Saturday Sister Fun in Tuscaloosa!

My sister Michelle lives in Alabama which isn't that far from where I live in Mississippi.  Actually it's just a hop, skip, and about 20 miles to the state line. :)

One of my intentional missions (or resolutions) this year is to make an effort to spend more time with my sister on her own turf.

Last month I went over and spent the Sunday afternoon with her at their camphouse on the river.  Her hubby was out on the river fishing so we had a lot of sister time together.  We talked and watched tv together.  It was just like old times when we lived together during college and law school.   Here we are getting ready to eat supper together.

She even made me chicken and dumplings for supper that night  . . . my favorite.

This past Saturday I met her at her house, and we drove over to Tuscaloosa for a day of shopping . . . specifically shopping for chairs and barstools for my breakfast area.

Michelle works in Tuscaloosa and she know lots of places to shop.  I had the best time!  We went to a Home Accents store where I found some cute burlap/jute placemats for my table and a roll a green window pane mesh to use as a table runner on my dining room table.

Then Michelle took me to a store called The Orange Crate which is an unfinished furniture outlet.   

There were sooooo many chairs to choose from and sooooo much furniture there that I wanted!  I had to keep reminding myself that I was there to look at table chairs and barstools.

Michelle helped me narrow down to this chair -- the unfinished version.

I tried out several barstools and finally settled on this one -- a finished version.  I actually plan to buy the barstools finished in black or buy them unfinished and paint them black myself. . . . paint them myself . . . buy them already painted . . . what to do?

I don't think we have room in the breakfast area for a barstool with a back on it even though I do love that style of barstool. 

Michelle and I are such opposites!  Michelle can walk in a room and know immediately what furniture she wants and is absolutely positive about her choice.  Me . . . not so much!  Ha!

So even though I loved both the chair and barstool that I picked . . . I decided to buy only 1 of each to bring home . . . and try them out . . . live with them for a little while to see if I loved them.  The lady at the store said that I could bring them back if I wanted to which was a relief!  :)

After accomplishing the main objective of our shopping trip, we decided to get something to eat.  But before that, Michelle drove me by her work building.

Michelle actually works for a big law firm in Tuscaloosa.  Isn't that funny?  I'm a lawyer but she's the one that works for the big law firm!  Ha!  Life is so ironic sometimes!  Here's her work building.  She stood in that glass building watching that huge tornado as it traveled through downtown Tuscaloosa.  She said they watched the tornado as it was headed straight for them . . . and then suddenly it turned and went another way.  I couldn't imagine that!  She assured me that she was only 30 feet from the "safe room" in the building, but I don't think I would have picked a glass building to wait out that storm!  Like I said . . . we are soooo different!

We ate at a neat little place called Hooligans.  They had sweet tea with mint.  Yum  :)
It boasts American and Mediterranean food, but we ate strictly American -- cheeseburgers and fries! 

 After lunch we went to see the Purse Man.  You can read about the Purse Man here.

This is an awesome place!  His store is filled with row after row of bracelets, necklaces, and earrings . . . each item priced $1!  It was overwhelming . . .  the volume of jewelry you could choose from . . . I filled up my tiny basket to overflowing  . . . and the purse man brought me another . . . slightly bigger basket.  He could tell this was my first time in his store.  :)

He has purses too, but by the time I got to the purses . . . I was completely overwhelmed!  Oh and the purses are more than a dollar.  The ones I saw were around $20.  Still a great price!

Here are some of the necklaces & earring sets I got for $1 each!  ($4 total!)

Two more necklaces - a shorter variety -- $1 a piece !

My bracelets . . . $1 each!  ($$7 total!)

Some earrings . . . Yes $1 a piece!

I also bought several of these cute leather bracelets for the boys and their friends . . .  $1 a piece!

Can you tell that I LOVED the purse man . . . even though those $1 items sure did add up!

We went to Academy Sports, Lowes, and Hobby Lobby.  And then it was time to go home, so we stopped at the Chicken Salad Chick's place to get some chicken salad for supper -- to go. 

I got the Fancy Nancy sandwich with a side order of broccoli salad.  Yum Yum Yum!  That was some of the best chicken salad and broccoli salad I've ever eaten.  Michelle got a Kickin' Kay Lynne, a chicken salad with jalapenas in it . . . There were several different varieties of chicken salad to choose from . . . and I can't wait to go back!  We had gone by there for lunch earlier that day but there was a line of people going out the door onto the sidewalk waiting!  Luckily for supper, there wasn't a line!

We had a great day!  And the good news . . . I have 5 more chairs and 3 more barstools to buy!  That should set us up for several more shopping Saturdays in Tuscaloosa!  Yea!

I love my sister!  Thanks for a great day Michelle . . . and a great day for me . . .

and the Ferrell boys without me!  Ha!

And Thanks to you too sweet Dave . . the #1 Ferrell boy in my world!