Category Archives: Shopping

teenage neuroses strike back

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Tomorrow I’m going to be meeting up with three girls who I’ve known since somewhere around the second grade. I mentioned it a while back, but the last time I saw any of them was sometime in 1993 or ’94. So, about 15 years ago? The whole thing is very weird, and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t wigging out just a teensy little bit about our get-together tomorrow night.

So, besides the new haircut that I got last week, yesterday and today I’ve gone shopping during Catie’s naptime. (My parents were here, it’s not like I abandoned her.) Everything in my wardrobe is pretty casual, to put it mildly. I own way more hoodies than anyone should, and during the summer I often wear Dave’s old t-shirts with a pair of jeans and consider myself good to go. I very rarely go shopping for myself, and when I do, it’s usually to scour the out-of-season clearance racks. (Two of my favorite long-sleeved shirts I found at Kohl’s last spring for $2 each. Score!)

Anyway, since I’m a neurotic weirdo who feels like I need to prove that I’m not the same boring fat nerd that I was in high school, I’ve been looking for something that screams fabulous. (Or fierce. Where’s Christian Siriano when I need him?) I found a couple of cute tops, and one unbelievably fabulous shirt that does everything I could want it to do: it’s a bright print (I only wore dark solids in high school, the better to conceal my weight), it hides the tummy area without making me look pregnant, and it gives the illusion of boobs. It’s perfect. I would daresay that I look pretty smokin’ hot in it. Problem is, it cost $72. I haven’t spent that much on one article of clothing for myself… um, ever? (Well, there was my wedding dress, of course. But generally, I’m a $20-and-under type girl.) Oh, and it’s hand-wash only, which is totally impractical with my current life.

I took a deep breath and bought the shirt anyway, figuring that I’d try it on again when I got back to my parents’ house, and I’d find some huge flaw that would allow me to return it and never think about it again. Instead, what happened was that I tried it on, I modeled it in front of my parents, and my dad told my mom to write me a check to cover the cost of the shirt. So I think I’m keeping it.

I’ll take pictures before I go out tomorrow so y’all can see what I mean. Now I just have to find some fancy occasions so I can hopefully wear this shirt more than once. I’m thinking Dave and I might have to have a Date Night when we get back to North Carolina.

have a holly jolly early-November

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When we lived out in the boonies, we never put decorations on the outside of our house during the holidays. What would be the point? We lived on a remote, dead-end street. Barely anyone would’ve ever seen it other than us. So we never bothered.

Halloween was our first holiday in the suburbs, and our first experience seeing just how nuts the people around here go with their decorations. I was a little embarassed that we didn’t do anything. Well, ok, I put a pumpkin on the front stoop as sort of an autumn-type decoration, but I didn’t carve it or even draw on a jack o’lantern face with a Sharpie, because I suck horribly at all things that require even a teeny-tiny bit of artistic talent.

So, we’ve come to the conclusion that we’re going to have to step things up quite a bit for Christmas. A couple of our neighbors have informed me that everyone puts their Christmas lights up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Um, ok? Seems a bit ridiculous to me since it’s going to be up for a month, but sure, whatever.

To be honest, I’m a little excited at the idea of getting the outside of the house all spiffed up for Christmas, because my parents never did that. My mom would hang up a wreath on the front door, and since our front porch had white columns on it, she’d take a wide red ribbon and spiral it up the columns to make them look like candy canes. But we never had lights outside or anything. I’d really like to get in the habit of decorating the house for Christmas, I think Cate will really get into it as she gets older.

Today, Cate and I met up with Cat, Tony, e-baby, and Tony’s sister Diana to do a little pre-Christmas shopping. We hit a couple of stores to check out their selection of Christmas decorations. I didn’t buy anything today, I was just trying to get some ideas. Lowe’s hardware store has some great stuff – Cate and e-baby both loved all of the animatronic dancing, singing toys – but let’s get real, I’m not going to drop $200 on a giant inflatable Santa and stable (with a stall for each reindeer, labeled Donner, Blitzen, etc.). We also went to Big Lots (or as Cat calls it, Poverty Barn), and they had tons of stuff, which was pretty cheap, so I’ll probably end up heading back there to pick up some stuff. And I noticed that the dollar store near our house has Christmas decorations, so I think I’ll definitely be able to find sufficient supplies for the house that won’t hurt our bank account too much. I haven’t decided how extensive we’re going to get with the decor, though. I’ll have to balance my ambition with my hatred of working in the yard when it’s cold outside.

What about y’all? Anyone else go crazy with Christmas decorations, do you boycott them altogether, or do you find a happy medium?

NaBloPoMo Day 28: all over creation

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First of all, if you haven’t been following the comments on this post, go read them. That Google is a funny thing. Although I’m slightly mortified that I dissed a cartoon in passing and then the show’s creator left me a comment. Eek!

Today has been crazy errand-running day. After dropping Cate off at daycare, I:
* Made the rounds at Costco and stocked up on formula and other essentials.

* Got a haircut. (It’s been over three months since my last one – I was due.)

