Archive for "Shopping"
It’s Officially Christmas Over Here
Posted on November 30, 2013 by Ching under Shopping, Tips.
My super awesome husband helped me assemble and decorate our new Christmas tree. That’s after I registered my new tree on the NationalTree.com of course. 😉
Here’s what the new tree looked like before we added trimmings. Brian and I agreed that this is the most beautiful Christmas tree we have ever owned. I searched everywhere for a 9-foot tall, slim tree that’s got character. I finally found one that I liked at HomeDecorators.com. I never knew about that store until my search for the perfect Christmas tree began. Now I’m hooked.
Anyway, I love that my new tree already has pinecones and berries and has a snowy look to it because then I don’t have to buy as many ornaments.
This is a photo of Brian trying to figure out if there’s enough room between the top of the tree and the ceiling for my new Kurt Adler 20-Light gold rattan star tree topper
This is our tree after we added some ornaments. I found rattan stars that match my tree topper perfectly at Pier 1. I only got 10 of them and now wish that I would have gotten some more. Brian and I decided that it’s probably for the best as we wanted to keep this tree minimalistic.
Here’s a closer look at our tree.
The balls are not really ornaments. They are rattan vine glitter sphere decorations (also from Pier 1). Most people put them in a bowl or basket. The burlap eucalyptus leaf branches are another one of my improvisations. I think most of the time you’ll see these in tall vases. I had a vision of a natural-looking, woodsy, minimalist Christmas tree and I thought these decorations, though not really sold as Christmas tree ornaments, would look great in my tree.
The rest of my vision involved a burlap Christmas tree skirt and burlap ribbon. The tree skirt was perfect except for a small gash. I can’t tell if I got a defective item or if Brian damaged it while he was trying to open the package. He has this thing about using his knife to open packages and he’s not always the most gentle with it. I don’t ever return stuff so I guess I’m keeping it. I’m not happy about the tear, though.
As far as the ribbon, well, I miscalculated and ran out. I thought 10 yards would be enough. Wrong. I ordered some more ribbon, which should arrive in a couple of days because I caved and signed up for Amazon Prime. As much as I order from Amazon, you’d think I’d have a Prime membership already. I’m too cheap for that, though. I usually just take advantage of the free super saver shipping. However, running out of burlap ribbon in the middle of trimming the tree constituted an emergency. LOL.
Anyway, stay tuned because I’ll be taking a picture of the completed tree as soon as the additional burlap arrives. Check back soon.
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The New Stove Saga
Posted on October 31, 2013 by Ching under Home Ownership, Shopping.
The stove saga began with an idea. It came to me like a gentle breeze several months ago. Wouldn’t it be nice to have two ovens? I thought. But there’s nothing wrong with our current electric range. It works perfectly fine. In fact, though it wasn’t our choice — we basically got it when we bought our house last year because the previous owners left it — it’s actually excellent.
The idea persisted, as with all crazy ideas that come to me. I didn’t have to act on it right away, but I’d think about how nice it would be to have two ovens every couple of months or so. The idea took up permanent residence in my mind.
The opportunity to act on the idea came when Brian asked me what I wanted for our 11th wedding anniversary. The idea reared its head and, without hesitation, I told him I wanted a new electric range with two ovens.
Are you sure? He asked me. I’m going to benefit from it more than you because I do more cooking and baking.
Yes. I am sure, I told him. I want a new stove.
Of course, I didn’t end up getting my stove in August because our Orlando trip proved to be more expensive than we anticipated. We didn’t want to leave a balance on the credit card (which must be paid off at the end of each month no matter what) so we had to postpone the new stove purchase. Brian and I agreed that it would be my birthday gift this year.
Over the last few months I looked at stores and web sites to comparison shop. Around Labor Day I found a good deal on a double oven electric range at Home Depot but we didn’t pull the trigger right then. We were busy with some other stuff and didn’t really have time to put a lot of thought into it so we decided to hold off. Brian and I like to thoroughly think things through.
Fast forward through a couple of weeks ago when we finally had a free weekend. We went to several stores — Sears Outlet, Menards, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Best Buy. There weren’t a lot of selection. Lowe’s and Home Depot both actually had only one double oven electric range on display at their respective stores. We had to resort to looking at their web sites which offered more inventory. We found the exact same electric range for sale at all three web sites — Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Best Buy. Best Buy just happened to be running 30% OFF appliances that weekend so they ended up offering the best price.
The double oven electric range that we found is a Whirlpool so it matches our fridge and dishwasher. And we got a good deal on it. It’s like this one
I managed to sell our old range, a perfectly good stainless steel smooth top electric range (also a Whirlpool) that’s only five years old max, for $120 via one of the virtual garage sale groups on Facebook. The folks who bought it picked up the stove on Thursday night so the space was ready to go for the stove delivery the next day. Brian had taken a vacation day from work that Friday to study for his SQL exam.
As with most things in life, things didn’t work out as perfectly as I envisioned. I imagined the old stove going out and the new stove simply taking its place. I failed to take into account the location of the electrical outlet for the electric range which was on the floor instead of the wall. The new stove couldn’t fit flush against the wall because it didn’t have the same cavity on the back as the old stove. Here are some pictures that Brian took last Friday on delivery day.
It didn’t look too bad from the front.
But the gap behind the range was really problematic for me.
It also made the range stick out beyond the cabinets.
I was excited to look at the new stove when I came home from work on Friday, but I disliked how it looked in the space almost immediately.
I called several electrical companies to price the cost of moving the power outlet from the floor to the wall. After a few quotes we decided to go with the Jay’s friend Andrew at Bybee Electric. Brian met them after work on Monday. He felt good about the meeting and so we set an appointment for this morning since I’m on vacation and will be home to let them in and oversee the work.
