Shopping Trip

WASHINGTON -- Former NAACP Executive Director Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and former aide Mary E. Stansel took the witness stand yesterday for a final round of he-said, she-said testimony in the trial of Stansel's claim that the NAACP owes her $245,200.In an attempt to rebut Chavis' testimony that their relationship was never intimate, Stansel produced receipts from a 1990 shopping trip she made with Chavis in suburban Virginia. She said they bought him $264 worth of dress shirts and ties. She charged the purchases, and he reimbursed her with a check drawn on his joint account with his wife.

A group of five men robbed a 14-year-old boy of his shopping bag outside Arundel Mills mall after he walked out of a Bed Bath & Beyond store about 2 a.m. Friday, Anne Arundel County Police said. The victim told police the men accosted him on the sidewalk just outside the store, one of them punched him and another stole a bag containing merchandise he had just purchased. The suspects, who the boy described as black men aged 17 to 21 wearing black North Face jackets and jeans, ran away toward the mall's Bass Pro Shops entrance.

Daniel Deckelbaum knew his long summer of tennis, baseball card trading and just "hanging out" was over this week when his mom told him it was time to go shopping for school supplies."

Ted Williams wasn't at the pool last week. Nor was he on the basketball court, polishing off an ice cream cone, sleeping in till noon or catching a movie. One gloriously sunny midsummer day found him at Target, clutching a dictionary and gazing listlessly at three-ring binders. Though it felt as if vacation had barely begun, the Towson teenager was already back-to-school shopping with his mother and younger brother. He could almost hear the institutional bell cutting into his time off. The shopping trip, he declared, was "a killjoy.

Having just completed a 28-day stay at a drug treatment center to overcome a marijuana addiction, 15-year-old Antiona Mills went shopping Sunday afternoon for new school clothes to make a fresh start. Barely 15 hours later, the teen-ager was discovered beaten to death - naked and wrapped in a sheet on a Northwest Baltimore street, police say. The death has shocked a family that believed the teen-ager had begun to focus on reshaping her life. "She was just a happy-go-lucky girl," said Marylin Mills, 62, Antiona's grandmother.

LOS ANGELES -- Members of a suburban Van Nuys Girl Scout troop who showed up for a shopping trip at the Northridge Fashion Square were at first denied entry by security officials enforcing a policy designed to prevent gang violence.Mall officials say the guards were just doing their jobs, but the leader of Troop 823 said yesterday that the scouts deserve an apology."The guard said a group with more than three people was a gang. I said 'Do we look like a gang? Look at these girls, we have adults here, they are clean cut and they have lots of supervision,' " said troop leader Lois Young.

Use a shopping catalog such as J.C. Penny or Sears. Tell your child you are going on a shopping trip. Have him select an item, such as a television, and ask him, "What sound does television begin with?"You can do the same with other items, and every time he gives the correct sound, he gets to cut out and keep that object. When he does not know a sound, tell him, "Television begins with the sound 't'." Try not to say a vowel after the sound, in other words say 't' not 'tuh.' Praise him for the sounds he does give correctly.

The youthful fashion genre has taken a decidedly cosmic turn into point-and-click chic.Fashion Trip, a new "virtual shopping mall" on CD-ROM, allows women shoppers to surf their way into a flattering, if not stylish, wardrobe. The program shows clothes from 30 designers and lets you superimpose the garments on a mannequin that you've chosen in your image.It has personalized advice on what clothing types and cuts work best - without sounding like your mother.You can spend all the time you want cruising the mall, without nagging from your boyfriend, spouse or child.

Boston -- On the seventh day before Christmas, the couple went out together to shop for presents. And came home with a bundle of revelations.Until then, mind you, the pair appeared to be a very model of compatibility. They shared everything from a passion for calamari to an impatience with Mario Cuomo.No predetermined sex roles skewed their partnership. Indeed, they were capable of sharing a kitchen, a checkbook and a tennis court without contemplating spouseicide. Who would have guessed that a gender gap of massive proportions would come unwrapped over gifts?

KAREN HEIMS of Cable 8 announces that the interviews are finished, the filming is over and she's burning the midnight oil to edit her new production on Historic Elkridge.Because many pictures and written information about Elkridge were destroyed in a flood, Karen conducted her research on a person-to-person basis.Karen interviewed Helen Voris, past president of the Elkridge Heritage Society; Sam Merson, a 25-year veteran of the fire department; Jack Merson, who provided information about Elkridge Country Club baseball teams; Dan Wecker, who with his brother restored the Furnace Inn; and local historian Joetta Cramm.