* Hit a health food store for protein and vitamin supplies (end results of my gastric bypass). While I was there, I ran into a former friend who I haven’t spoken to since before Dave and I got married. That was awkward, but I decided to be the bigger person and say hi. It wasn’t so bad.

WARNING TO MY DAD: No reading below this point!! (Not that I’m worried, I don’t think he ever reads this site.)

* Went to the Microsoft store to buy my dad’s Christmas present. This required me to be kind of sneaky and subversive, since I haven’t worked there for a year, so technically I’m not allowed to shop there anymore. I tried using my old badge to unlock the door, which of course didn’t work, so I asked the security guard if he’d let me in, and he did without even giving my badge a second glance. The thing is, my badge showed that I was a contractor, so it’s not like I would’ve gotten any cool employee discounts anyway, it was just gaining admission to the Sacred World of Things with Microsoft Logos on Them.

(I got my dad a golf shirt. He loves them. He likes bragging to his golf buddies about how his daughter works there. Or used to. Technically, my paycheck still comes from them in a very indirect way, but that’s a long story.)

(Oh, and I got Cate a “Microsoft Kid” t-shirt since she’s outgrown her Microsoft onesie. Hee! Dave says she isn’t allowed to leave the house wearing it. Whatever. We’ll just see about that.)

And now, it’s off to give the baby a bath and head off to bed. I feel like I haven’t stopped moving all day. So tired.

NaBloPoMo Day 24: shopping

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Under normal circumstances, I avoid shopping the first few days after Thanksgiving like the plague. I usually feel like the bargains aren’t worth the pain of dealing with the hordes of people, and trying to manage it with a baby in tow? Ugh, no thanks.

In spite of that, today Cate and I headed off to Target, because we had reached crisis levels of formula. I normally stock up on Similac at Costco to save money (it’s one of the few products that you can really save a ton of money on by buying in bulk), but not this time. I don’t know if this applies to all Costco locations, but the parking lot at ours is a nightmare on any weekend, nevermind this particular weekend. So I opted for the lesser of two evils and went to Target.

And it was not so bad. I was pleasantly surprised. I found a parking spot easily enough, retrieved a cart, and the checkout was not nearly as crazy as I was expecting. I got more Christmas presents, stocked up on various baby and household items that we needed, got a few things we didn’t need (hello, York peppermint patties! I’ve missed you all year), and just generally had a nice time getting out of the house for a while. We’ve had kind of a lazy holiday thus far, so this was a very welcome little outing.

Sorry this is boring. Just keeping up with the whole NaBloPoMo thing. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

the longest four days

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I know some people (read: Dave) still think it’s too early for this, but lately I’ve been looking at a lot of baby furniture online. I had this idea in my head of how I wanted to decorate the nursery, but when I started pricing out the items that I really liked… ouch. That stuff adds up. I’m starting to think that maybe it would be wiser to check out some of the local classified ads.

Case in point: I stopped by one of our local kids’ furniture stores on my way home from work a few days ago. The crib that I liked the most? Was $700. That didn’t even include the mattress.

Of course, I know there are certain baby items that one is never supposed to buy used. Like car seats, since a lot of manufacturers have recalls on older models. But for basic items, like a changing table or a playpen? Buying secondhand seems like a good idea.

I recently learned there’s a neighborhood near us that’s having a community garage sale this weekend. They have these little events twice a year. Kris went to the one back in March and said there was tons of baby stuff for sale. (This is a very posh little neighborhood, they have their own community daycare center, which was apparently also selling off a lot of older equipment.) At the time, Kris tried to talk me into going back with her to look at what was available, but I wasn’t even pregnant yet, so it seemed sort of silly.

Not this time! No, Dave and I will be hitting the sale first thing on Saturday morning. After stopping to get Dave a latte, so he won’t be totally unbearable. That should be fun. Wish me luck.

In other news: I have my 20-week appointment – including the ultrasound where we’ll find out the baby’s gender – on Tuesday, the 19th. Four more days, I can’t wait. Tuesday also happens to be Dave’s birthday, so that’ll be a neat little birthday surprise.

It’s funny, I’ve always celebrated my birthday on whatever weekend was closest to the date. Whether it was before or after my real birthday has never mattered that much; the important thing is that I get to sleep late on whatever the chosen Day of Celebration happens to be. (Or, more likely, that I can safely be hungover on the day after the Night of Celebration. Whichever.) But Dave has always been a stickler about not doing cake and presents except on the actual day of your birth itself. But, since Tuesday is going to be a pretty action-packed day on its own with the doctor’s appointment and everything, he has mercifully caved in and agreed to make this coming weekend his Birthday Weekend. How very generous of him, no?

So we’ll do presents and cake on Saturday. I’m really looking forward to that too, because I’m pretty sure I kicked major ass with the birthday gift selection this year. He’s been trying to guess what I got him, but so far he really has no idea. And even if he did guess – which he hasn’t – I wouldn’t tell him, because (unlike me) he seems to really love surprises.

