Long Day

It's stress time. For some reason, anything that comes up will come up during this time of the year. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

After work today, I needed retail therapy. I grabbed the three pairs of pants that I couldn't wear from the Housing Works Buy the Bag sale (two pairs of trousers and mom jeans) and headed over to Beacon's Closet in Park Slope. The reviews on Yelp are mixed but I figured what the heck.

They wouldn't take my clothes - I don't think they were fashionable enough for them. I sort of agree, I guess. They gave me the option of donating the clothes to charity through them so I did it. There's no sense in keeping clothes that I won't ever wear. Clutter makes me sad :-(

I browsed the store for 15 minutes. It's large and clean. They have some pretty cute accessories organized into different parts of the store. There were two rings that were interesting but they were really overpriced - $10-15 for pieces of poor quality. I've seen better stuff at Forever 21. That seems to be the theme at Beacon's Closet though - overpriced items. I saw a Forever 21 skirt priced at $10. Say what...? 8O That's probably higher than the original, new-with-tags price. Big, flashing neon "Rip-Off!" sign.

In terms of clothing, I didn't see anything interesting though the store was moderately full of customers snapping up stuff. Most of the stuff was the same as what I'd seen at the Buy the Bag sale. There was no way I could pay $10-24 per item when I got 19 for $25.

That's right... I went from shopaholic to frugalista. Just kidding - I shouldn't give myself so much credit. ;-)

Anyway, their shoe selection was pretty decent. They have a wide range of flats, peep toes, platforms, and boots. There were several cute pairs. I picked up a pair of Cole Haan black patent leather mini wedges but decided to put them down in the end. They were $17 and in very good condition but I wasn't crazy for them.

They looked like this, except a more dated - rounded toe and shorter wedge. I'm having a bit of buyer's remorse for not buying them for a fraction of the retail price but I'm not sure thifted shoes are something I'm ready for.

I've been looking for mini wedges for a while now... :-? Some people recommend spraying diluted bleach into a thrifted shoe and resoling it. I need to do more research.

I definitely won't go out of my way to shop at Beacon's Closet. If I'm ever in the neighborhood, I'll pop in but it's really not worth a special trip.

Anyway, after I walked out empty-handed and I went across the street to Key Food. I got some chicken and came home to cook dinner for my luvah (ST, if you were confused). Baby sister Mel joined us just as dinner was ready (her timing is always impeccable).

Chicken Parmesan

You'll need:

• Chicken cutlets


• Egg wash - one egg + water, whisked


• Italian bread crumbs - I add sea salt to it because ST is a salt fiend


• Spaghetti sauce


• Olive oil

Heat olive oil in a frying pan on low. Slice each cutlet in half. Then, pound each cutlet as flat as it can get. Dip the chicken into the egg wash and them dredge in bread crumbs. Fry the cutlets 5 minutes on each side on low heat. After browning each side, cover the pan for 3-4 minutes to keep the chicken juicy. This is ST's trick - works every time.

Serve over pasta or in a sandwich.













Then we turned on Gremlins - one of my favorite movies. I love Gizmo and Phoebe Cates is fabulous. I've always thought she was and is so gorgeous.

Frantically trying to keep up with Gremlin drink orders. :-D

Image source

Our favorite line is "Gizmo... Kaka!"

It reminds me of Kaitlyn saying "Gah gah!"

I guess my day wasn't so bad after all.

The end. :-)