Shopping for furniture can be a drag. On the other hand, who doesn't love taking delivery of that perfect new sectional, armoire, hall mirror, or table? But the road from shopping to buying can be a long one, and driving back and forth between the big box stores and boutique shops may tie up an entire weekend or longer, and even then, there's no guarantee of finding what you want. Interior designers typically maximize their time by going to the "trade only" design centers or letting manufacturers reps come to them.

Last week, I was doing some holiday shopping in a popular retail establishment; let's just call it "Wharf Uno." Wharf Uno is a pretty smelly store -- there is always some sort of enigmatic scent wafting through the aisles, emanating from a new scent-delivery system called "reed diffusers." These reeds look surprisingly like incense sticks, but they are cleverly incapable of igniting your draperies and burning your house down because you do not light them. Instead, you stand them up in a jar of fragrant oil, and they soak it up. Through some sort of magical transference system, the air starts smelling.

I've never met Joe and Peggy Werner, but I endorse their suggestion that a memorable Christmas Eve could be spent in church along Baltimore's Charles Street corridor. They recommended starting early, dropping in here and there, and breaking for dinner. Joe recalled a Christmas Eve experience at SS. Philip and James Roman Catholic Church in Charles Village where gowned hostesses acting as ushers invited him to a post-midnight parish reception.

Located less than two hours from Baltimore by car, the Montgomery County, Pa., and greater Valley Forge countryside encompass many outdoor recreational activities, historical sites, seasonal festivals, Colonial workshops and wonderful holiday shopping. With the seasons changing, a fall drive throughout this area is certain to be a beautiful one. The 3,600-acre Valley Forge Historical Park is filled with beautiful shades of autumn, so enjoy the ride. What to do Valley Forge National Historic Park (Route 23 and North Gulph Road, 610-783-1000)

Having just completed a 28-day stay at a drug treatment center to overcome a marijuana addiction, 15-year-old Antiona Mills went shopping Sunday afternoon for new school clothes to make a fresh start. Barely 15 hours later, the teen-ager was discovered beaten to death - naked and wrapped in a sheet on a Northwest Baltimore street, police say. The death has shocked a family that believed the teen-ager had begun to focus on reshaping her life. "She was just a happy-go-lucky girl," said Marylin Mills, 62, Antiona's grandmother.

Senior shoppers will go from supermarket to supermarket to get the best buys on groceries. But even with the spiraling cost of prescription drugs, many of those same consumers fail to compare the price of medications as carefully as they do produce or cereal, experts say. The result can be an expensive mistake. Research by Professor Alan Sorenson of the University of California at San Diego, for example, found that drug prices vary significantly from store to store and from drug to drug.

Eating chocolate is an appropriate way to mark most any occasion in life, from honoring Arbor Day to mourning the death of a major appliance.Over the years I marked such noteworthy events as finding a free parking spot, by stopping at the Rheb chocolate booth in the Lexington Market and refueling.Whenever I spot a Rolls-Royce, which these days isn't very often, I nonetheless think of the time I held a model of that car, made from Godiva chocolate, in my moist and trembling hands.The sight of dark blue ceramic tile makes me think chocolate covered nuts and the tiled entrance to the Russell Stover store in Kansas City.

Around Pam Shriver's Brooklandville home, serious clothing decisions are being made.A pile is stacked in one corner: black skirts, print shirts and shorts destined for Goodwill. Then there's the good stuff: the Escada dress, Donna Karan bodysuit and silk suit about to be packed for a multi-city trip she starts tomorrow.But there's still one question that haunts the 32-year-old tennis star: What to wear to the benefit she founded -- the Signet Bank Tennis Challenge tonight at 7 p.m. at the Baltimore Arena.

For all the years I've headed to Rehoboth Beach, I've dreaded the inevitable traffic delays. For many years it was the dreaded Kent Narrows Bridge, with its draw frequently open for boaters. My current nemesis is the wretched traffic knot outside the Rehoboth Outlet Mall, where we burned up gas for hours last August, all the while fearing the rental agent would pronounce us missing and turn in for the night. But let's face it, you can't return from a stay at the beach without a loaded shopping bag or two. The beach possesses its own categories of shopping - the inevitable caramel corn, fudge and taffy shops, the linen shop, the auction house.