I’m writing to apologize to all the cashiers and fellow shoppers who have to endure my beet-red face, sweaty attire, and probably excessive trail and territorial pheromones. The truth is, I just ran over 3 miles for recreation and this store is either along the way back to my car, or I don’t have time to go home, shower, and then drive to the supermarket, wine, or hardware store. I mean, I only have under 3 hours to jog (roughly 40 minutes-I’m slow) and it takes about 20 minutes to get anywhere from my Town (and another 20 to get back), so already I’m down to 1 hour and 40 minutes to shop (that is if I drop my son off on time and I do not stop to chitchat with the kids). For the record, if I go home it takes about 6 minutes and then I will inevitably find other things that need to get done instead of taking a shower. So you see, I gotta do what I gotta do to get my grocery shopping done. I mean, isn’t that why they keep it so cold in supermarkets? Ha. Ok, so I’ve also gone to tag sales during/after a run. Again, I apologize profusely for my appearance and the wet dollar bills, but I only touch what I will definitely buy and I try to air out my bills beforehand. (Psst moms, you get exclusive viewing rights while you’re scanning the items in your sweaty gear.) Ok, ok, finally, I need a button that says, “Don’t hug me, I’m sweaty.” Yeah, it’s time to pick up my son with all the groceries and finds in the trunk. P.S. Some moms only have 2 hours to work with. Forgive us all.
shopping
Such a Beautiful Sunday!
We met up with friends at Chips in Orange, CT. Had a great Eggs Florentine with not-so-great coffee. Burnt WZR’s tongue with oatmeal and deterred his love for oatmeal. If you go, order the pancakes, they are really good! There might be a little wait, but it’s worth it. Then we went to a school playground for a little bit. Note, there are no restrooms, not even a port-a-bath, so go before you even decide that you want to take the kids there. I went at the restaurant. After that, we went to the L.L. Bean Outlet store, but not Trader Joe’s. We did stop for gas at Stop and Shop (redeemed our gas rewards). Orange has everything on Boston Post Road, though! Costco, Westfield Mall with Target, and more shops galore! Take a trip up there some time, it’s not that far from CT!
After we spent $400 in one store, we decided to go back to Westport and hit the beach. Very crowded, but we had a good time and enjoyed the weather.
Wednesday’s the One
We didn’t shop at Macy’s, but we did go to Kohl’s to do a painless return and use the $10 Kohl’s Bucks. I love that there’s no minimum spending in order to redeem it. Leave it to my husband to find a sleep suit for Mads that was $10.40. Yup, we paid $0.40. Sweet!
Oh, but before that we got gas from Stop and Shop and we only paid $1.99 per gallon. That’s 70 cents off per gallon for gas rewards!
Finally, we went to L.L. Bean and found out we had two coupons when we were checking out. That’s a savings of $20 right there.
It was indeed a good day of savings!
Sunday in Chinatown
It’s been a while since we’ve visited my family, so we found a Sunday free of parties and left early. Fortunately, we had an extra hour in the day so we were able to leave on time. There was no traffic and we found a free parking spot and saved at least $20 and a lot of local traffic aggravation. Construction on every street corner and a movie being filmed at night near Columbus Park was a recipe for road rage, so we parked by Worth Street. Dim Sum at Sun Shine 27 (Bowery) was pretty good. I had my share of dumplings, chicken feet, and noodles. Then we headed to my mother’s to drop off the kids for some bonding time (babysitting). It was nice to be without the kids and just with the hubby, even for just an hour. (If he reads this, he will be thinking out loud that I should find us a sitter so we can go out more.) With a mango jasmine bubble tea in hand, I accompanied my husband to get a nice haircut for $8 at China Beauty Salon (15 Doyer St.) and then we headed to Kam Man, where the dried goods are in the basement (shown below) and the perishables and snacks are on the main level. I needed more curry powder. We also got some jasmine tea pearls because my aunt in NJ told me that she got a tin can of those from there. I really liked it, but did not (gasp!) take a picture of the brand, so we had to buy it by the pound. Tea pearls are little balls of tea leaves that unravel in hot water and release their magic. Ha! Anyway, on our way to Kam Man, we did see a Chinese band on Mott Street (in front of the Chinese School) and a food vendor on Canal Street. Too bad I was full because it looked like there was good food being cooked on both sides of the cart, usually for just $1. Finally, we bought some roast pork and ginger scallion chicken to bring home for dinner. My mother took care of the other shopping earlier for vegetables and she even made soup for us. So home we went. The sunset was a happy ending to a Sunday in Chinatown.
Tuesday Teaser
Should I have put away the summer clothes, or not? I welcome the mild weather, but fall and spring are my favorite seasons and I can’t put two and two together. Some had snow the other day! Anyway, at the top of the hill on Norfield Road there was an annoying number of orange ladybugs. I know they are good, but not when there are 100’s of them landing on you and your children. They were all milling around in the air, too. Ah, they are called Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles. Tell your kids not to squish them because they leave a lingering stink.
