Shopping with Crims
I started to write this last Wednesday, when it seemed more relevant. But it was half done and it was a good day, so heck, I'll post anyway, even though it's a bit out of date now. :-)
Monday before last, what with one thing and another, I found myself about $160 under budget for my expected spending at that time. I have been wanting to buy a couple of things, so I thought, "Excellent! I shall buy these one or two things and see a movie with tartary_lamb and it shall be a good day."
And by the end of the day I had spent so much money that I ended up $170 over budget. O.o But it was a good shopping day! Details under the cut for folks who want to spend money vicariously through me. *g*
tartary_lamb and I head out to the Metrotown mall because (a) the movie was playing there in 3D and the theatre had TCBY and (b) I have long since learned that if I want to shop for anything, Metrotown will have a much greater variety than the entire Vancouver downtown shopping district.
Arriving at the mall, we decided to head for food first, but hadn't been to any of the current restaurants before and didn't want to go to the Food Court. So we headed for random new restaurant. On the way there, we happened to pass by Town Shoes, for whom I had a gift certificate. I thought, might as well pop in quickly, right? So we did. I check the amount on my gift card and discovered to my joy that it was $100, not $50 as I had previously thought. Armed with this wealth, I bought these cute shoes (the blue ones; the buckle is black). With gift card, they only cost me $40. \o/
Shoes in hand, we continued on to the restaurant. Alas, when we arrived we discovered that although the name did not hint at it at all, it was a Chinese restaurant. I like Chinese, but we weren't really in the mood for it, so we decided to investigate an alternate restaurant. On the way there, we passed a luggage store which was having a closing out sale, 50% off almost everything. I needed a new suitcase since my old one's zipper is such that I'm not willing to check it anymore, although I will carry it on, so we went in. I ended up spending about $35 on a new suitcase. Cheap, for a suitcase! It is red. Bright red. :-D
Since I had a rolling suitcase in hand, I stuck my shoes inside and we continued on our way towards food. The restaurant we were hoping was open wasn't, so we ended up a Japanese place. While we waited for our food I became concerned that I wouldn't be able to make it over to Metropolis comics (which has moved out of the mall and was now across the street) before they closed, since we were going to a movie after our late lunch. Then tartary_lamb had a brainwave--our food was going to take a while to arrive and the comic shop was just across the street. Why not go now? So I leaped up and ran across the street.
Metropolis comics had literally just moved. There was moving clutter on the stairs up to their new location, and when I stepped inside none of the display racks or shelving were in their final locations. There were boxes everywhere and maybe only half the stuff was unpacked. The till was set up on a folding table. But the staff assured me that they were open, so in I went. Despite the clutter of boxes and half unpacked merchandise in stacks, everything was sorted into the appropriate groups, so I was easily able to find the Super Hero Squad. I returned to the restaurant, triumphant with the two Iron Man 2 SHS sets I most wanted, and discovered that my food hadn't even arrived yet. \o/
We ate and headed upstairs to the movie. We saw How to Train Your Dragon, which was excellent. I enjoy stories about a character coming to understand themselves and find a place for themselves in the world, and this was very much that story. I also love stories about a character putting the time and attention into understanding something that confuses other folks and learning all the odd details and making sense of them, and there was lots of that, too. It's possible the montage about Hiccup learning about dragons and applying it to his training was my favorite part of the movie.
Also, I have to say: My first reaction on seeing Toothless was that he looked exactly like a cross between a cat and a Pokemon. *g*
Unfortunately, after the movie something happened that damn near ruined the day. I got up from my seat, gathered up my coat and luggage, and headed for the exit. I wasn't even out of the theatre before I realized I'd left my hat behind. I turned for it...and it was gone. I looked and looked for it until only the cleaners were in the theatre while tartary_lamb went out and inquired with management, the podium staff, and the various food outlets. No joy. The hat was gone. I left my name and number and a description of the hat with the theatre, but I knew even then that it had almost certainly been stolen. It's a black felt fedora, which is a pretty awesome hat. No one ever called me about it, so yup, some asshole stole my hat. :-(
I was pretty upset, so tartary_lamb and I went on a hunt for a replacement hat. On the way, we found an electronics store, so we went in and bought a replacement for our defunct DVD player. At this point, I was getting pretty grateful I'd bought the luggage--everything fit inside it, including the DVD player. *g*
Anyway, the hat quest went on. We went to two "Lids" locations in the mall, plus Sears and The Bay, but all they had were polyester, modern style, stingy brim fedoras. I found one at The Bay that was not quite as stingy a brim and bought it, since it was only $20, and that assuaged me for the moment. (The next day, I would break down and admit it wasn't the right hat. I wanted a classic style felt fedora. So I went to a specialty hat shop on Granville Island and dropped $108 on a proper felt fedora.)
