Tag Archives: shopping

Jan14

“Do you trust me?”

Posted on by
“Do you trust me?”

These are perhaps the scariest four words ever for Joey to receive via text message when he knows I am at the Gap.  Especially when he knows I went to look for something for him.

We had a buy one i-tem, get a second i-tem (anything in the store of equal or lesser value) for free.  Also I had a rewards coupon for bucks off.  So the plan was: something for him, something for me.

I found a cute purple shirt for me, but the problem was Joey.

He likes to stay in his comfortable clothing rut, which I completely understand.  I do the same thing.  It’s just so much easier to buy him something I know he won’t like at first but will eventually wear all the time. (Like the down puffer vest from last Christmas, and the black chambray shirt with the pearlized buttons from this year.)

This time?

I found a blue and gray argyle cardigan.

It was pretty much Mr. Rogers all over the place.

And, with all my discounts, it was going to be $15.00.

I had to get it.

So I sent Joey a text that I was at the Gap.  And…did he trust me?

The response I received from Joey was feeble at best.  He wanted a picture.  So I sent him one.  His response to the picture was that um, maybe he could think about it?  But don’t take the tags off once I got home.

He had youth group last night, and Analie and I were staying home until we decided to go sit with my friend (and Analie’s future friend) at the hospital because her husband was getting surgeried.  Joey wound up getting home just a few minutes before we did, and when we arrived, we found him wearing his new sweater over a brick-red t-shirt.  It didn’t coordinate at all.

“I’m not sure about this,” he said.

“We’ll make it work,” I told him.  ”I promise you, it’ll be cool.  You just have to wear it with a different shirt.”

I don’t think he’s wearing his new sweater today, but my goal is to make him wear it on Sunday.  With the tags off.

SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY, SUNDAY!!!

Jun9

Things We Will Miss: Central Market

Posted on by
Things We Will Miss: Central Market

I am not sure what we will eat if we can’t shop for our groceries at Central Market.  Joey will ONLY eat Central Market apples: trust me, I’ve tried several times to buy them from other stores and they always wind up being “squishy” or “tasteless” or “bruised” no matter how crisp they seemed when we bought them.

I will miss the massive selection of produce and juices and Joey will mourn the loss of his Cherry Vanilla granola from the bulk section.

Maybe we could just stick Central Market in the moving truck and bring it along with us?

Jun1

Three (semi) Important Things

Posted on by
Three (semi) Important Things

Today, I have learned Three Important Things.

  1. Nobody makes maternity slips.  Nobody at all.  So if you’re expecting and you’re trying to find out, just quit now because they do not exist.  I learned this the hard way after going to three stores this afternoon and then scouring the interwebs.
  2. Rather along those lines, finding a moderately attractive maternity bathing suit is like finding a four leaf clover in a field in Ireland: not an easy thing.  The last time I wore my regular bathing suit, both brothers laughed at me.  There was little to no chance I was going to be wearing it again any time soon, so today I went searching.  Everything contained either copious amounts of flowers (which Joey hates), looks like a tent, or is a pukey shade of green.  We wound up with a floral option, and Joey said he could tolerate it for the next few months.  He’s a champ.
  3. Skunks are legal to keep as pets in the state of Indiana.  I know this because this evening, I met someone who has a skunk for a pet.  This is fantastic.  Now I can revive my campaign to get a pet skunk!!!  Joey is dismayed.  I figure he’ll get over it in a year or two.

This is all I have learned.  I need to go to bed now before my exploding headache gets any worse.  So far I give the second trimester a B on not feeing like I’m going to throw up all the time, and an F on constant headaches.

I thought of something really funny but now I can’t remember it because of the headache (happens all the time, I’ll have something I want to post and then I forget it because my head hurts so bad; lame-o) so now I think I’ll just go to bed.

Goodnight and good luck.

Apr2

He’s a sweet talker

Posted on by
He’s a sweet talker

A couple of years ago, Joey discovered that at Central Market, they’ll break their bags of rolls or hamburger buns into halves.  Occasionally, they’ll even give him only two.  So that’s became our SOP, we always just get as many as we need for the day since they don’t have any preservatives in them.

They get moldy fast.

Plus we don’t eat a lot of bread around here.

Sometimes when we go, he’ll be all, I’ll go get the cheese from Cheeseland (that’s what I call it) and you get the buns.

