Philly fun

I trekked up to Philadelphia on Saturday. I had a yummy brunch at Ida Mae's, the opportunity to meet lots of interesting individuals at a cookout (and other brunch) and did a little shopping at Circle Thrift, in Fishtown. Tif found a great faux wrap 100% silk dress in a gorgeous print (above), but lucky for me, it was not her size. It only cost $2 folks! It will need a few minor alterations, but TWO DOLLARS! And it still had tags on it! I also got another dress (which I will dye) and a pink t-shirt (for the chocolate bunnies decal below) for a grand total of six bucks. I love thrift shopping.

Also pictured (bottom), some fun cotton prints I'm looking forward to working some magic with this spring. For some reason pink keeps attracting my attention. I'm also happy to report I've gotten a few new clients recently, who actually want new dresses made, (not old ratty bedsheets mended.) Yay!




From Top to bottom: Warm pink/coral cotton batiste with Morroccan print in red and pink flowers, Pink and White floral (alternates pink on white to white on pink), two of the same print in slightly different color families --florals with butterflies and silver accents, Lipstick print (for a handbag), and last, Purse print (also for a handbag, I think).

To Market, To Market

I had to run to the supermarket tonight after dinner. I was already a wee bit annoyed as Lil' Miss was in overdrive (the natural result of my having skipped her nap time in order to be sure she will sleep soundly tonight) and as we entered the store I saw him. He was standing behind a small narrow counter with a Baltimore Sun newspaper logo behind him and a newspaper splayed out on the counter top. I veered hard to the right to avoid his obstacle in the produce section. (I was in a "get in and get out quick" kind of mode.) He didn't even look up when he spoke to me. "How would you like to save $10 on groceries and get a free paper?" I, being the polite young woman my parents raised me to be, felt obliged to answer. "No, thanks."
"Do you already receive the Sunday paper?"
"No."
"Wouldn't you like a free one?"
"No, I don't have time to read the paper."
"You, don't have time to save money by clipping valuable coupons?"
Okay, I'm getting really bothered by his tactic. Didn't I already say, No thanks?
"No, I don't," I replied. He eyed my children and me up and looked at me in disbelief. Finally I said, "I don't have time for this conversation," and then wheeled behind the apple stand, attempting to select fruit more gently than I was feeling at the moment.

This "attack" bothered me well into the cereal aisle where I heard myself talking to myself "let it go, he's just trying to sell his newspapers." Blah. I found myself, even at the self-checkout explaining to myself why coupons don't really save me money. It's because most of the stuff in the coupon sections are for junk food that I don't buy. I know what I buy, I've tried doing the coupon thing, and frankly the coupon choices just aren't very healthy. Well, once and while I'll find one for whole wheat pasta, but it's just not usually worth the time and effort.

Why do I feel guilty shrugging off this newspaper man? It's really stupid. Actually, I think I feel guilty at my annoyance. I mean, I was on a mission, and he was creating an obstacle to the goal of speed shopping for no reason and he wasn't taking NO for an answer. I hate that. I sometimes forget that even though I do take "No" for an answer, other people don't always.

Ebay bug

My sister likes shopping on ebay. I have on occasion tracked items and looked at prices and then become overwhelmed and just went to the store to find what I needed. But today I made my first ebay purchase. The boys and I have been watching some lego star wars minifigures and sets that they would like to add to their growing collection. I've lost several bids so far, and last night I thought I had lost, but today I was given a "second chance offer". Apparently the seller actually had two of the same set and offered it to me also as the second highest bidder. So I bought it, and K still thinks I lost so he will be pleasantly surprised when he opens the Emperor Palpatine and throne seat. The set we are most anxious about "winning" is the new and hard to get X-wing fighter with six minifigures: Leia, Chewy, Han, Luke, Antilles, and R2. I tried to order it from Lego.com and it is backordered until April. Which means it wouldn't even be on time for K's birthday.

This whole concept of "winning" (buying) and "losing" (not buying) is an interesting twist to shopping. It makes a game of shopping, and I can see how it becomes highly addictive and expensive. It's amazing what some people will pay for a 2 inch high piece of plastic, and by "some people" I mean myself.