Category Archives: shopping

Apr25

Solar power

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I did a little shopping in Big Lots earlier and you guessed it, I bought two new solar power lights for around the pond. They aren’t the ‘yellow glow’ kind, they are the blue LED ones which look neat. I also got a ball that floats in the pond as the one I have now doesn’t work anymore-it lights up at night too. I saw the manager and since I looked spiffy (I’ll explain why later) I told him that Sean was going to be free in a few weeks to work. He said to tell my boy to give him a call. I looked nice in my flowing peasant skirt and orange top that I found in a bag next to the closet. The weather has been so warm, I had nothing summery that is where I can get my hands on it. Mom got me the top last year and it even has beads and buttons that hang down in the front-I looked like a modified belly dancer!

We’re trying to decide where to stay for my friend Karin’s wedding in June. It looks like midtown Manhattan! I’ve never been to NYC, so I am excited and scared. It’s not going to be cheap, but the place where we will probably stay is within walking distance of so many places, especially the cruise ship where the wedding will be held. We were thinking of staying in New Jersey and getting a cab-but that’s about a 14 mile trip and would cost the same as staying right in the city. I have to book the place soon or we’ll get in a jam.

Update!!! We are staying here! It has parking garage near by and it’s about 1/2 mile or so from the ship. I was looking at the map and Allentown, PA, where I’ve been before is parallel to this area (like an hour away or so like us to Philly).

I must do some more yard work one of these days. I can’t do it in all this warmth and in clothes I don’t want to sweat to pieces in.

Squirrel and hyacinths

Apr22

Flower shopping!

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The weather is warm and sunny! What a delightful change. Time to get outside.

On Friday I did a lot of debris clean up from my yucca bed, the pond area and my woodland garden in the front yard (under the evergreen tree). All with a green plastic rake. I felt like I worked twice as hard doing everything. Saturday there was a ‘Community Jamboree’ at the township park and I decided to check it out since the magic words ‘yard sale’ were included in the description in the newsletter. (By the way, I think many of my pals know I love trivia stuff and the newsletter also mentioned that the road I live on has only been paved since 1930! I can’t see this it as a dirt road with all the dips and curves it has.) So the jamboree was a big nothing-mostly people trying to sell their kids old clothes. I did chat with a few nice people, bought a raffle ticket from the KHS girls and headed down to one of my favorite greenhouses. Unfortunately, the greenhouse is under new management and I didn’t care for the new owner. I had a 10% off coupon and could use it if I spent over $25. I decided to grab one more of their outrageously priced plants (though it is hard to find) and he told me I was ‘defeating my purpose’, I guess from spending more to get the discount. To show him up, I picked up a garden pack, so that was actually going to be free. I also asked him if he planned to get snapdragons in (they were very understocked) and he said ‘I was told not to order them’. I just couldn’t believe that. I told him I love them. I won’ t be shopping there again. I decided to see if our local Ace Hardware had flowers and they did-snapdragons too! The flower packs I bought are a bit on the small side, but I’ll nurture them with Miracle Gro. The Ace place had the expandable rack I’ve been looking for! I was so happy I didn’t have to go all the way to Lowes or order it online.
I stopped off at Wawas for hoagies and headed home. After lunch, I got the pond up and running after bending too many times to bail water.

We went to church, Ruby Tuesday (for their salad bar) and Kmart to take back some slacks that were too big. I bought some 75% off florals and Easter things and also a gazing ball. It’s artisan glass with mostly blue swirls. You know you’ll be seeing a photo of it.

Sunday we are going to the 2nd day of a book sale in my hometown (probably very picked over) which is also hosting a sale along the main street.