Sometime in the middle of the hat quest, I apparently also decided to buy a trenchcoat. *wry* I've wanted one for ages and I guess all the shopping had worn down my usual frugalness, because by the time we got to the coat department at The Bay (right next to the men's hats, which is where the fedoras are) I knew I was going to buy a trenchcoat, too.
I tried on a few and ended up deeply torn between a double-breasted coat by London Fog with a slightly pleated bottom and very shiny buttons that came to mid-thigh, and a double-breasted coat by Jones New York that had very classic lines and came to a little bit below the knee. The London Fog was very cute and stylin', the Jones New York was what I'd always pictured when I thought of getting a trenchcoat. I ended up going with the Jones New York one.
By the time we paid for those it was almost 8:30pm. O.o Neither of us had remotely expected to be out that late! I got really carried away.
But despite that, I couldn't resist stopping at Chapters, where I bought Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris (only to discover I already own it; d'oh!) and Ill Wind by Rachel Caine, which has been recommended to me.
We were past worn out by then, had been to all the stores we planned on plus a few, and the mall was closing, so tartary_lamb and I stopped for coffee at Starbucks and then headed on home.
In Summary:
Bought:
- One pair of black and blue open toed heels
- One bright red rolling suitcase
- Two Iron Man 2 Super Hero Squad 3 packs
- One DVD player
- One polyester, modern style fedora
- One long black trenchcoat
- Two books
Stolen
- One classic black felt fedora
Movies Seen
- How to Train Your Dragon
Food Consumed
- Chicken yakitori
- TCBY with oreo crumbles
- Starbucks coffee and a ginger molasses cookie
It was a heck of a shopping day! Especially for me. I never go crazy like that. O.o
Monday before last, what with one thing and another, I found myself about $160 under budget for my expected spending at that time. I have been wanting to buy a couple of things, so I thought, "Excellent! I shall buy these one or two things and see a movie with tartary_lamb and it shall be a good day."
And by the end of the day I had spent so much money that I ended up $170 over budget. O.o But it was a good shopping day! Details under the cut for folks who want to spend money vicariously through me. *g*
tartary_lamb and I head out to the Metrotown mall because (a) the movie was playing there in 3D and the theatre had TCBY and (b) I have long since learned that if I want to shop for anything, Metrotown will have a much greater variety than the entire Vancouver downtown shopping district.
Arriving at the mall, we decided to head for food first, but hadn't been to any of the current restaurants before and didn't want to go to the Food Court. So we headed for random new restaurant. On the way there, we happened to pass by Town Shoes, for whom I had a gift certificate. I thought, might as well pop in quickly, right? So we did. I check the amount on my gift card and discovered to my joy that it was $100, not $50 as I had previously thought. Armed with this wealth, I bought these cute shoes (the blue ones; the buckle is black). With gift card, they only cost me $40. \o/
Shoes in hand, we continued on to the restaurant. Alas, when we arrived we discovered that although the name did not hint at it at all, it was a Chinese restaurant. I like Chinese, but we weren't really in the mood for it, so we decided to investigate an alternate restaurant. On the way there, we passed a luggage store which was having a closing out sale, 50% off almost everything. I needed a new suitcase since my old one's zipper is such that I'm not willing to check it anymore, although I will carry it on, so we went in. I ended up spending about $35 on a new suitcase. Cheap, for a suitcase! It is red. Bright red. :-D
Since I had a rolling suitcase in hand, I stuck my shoes inside and we continued on our way towards food. The restaurant we were hoping was open wasn't, so we ended up a Japanese place. While we waited for our food I became concerned that I wouldn't be able to make it over to Metropolis comics (which has moved out of the mall and was now across the street) before they closed, since we were going to a movie after our late lunch. Then tartary_lamb had a brainwave--our food was going to take a while to arrive and the comic shop was just across the street. Why not go now? So I leaped up and ran across the street.