Tom and Cody arrived around 8:30 this morning.
We lucked out that there was enough slack in the electrical wire to relocate the outlet without having to run a new wiring.
An hour and $135 later, my new double oven electric range is finally flush against the wall. As flush as it can be, anyway. 😉
After factoring the cost of the electrical work that needed to be done, we spent a lot more on the new range than I had anticipated. I’m really happy with it though. It looks great in the space, matches the rest our our appliances, and I know we will get good use out of it. I can’t wait for Brian to come home and see it.
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Bamboo Memory Foam Pillow
Posted on October 20, 2013 by Ching under Shopping.
I’m sharing the link with everyone in case you missed these awesome pillows at Holiday Galleria.
The bamboo memory foam pillows came highly recommended by the Egyptian cotton sheets guy. I had missed out on these awesome sheets earlier this year at the Women’s Fair, but I had mentioned them to Brian. I didn’t want to miss out on them again so I made sure to buy a set. I wanted to get a couple of pillows also, specially since the sheets guy said they were the best, but Brian vetoed the purchase. He figured that I was getting a little “shopping happy” because of the margaritas. They are really awesome, though. Just ask the Junior League women. Seriously. I bet every single one of them got some. Just like they all have several sets of the soft Egyptian cotton sheets.
Anyway, the pillows came up in my email via Living Social. This was my chance. I didn’t want to miss out on them again so I grabbed a couple of king sized ones.
The deal is amazing — 71% OFF the regular price. I think the price is even better than the Holiday Galleria price. If you want to get some extras, this is your chance. The deal is only going on for 22 more days.
You may not see this deal again. Don’t miss out!
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Holiday Galleria 2013
Posted on October 12, 2013 by Ching under Shopping, Things to Do.
I hadn’t been to Girls’ Night Out since my first Holiday Galleria experience in 2011. We weren’t volunteers this time so I actually got to experience it for real — complete with waiting in the long line to get in and being one of the first 250 people there so that we can get goodie bags.
Brian went with me and was #13. I had to pay for an extra ticket so he could go, but that meant I got an extra goodie bag also. LOL.
The firefighters are always one of the highlights of GNO. Carly’s friend Judd wasn’t there this year. There were lots of familiar faces though — Kim, Ariana, and Todd, just to name a few.
Speaking of familiar faces, I also ran into some fellow Zumba instructors.
Regina (left), who I met in person for the first time, and Gina (right). Gina is one of the instructors who pioneered Zumba in Wichita. She was teaching Zumba well before it became available in our local gyms.
April and I had already had a few margaritas at this point.
The food (except for chips and salsa) ran out pretty early in the evening but the margaritas continued to flow freely. I probably would have stayed with the other girls but Brian was getting antsy. I will definitely go again next year but I may leave Brian at home the next time around. LOL. Until next year!
P.S. If you are interested in shopping, Holiday Galleria is a four-day shopping event that will continue through Sunday. Go check it out!
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Shoes as Far as the Eye Can See
Posted on September 26, 2013 by Ching under Shopping, Travel.
My first Mall of America experience was quite overwhelming. I went with a couple of ladies from the MEA conference. We took the light rail from the Government Plaza train stop. It’s about a 30 minute train ride to the mall because MOA is the final stop and there are several stops in between.
I have a funny story about the light rail. I was surprised that you didn’t have anywhere to stick your ticket in after purchasing it. In Boston you need your ticket to get through the gates. There are no gates to the rail in Minneapolis. It’s just wide open. There’s not anyone on the train that asks for your ticket either. I guess they rely on the honor system. However, the cops get on periodically and do random checks.
One of the ladies I was with works for Ameren Missouri but lives in Illinois. She say that where she’s from there are actually rail employees in the rail cars who check for tickets. In Minneapolis the cops do the checking instead of civilians.
I actually got to experience this first hand on our way back to the hotel. These three cops got on the train at one of the stops. One of them asked me for my ticket. Of course, I wasn’t expecting this because no one checked on our way to the mall. I had dropped my ticket in my purse because I figured that there was no reason for me to keep holding it in my hand if no one was going to check anyway. Murphy’s Law prevailed and it took me forever to dig the ticket out of my purse. I found the one that I had purchased a few hours earlier first and I was really worried that I had lost the correct one. I was relieved when I finally found it because I felt sure that they were going to kick me off the train. Not while it’s moving but at our next stop. Either way I was appalled at the thought.
After the cop moved on to the other passengers I asked my new friend, “So what happens if you don’t have a ticket?”
“They give you one,” she says.
“Then why did we have to buy tickets if they’d give them to us anyway?” LMAO. I know it’s not that kind of ticket but I couldn’t help myself. We both laughed.
She added that she thought that you get more than just a ticket and that they’d probably take you to jail. I told her that my husband probably wouldn’t like that too much. I wouldn’t like that too much either. Going to jail over a $2 rail ticket is ridiculous and totally not worth it.
But I digress… The Mall of America is really cool but way too big. We hadn’t even gone through a quarter of one level and I was already pooped. The place is so huge that their Macy’s takes up what seemed like three or four floors. And, sometimes they had two of the same stores. It would take several days to see everything.
Now that I know how easy and convenient their rail system is (it’s so simple, nowhere near as confusing as the one Boston where they have multiple rail lines intersecting each other) and that there are direct flights to and from ICT and MSP, I wouldn’t mind going back. I’d take Brian with me and show him around. I know for a fact that he would love the massive Lego store. It’s the biggest one I’d ever seen.
I may just take him to Minneapolis for his 40th birthday next year. We’ll see.
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