Monday, February 24, 2020

Bone paperclips

Thursday: I had plans to hang out with a friend for the afternoon. I made some pom pom friends:
 And the fun Valentine's Day gift my friend gave me:
 a bucket full of candy.
We went to a Greek/Italian place for lunch. My friend is vegetarian and this place was very meaty, I said we could go somewhere else, but she said she'd order a veggie pizza. I ordered chicken stuffed with spinach, not sure what it was called. I picked the place because I googled interesting food, and this popped up. It wasn't anything different or interesting. I want some interesting food, I keep watching these channels on Youtube where they're eating Asian or Egyptian or something else. My town is boring for different food.
Our first stop was Goodwill. I didn't find anything I wanted until we were about to leave and my friend pointed out the free stuffed animals box. I found this cute guy:
It's a Kermit Tsum Tsum. I love Kermit.
Next up was Dollar Tree, it's right next door and I had just run out of cereal that morning.
 cereal, sticky notes, chocolate, Oscar the Grouch.
I learned the next few days I shouldn't buy the off-brand cereals, they were not worth the $1 I paid, or the 20 cents per box (maybe the 20 cents). I thought the sticky notes were just way too cute. Oscar is one of my favorite characters.
 excavation kit, stickers, box, die cuts, pen.
I picked up the excavation kit for a friend, she likes gems and these are kinda fun. I've been looking for the snail stickers for awhile, when I saw there were birds in the same kind of make, I had to pick them up, and I can't pass up sloth stickers. I picked up two of the boxes, my craft groups have been using them to make embellishment boxes, I've wanted to participate, but I can never find them. I had found the blue butterfly die cuts in my local store, so I totally picked up these two colors as well. I love these multi color pens. I spent about $14.
Next stop was a big thrift store, I found the cutest bag:
My friend said I should take him to work, sadly there's only one pocket because it's a kid's backpack. I also picked up a gemstone "L" and some cute strawberry pens. Total spent $8.
Next up was Tuesday Morning, by that time, I was tired, it was almost 6pm and I was kinda shopped out. I had done my shopping down south on Sunday, went shopping on Wednesday and again on Thursday. I didn't even go through all the stuff in the crafting aisle:
 decorative tickets, ephemera pack, word stickers, library card pockets, Halloween stickers, Project Life cards.
The tickets are some kind of purple decorative, I picked up the ephemera pack because it had butterflies and teacups. I was totally thinking about buying a brad/embellishment pack with the same designs. I love word stickers, totally had to pick up this fall package. Also, love some library card pockets. I picked up the Halloween stickers because of the vintage ladies. I picked up the Project Life cards because of the baking theme, I wasn't paying attention and didn't notice they were all 4x6 until I got home. They're still cute, just bigger than I expected. Total spent $16.
Next up, we went to Pier 1 because it was right across the street. I didn't find anything I wanted to buy there, I find their prices rather high for what they're selling.
 I did find this cool Ginkgo sculpture, it was $60.
Last stop was Michael's, pretty much right next to Pier 1.
 stickers, treat bags, caterpillar, pony picks, squishie animals, candles, fabric tape, bunny rings, Easter picks.
I had a lot of sticker shock here. It's been a bit over a year since I was at a Micheal's, and I feel the prices weren't as high. I saw Sticko sheets that are 97 cents at Walmart, they were over $2 here. Outrageous. I thought I could make a cute pocket letter with the stickers. I just liked the treat bags, plus they were 70% off. I picked up the caterpillar and the candles just for me. The candles were marked down and I thought it'd be nice to have them on my birthday cake. I also thought it'd be fun to put together Easter packages with the squishies, the rings and maybe the treat bags. Total spent $18.
It was a fun day, just tiring.
I found 2 things in my mailbox when I got home.
A wish granted for tea:
 These two were from the same person, sticky notes:
 and 50 loose stickers:
 Lots of fun stuff in that envelope.
Friday: the prediction was that it was supposed to be in the 40's with a wind chill of 5. I decided it sounded like a great day to stay home and read, so I did.
I did receive a Send Me Something yummy:
 Unfortunately loose items don't count, so I get a re send for this.