Apr6

Driving through historic country

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Sean and I took a late lunch at Red Lobster to celebrate the final day of Lent. We decided to drive the entire distance of our road which runs through an area where the Brandywine Battlefield was. I saw the fancy road marker even. At the end of our road that is near Chadds Ford and the Brandywine River Museum, the land is more open with lots of fields of grazing horses with a few sheep in the mix. There is such a mix of houses too! From the colonials of the 1960s (like my mom’s house) to the dark sided one with the unusual vertical lines and rectangular windows of the late 70-early 80s. This is about the area where the movie ‘The Village’ was filmed.
We had a nice lunch-great waitress who filled us up on the famous cheddar garlic biscuits and kinda spoiled our appetites. Sean had shrimp and lobster fettuccine and I had lobster pizza. We both ate more of our lunch for dinner later.

Run, don’t walk to your nearest Kohl’s! What a fabulous sale they are having Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately I grabbed a size 6 skirt and have to take it back in a few days. It’s too cold to wear it for Easter anyway. I got some earrings for my niece Tori’s upcoming 8th birthday and a few pieces off the 80% off rack. Plus they have a coupon for another 15% off, so I made out well.

We also went to Target and Michaels. I now have a nice mix for my art cards now. I bought some neat papers, rubber stamps, stickers and embossing powders today.

Better post my photo hunt photo for ‘clean’. Mr. Cosmo posed for that one.

Mar13

Shop ’til you drop

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Sean and I made our leisurely journey up to Lancaster and the outlets at 2. I just couldn’t leave any earlier as Bri had woken me up at the ‘use to be’ crack of dawn and I needed to rest a little longer.

First we stopped by the post office so I could sent the cross stitched piece pictured below to England. The traffic was all tied up in town. Diana, at the post office said an elderly gentleman had been hit by truck and dragged a block or so. Of course he didn’t make it. So sad.

I took the camera hoping for some postcard-like Lancaster shots, but we didn’t venture down side roads, so I didn’t take any photos. I promise next time to leave earlier and do so. Try to visual some baby lambs, with their mama. I would have loved to take a few photos of them. The buay roads we travel on (lots of trucks) hardly have any traffic lights, so taking photos is difficult. I tried to take one of a pretty church in Paradise, but I only got half of it.

Lambkins

(not my photo)

Our first stop was ‘Tuesday Morning’ (me) and Adidas (Sean). I scooted and found a few things-a few goodies for mom who is in a blue mood. Sean purchased two pairs of sneaks at a great price.

We went to Target where he did eventually get his money back. The girl behind the counter was very disagreeable and was going to tell us to call an 800 number. I told her it was all settled back in January with the man I spoke to. They had even looked at the video from the surveillance camera to check. The manager did come over and Sean got his refund. We shopped a lot in there. They have a fun area with $1.00-$2.50 items. I think every little girl in there had an Easter hat on from that particular area.

We then ate dinner at Red Lobster. Sean had coconut shrimp and I had lobster and shrimp. We hadn’t eaten in a Red Lobster for years and it was pretty good.

Next-Gap Store outlet. Got birthday gifts for Bri, Kenny and Tori all who have birthdays in the next month.

I got some scrapbooking stuff at the Borders book outlets for dirt cheap. I really wanted a bell jar at the Pottery Barn outlet, but decided there was no place to put it. Sean knows I like it at least. We almost got into the traffic for a Vince Gill concert at the American Music Theater. We’ve been there for a Jim Brickman concert back in ’03 and it’s a nice place to hear a concert.

I did get that gift that Bri asked for in my post below. I also got a little teapot with a strainer so I can get some loose tea and really enjoy a cup of tea like you are suppose to.

The roads were so dark coming home tonight.

I called my mom and she was moving furniture at 9 pm with Jim her boarder. She is asking for pain! No way could Brian and Sean do it after walking around Philly on Sunday.

Tomorrow the guy is cleaning the heater-funny, I know. I had made the appointment about last September! Then I am having my brother Ken inspect my van and check out a few problems with it-grinding brakes and it feels like it will stall (actually it has) when you start it up after it’s been run. I have to leave it at his house and pick it up Thursday or Friday.
So, that was an interesting day. A little shopping does a body good!