Every single time, the person behind the bakery shuts me down.  They’re like, um, NO we don’t split the packages.  WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

So then I retreat with my tail between my legs and I slink back to Joey to tell him they wouldn’t give me just two buns.

Then he goes and tries and – bingo – he gets the buns.

Every.

Single.

Time.

Even today, when the guy behind the bakery counter was about as cranky as Scrooge the day before Christmas. Joey asked for two buns, and Mr. Bakery Man started mumbling about how he didn’t think he could do it, probably the best he could do was four.  MAYBE.

And then a couple seconds later he hands Joey a bag with two buns in it.

Unbelievable.

Joey has clearly got some skill that I lack, because Mr. Bakery Man would have shut me down faster than the FDIC boards up a failed bank.

So I’ve just taken to hiding behind the huge wheel of Parmesan they have displayed whenever Joey goes to try to finagle with the bakery employees.  It just seems safer that way, if you ask me.

Mar20

Yeah, we’re married

Posted on by
Yeah, we’re married

So I guess we didn’t get enough winter back in December and January, because what is UP with this freezing weather situation we have going on today?  My toes are numb, Joey just turned on the heat, and he’s building a fire.  At least that’s what it looks like he’s doing, I haven’t asked.  (He may just be cleaning out the fireplace, and if he’s doing that then major kudos to him because it really needs to be done and I keep forgetting.)

We had serious shopping we had to do today, because we had some really good coupons we needed to use before they expired.  We left at noon and got home three hours later, our shopping bags heavier and our bank account lighter.

Our last stop was Central Market, and we took our sweet time moving through the aisles (because it was a Saturday and we hate going on a Saturday, but it’s not worth risking road rage trying to dodge the crazy Saturday People who have the carts that are the size of Greyhound busses and stand there blocking traffic while they yakkity yak on their cell phones.)

By the time we made it to the end of the store, we were bushwhacked.

So Joey decided to run and get the car while I loaded up the bags and paid for our groceries.  Because it’s fah-reezing outside and I was a moron and didn’t wear a coat because I thought it would be “inconvenient”.

What wound up being more inconvenient was me squealing with cold every time we went from the car to a store.

But whatevs.

So I handed the produce tags to the cashier and told him they were the prices for our fresh items, which we do not put in plastic bags, we have our own cotton ones we bring every week.  He was like, woah, you two are power shoppers, and I was all, thanks dude, I KNOW.

I stood at the end of the conveyor belt and loaded up our reusable bags with our purchases.

And the checker dude, who appeared to be mid-twenties?, looked at me with the reusable produce and shopping bags and he said, “You guys are seriously organized.  Are you going to get married anytime soon?”

I busted out laughing.  I couldn’t contain myself.  I mean, I realize I had no makeup on (confession: I do not wear makeup on Saturdays unless dire circumstances call for it; and I don’t do my hair neithers) so I looked like  I was about 20.  But I kept laughing and said, “Oh, we’ve been married for five years now.”

Checker dude just about lost his jaw because it hit the floor so fast.

“Well….well…..did you propose to him or did he propose to you?”

Internet, no one has EVER asked me that question before.  Never.  Ever.

I tried not to laugh again, and told him that Joey had proposed to me.  Because we were old-school.

When I related this little story to Joey later, he was totally fixated on fact that I had said we were old school.  (I guess he doesn’t think we’re old school?)  Maybe we are, maybe we aren’t.  I guess it’s up for debate.

(This just in: Joey DID start a fire.  The man reads my mind.  I love him.)

Feb5

And then I THREW HIM UNDER THE BUS. (With all the love in my heart.)

Posted on by
And then I THREW HIM UNDER THE BUS. (With all the love in my heart.)

Tonight we went to dinner at Maggiano’s because we had a gift card.  And, really, what better way is there to celebrate the commencement of your weekend than to go spend free money on delicious food you don’t have to make?  THERE ISN’T ONE.  We were all going to the free valet parking, since it was Maggiano’s, but when we got there…the Valet guy wasn’t at his post.  So instead of driving up there and sitting around waiting for him to show up, like the couple of idiots we are, we just parked and walked in.

And I was all, well, we didn’t get the valet experience, BUT WE SAVED THE $1 TIP.

So we’ve still never actually valet parked our car.  I guess this is one experience we’re just going to have to forego.

We managed to only use half of our gift card, and we squealed to ourselves as we walked out the door carrying a bag of leftovers that this was even more awesome since we could go out for dinner again!!!!