A favorites tag of sticker flakes:
 these are rather cool.
And a private swap of a Valentine's Day pocket letter:
 And the goodies she sent along with it.
 Saturday: I had to open at the library, it was slowish. I was planning on going to an estate sale on my way home, but stopped at the grocery store for some milk and gave in and bought a couple of bottles of pop as well. I headed home to drop off my stuff and then saw my mail and thought that would be more interesting than that the estate sale.
A Send Me Something: lovely tag
 This was a re send as well, because the first time, the person sent me loose papers. I find them cute, not lovely.
Also, a Valentine's Pocket letter:
 The back:
 The goodies:
 And she created 9 ATCs as well.
 So, I technically got 3 pocket letters. I like her style.
I finished The Iron Curtain that afternoon.
Sunday: I got my laundry done before work, had to leave at about 11:50 to catch the bus in. It was a pink game, I don't have any pink shirts, but I did wear my pink socks:
 That have dinosaurs in roller skates on, they are knee socks that actually make it up to my knees. These seem to be really hard to find.
The game should have been non stressful as it was a women's game. It was stressful. There was a promotion to go along with a cheer camp, so tons of little people and babies and people annoyed about not being able to bring bags in because they didn't know, it's a brand new bag, they've never been here before. I'm so tired of excuses, how about you just look at what's prohibited and what's allowed when you buy your tickets, you'll save everyone a lot of grief (yourself included).
I had a nice walk home in almost 60 degree weather. Sadly, I was still in a bad mood when I got home. I put together some tags, a 50 loose stickers:
 A Send Me Something cuddly:
 An ATC:
 A wish granted of someone who likes pagan stuff:
 A wish of something elephant.
I realized after putting together the wishes for this one group, I hadn't participated in tags for about a week. I'm waiting on people to send stuff out that was due a week ago. It's frustrating that people can't send on time. We get two weeks to send things out. I understand having a life, but if you can't fulfill obligations, don't sign up.
 After cooling off from my walk, I was wicked cold, so I took a nice long, hot shower. And ended the day watching TV.
Monday: I opened at the library, it was stressful. After all the stress I shouldn't have had to worry about on Sunday, having another day of stress that shouldn't be stressful put me over the edge. I bought some alcohol on the way home:
 I never drink. The last time I had anything to drink was New Year's Eve, I'm fairly certain in the 2 or so years I've lived here, I haven't had any alcohol in the place. No real reason, I'd rather spend my money on ice cream or chocolate or Mountain Dew. I spent my money on alcohol and Mountain Dew, I looked at the ice cream, but there was nothing I wanted and ever since my grocery store remodeled I find it hard to find good chocolate there or baked goods, and even less selection in the frozen food.
I found a cactus tag when I got home:
 I don't want to use the stickers, I love the key chain.
A private swap for a Valentine's Day pocket letter:
 And the goodies:
I thought it was rather cute, and lots of nice goodies.
 A die cuts tag:
 Not too impressed about these. When I sign up for these tags, I want the ones from die cutting machines and dies, not store bought.
A mystery tag:
 it's a planner sticker book. I'm thinking this might the first and last time I do this tag.
A pastel happy mail tag:
 I wish there was more variety.
A dollar store tag:
Not sure I'll be doing this one anymore.
I'm not sure what helped the most, the alcohol, or doing my mail journal which calms me down. I spent more time on it because I got 6 things in the mail, and then I went and watched TV, which is also calming.
