Posts tagged Shopping
It shouldn’t be sew hard.
May 5th
Why is it so hard to find decent curtains and valances? We have a lot more windows in our new house than we did in our townhouse. And it’s just different here so I don’t want to just put up some of the old ones we had. We found so great sheers for pretty cheap for Brinley’s room and I love the way they look.
Nora only has one window in her room so I decided to try my hand at sewing, and made her valance out of her crib skirt. With the style of the crib that she has, the skirt barely showed through anyway. Since her bedding set came with it, I figured I could cut it up and try to sew a valance. If it came out horrible, then the only thing I’d really have lost was the time it took me to make it. So, I called up my mom to see if she still had her sewing machine kicking around (she used to make lots of stuff back in the day, including dresses for my sister and I). I was in luck, she still had it.
Last week I busted it out and went to work. I haven’t touched a sewing machine since 8th grade Home Economics class. However, by some miracle, it all came back to me. I even remembered how to refill and empty bobbin! This was a pretty easy project though because most of the hems were already sewn since it was a crib skirt. I just cut off the longest sides of the skirt and sort of overlapped them and made a rod pocket. A few pins and stitches later and ta-dah! I had made a valance! It’s nothing fancy or special but it does the job and cost me nothing. It doesn’t bunch up as much as I would have liked since the window is really big and the length of fabric wasn’t very long, but I like it and I’m happy with how it turned out. (I will put up some pictures once things are finalized in the room.)
So now I’m left with a double window in the dining room, a bathroom window, a kitchen window and a door that are still left bare. I know I’m putting too much pressure on myself since we just moved in a little over two weeks ago, but I just can’t stand the sight of it looking so unfinished. I reused the scarf valance thing we had over our living room window in the townhouse in our bay window in our new living room and I hate the way it looks, it’s not long enough. So that will be replaced too at some point. It works for now.
For some reason though, I am just having terrible luck finding anything that I like. I’ve looked at Target, WalMart, JC Penny, Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock.com, Sears and just about everywhere that I can think of that sells curtains and valances. I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, but they don’t have to be super cheap either. It just seems like all I can find for kitchens is stuff with fat chefs, wine bottles, or fruit on them. If I had more time (and patience – since I totally sucked at making a straight line) I’d sew some more myself but it would be easier for me to just buy them (and I’ know they’d look nicer).
So, help me out here. Where can I find some decent window treatments without breaking the bank?
Weekend in Review
Mar 8th
Friday night
- We headed to the mall to check out the Lego store. We bought Brinley her first Lego set. A small, 83 piece set that builds the world’s smallest dog house. The price tag – $12.95. Yikes!
- We also visited Pottery Barn Kids. Brinley really loves going in there and playing with the doll houses and play kitchen. I love looking at the room set ups and checking out the sale bins (even though there are usually like two things in there). As I was browsing the girls were playing with the doll house and Scott decided to take out his iPhone and snap a quick photo. He was quickly visited by a sales lady and told that he was not allowed to take pictures in the store. Seriously?
- Both girls PTFO in the car on the way home. We put them to bed at watched The Taking of Pelham 123. I’m not going to attempt to review the movie. All I will say is that I thought I liked it but the more I think about it, I didn’t like it at all.
Saturday
- Chipotle for lunch.
- Shopping at BJs and a trip to a furniture store.
- Tenants came over to sign the lease.
- I skipped dinner because I was still full from my burrito.
- Sat on the living room floor and started tagging the boxes of clothes that I’m going to be selling at the tag sale next month. Beer in hand made it more enjoyable.
Sunday
- Nora decided she would wake up at 5:55am.
- Scott eventually got out of bed around 8:30.
- We decided to go out for breakfast. After reading that a local diner was recently named one of the Top 10 Diners in Massachusetts, we figured we should check it out. We had heard about it many times but never gave it any credit. It took six years of living about a half mile from the place before we check it out. We loved it and will probably go back many times. Nora made friends with at least three ladies there and Brinley loved her huge chocolate chip pancake.