I had recently come into possession of some Christmas money, some of which was in the form of a gift card to Williams Sonoma.  I love Williams Sonoma with all of my heart, because I love to browse the tools and pans and various awesome things they have.  But what I really covet every single time I go in there?  The essential oil kitchen candles.

Yeah…I realize it’s the totally wrong thing to covet in a store full of All-Clad pots and pans and Le Creuset French Ovens.  That’s just how it is.

I agonized for a good 30 minutes over the best, most effective way to maximize my gift card.

Then, I did what I thought I would do from the moment walked in the store.

I bought a kitchen candle.  Because it is my Christmas gift card, and those should be squandered in semi-careless fashion.

I got the Basil scent.  It smells….heavenly.  And the odd thing is that I really don’t care for the scent of basil in my food.  (If you really want to know, whenever I smell it, it makes me feel like I’m going to throw up.  And if you didn’t want to know, then sorry.)

After Williams Sonoma, we continued our lap around NorthPark (as we usually do), and as we walked past the Aveda store, Joey said, “Oh!  You should go in, they’re giving samples today with a hair consultation.”

I tried to tell him I didn’t want to.  Because I was really kind of ambivalent about it and, frankly, I think those hair consultation things are uncomfortable.  (I don’t like random strangers touching my head, OK?)  I did one last time I was in there buying Smooth Infusion Glossing Straightener, which I highly recommend, and I felt like I didn’t really need to repeat the experience.

But somehow we were propelled into the store, mostly because Joey was steering me in.

Like I said, I feel really uncomfortable with these types of things.  So we started looking (awkwardly) at the Scalp Remedy I got recently to kind of give us an alibi for being in there in the first place.  Like we were in there for something other than the free stuff.  And the sales guy came over to us and said, “Hi, how are you?”

I totally froze.  I looked at him with that deer in the headlights look that under-socialized engineering students at Iowa State University have, and I said “Um, fine.”

Then I said, “He needs a hair consultation,” and shoved Joey forward.

The look he gave me was not unlike what you would see from one of those reality shows where there’s a lot of backstabbing and cut-throat type competition.  I’m pretty sure he wanted my head on a platter.

So there he stood, poor, poor Joey, as the sales man messed around with his hair and asked him what he put in it.  He sampled the styling creme and then the sales man dashed off to get some samples.  Joey glared at me while we waited, and soon enough the sales  man floated back to drop the samples in our bags.  And then we got out of there as fast as he could drag me.

“YOU THREW ME UNDER THE BUS!” He gasped.  I think he had been holding his breath the entire time we were in the store.

“Well….well I didn’t really want to do it in the first place,” I said.  ”But we got you free samples of the shampo you already use!” I chirped.  ”And samples of the gel too!”

Yes, yes.  Joey already uses the Aveda manly shampoo and conditioner and gel.  So the consultation was totally unnecessary.

“I cannot believe you threw me under the bus,” he said again.

It happens.

Jan27

Joey is a Gumshoe

Posted on by
Joey is a Gumshoe

A month ago, Joey got a hole in the toe of his favorite Chuck Taylors.  A few weeks before, he had shown me that his other pair was also holey.  (He IS going to be a pastor, but that’s not the same kind of holy as we’re shooting for in this house.)  Joey has two pairs of Chuck Taylors, brown and blue, and he wears them pretty much exclusively.  I wonder if his other shoes don’t get their feelings hurt, but I guess he’s right; they’re more either fancypants shoes or athletic shoes.  Not so much everyday kind of shoes, and he really can’t wear his other pairs to the office.

Also, Joey’s a guy (woohoo!) so he really doesn’t have a plethora of shoes like I do.

On Thursday of last week, I noticed the hole in the toe of his shoe had grown from just a tiny speck to about an inch long.  When he wiggled his feet, you could see SOCK.

“You need new shoes,” I told him.

“No I don’t,” he replied.  ”These are still fine, we shouldn’t waste money on shoes for me.”

I tried to explain to him that when both of his shoes are falling apart at the stitches it isn’t a waste, but he lost interest in the conversation somewhere after I said the word “shoe” and wandered off.  Too much hanging around with high schoolers or something.

So on Friday I was poking around on Piperlime and discovered a pair of shoes, on sale, that I thought Joey just might like.  They were a little edgy, but he had mentioned that when he replaces his Chucks, he doesn’t want two more pairs of Chucks.  He wants something new.  Something different.  I spotted some Simple Gumshoes, which looked comfy and casual, but still not so casual that he couldn’t wear them to dinner or something.  (And they looked like the Sanuks he also wants someday, when he decides it’s not a waste of money.)