Metropolis comics had literally just moved. There was moving clutter on the stairs up to their new location, and when I stepped inside none of the display racks or shelving were in their final locations. There were boxes everywhere and maybe only half the stuff was unpacked. The till was set up on a folding table. But the staff assured me that they were open, so in I went. Despite the clutter of boxes and half unpacked merchandise in stacks, everything was sorted into the appropriate groups, so I was easily able to find the Super Hero Squad. I returned to the restaurant, triumphant with the two Iron Man 2 SHS sets I most wanted, and discovered that my food hadn't even arrived yet. \o/
We ate and headed upstairs to the movie. We saw How to Train Your Dragon, which was excellent. I enjoy stories about a character coming to understand themselves and find a place for themselves in the world, and this was very much that story. I also love stories about a character putting the time and attention into understanding something that confuses other folks and learning all the odd details and making sense of them, and there was lots of that, too. It's possible the montage about Hiccup learning about dragons and applying it to his training was my favorite part of the movie.
Also, I have to say: My first reaction on seeing Toothless was that he looked exactly like a cross between a cat and a Pokemon. *g*
Unfortunately, after the movie something happened that damn near ruined the day. I got up from my seat, gathered up my coat and luggage, and headed for the exit. I wasn't even out of the theatre before I realized I'd left my hat behind. I turned for it...and it was gone. I looked and looked for it until only the cleaners were in the theatre while tartary_lamb went out and inquired with management, the podium staff, and the various food outlets. No joy. The hat was gone. I left my name and number and a description of the hat with the theatre, but I knew even then that it had almost certainly been stolen. It's a black felt fedora, which is a pretty awesome hat. No one ever called me about it, so yup, some asshole stole my hat. :-(
I was pretty upset, so tartary_lamb and I went on a hunt for a replacement hat. On the way, we found an electronics store, so we went in and bought a replacement for our defunct DVD player. At this point, I was getting pretty grateful I'd bought the luggage--everything fit inside it, including the DVD player. *g*
Anyway, the hat quest went on. We went to two "Lids" locations in the mall, plus Sears and The Bay, but all they had were polyester, modern style, stingy brim fedoras. I found one at The Bay that was not quite as stingy a brim and bought it, since it was only $20, and that assuaged me for the moment. (The next day, I would break down and admit it wasn't the right hat. I wanted a classic style felt fedora. So I went to a specialty hat shop on Granville Island and dropped $108 on a proper felt fedora.)
Sometime in the middle of the hat quest, I apparently also decided to buy a trenchcoat. *wry* I've wanted one for ages and I guess all the shopping had worn down my usual frugalness, because by the time we got to the coat department at The Bay (right next to the men's hats, which is where the fedoras are) I knew I was going to buy a trenchcoat, too.
I tried on a few and ended up deeply torn between a double-breasted coat by London Fog with a slightly pleated bottom and very shiny buttons that came to mid-thigh, and a double-breasted coat by Jones New York that had very classic lines and came to a little bit below the knee. The London Fog was very cute and stylin', the Jones New York was what I'd always pictured when I thought of getting a trenchcoat. I ended up going with the Jones New York one.
By the time we paid for those it was almost 8:30pm. O.o Neither of us had remotely expected to be out that late! I got really carried away.
But despite that, I couldn't resist stopping at Chapters, where I bought Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris (only to discover I already own it; d'oh!) and Ill Wind by Rachel Caine, which has been recommended to me.
We were past worn out by then, had been to all the stores we planned on plus a few, and the mall was closing, so tartary_lamb and I stopped for coffee at Starbucks and then headed on home.
In Summary:
Bought:
- One pair of black and blue open toed heels
- One bright red rolling suitcase
- Two Iron Man 2 Super Hero Squad 3 packs
- One DVD player
- One polyester, modern style fedora
- One long black trenchcoat
- Two books
Stolen
- One classic black felt fedora
Movies Seen
- How to Train Your Dragon
Food Consumed
- Chicken yakitori
- TCBY with oreo crumbles
- Starbucks coffee and a ginger molasses cookie
It was a heck of a shopping day! Especially for me. I never go crazy like that. O.o