Category Archives: shopping

Shoes!

Posted by Leaf on August 28, 2011 None comments

The great thing about hard floor surfaces like wood or tile is they’re easy to maintain. Nice and easy to clean and they don’t suck up dust or odors. The drawback is, they’re hard on my feet. My heels have been hurting me for a while now and I finally gave in and bought 2 ergonomic floor mats for the kitchen and now, a pair of house slippers to give my feet a break. They’re so comfy, I can’t believe I waited this long to get them. I’ve already taken them for a test drive, ironing for about an hour. That’s a lot of standing! I used both the squishy kitchen mats and the slippers in combination and it feels so nice. My feet feel better already.
Shoes shopping

And the sneakers are to replace the pair that didn’t fit right and took my toenail off. They’re not made in China! Yay!

OMG! OMG!!

Posted by Leaf on July 17, 2011 3 comments

We’re getting a TRADER JOE’S!!! A TRADER JOE’s! OMG!! Ever since I’ve moved here I’ve been saying “We NEED a Trader Joe’s.” Yesterday, while on our random walkabouts, where we poke into the many random retail spaces under development, we saw a construction permit sign that said the business owner was Trader Joe’s! I nearly fell down I was so excited! Yipes! You know where to find me now. When you call me, you’ll know where I am. They’ll all be getting to know me pretty soon. Heck I should probably just work there. I think TJ’s completes the grocery store trifecta that we can walk to… Giant, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s. The only thing that would make it even more awesome would be an Asian market. I don’t see that happening though. Asian markets tend to be like big box stores, more suitable for open spaces.

Cutting Cable

Posted by Leaf on May 28, 2011 None comments

We’re cutting cable tv starting next month. I never had cable since I was a kid and having it for a while was great and all but I’m pretty sure I can manage just fine without it. Maybe this will get me to do more than just park my butt in fronna the tv all the time, maybe I dunno, read a book or something? Or I’ll probably just watch shows on the Internet with fewer commercials and whenever I want to. One episode right after another after another! Sometimes with no commercials at all (Netflix)! The other nice plus is, it’ll save us about $60/month.

Dogs and Cats

Posted by Leaf on May 16, 2011 None comments

After taking a hiatus from volunteering to walk dogs around for adoption, we went back this weekend.  They usually assign me a small dog and him a large one.  Guess they don’t want the dog to take me for a walk.  This time, he got a 50 lb puppy, Lincoln, and I got a 2 year old pit mix girl named Oreo.  She was as sweet as could be especially when she looked up at you with her puppy dog eyes.  But you could definitely tell her preferences.  I think she liked boys.  I mean, she didn’t mind me so much and was nice enough, but she was kind of aloof towards me.  Then, when a little boy came up to her, she went right to him, leaned into him and then as he was petting her, she rolled over for a full on belly rub.  My jaw dropped, HEY!  You don’t do that for me!  Later, another guy came up to her and she did the same thing.  I decided to swap for Lincoln.  He was a leash puller and had way too much puppydog energy so he ran him a few laps when he first got him and by the time we swapped leashes, Lincoln was pooped and fell asleep.

The next day, we met with a friend for lunch at Bollywood Bistro in Old Town Fairfax.  The food was good but I think we’ll stick to our tried and true, Raaga.  Old Town Fairfax is a neat little place though.  Fun to walk through with lots of restaurants and little shops.  By luck, there was a farmers market in that area that day, so after lunch we headed there and bought a ton of stuff.  Boy have I missed farmers markets!  I got beets, bok choy, a cantaloupe, strawberries, spring onions, and swiss chard.  I would’ve gotten more but I knew our fridge was already bursting at the seams.  I seem to like to buy a lot of food.  It’s the only shopping he can tolerate and I have to get out my shopping urge somehow.  While at the farmers market, we saw a lady walking her cat on a harness.  We approached her to ask her what breed of cat she had and she said it’s a mutt cat she adopted a while back and she doesn’t know why but this cat enjoys walking about outside on a leash.  That cat was browsing the market and greeting some of the vendors.  It was pretty neat to see.

The Jewelers of St. Thomas

Posted by Leaf on March 24, 2011 2 comments

Here’s another caveat emptor should you ever be traveling somewhere they might hawk jewelry to tourists: be careful! Day one out here, we decided would be strictly information gathering. They have so many shops in the city right where the cruise ships dock and tourists are bountiful and they flock to these jewelry shops that draw you in not only with sparkly shiny rocks, but also for the respite from the hot sun. It’s not unbearably hot, but it hits 80-85 and A/C feels great. The first day, I would only ask the prices and walk away. Every shop said “best prices” or “70%-80% Discount” The second day, after talking to other fellow tourists, I learned they were willing to take down at $2500 bracelet down to $1500. Sketchy pricing! So today, I tried my hand at negotiating. I talked a $2000 bracelet down to $1800. Not that I was going to buy it anyway. This evening they had a display table of jewelry at our hotel and I saw on their tags “Made in Hong Kong.” I’m done information gathering. The stuff they sell is junk.

Magen's Bay Beach
On a brighter note, we’ve gone to two beautiful beaches these past 2 days and have happily settled into this do-nothing vacation. At first, we were kinda’ worried we’d be bored. I mean our last big trip was to Europe and you just can’t compare this trip to Europe. Europe’s full of history and culture. You could stay there for 2 years, let alone 2 weeks and still have more to learn. The Virgin Islands, 2 days and you get the idea. That’s all it took us, 2 days, to settle into this routine of waking up, having some breakfast or lunch or both. Lazily getting ready and then taking a taxi to a beach. Coming back in the afternoon for a quick dip in the hot tub and then getting some drinks in the evening and dinner.