I'm still waiting on my Once Upon A Bookclub box to ship. Got a shipping email last Wednesday, it was actually just that they printed the mailing label, I keep checking but it's still in pre-shipment, meaning they printed the label but haven't delivered it to the post office yet. I'm fairly certain I'll not be renewing this one either. Their original email said wait 48 hours for it to update, as if the postal system would take the 48 hours. I've been doing a lot of mailing on stuff people, it's called you need to deliver it to them. Last month they said the postal system picks them up and they don't do it on weekends, so if I take that into account, it could have been picked up Wed, Thurs, or Friday. I hate this system, I know it's better for businesses, but when you print the label is not when it's shipped. I will make sure I cancel with enough time so I don't get billed for 3 more months. Again, I was so excited for this box. I thought it would take me out of my comfort zone of what I read, plus you'd get some fun gifts as well. I think I should just give up on subscription boxes. Maybe I should focus on food ones instead. I'm always looking for new and different food.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

A fuzzy pink llama

Saturday: I had a basketball game to work, it was ok. Had a lot of purses, AGAIN. I'm getting a little tired of bags and people's excuses, just listen to me and make a decision, don't tell me why you brought your purse. I had one lady, but it's a purse, yep same thing as a bag. Had someone comment that it was "soo cold", it was 30 degrees out. I had someone tell me I was nasty because I took away they're cups that are per game only. I had someone laugh out loud when I told the person behind her they're bag was too big.
I went shopping on my way home, checked out our downtown section. First stop was a local chocolate store:
 I know they never have their chocolate marked down, but I was hoping to get something like I got around Christmas, a box of random shaped chocolate for about $20, the cheapest they had was $25, nope. I got some individual chocolates for about $12. I have no idea what any of them are, they were yummy, though.
Next stop was a drugstore, they have a section of Claire's (a cutesy gift store) clearance stuff. I can't help it.
 Everything was $2, there's a koala lanyard, a heart pen and a unicorn.
I also picked up a bunch of chocolate:
It was all half off and stuff I wanted before Valentine's Day.
I found 4 pieces of mail when I got home. 
A butterfly birthday card:
 The only requirements were it had a to have a butterfly and be a birthday card.
A Valentine surprise:
 not too bad. She forgot to mail it until Monday, which is why it arrived after Valentine's Day.
My last Winner Takes All:
 A couple postcards, washi samples and what was supposed to be mini sticky notes, but they are mini notepaper, I still love them, they are pretty cute.
An Easter ATC:
 Also very cute.
 Sunday: I went shopping, but put together a pocket letter before I left:
 I had actually made this earlier in the week, but never took the picture. It's for a private swap. I thought I'd signed up for a couple more Valentine's Day pocket letters, but apparently I didn't, so I did a couple private swaps.
First stop was Target:
 Bounce dryer sheets, Kit Kat chocolate mint, some stickers, a sticker book and a stationery set.
Close-up of what's in the stationery set:
I may have picked it up solely for the hedgehog sticky notes.
 A couple squishies, a stuffed tiger and some bug spray. Total spent $24. I finished out my Christmas gift cards.
Next stop was Walmart.
 double stick tape, pink stuffed heart, stickers, Valentine snack mix, Hello Kitty Valentine's set.
I almost forgot to pick up my double stick tape and had to put a couple clearance items back. I was so excited to find the Hello Kitty set, it's got a plush, a box of candy and a bucket. The snack mix was popcorn, candy melts, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate balls (they were like m&m's but much richer), Valentine candy corn (I didn't eat that) and chocolate covered pretzel balls. It was so good, I devoured it. Total spent $31, which is on the low end for Walmart for me.
Last stop, Dollar Tree
 pads, duct tape, stickers, pen, calendar, canvas. I like to use patterned or colored duct tape on my packages, normally it's about $5 at regular stores, which is probably a good deal, I'm just cheap and as much tape as I go through, I don't want to spend $5 a roll. I haven't seen any at Dollar Tree for a long time, I really like the color of these rolls. I needed something for a red tag, I was trying to go flat, I had stuff at home, but it would have been a parcel.
 a few blind bags, Gonzo, stickers, hedgehogs, and an Easter bunny. Total spent $16. I need to stop buying stuff (I feel I keep saying that). I didn't end up keeping the Jurassic Park blind bag and I bought the hedgehogs for a friend.
Here's all my blind bags opened:
 Like I said I passed the hedgehogs and dinosaur onto a friend. I'll probably pass on the blue cat as well. I totally felt all the Toy Story 4 blind bags looking for the hedgehog guy.
I was surprised how little Valentine's Day stuff was left. Both Walmart and Target were basically cleared out, I barely found any chocolates, there were a few food items at Walmart and only Hershey's kisses at Target. Not that I need more stuff, I just wanted one of those large mixed boxes of chocolate. I know at Christmas time, they put the candy on sale before Christmas, I wonder if they did that for Valentine's Day, too.
