded wonderful!
 
Kristie, can't believe you saw Marlon Brando at the food halls. But maybe not that surprising after all. I am assuming there is no smoking inside restaurants but we never went to a pub. I'm sorry. We found the properties through VRBO, but when we connected we found the companies were Frenchy Rentals in France and Ivylettings in London. Sorry I said I wrong before. I hope you have a great time in Paris. Magen are you going?
 
Hi NIRDIS! I'm at the beach right now and unfortunately we're having internet issues at the house so I haven't been able to check in with you guys! ;(

Missy, I'm glad to hear the rash seems to be getting a little better. So sorry though that you're sick! It's good you're taking it easy and getting some rest, and I hope you're feeling better soon. I still can't get over how your neighbors reacted to those trees, you and Greg are handling it well by just keeping your distance and being civil.

Thanks for the advice about my mother's issues - yeah, we've been trying to get her to move more, drink more fluids and eat more fiber but it's difficult to get her to do anything consistently. She just refuses most of the time, and we're getting worn out trying. My sister is staying with her right now and the constipation is continuing. She's going to try a laxative and see what happens. I have a feeling my mother might be heading to the emergency room if she doesn't go soon.

Kristie, thank you too for your input - my mother has coffee first thing every morning, and has prune juice twice a day. I've been putting benefiber in her drinks and increasing her fluid intake. Nothing really seems to be working and I'm getting panicky. Of course my mother thinks we're all over-reacting and making a big deal out of nothing. She's not in any discomfort or pain. To make matters worse, when she does go she ends up getting diarrhea and fecal incontinence because of the build-up from the blockage. (sorry, TMI I suppose!) I'm at my wits end with all of this and I will contact the doctor if she doesn't go in the next day or two.

I'm excited to hear you're thinking about a trip to Paris! :dance: I loved reading about your travel experiences.

Marcy, I'm sorry your employee is being so immature, it must be beyond frustrating to deal with someone like that. And it's too bad that things didn't go well with BGD, I agree that if they don't seem interested in the project you can find another vendor who is and get better service.

Jimmianne, I'm glad you're making progress on getting things straightened out and organized, good for you! I'm so glad you've found a cleaning person, it's going to make things so much easier for you.

LLJsmom, thank you so much for sharing your trip with us, it was fascinating reading about your experiences, thoughts, and observations! I really enjoyed it. I'm so happy you and your family had such a good time, and I LOVE your bracelet and LV bag - now those are my kind of souvenirs lol!

We're staying at the new house right now, and we're enjoying it. It's a lovely home, and I was right, I like the pool the best ha! I'm having trouble sleeping though, not sure why. I just seem to feel unsettled and anxious for some reason. Having issues with internet and Direct TV service so dh is spending a lot of time working on that. We planned on moving things from the old house to the new and have done some of it but I was over there tonight with my daughter and realized it's going to take longer than planned, so I'm going to have a talk with dh, I really don't want to spend the rest of my vacation moving - especially since this is a somewhat short trip. I'm hoping we can do some of it now, and then maybe come back down for a few weekends to finish up.

Calliecake, hope you're enjoying your beautiful landscaping and having a fun summer so far!

It's really late so I'll sign off for now - but I wanted to check in with my wonderful NIRDI friends while the internet is working! I'm thinking of all of you and have missed you all - Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow lol!
 
Good morning NIRDIs!

Junie, thank you for coming on despite all the hardships of getting onto the internet and posting an update! So happy you are finally enjoying your new beach house and pool!!! Woohoo!! And I am sure the internet and cable troubles will be worked out. Believe me we have some issues with both those almost every weekend LOL but we are rewiring the whole house re cable hoping that will help. I am sure you guys will figure it out. And as for the packing hoping your dh agrees so you can enjoy the rest of your visit there without working to unpack.

So glad your dream beach house is finally a reality!!! :appl:

Callie, how was dinner out last night? Did you get spaghetti?