I ordered the Gumshoes.

They had free shipping and free returns, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt and maybe it would spur him on in the “you really need new shoes Buster” way of thinking.

Yesterday, they arrived.

“Those are COOL!” Joey said when I pulled them out of the box.

I breathed a sigh of relief.  I thought maybe they were a little too edgy or something, but he definitely liked them.  And they would have been great, too, if they hadn’t been too small.  So I’m shipping them back today.  My little plan did work, too, because we ordered the same shoe in a different color (not plaid) two hours later.

He still needs another pair of shoes, but I think he’ll probably get those for his birthday.  Poor guy.  What a boring birthday present.  But that’s what happens when you’re in seminary, and as soon as the new brown pair shows up at the end of the week, the old, brown holey shoes are going in the dumpster.

Oh happy day.

You know, I should get in the shower before I’m late.  It’s going to be a bad hair day for me today, I can tell already.  Meh.

Jan26

It’s the only kind of ironing I don’t totally hate

Posted on by
It’s the only kind of ironing I don’t totally hate

About a year ago I announced to Joey that I was ready for a new flat iron, because the one I had was just not cutting it anymore.

“What’s a flat iron,” he asked.

Sigh.

After I explained it to him (it’s that thing that straightens hair, in case you were wondering also) he wasn’t sure it was really that important.

And I was all, BUT MY HAIR LOOKS WEIRD.

Suffice it to say, nothing ever happened and I forgot about wishing for a new flat iron; well, I sort of forgot.

Then, last week, it started pulling my hair.  On top of not heating up well and all the other stuff I don’t like about it.  I mean, I got it in 2001 for $20, so I’d say it has served me well.  But it’s GERIATRIC.  And it wasn’t even good quality when I bought it, because I was in college when I suddenly realized that I was doing my hair all wrong and – HELLO! – everyone was using flat irons and I was still using a curling iron!!!

And then I made a speedy trip to Wal-Mart.

Over the weekend, I got tired of my hair getting pulled by the flat iron.  ”I HATE THIS THING,” I yelled to Joey.

I had to re-explain what a flat iron was, because it had been a year since we had this conversation, but once we were all on the same page, he acknowledged that we had decided I could replace my flat iron. In January.  Of 2009.

Somehow I had forgotten, which is kind of amazing to me.  Because I’m usually all over this type of thing.  So I got on Folica.com and started researching flat irons.  To make matters more complex, I wanted to get a dual-voltage one (because you just never know) and I wanted digital temperature control.

I KNOW, I KNOW, so high maintenance.

But I finally found it, and it was on sale.  And then I found a promotional code and got 10% off.  LOOK AT IT IN ALL ITS DIGITAL, LASER, TOURMALINE GLORY!

So now I’m just waiting for it to come home to me.  I am hoping it solves pretty much all my hair problems.  I’m pretty sure it will.

Aug6

Huh

Posted on by
Huh

I have been running around like a chicken with my head chopped off tonight.  I’m doing last minute preparations for Joey’s surgery tomorrow.

Chicken broth – check!  Pudding – check!  Brown Cow yogurt – check!  Smoothie mix – Check!  7-up – Check!  Potatoes for mashing – check!

As I was running around collecting the last few things (popsicle mold, Jello, frozen strawberries) I found myself in the Jello aisle at Target staring down about 20 different flavors of Jello.  I hate Jello.  Joey, on the other hand, loves it.  I knew I’d probably choose poorly if I tried to guess what kind he’d want, so I just called him since he was at home reading The Bourne Identity.

“What kind of Jello do you want,” I asked.

“Uh, read me the flavors,” he said.

I read them off, and when I got to lime, Joey interrupted me.  ”I want lime. You know I love lime.”

I do?!

Huh?

Honestly, if I’d had to choose under pain of death by firing squad, I would never in a million years have picked lime thinking he’d love it.

The things you learn after four and a half years of marriage, I tell you what.

Later, as I was still running around like the Mad Hatter trying to find popsicle molds, I turned down a back road to get to The Container Store and – surprise! – there I found Joey, walking home from the mall.

“Woah, hi!” I yelled as he got in the car.

“Did you know I was at the mall?” Joey asked.

“No…I’m on my way to the The Container Store.  Want to come or do you want me to take you home?”