- Home for Nora’s nap and for mom and dad to shower.
- Back to the furniture store to order our new dining room set. I am SOOO excited about it. It’s exactly what I wanted and we splurged on it but it’s perfect. It will arrive at our new house in 6-8 weeks!
- Headed to visit our friends, Lucrezia and John. Lucrezia whipped up some baked ziti and homemade meatballs for us which were delicious. Then we ventured outside for a little nature walk. Brinley collected some leaves, rocks and pine cones. When we returned from the walk we ate ice cream and cookies before heading home.
- Put the girls to bed.
- Mommy is off to bed at 9pm!
It was a very full weekend but we got some tasks accomplished and got to spend time with friends. Now it’s back to the grind. I have three huge baskets full of dirty laundry staring me in the face and the cupboards are bare. Ugh!
How did you spend your weekend? Was it filled with fun or with getting things done? Maybe a little bit of both?
The third best day of my life.
Mar 1st
The best day of my life was the day I married Scott. The days that Brinley and Nora were born tie for the second best day of my life. Which brings us to the third best day of my life – this past Saturday. Why was it so great? Well, I got to spend the majority of the day ALONE! You might be confused a bit. If the best days of my life were getting married and giving birth to my kids then how could the next best day of my life not involve any of them? Well, it’s because it was a day that revolved totally around me and that has not happened in nearly three and a half years.
I blame no one other than myself for this. Scott has tried ad nauseam to try to get me to go out and have a ME day for quite some time. But for some reason I just could not pull myself away. I feel compelled to be with my kids because, let’s face it, they NEED me. There isn’t another person who could possibly do all that I do with them and for them in a day, right? Wrong. I guess I just like to give myself waaaaaaay to much credit. I mean I’ve gone out alone since the birth of my kids to do various things – quick shopping trips, appointments, etc – but I’ve never left for an entire day by. my. self.
I started my day by getting my hair cut. The last time I had my hair cut was in June. I was long overdue. It felt so great to be pampered and have adult conversation. I didn’t want it to end! When I left the salon I felt like a new person. I had just lost about five to six inches of hair! Wow! I absolutely love my new hair do. I went from long, straggly hair that ended up in a pony tail every day to actually having a style! (Check out my “About Me” page for a picture.)
My next stop was the mall. I typically visit the mall on week day mornings with the girls. At that time the stores are filled with moms, kids and old ladies. I’ve gotten quite used to being able to maneuver my double stroller through the stores with my kids blabbing away and spilling their snacks on the floor. Imagine my surprise when I enter the mall on Saturday to crowds of teenagers, busy women shoppers and just packs and packs of people. It was sheer madness! But I was alone. No stroller, no kids, no diaper bag. I had the freedom to zig and zag at will to avoid the crowds and bounce in and out of any store I wished. It was very liberating. I scored some new bras and underwear from Victoria’s Secret and grabbed a new outfit before heading to the food court to enjoy some lunch. I didn’t sit in the kiddie area and I didn’t have to search for a table large enough to accommodate me, two kids and all of their paraphernalia. I left the mall via Target (my favorite place on earth) and grabbed a few quick things.
Here comes the best part of my day… I’m walking to my car and there are eager shoppers in their vehicles stalking me to find out where I’m parked. I’ve got cars coming at me from both directions and as soon as I turn toward my car, blinkers start flashing. I politely wave them off saying that I’m not leaving. I put my bags in the back and got into the driver’s seat. I did not turn on the car. Instead, I locked the doors and just sat there – alone. No radio, no kiddos in the back seat, nothing. Just peace and quiet! I sat there for a good ten minutes before starting the car and heading off.
I returned home at around 4:30pm and Scott and the girls were still very much alive. Shortly after walking in the door my mom called to say that she was on her way over. When she arrived I headed upstairs, got ready and Scott and I headed out. You see, it was the night of my ten year high school reunion. BUT, I did not go. Instead we met up with some good friends for dinner and drinks. I had no desire to attend my reunion. If I had gone, I don’t think I would be able to say that Saturday was the third best day of my life.