Good morning to all the rest of you girls. I didn't sleep a wink last night being miserable with this cold. Aches, chills and then being alternately hot, a pounding headache well you get the picture. I think this might be the worse night I have had because I did not sleep at all. At least with my leg I took pain killers that sort of knocked me out for at least a few hours but last night I couldn't take anything and I was up the whole night. Not saying this for sympathy but just to explain why I am being a bit scattered and disoriented today. I sure hope this cold gets out of my system soon because I really am feeling miserable. Both nostrils dripping so much I have tissues up both of them lol. You can imagine I am quite the sight. :lol: :oops:

Have a great Sunday and I hope everyone comes back to post what they did today so I can enjoy some activities at least vicariously through you. :wavey:
 
Good morning!
.
LLJsmom - woo hoo! You hit the souvenir jackpot. What wonderful remembrances - given with love, the best kind. I'm so glad you had a wonderful time, and it's so interesting to hear about your adventures and your experiences in Paris. I hope you will share many more photos...please!!

Junebug, it's good to hear that you are in your house and loving it. Mission accomplished. How long before the guests start arriving?

AZ - my Dad sat on a plane near Brando coming back from Europe and said a pretty young Asian woman was saying goodbye to him. That was his new wife, I imagine. All this a very long time ago. I'd totally forgotten about it until you told us about YOUR sighting!
So, are we all going back to France? [I hope, I hope]

Hi Callie, what are you up to this week? I hope you resolve your flying fears soon. Truly, valium works very well [and I was a very scared flyer] - but yesterday I was watching a movie with a plane taking off and instead of getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach I only felt the excitement of plane travel - so there is hope!!

Marcy, I'm glad you moved on from BG and are exploring other options - you are really on a mission now! What's next? or should I say who is next as your procurer?

Missy, you would be beautiful even with a nose of tissues. I'm so sorry you are feeling miserable. Sending love dust and powerfully good healing vibes your way right now. Are your kitties staying by your side?

Opinions needed...... I am thinking of buying a house. I live on a street that is mostly nice horse farms, but there are still a few old-timers here in quite poor homes. Most are kept up, but one of the "bad houses" is through the woods next to my dd's former house, now her rental.
Those neighbors have given me fits over the years - the teens shooting off guns, trespassing - etc. etc. I found out yesterday that they moved to Tenn. [yay!!!] and the house is for sale.
The house is horrible - I don't know how anyone lived and raised children in it. It would need either to be totally renovated - or better yet, torn down. The price is high for what you get, but I am tempted because it's a little missing corner "chunk" out of my farm, AND what if someone bought it and lived in it the way it is? What kind of people would that be? It would be a deal for someone who could live that way...for me it would NOT be a deal at all.
It almost seems like a waste of money, then again, what if I get more creepy neighbors? ugh. WWNIRDISD?
 
Buy it if you can do it without it hurting too much financially. I would do that in a heartbeat to ensure my peace and quiet and the beauty of my property. So this NIRDI would buy the house! :appl:
And I would negotiate the price down as much as possible. If there is not much of a demand and the house is in such terrible condition you might be able to get it at a good price.

Let us know when we can come and visit in our newly renovated guest quarters, OK? :cheeky:
 
Thanks, Missy.
They are selling it for what they owe the bank : (
As much as I did not care for them I feel sorry.
They are in dire financial trouble and were in bankruptcy last year.
I don't know if that means they don't have to pay the mortgage.


I asked the agent to lower his commission and give more $ to the seller...
we'll see how that goes!

I would make a terrible business person.
 
Missy, I am so sorry you still aren't feeling any better. It sounds like you have a full blown bad cold! Please don't stress if the area around your nose gets red. It's just from the cold and everyones face reacts that way with a bad cold. I'm so sorry honey. Your night sounded miserable. I would have been half tempted to take one of your pain pills so I could get some sleep. I hope Francesca is cuddling with you.