Shopping

Posted by Leaf on December 27, 2010 None comments

Well, like anything I blog about, as soon as I say I haven’t done something on the blog, it’s like the very next day, without even trying, it happens. It was just a quick jaunt to CVS then TJ Maxx. We got some clothes and stuff. Nothing major but it scratched the itch.

Once you pop, you can’t stop

Posted by Leaf on November 30, 2010 3 comments

Or is it, “Betcha can’t just have one.” Whatever it is, that’s like my shopping habit. This is why people who have addictions have to give up whatever it is completely. Because there’s no self control for any level of moderation.

I have been so good about cutting out/back on shopping since I ran out of closet space. I mean I have run out of closet space and I still haven’t gotten all my existing clothes to fit. Let’s not even talk about the shoes. But this Thanksgiving sale with the Black Friday and the Cyber Monday which has basically turned into 2 good weeks of sales is killing me!! I have stuck to no clothes shopping but to scratch my itch, I’ve substituted it with products and schtuff shopping. I can’t stop browsing Amazon and I’ve purchased stuff! A watch, a bucket of laundry detergent, and a board game (Settler’s of Catan!!). Then I went on drugstore and boy was that a mistake. Another $100 of goodness knows what. Seriously I can’t remember everything I purchased. There were some hand creams and anti-aging facial products (I swear women will pay anything for youth. I know I should embrace my wisdom lines but pop culture and marketing have brainwashed me good.) Then I went and bought some face wash and more facial lotions at another site. And it’s not like anything I bought was part of this crazy Cyber Monday/Black Friday sale. It’s just those things kicked up my shopping juices and I started shopping. I have to stop tomorrow. I’m telling myself, no more looking. If I don’t look, then I won’t buy. But it’s just so haaaard. Whine!!

Telegraph

Posted by Leaf on November 19, 2010 None comments

It’s not as if getting a new pair of earrings is an event. It used to be back when I didn’t have any but now, I have so many pairs of earrings, I can’t keep track of them. It’s just that last time I visited, I got a pair of wooden earrings from Simply Salma’s Treasures at Telegraph Ave. where artisans come to hawk their wares. And I lost it down a sink drain. It was one of the 1 cm in diameter ones. So I made a point of going back and this time, choosing a larger one.
Telegraph purchase Not to sound like a paid advertisement (which I’m not!) but I love these earrings that she makes. I’ve never seen them anywhere else, or anything else like them. They’re made of very light maple wood and hand painted. And best of all, made in USA!

Perspectives on House Hunting

Posted by Leaf on November 5, 2010 2 comments

My latest favorite TV shows are about house hunting on HGTV. House Hunters and Property Virgins. I love “walking through” the homes and seeing the decorations and amenities. I also love and hate to see how much house you can get for so much or so little. And depending on where the house hunters are from, they have such varied reactions which always amuses me. For example, yesterday I watched a couple look for a $425k condo in San Francisco. They ooh’d and ahh’d through all of the tours of the 600 square feet their money could afford them. I mean, the kitchens were very very efficient and some had no dining areas. For an additional $25k you can park your car. I really appreciated their positive attitudes though. I mean, they were so willing to compromise for the location of San Fran. I don’t blame them, it’s a beautiful and delicious city. On the other end of the spectrum, I saw another family walk through a 5000+ sq ft home with a 3 car garage and they complained about the size of the dining room and bedrooms. It was in Georgia so their budget was about $600k.

I remember when I first moved, I thought the kitchen was too small! It is small but then I took a trip to NYC and realized I have a gourmet kitchen. I like seeing the stark differences of the peoples’ demands. Some folks can thrive and be happy with less and for others, it’ll never be enough. For me, it’s all about practicality. I haven’t gone hungry in my little kitchen and clean up of the entire place is a snap! When people ooh and ahh at vaulted ceilings, all I see are dollar signs floating away from the heating and cooling bills. And the more square feet there are, the more there is to clean. Not ironically, the couple buying 600 sq ft place both had jobs and one was going to school as well. There’s no time for cleaning! The family that bought the 5000+ sq ft house had a stay at home parent.

Art

Posted by Leaf on September 12, 2010 2 comments

Yesterday I went to visit the Alexandria Arts Festival with a friend and we walked up and down the entire street of white tents. This was not your typical “street” fare. This was fancy schmancy art. I mean there were lawn ornaments. There’s barely any lawn in Alexandria, but I guess some folks have a patch of something. Anyway, it was interesting to look at. They also had paintings. Ever since blowing over $200 on getting each of the watercolors framed, I’ve been more cautious about buying art. At least anything unframed. That’s something to consider for anyone looking to buy art. If it isn’t ready to go on your wall expect to plunk another $250 to make it wall-ready. The Torpedo Factory also had a display selling unique hand made clay bowls. They were pretty, but at $15 a piece, I would be sad if I broke one. And I break stuff. Regularly.

After, we went to Trader Joe’s!! I got cereal. 9 boxes. I like cereal. Pretty much I got a cartful of carbs. Bread, pretzals, etc. I’m going into squirrel-hibernation mode already. It’s a week and a half away from fall, the weather just started to get to a tolerable lower 80s, upper 70s and my body’s already freaking out about the winter.