Time out for ME
Feb 25th
I write this post after one of the worst nights sleep I’ve had in a while and it wasn’t due to a poorly sleeping child. This time I have a stomach bug to blame. It hit me around 10pm and I think I might have been able to get in a hour or so of sleep between my trips to the porcelain God and Brinley eventually waking up to join me. NOT FUN!
Anywho, I’m exhausted and my body aches but I just put Nora down for a nap, I’m going to whip out this post and then I’ll let Brinley rot her brain watching TV while I attempt a nap on the couch.
For those of you who follow her, you know that today is Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday. The goal is to take a hour for yourself during the month without kids and do something that you want to do. It might seem trivial, but usually the only time I have without my girls is when they’re asleep! I’m not complaining, I love being a stay-at-home-mom but a time out once in a while would probably do me some good.
My time out this month was spent grocery shopping at 8pm on a Monday night – alone! Big deal, right? Well, it was great. I got in my car, alone, turned up the radio pretty loud (something I can’t do with the kids in the car) and drove a little bit faster than I normally do (don’t worry I didn’t break any laws). Then I got to the grocery store and walked in without a child on my hip or holding a hand. I felt pretty liberated. I stopped at the coffee station near the bakery to get myself a nice, hot cup of joe and was on my way to fill my cart – no distractions or begging for a cookie or a book. I was probably only gone for an hour, but it felt great. I’m thinking of making this my new grocery shopping routine. We usually go as a family on Sunday afternoons, but it’s starting to get in the way of our weekend family time.
So, how did you spend your time out this month? Be sure to visit Theta Mom’s blog to share.
::Heading to the couch now::
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
Feb 22nd
This past weekend will go into the books as one of the best AND one of the worst. We had one thing planned and went with it. The rest of the weekend was completely spontaneous – from where we went to what we ate. After spending a few hours at Chuck E. Cheese (the one plan we had) with my brother, sister-in-law and nieces on Saturday, we did some shopping in the area hitting up LL Bean and the Carter’s Outlet (that place is truly my weakness). As we were getting in the car to head home, Scott and I looked at each other and both had the same idea – Let’s go furniture shopping!
We’ll be moving into our new house in about six weeks and the tiny four chair dinette set we have from seven years ago is just not going to cut it. Off to Jordan’s Furniture we went. For those of you that don’t know, this place is like an amusement park in some ways. It has an IMAX movie theater, a Fuddruckers burger place, a Jelly Belly store, an ice cream stand, a flying trapeze school and a water fireworks show. So before heading into furniture heaven, we stocked up on jelly beans to keep Brinley happy. After falling in love with a $3000 customizable dining set, we figured that ice cream would make a good dinner and sat down to eat it while watching the water show.
On the way home from Jordan’s we made what we thought would be a quick stop at the mall. Scott needed a new case for his iPhone. Well, we ended up spending a few hours there shopping around and eating again, this time at our favorite place – Chick-fli-A. Then it was time to head home and both girls passed out in the car on the way.
We decided to hit up a few more furniture stores on Sunday to do some comparison shopping since $3K for the dining set seemed a bit steep. We ate lunch at home before leaving and headed up north. While at the second store of the day Brinley decided she was hungry for lunch (since she passed up her peanut butter sandwich at home). She begged to go to Friendly’s and we agreed since she had been such a trooper though all of the furniture shopping. After grilled cheese, a honey BBQ chicken super melt, and a turkey and bacon super melt we enjoyed some ice cream (again) and then hopped in the car aiming for Target (my other weakness). Eighty-two dollars later and we were finally headed home!
So there you have it! It was the best because we just got in the car and went with no real plans. It was surprisingly not stressful and the girls were awesome. It was the worst because of all of the crap that we all ate – pizza, jelly beans, ice cream, chicken and fries, super melts and MORE ice cream! You gotta live though, right?!