16 weeks

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I had my 16-week doctor’s appointment on Friday. Everything seems to be a-ok so far. I’ve only gained 6 1/2 pounds (go me), and the baby appears to be just fine. And, although I had seen the blinky-blinky-blink of the heartbeat on the ultrasound, I had never actually heard it. So Friday was the first time that I got to hear the heartbeat on the doppler, which was very cool.

I also scheduled my 20-week ultrasound, when we will finally find out if the sprog is a he or a she. That will be on September 19th, which I love because it also happens to be Dave’s birthday. So that’ll be a fun little birthday surprise for him.

As for the boy/girl debate, I personally have a feeling that it’s going to be a boy. But y’all are welcome to start placing your bets now, if you’d like.

Other than that, I learned on Saturday that something has happened to my brain, and I am no longer terrified to buy baby things. I guess hitting the 16-week mark is finally making it all start to seem “real.” (Don’t ask me why it’s taken so long.) I went to Target on Saturday, and I bought a few 4-packs of onesies and one of those pajamas with the little footies in them. And some baby socks, which, I’m sorry, but is there anything cuter on the planet? Well, ok, maybe the baby shoes. Everything I bought is either green or yellow, since it doesn’t really make sense to buy anything gender-specific right now.

I showed Dave all the stuff that I bought when I got home, but I didn’t open any of the packages of onesies. I kept thinking, “well, I might have to return them, so it’s better not to have messed with the packaging…” I have no idea why I thought that. I don’t know when I’ll finally be rid of this fear that something bad might happen, but it’s getting old.

In any case, I guess I must’ve been dreaming about baby clothes last night, because the first thing I did when I woke up was grab those packages of onesies and rip them open like it was Christmas morning.

And it’s weird, because I already knew it was there, but for some reason, when I opened the one that has a picture of a duck and a little chick on it, and a caption that reads “I love mommy,” I started to cry. Happy tears, but still crying.

It was just… there. The word “mommy” and this little teeny-tiny item of clothing, and the knowledge that someday soon, we’re going to have this teeny-tiny person in our lives who actually fits into this small item of clothing, and who thinks of me as “mommy.” It felt simultaneously overwhelming and wonderful.

I mean, my god, this onesie is so small that my cat couldn’t even fit into it. It’s that tiny.

(I’d guess the cat is more in the 12-18 month sizes, although I haven’t tried to put any baby clothes on her to test my theory. Yet.)

So there’s that. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty great weekend.

Saturday shopping fun

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The food cravings took a step up this weekend. On Saturday, I saw an advertisement for the “funnel cake pancakes” at IHOP, and decided that I had to have some. Like right then. Waiting was not an option.

The problem is that the IHOP nearest to our house is about, oh, twenty-five miles away. Then I had a stroke of genius: the town where IHOP is? There’s a Babies R’ Us about half a mile down the street. And Dave has never been to Babies R’ Us before. Perfect! Maybe we could pick out nursery furniture, or even start our gift registry.

(Aside: I’ve been told by several people that I have to have a registry, even though I don’t want one. I worry it will make people think I want a baby shower, and my god, people, you have no idea how much I don’t want a baby shower. The thought alone makes me break out in hives. Nothing against baby showers in general, just the idea of me having to be the center of attention and ooh and ahh over all the twee little baby things, and then the thank-you notes afterward… Gah. I still feel guilty about the fact that I totally forgot to write thank-you notes for my bridal shower. Please, just no.)

So! I went into this manic “let’s go to Babies R Us and shop and then we’ll go to IHOP and have breakfast food for dinner and won’t that be FUN?!?!?!!” mode, and Dave wisely sensed that he shouldn’t argue with me. (He’s starting to learn that when the Crazy Pregnant Lady emerges, he needs to back off and let her win.) Twenty minutes later, we set off on our little Saturday afternoon adventure.

If I had given the trip any forethought, and taken into account my husband’s love of all things electronic, I would’ve known to take him straight to the displays of bouncy seats and swings. What with all the little buttons to push and knobs to tweak, that was hands-down his favorite part of the whole store. I could practically see the wheels clicking in his head as he was trying to decide if he could reconfigure the motor in the electronic swing and set it for some uber-sonic “instant vomit” speed. (Please don’t call Child Protective Services on us just yet.)

We wandered around the store for a couple of hours, took mental notes of a lot of different things that we liked and didn’t like, and that was about it. We didn’t buy a single thing, nor did we start a gift registry. Oh well, it was still fun to look around. I just seem to be incapable of making decisions about anything until we know whether this baby is going to be a boy or a girl.

On our way out of the store, I had a sudden realization:

Me: “Ummm… Don’t get mad at me?”
Dave (suspicious): “What?”
Me: “I don’t really want pancakes anymore.”

It’s true, the craving had totally passed. In fact, the thought of pancakes – all of the carbs and sugar and ensuing bloat – sounded slightly nauseating. So basically, we drove twenty-five miles out of our way just to walk around Babies R’ Us and not buy anything.

We stopped at a steak restaurant on our way home. It was delicious.