Mar4

Yucky and yummy

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ToidySo what’s the worst thing that could happen to you that is house related? Not as bad as a fire, something you can clean up. What happened-Sean used too much toilet paper and I went in to use the facility. The water looked low, but I was in a hurry. I went to flush and you guessed it-geyser time! I was in my bare feet at least, but in my good dress slacks. I started yelling-get the plunger. Brian happened to have stepped outside. So Sean went running for the plunger just when the toidy let out a big gurgle and down ‘it’ went! We had water going through the floor into the basement. I had to first clean up the water with paper towels and then went over everything with antibacterial wipes-my poor back! We don’t have a huge bathroom, thank goodness. I have the little rugs to wash-tomorrow.

Bri went to the grocery store with me. He decided to go to the ‘cheaper’ store, which was really crowded. It was late, like 3:30 by that time. I decided to do a pasta salad with cut up turkey ham in it. Bri saw stewed tomatoes and wanted some. When I got home I cooked up the penne and the guys decided they wanted the stewed tomatoes and cut up ham on top of that (Sean doesn’t like mayo much). They loved it! I had what I originally envisioned-penne, ham, with mayo, dill, cheddar cheese and a bit of onion-plus a croissant. Not bad.

Tonight I enjoyed reading the People magazine about the Oscars with Patrick Dempsey and his new twin boys on the cover. So cute.

Tomorrow the snowbaby display in the big living room window is finally coming down and getting replaced with a spring display! I like the idea of switching it out every few months.

Mar1

In a quandary

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I really need to see my mom one of these days. She has been sick for over 3 weeks and I haven’t been down to her house to do anything (the weather hasn’t helped). Thinking about going makes me a bit tease. My sinuses and throat are really bothering me this week. The problem is mom hasn’t really done any cleaning for that length of time. I did gather up some dust masks because I really want to go! I guess I’ll resort to taking allergy medicine which I hate to do. This always happens to me at this time of year from the forced air heat and not getting out in the fresh air.

Sean and I were out yesterday on a whim. I had stuff to drop off at the Goodwill and I wanted to go to Michael’s crafts while Sean was in Old Navy. As soon as I hit Michael’s I got the ‘drip’ ‘drip’ and then the flow in my throat. Not fun. It was like a hurry up and look around and that’s not what I wanted to do at all. I should always have water on me. So I got some neat paper, stickers (that look like old postage stamps and some with wording on them); some varnish and ModPodge and glitter. Actually when I left the store and we went to Trade Joe’s, TJ Maxx and then The Olive Garden, I felt better. Probably they were using glue or something that bothered me in Michael’s.

So I’m up in the air. I miss mom so much and she’s sounded so sad. She never asks my brother to help and he’s within walking distance of her house. I feel this is so unfair. My other two brothers never call and she hasn’t heard from the one in Florida since November. He’s mad at me, why take it out on mom?

So I hope this ‘cottonball’ effect lets up. I really feel like my sinuses are stuffed with cottonballs. That was a good choice for my Photo Hunt picture this past Saturday-like I had a premonition!

I hope you all are feeling chipper.

~Update~Mom doesn’t want me to come down as her 750 mg a day antibiotic is making her feel terrible and she wants to rest. If she’d eat more, that may help. I told her to drink an entire bottle of water when she takes it at dinnertime. I was looking at last year’s late February entries and the same thing was going on- I hadn’t seen my mom for a few weeks and my sinuses were bothering me. I just used the miracle spray-BioAllers Homeopathic nasal spray and it helped a lot.

Feb16

Sparked a memory

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This is a rewrite as wordpress got the hiccups when I was in the middle of writing before.