Jimmianne, I'm with Missy. If you can afford it I would definately buy the property. I would also be worried about how the next owner will turn out to be. Hopefully you will find out the bank owns the property and wants to unload it quickly. Make an offer. The worst they can do is refuse and you can begin negotiating from there. I'm not sure how it is where you live but what you describe is kind of common here. The is a road near our home where people all have many acres of land. There are many gorgeous homes people have build but there are also homes that have been built recently that after a few years look terrible. They all have horses, barns and many acres. It amazes me and makes me sad that some people don't take care of anything. It amazes me how quickly a home and yard can look like hell when it could look amazing. Thank you for your flying story. Maybe there still is hope for me. I have no problem flying in the USA or Mexico. Its flying to Europe that scares me. Although after reading about both LLJsmom and your adventures I beginning to feel like I'm miss out on a lot of fun!

Junebug, I'm sorry about your mom. It does sound like a trip to the doctor may be necessary. You don't want your mom to end up with an impacted bowel. It has to be difficult when you can't get her to do the things needed in order to keep her healthy. I'm so glad you are finally getting a much needed break. Please try not to worry about your mom and enjoy your break. Your sister is there looking out for her. I know easier said than done. I'm glad you were able to pop in here. I've missed you!

Kristie, I'm coming to your house for dinner tonight for leftovers....and I'm getting my guest room ready for you!

Marcy, We tried to mail your bear yesterday and they closed early so we missed out. Don't worry, I'm taking good care of the little guy. Did you make your death by cookies? Did the appliances arrive?
 
Only buy it if you knock it down/dispose of it. You don't want to insure a house you don't live in and you don't want to be responsible for an attractive hazard/injuries on premises. Unless you want to live life as a landlord, don't make it a rental.


If you can afford it, why not? It will increase your land/house value.
 
Callie, dinner tonight is organic chicken breasts in honey Dijon with Italian bread crumbs, baked; roasted garlic and rosemary red potatoes; salad; Sledgehammer Cabernet! All other NIRDIs are invited including LLHs funny son :lol: we don't have second hand smoke for him but we can give him some heavily watered down Sledgehammer Cabernet :naughty:

(When I was a kid my parents never allowed soft drinks in the house but once I hit 11 or 12 they'd give me watered down wine at dinner. It definitely demystified alcohol for me and my cousins.)
 
Hi NIRDIs!

Missy, I have definitely seen the diamond doorknobs and knobs for cabinets. I remember pointing them out to Marty when we were picking out knobs and handles for our house a few years ago. Weird he didn’t get them for the kitchen. Francesca has a great life as a princess. Everyday for her is a vacation, weekend or holiday. I sure hope you start to get over that awful cold. Do you use Puffs with lotion? I swear those things are a red nose saver when you have a cold. Spaghetti does sound good.

LLJsmom, I am glad to hear you had a fabulous vacation and you certainly came home with some treasures. What a wonderful family vacation for your family and I am sure you’ll all have some very special memories. How cool to try on jewelry like the rich and famous wear.

Kristie, Marty often comments on smoking on his travels. Some of those countries everyone smokes and the bars and restaurants are full of smoke. I am so used to not being around smoke it really kind of surprises me when I go somewhere that someone is smoking. How cool you saw Marlon Brando. Great idea to give kids watered down wine so they aren’t so intrigued by it when their peers want to sneak in to the liquor cabinet.

Callie, rose gold is very pretty. I bet it looks great in the Love bracelet. It is sad to see nice homes not kept up. My in-laws lived in a community out of town where everyone had 5 acres or more and their neighbor had a ridiculous amount of tumbleweeds in her yard she never cleaned out. Her weeds were taller than me. I know you are taking care of the little teddy. Marty has definitely adopted my Audi bear. He is a permanent resident on Marty’s couch now. He even sends me messages from Marty’s iPad.

Junebug, congratulations on your beach house. I am glad to hear your sister is with your mom right now. It’s nice for you to have a break. I hope your mom doesn’t end up needing to go to the hospital. Ugh to packing; I know we found out we had way too much stuff when we moved.

Jimmianne, that’s great you got over your fear of flying. Our last trip to Arizona I wasn’t even nervous; still not a total fan but it’s not as awful as I think once we take off. Has the property / house been on the market a while? You may be able to make them an offer they won’t refuse. It would be nice to add their property to yours. You are very kind hearted to try and get as much money to the sellers as possible. I agree with what Kristie said about tearing down the house so you won’t have to insure it.