When I got home, I put together my red tag:
 I had picked up the stickers at Walmart, but felt bad just sending those.
A Send Me Something sparkly tag:
 These were all in my stash.
A wish for decorative paper clips:
 I certainly don't need to buy anything for this one. I have a TON of shaped paperclips.
I also made another Valentine's Day pocket letter:
 This one was just paper and the stickers, but I really love how it turned out. I love the background paper and I love the sticker pack I used. It ended up so flat, I mailed it flat as a large envelope.
Monday: we were closed at the library, but we have a staff training day instead. For 8 hours, it used to be more fun, I feel like now we end up basically sitting still all day and just listening to people talk.
When I got home, I put together a mystery item:
 And a favorite color of pink:
 Also had a hard time with this one. I totally tagged the person thinking I have something pink, it's hard to find flat items in my stash.
Tuesday: I headed out to the post office as I had plans on Wednesday, spent over $30, I need to cut back. I realized I had enough food to not go to the grocery store, though I did pick up a gallon of milk. I found 6 items in the mailbox on my way to work.
A Grant a wish tag of something dragon:
 This was the best thing that day.
A wish for something minions:
 They came from wish.
A grant a wish of something minions:
 The same 3 as above with another 3. Apparently you can go wrong with minions, I'm going to try saying no stickers in the future, not sure I can ask that. Of all the things available on wish, they get me stickers. I was very disappointed.
A balloon card:
 I almost used this same paper for my card. The sloth is holding a shaker balloon, but since it wasn't sent in a bubble envelope it popped and all the things inside keep falling out.
A cactus tag:
 I like how she included some handmade paper clips.
And a red tag:
 Which she'll have to resend because you can't make something, you have to send new items in the package.
Wednesday: I had a short day at work due to the long day on Monday. I had plans to hang out with family after work. We went to a bread place for lunch where I had a chicken something with cheese on asiago pesto bread, it was really good, much better than the last thing I had there.
My mom gave me a Valentine's Day present:
 I guess I got a large box of chocolates, there's like 15 or so in it. I keep saying I should pick up some hot hands for Hilton. I certainly won't need them this weekend, as the high will be in the 40's, I do have 2 more events.
We headed out to a gift store, it wasn't as full as I expected, not much there, I'd never been there and I won't be going back. My aunt saw something that she wanted to recreate and figured Hobby Lobby would have things to do it, so we went there.
 Valentine's Day llama, Easter stickers, pom pom friends. I was hoping Valentine's Day was less than advertised, it was still 66% off. I won't be adding the Valentine's greetings to the pom pom friends when I make them, I just really like making these things. I couldn't pass up the llama, it was so fuzzy.
 a faux air plant, some Valentine's Day clothespins and a bunch of charms. Total spent $18. I wanted the air plant for a mermaid plant holder I got last time I was at Hobby Lobby, I had a ceramic rose in it, but it was a bit to big. I totally picked up the clothespins to take the hearts off of. I'm not entirely sure why I picked up the charms, I don't do anything with charms, they were just too cool.
We went next door to Salvation Army and I picked up some cups for a friend:
 Her friend has a coffee shop and they use black and white cups. The two at the bottom are not really the right size, but I feel it's hard to find black cups with white, and the donkey one was pretty cool.
I also picked up my glasses because we were right there. They were not clearer, but I didn't want to deal with the place or the glasses right now. I didn't need new glasses, I don't have any issues with the ones I have, as I said before I knew I'd just be out the money I paid for them. They're not that expensive, but I don't make a lot, so they kinda are for me. As they were so unhelpful when I told them my issues, I just didn't want to deal with the store again.
I found a favorite color: seafoam when I got home.
I'm beginning to think people don't know what color seafoam is actually. I like the sticky notes, but it's not the color I asked for, so technically you didn't fulfill the tag.
Finished my day watching movies. I'm working my way through the library's sci fi selection, I really should be reading my books, but I'm watching movies instead.