 

Bill Henley, one of the NBC10 tv guys, was in a community service ad this morning and mentioned the Crystal Tea Room. When we were little kids, especially around Christmastime, mom and my grandmom would take us first to John Wanamakers. This was a top notch store in downtown Philadelphia. We first had to drive down to 69th St and then take the el train which was fun and scary at the same time. When we reached our destination, we usually caught the light show on the main floor. Then we headed up to the 9th floor where the Crystal Tea room was (mom updated me with this info). It was so elegant and beautifully decorated. We usually had tea sandwiches (which I still love) which consisted of chicken salad, tuna, deviled ham or cucumbers. And I believe we had soup too. The menu was quite brief, one side of a menu. For dessert, we had a snowball with the fake holly leaf to adorn the top. We thought we were special. The snowball was vanilla ice cream rolled in coconut. The store was smart to have the art supply/toy area near the restaurant as we always got a drawing tablet and one of those fat ink pens that held about 10 multi-color inks.

 

Here is what the tea room looks like today, very much like what I remember:

Wanamaker’s Crystal tea room

Feb11

Farmers Market

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Brian and I went to Booth’s Corners Farmers Market yesterday to give me a change of scenery. There must have been a lot of people with the same thing in mind, as the place was crowded. We went to the big store at the end and I got a few cute things-ceramic birds in a nest, crackle finish Easter eggs to hang on a little tree, some candy, that sort of thing. Sean wanted some sesame sticks from one of the Amish booths. I also got him some macadamia nuts as an added treat. We hit Aunt Annie’s homemade pretzels and headed home for church. We did look around some antique stalls on the way out and I got some cute bisque pixies. Four men hemmed and hauled about what to charge me for them (at another booth). I said ‘yes’ to what they said, but I should have haggled a bit. Brian haggled for some VHS tapes that he didn’t even buy. Our final stop was at the Goodwill to drop things off. We did go in and I got some tiny birds in a nest salt and pepper shaker set (that go with the above mentioned decoration so well); a Portal rectanglar shaped poster of moon and stars and some aqua glass conductors from telephone poles. And a book of poetry by Edgar A. Guest from 1916.

After church we went to a Chinese restaurant that we hadn’t been to for years. We probably won’t be going back. The food was bland and they gave Sean the wrong thing (which he wouldn’t send back and hardly ate). Also, their cc machine wasn’t working and we had to scrape together the money for dinner. Either Sean or I felt good today-me around 4am, but him after he ate his breakfast-we think from the Chinese food. He is plum tuckered out over math and chemistry. He is having trouble with trig and may have to get some help. The roast beef is nice and brown as I type this. I need to toss on some potatoes for a nice dinner.

Trivia time-
Booth’s Corner also attracted some of the country’s most famous entertainers. Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s famous sidekick, was once a colorful pitchman hawking gadgets in the Market midway. While Bill Haley, of Comets fame, was a popular guitar-playing entertainer. Incidentally, Bri and I lived in the same apartment complex when we were first married that Ed McMahon and Dick Clark had lived in when they worked in Philly.

The Raggedys and little pals

I left my little collection of Raggedy Ann and Andys up-I may eventually take down the tree. The little fairies are a market find.

Jan26

Brrrr…

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Not fit for man or beast in PA and much of the northeast today. It was a balmy 10 degrees this morning with a windchill factor of ‘pretty darn cold’. I felt bad that the guys had to go out in it.

The most exciting thing today for me was receiving Carol’s pretty Neighborhood Round Robin cross stitch project from the ice cold hands of the mailman (I had to sign for it and he had no heat in his truck). At the beginning of the project, I had gathered a bunch of designs and low and behold, a cottage and garden looked perfect for this one. I started on it tonight!

Brian’s new thing is bidding on eBay. He uses my account, so I have to make sure he pays on time and all. He had to get a money order tonight for a camera he won. I’ve been doing this since August, 1999 and he’s really never taken an interest in it before. I have a few things for sale, but need to add more. It’s good pocket money for me-sometimes.