I was tortured again yesterday and had to go to hardware stores looking for new patio furniture. We got a wicker set with a couch, 2 slides/rockers and a coffee table. We moved what we had on our deck down to the patio outside the basement door. This morning I found 2 little round end tables on sale for about $27 each.

Our appliances should be delivered between 6 – 8 pm tonight. I did not make death cookies but they sure sound good right now.

As for my next jewelry purchase I may back away from the fluorescent idea. I got my UV black light and can’t say I see a different between my faint EC diamond and my RB diamond that has none. I should look at all of my sapphires. To be fair for all I know I don’t know what the heck I’m doing with the light. I was looking online at ovals with strong fluorescent yesterday. However we just bought appliances, patio furniture, modified the man cave and need to get our deck painted. Darn it anyway. That cuts in to my jewelry money.

I would say my BGD experience is like walking in to an expensive store and all the clerks act like they are better than you and they “know” you can’t afford anything in their store so they won’t wait on you. I will stick with WF.

Have a great Sunday.
Marcy
 
My family (mother and father sides) has no alcoholism. No drunken behavior when alcohol present at family events. Wine and a cocktail, maybe an after-dinner drink if it's a long evening. Take it or leave it, basically. None of my cousins in trouble with alcohol in high school.

Both my ex- and current husband, lots of alcoholism, both families controlling and puritanical about alcohol. Lots of sneaking around and secret drinking.
 
junebug, I know how hard it is to convince and elder parent to do whAt is best for them. While we were in Versailles, it was almost 100 degrees, in the palace with no air conditioning. My dad is over 70 and carries a colostomy bag so going to the bathroom regularly and immediately is a must for him. Bc his bowels are so sensitive and reactive he drinks very little water to prevent needing to go to the bathroom. As such after 3 days in Paris heat and refusing to drink water he spiked a fever. We were very worried bc he had walking pneumonia a couple of months ago. The day we left SF he spiked a fever and we got him antibiotics before we took off. Even with the antibiotics, his temp went up to 101.7. We called his doctor in SF and he told us that he needed to go to emergency if the temp did not go down. So anyway, my point was that he continued to refuse to drink water. After talking to his doctor, he stayed in the apartment for three days, drinking water and going to the bathroom. Luckily, resting and drinking tons of water. 8 oz every 2 hours, did the trick. Well, even then he was drinking about half of what he was instructed, but still 300x what he was drinking before. I had to cajole, ask, beg, explain, reason with him to drink water. I think what really convinced him was how much visiting the emergency room would cost in Paris.

jimmianne, I would buy the property too I could afford it. Since you plan on staying at your property for the long haul, it works be worth it. Getting it as a foreclosed property from the bank might be a very smart move!
 
Hi marcy, speaking of doorknobs, here are the jewels at the Louvre.

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marcy, I am sorry that BGD wants to charge you a fee. Makes no sense to me. You could search yourself, except that it takes more time. I figure they would want the business.

Here is one more picture of the jewels. Biggest pear I have ever seen.


Some pics of the Paris apt living room.

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Some more pics in Paris

Dinner at Laduree. The line to buy macarons was 45 minutes long. To eat, we got seated immediately. My son loves green tea with macarons.



Other sites - the Louvre entrance and courtyard area

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The mothership - LV flagship store!!


Arc de Triomphe


Eiffel Tower


Macarons from Arnaud Larher across from our apt. Very well known and people buy this stuff to ship and carry across borders. And our daily fresh baguette which the kids LOVED with prosciutto.

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Kristie, I think the puritanical approach to alcohol can definitely lead to trouble. One of my sisters is like that; she is offended by wine with Christmas dinner. Funny thing is I know both of her daughters drink. I don’t know how much but they certainly don’t snub their nose at it.

LLJsmom, your pictures are wonderful. I love seeing the sights and of course I enjoyed seeing the jewelry at the Louvre. Those emeralds are amazing color. Your apartment looked very nice. Thanks for the pictures.
 
Remember Thomas crown affair, the movie?


One of my faves by Seurat (I think)


Best macarons in Paris. Pierre Herme

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