E.S.S. {End-of-Season-Sale}

What better time to hold an
End of Summer Sale
than the end of summer???

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Clever Girl has just taken further & final markdowns

on items in every department.

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If it's end-of-season, it's on sale...

Resistance is Futile...

Just a quick post because I want you all to meet the new kid on the block. No, not mine, but the next best thing--my neighbors, the Mavons. Meet Whitley. The. Cutest. Ever. I dare you to disagree. Little puppy teeth nipping away, wagging puppy tail, paws exploring the big new world, and those eyes that melt your heart. Resistance is futile! Believe me...

I'm sure he'll be dropping into Clever Girl at some point {all well behaved dogs are welcome you know} and his new family will be taking him for lots of walks around town. So keep an eye out in Western Springs for this little one...clever girls love cute boys.

Oh Rats. Bats.

I've always privately thought of our little cottage in Michigan as "Bedlam Manor". I'm now re-thinking that. "Animal House" is seeming ever more apropos.

Squirrels in the attic earlier this summer launched a tiny war. Gus, our communal goose was, shall we say, taken (kidnapped? Goosenaped?) by some neighbors. The deer have had a salad bar of my Hostas (sob!) and, seemingly, we have now entered the bat cave...

To say I was startled one recent evening on the porch by a lone bat would be a HUGE understatement. Freaked. Frightened. Terrified. Yes, words like that paint the picture. How do you know if you've had a cardiac infarction??? I was able to show him to the door eventually, and a peaceful evening resumed: No nerves a cocktail (or 10) can't cure... Everyone else seemed to find this rather funny, but I fail to see the humor.

Whilst preparing to depart the next day, a glance skyward reveled the following:

A GIANT BAT KITE was snared in our tree. Coincidence? I think not. There are a great number of charming and colorful kite patterns of which to choose, yet the one ensnared in our tree is a large, black bat kite. Clearly this is some kind of bat revenge or warning. So, for now, I've grown weary of the natural world; perhaps a restorative trip to the big city is in order. The concrete jungle. Wildlife at a minimum. Angry taxi-cab drivers flashing birds of a different sort. Yes indeed-I think it's exactly what I need.

So long, farewell...

Not really sure the exact day I heard

Perhaps 'twas from a little bird

Yes, it said you were soon to go away

Another retail season you could not stay

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But who will tell us what to think

And voice herself out loud?

How will we know what things will sell

And others eh, not so well.

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Once a Clever Girl, forever a Clever Girl,

we all want you to know.

And with that i phone in your hand

You'll never really go.

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Dear Allie is off. She's flown away.

Drat your fancy MBA.

We wish you well, but it's not the end

You'll always be our CNN

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BEST WISHES WITH YOUR NEW JOB ALLISON! WE'LL MISS YOU...

WAVE FROM THE TRAIN AS YOU GO BY

(Please, just don't lick the glass)

Homegrown Retail Roots

Enjoying a panini sandwich with a delicious, homegrown tomato the other day reminded me of my first "retail" experience. My best bud growing up was Bryan Rhodes, who lived right across the street, and he was my partner in crime back in the day. Ahh yes, the year of the juicy red tomato, and my first foray into the retail market...here's the deal...

Bryan and I had a great many childhood adventures: HOURS in the sandbox, swing set games, firefly hunting, and chasing after the big, mysterious trucks that came around spraying for mosquitoes at night (brilliant, right?) Each summer day began at the crack of dawn with a bowl of Lucky Charms and a glass of Tang, and then we met up and headed out for adventure. The two of us tried to light anthills on fire with magnifying glasses, ran through the sprinkler, and rode Big Wheels around the block HUNDREDS of times: Brian had the super-deluxe model, but I had the sandbox... His mom was an expert at bandaging our skinned knees, and my mom made the PB&J sandwiches just the way we liked them. Evenings usually ended with a marathon game of Ghost in the Graveyard and then collapsing into bed only to start all over again the next day.

For rainy days, Brian and I were also fans of the local dime store as a source for some of our summer entertainment. Yo-yo's, cards, silly putty, comic books and glider airplanes were always on our list, and we relished the chance to wander the long aisles covered in white linoleum flooring. Of course, allowance and Grandma's good will stretched only so far: Often we found ourselves in need of hard currency. However, while some kids did the Kool-Aid stand, we saw the cash potential of tomatoes. No 5-cents a glass for us--we wanted the big score. My dad had a ridiculously good bumper crop that year, so...tomatoes to the rescue. Up went our little store front at the curb, out came the bags of home grown tomatoes, and in came the customers..........we hit it big. Flush with cash for the rest of the summer, Bryan and I spent many hours perusing the isles of the 5-and-dime.

Ironically, some 30 years later, Clever Girl now occupies the very space of that old dime store. Our stock room still has the old white flooring, and I often remember the excitement of time spent wandering among the displays of toys and goodies. Happily, the space is still full of goodies--now just a little bit more "grown-up" goodies.