Our trip to Portland the other day had a destination other than my husband’s face on the itinerary… and that was Edgecomb Pottery. A high end artsy gallery where my thoughtful spouse likes to shop for gifts.
And as we walked around? it was obvious just how much he enjoys shopping there.
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See that bird?
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Here’s mine.
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See that lamp?
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Yup.
Have one of those too.
Our reason for shopping that day was the return of the thoughtful (but odd, and not my taste) bracelet my husband had given me for my birthday.
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I love that he tries, but he rarely scores a win when buying me jewelry so we exchange quite often.
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This was my substitution piece. Hard to tell by the photo, but it’s gold and silver intertwined.
With the closure of so many brick and mortar stores, I admit I do a lot more Amazon shopping than I used to. And as much as I dislike the idea of lining the already full to bursting pockets of Jeff Bezos, it’s hard to argue with the ease and convenience he provides.
Will I get in the car and drive an hour to the mall, fight the last minute Christmas shopping crowds and drive an hour back through mad traffic just to purchase my yearly calendar?
I will not.
I’ll just sit on the couch, cruise Amazon, push a button and have it in my mailbox in two days.
Of course, calendar shopping isn’t what it used to be.
As proof, I offer these three selections that popped up during my search.
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Uh… no thanks.
I see enough of that in person.
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That’s a definite hard pass. I don’t need twelve months of rhinoceros urination.
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Price drop?
I can’t imagine why those aren’t flying off the shelf.
So I ask again, who buys these things and why are they so preoccupied with poop?
Well, I’m not yet. But it looks like I’m going to be because every single furniture store I’ve shopped is dedicated to that color.
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I’m looking for two couches, a chair and an ottoman in this hardback, rolled arm style. The couches will be solid, the chair and pillows a coordinating pattern.
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All the floor samples are beige, which is fine… it’s not like I want neon orange. But the decided lack of color in the fabric choices is driving me batty.
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The fabrics are pretty…
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But I swear they’re all blue and grey.
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Everywhere.
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At every store.
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My kitchen and breakfast nook are blue and grey.
My den is blue and beige.
My spare bathroom is blue and grey.
Which is why my living room has always been green.
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But it looks like that’s not happening this time around.
I was in Wal Mart the other day, innocently walking through the health and beauty section looking for some reading glasses.
We call them cheaters and I swear the older I get the more I need a pair in every single room of the house and two in the kitchen.
I’m old y’all.
And while I admit I have a hard time reading the fine print on labels, I didn’t have any trouble identifying these products when I turned the corner in search of eyeball magnification.
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Tush toys?
Vibrating rings?
Little suckers?
Shelf upon shelf of …. accessories.
And to think I used to take my mother shopping here.
Remember the long searched for door we bought the other day?
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The one the salesman assured us was rated for exterior use?
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Turns out it wasn’t.
And according to our contractor, it’s not even close.
Of course it wasn’t what we needed. This is a renovation project at ourhouse where all attempts to improve things are doomed.
Destined to fail.
And more than likely cursed by an angry pickle God.
As I said previously, I’m done. We will take this useless door back to the store and send our contractor out to buy the next one. Maybe he’ll have better luck.
I didn’t think living with a dead microwave would bother me very much…. until I spent a few days living with a dead microwave.
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Reheat that leftover for lunch? Nope.
Quick cup of tea? Uh uh.
The recipe calls for melted butter? Better fire up the stove.
Turns out I actually do use the microwave I thought I never used. Who knew?
When it comes to replacing small appliances, I’m a tactile shopper. You can’t tell the heft and quality of a product from scrolling a website… so off we went. Bed Bath and Beyond stores are gone. Sears is dead. The mall is over an hours drive away. We tried Wal Mart and Target but both had cheap feeling crap so the husband suggested we go to the nice kitchen store where he bought the dead before it’s time, counter space hogging oven we needed to heave.
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Now You’re Cooking is one of those pricey specialty kitchen stores where you’ll find every gadget, geegaw and countertop cluttering gizmo you want but never need. (Yes silicon egg separator shaped like a frog, I’m talking to you)
We were pleasantly greeted at the door and lead to the appropriate aisle. When we explained our situation and said that my husband had purchased the old microwave here, the salesperson immediately asked his name and looked on the computer.
Miracle of all miracles… the silly thing was still under full warranty. If we brought it in we could have a brand new one free of charge.
I can’t tell you how happy this made me. Finally! Something was going our way.
So we beat feet home, grabbed the dead micro and drove back to surrender it. The husband was all for swapping it out with the same model but I chose to go with a slightly smaller version. Counter space is precious in our house.
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It still has his precious self closing door, and we even had a sweet $100 store credit to boot.
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With which I bought the mini Cuisinart food processor I’ve been eyeing for months.
Life is good.
For now….
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 