Frugalslacker? On vacation

The above nom de plume is what I almost typed as I signed in: yes, unlike responsible bloggers, I did not give a vacation alert. That is because I fully expected to be sending missives from New England and California. Maybe I will. But if I don't, I am having a good time.

Here's a frugal tip: if you are going to have to plan for yearly expensive trips to visit Aged P's (that's from Great Expectations, in case you're hoping for some literary content), at least have said P's live in places that are good to visit. We always say that we are going places that people actually choose for vacations.

So right now we are in western Massachusetts, in a little cottage on a lake, and we've already visited Tanglewood a few times and seen a wonderful Georgia O'Keeffe/Arthur Dove exhibit at the wonderful Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA.

Of course, frugal shopping opps are few and far between, so we have had a blessed respite from the lure of my wonderful local thrifts.

We did go to Wellesley for an afternoon. The four of us served as entourage for my mother as she went to her first high school reunion ever: Brookline High School, class of 1948. Aside from the usual stress of seeing how old everyone is (including yourself), my mother had the stress of seeing the fellow she almost married.

So we wandered through the wealthy town of Wellesley, where Miss Em and I broke off from the guys and entered a resale shop. They were having a sale of up to 80% off. So Miss Em acquired two Nanette Lepore items, 2 dresses, and one other thing I can't remember. I got some Eileen Fisher (the time has come) pants. Total was about $70.00! The owner told me that area women hit all the church and charity sales to find pricy stuff to consign. Wow!

Definitely an afternoon of prophylactic shopping, as we head to the temptations of San Francisco and environs.