While Mads was in school, we ventured out to Marshall’s Shoe Mega Shop (1086 Post Road E). Not as mega as I expected. DSW – now that’s a MEGA shoe store. Although I found a pair of gigantic sneakers for WZR and a pair of hot pink winter boots for Mads, I was not excited by the overall prices. They had clearance sections, but I expected more of the store to have items in those price ranges. Is it weird that I actually prefer a Marshall’s with everything in it? Anyway, I might have to venture out to Fairfield.
After story time in the afternoon, we spent time at the playground and saw more Halloween ladybugs, but just a few. Still gives me goosebumps, though.
Compo Beach Playground Fun
We didn’t have school today, but Westport did? Guess my library book was due today, too, then. Oh well. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice fall day at the Compo Beach playground. WZR is still not walking, yet, but he gets around. He explored a little more today and even hoisted himself up and stood for a second on his own in the center of the “pirate ship.” It was great! Of course, his favorite is still the swing because I face him toward the water and he gets to watch the “wo wo’s” that go “woof woof.” After that we went to Trader Joe’s and spent too much money. I had to spend even more money at the CVS across the way, BUT I found the back way that my friend was talking about to avoid Post Rd traffic. WOW! Thanks, Lyn!
Rant about paper bags
Westport was the first to ban most plastic shopping bags, even at Stop & Shop, in CT. Ok, fine, but could they at least make more durable paper bags? With handles? What’s the point if I am going to need to double bag because (look!) the bag rips as I am loading or unloading my groceries? Recyclable – ok; reusable – NOT! They are flimsy! I normally bring my eco-friendly shopping bags, 2 of which I paid $1.99/bag to keep frozen items cold en route home. Unfortunately, they’re in the car, which is at the dealer. Too bad the inner layer of foil ripped and the zippers are broken. I use them anyway. They are really not wide enough for me, though. Ooh, I just spied my cousin’s cool reusable bag from Trader Joe’s for $2. Can’t wait to look for it. Actually, I need to stock up on IKEA bags or L.L. Bean totes. Now THOSE are durable and wide. Also great for shopping at Costco. But seriously, what are they thinking to ban plastic bags? Ok, I know what they’re trying to do, but you know what? I reuse plastic bags for trash, especially when I have a loaded diaper (trust me, you don’t want me to just toss it in the trash); for wet clothes after a day at the beach or pool (or after having my been vomited on); for separating clean clothes; for carrying snacks; and for trash at home (they fit nicely in the pail). Oh well, when I run low on plastic shopping bags again, I’ll go to Stew Leonard’s. They have the best plastic bags in my book!
Orange you glad I don’t like I-95?
Of cousre, my husband says I will probably find a way to get there without ever getting onto I-95. But really, I do not want to share the road with a Fung-Wah bus; I’ve been on those and I know how maniacal the drivers can get. Anyway, we spent some time in Orange, CT yesterday because we wanted to check out the LL Bean outlet. In the same strip, it turns out I could spend even more money at Payless Shoes, Trader Joes, and Talbot’s outlet. If I wanted to splurge on a mani/pedi, or one for Mads, there were stores for those services, too. In any event, we did do some damage at these stores, but it was fun. We also filled up on gas at $2.31 a gallon at the Stop & Shop.
Oh, prior to that, we went to a charity garage sale at our neighbor’s house. We met the family and have prospective sitters for Mads on weekends, although WZR finally gave them smiles as we left the tag sale. Mads is one lucky girl! She got 2 life-sized dolls, a bagful of puppets, a jeep for her girlie action figures, a necklace, a tic-tac-toe game, and other stuff for $30. WZR got one cool toy, but I have to put batteries into it (hope the current ones aren’t corroded as it has been over 10 years since the previous owners last used it). Love those tag sales.
When in Norwalk, I fear potholes and I-95
We were already in Norwalk and I already had the coupons cut out, so naturally I was ready to hit Costco. I’ve been told I have a mental problem with driving because I’m always worried that I’m too far left (I usually am) or too far right in the lane and I inevitably end up in the wrong lane, so I have to beg someone to let me in. It doesn’t help that there are so many potholes and manholes that every time I hit one I immediately check the tire pressure via the sensor system. Ok, maybe I do have a mental problem. Don’t even get me started about I – 95. In any case, we made it to Costco, and I balanced 98% of my list in the cart. I managed to use every crevice in the cart and balanced it all, but I had to unload for the cashier. This is where the EasyShop gun would be most helpful! Of course, the “boxer” could not repack my goods correctly and this is how I had to walk out of the warehouse. It was not fun loading it into the car since I was parked in a busy lane. Overall, though, I had a really pleasant shopping trip and I would go back. Samples start after 11:00, but we did get our hot dog and pizza for under $4.
‘Cuz the more you know…
The more you Kohl’s and the more holes I’ll have in my wallet. Well, I forgot my 15-20% off coupon today, but I went in anyway. Figured I’d still be saving. The nice thing is, I was hounded by the salesgirl to complete a survey and I got a 15% off coupon in return. It was funny because at some point I could not understand her because of her accent; even she admitted it. I have a thing with accents; I can’t understand them. So I read the questions to myself. Most of them are about the fitting rooms, which I usually do not get a chance to visit because I’m with my infant strapped to me or he refuses to stay in the stroller. In any event, I spent $74.66 and it says I saved a total of $163.25; that justifies the trip, right?
Bubbles n' Cups 