Jan and I left at 9:00 a.m. for Orange County, and by 11:00 we were parked by Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. We met for lunch at noon, but Jan became ill, so I got her settled in her room at the Marriott Suites, and went back to the mall. I shopped for five more hours, and returned to the hotel with 5 Nordstrom bags, one from Williams-Sonoma, one from Borders, three from Crate & Barrel, and a Chico’s bag! Not bad for Day 1 of the weekend!

Brad arrived around 7:30, and met me for a drink in the hotel bar. Les had come to take poor Jan home, but she was to ill with the flu to travel Friday night. Les had a drink with us before our lovely dinner at Antonello’s. We started with a glass of prosecco, and then a nice salad with pears and gorgonzola. For his entree, Brad had veal, and I had my favorite dish on their menu: rolled lasagna pasta stuffed with cheese and prosciutto in a pink sauce and bechamel.

I enjoyed coffee while Brad indulged in a chocolate lava cake with ice cream and fudge.

On Saturday, we headed to the Bead Show at the Fair Grounds. We arrived shortly after it started at 10:00, and I frantically bought beads until 2:00, with one 10 minute break! It was overwhelming to see booth after booth with thousands of choices of stones, beads, crystals and gems! I will have lots of great January projects to work on!

We returned to South Coast Plaza and had lunch at Lawery’s Carvery. Yummy prime rib sandwiches! Then we shopped…AGAIN.

We did quite well and added a few new bags to the stash. It is getting crowded in our hotel suite!

We had some “down time” and relaxed in the hotel. After a nap, we went out for a snack, as neither of us wanted dinner.

Sunday, we slept in, had coffee, and checked out at 10:00. We barely got all the shopping bags in Brad’s trunk, and put our luggage in the back seat.
This is the SECOND load!

We headed to Corona del Mar and had brunch at Bristol Farms. I bought everything I wanted at Sur La Table, and we enjoyed an hour of the beautifully decorated Roger’s Gardens decorated for Christmas! I bought a topiary basket I can “accessorize” for every holiday!

We were home by 2:00 to finish the last tree, and be on time for the Slow Talk monthly book club! A perfect shopping weekend (except for Jan getting sick!).