Joey said he’d come with me, so off we zipped over a whole bunch of speed bumps.  (In actuality, we weren’t going that fast.  They were huge speed bumps.)  Once inside The Container Store, we were unsuccessful in finding popsicle molds.  So we found an employee.

“Do you have popsicle molds,” I asked.

“No, no we don’t,” she said, looking apologetic.  Then she said, “Now, don’t be offended, but have you checked Target?”

Offended?  Me?  Did I look like a fancy person who didn’t shop at Target? I glanced down at my outfit; a post-surgery staple – black yoga pants and my green “you’re the rock to my scissors” t-shirt I stole from Joey last year when he wasn’t looking.  She obviously wasn’t wearing her glasses.

“Oh, you know I’ve already checked Target,” I told her.

Then she looked very relieved, as though I didn’t judge her for suggesting a big-box discount store.  ”You might also check Tom Thumb,” she offered.

We thanked her and walked out of the store, giggling to ourselves all the while that she thought we’d be offended that she suggested we look at Target.

“Seriously, she must have thought we came from west of the store….but in reality, we live east of it.”

“Definitely east,” I concurred.

We finally located popsicle molds at Bed Bath and Beyond, and Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles, a childhood summer staple, are freezing as we speak.  Of course, I couldn’t make them without completely fiddling with the recipe, and I think they turned out supremely delicious.

Tomorrow: 6:00 am…it’s GO TIME, people.

Jul8

He trusts me.

Posted on by
He trusts me.

I had to go pick up some stuff at the mall last night, mainly hair products at Aveda.  Joey forgot his shampoo and conditioner in Iowa, and I was almost out of mine.

Let me just take a moment to unabashadely plug Aveda’s Scalp Benefits shampoo.  OH MY GOSH.  I started using it in January.  Because I inherited a really finicky scalp from one of my parents (I will not say who, lest I get removed from The Will again) I can’t find a shampoo that keeps my head happy for more than a few months at a time.  Once my head gets unhappy, then the rest of me gets unhappy and my hair starts disappearing.  Seriously, people.

Anyway, the Scalp Benefits has miraculously changed that.  I haven’t been so comfortable with my own head in a long time.

So I waltzed into Aveda yesterday evening and quickly found Joey’s stuff and some hairspray for me.  Since I got the hairspray that was considerably cheaper than the aerosol kind I usually get, I also threw in some travel shampoo and conditioner for Joey so he doesn’t have to leave his in Iowa again.

I noticed that this was getting slightly expensive, but I had my double points coupon and Joey had told me to get all this stuff.

I stood there in front of the Scalp Benefits display for, oh, probably five minutes.  Should I get the small bottles which are cheaper NOW…or should I get the large bottles which are much cheaper LATER…I debated.

After two rounds of this internal debate, I left the store with two very, very large bottles of Scalp Benefits shampoo and conditioner.

“The pumps are free,” the sales clerk said when I asked him if they sold any, because there was no way I was hefting a heavy, one liter bottle of shampoo in the shower.  I could already see that would be a disaster.

Unfortunately, I parked much further away from the store than I realized when I did it, and lugging a large, heavy bag of hair products is not an easy thing to do.

I began feeling guilty on the way home for spending so much money.  I could have gone with the smaller bottles, that would have been fine.

“Uh….I’m home,” I said, after dragging myself up the stairs.  My right arm was killing me and I was dreading taking the large bottles back to the store.  “I…spentatonofmoney,” I mumbled.

“How much?” Joey asked, looking at the LARGE bag I carried.

I told him.

“WOAH!” he laughed.  “WHAT did you BUY?”

I displayed my purchases on the kitchen table (he was very pleased with his travel bottles, I think they may have distracted him from the shock of my large shampoo bottles) and explained the save money now vs. save more money later bit about the liter bottles, and how they will last me for at least two years.

“You don’t have to justify your purchases to me,” Joey said.  “You’re a smart girl, this helps your scalp, and I know you don’t just go blowing money to blow money.  You figured it, this saves money and it makes sense to you, so it makes sense to me.  I trust your judgment.”

“Oh.” I said.

That was not what I had expected.

Here I had myself all worked up and nervous that he would be like, “YOU ARE A WASTEFUL AND SPOILED PERSON!”  (Actually I don’t know why, he’s never said that to me before.)

It’s nice to know that Joey trusts me, even when I spend a ridiculous amount of money on two years worth of shampoo and conditioner.