shopping

Sunday: I did laundry. That was pretty much it. I watched a few movies as well. Very productive day.

Monday: had a weird swing shift at work and it seemed to go one forever. Had to pick up cereal on my way home and had the hardest time deciding, I always go for the sugary kid's stuff, mostly cause the other stuff just doesn't taste that good. I did get some stuff in the mail.

A wish for happy mail:

A destash tag:

And another happy mail tag:

I really liked all three of them this time.
Tuesday: I had plans to go shopping with a friend, on my way to meet her I found a kawaii tag:

This came from Australia, and took 3 months to get here.

I also got a birthday surprise from Germany, that one only took a month, it's amazing the difference in how long things take to get here from other countries.

Our first stop was TJ Maxx, they had a sign saying only 68 people were allowed in the store. I highly doubt there were more than 20. I also saw some employees wearing the masks under their noses, if you're going to wear it, wear it right. I understand it makes it harder to breathe, and it's even worse when you're doing manual labor.

I got a couple packages of toffee pretzels, a package of dark chocolate covered pistachios and a dress. Sadly when she rung up the dress, it said it was a junior's dress. When I tried it on at home, it's cute, just hits me about mid-thigh, and if I more around too much, rides up a bunch in the back. I'm keeping it, I just have to figure out what to wear it with. I'm thinking either bike shorts, or I have some capri length leggings.

Next up was Walgreen's. I can't show what I got there, it automatically went in my birthday bag, you'll see that in less than a month.

Then it was Walmart.

Picked up some body wash, stickers, more pretzels, shower pouf and some heel things. I was going to pick up the body wash at my grocery store, but they had smaller bottles than this one for about the same price. I signed up for a 4th of July pocket letter, I don't have a ton of things to use, so I picked up the stickers. I need the heel things for my shoes. It never seems to matter how tight I tie my shoes, my heels rub and give me wicked blisters, these help.

A shirt, a bunch of bralettes, tape and a birthday cake Kit Kat. I need some new bralettes, that black one is wicked comfy. I bought this same pack of tape last March and I'm just getting close to finishing it. I remember thinking it was a lot of money for the pack, $9 for 4 rolls, but if it lasts me over a year, I think it's good.

The shirt:

Totally can't wear it to work.

Last stop was an Asian food store;

I'm not entirely sure what things are. I ate the mochi mango ice cream right before lunch, it was so good. We went to a burger place for lunch and then my friend dropped me off.

I put together some sticker swags:

We had to send 5 packs of new stickers:

I did three.

I usually only allow myself to do one of each tag, but I'm tired of not getting mail, and I have a ton of stickers. Of course I only send ones I don't really want.

I also got a flat item ready to mail.

I realized I work 12-5 tomorrow, so I'll have to get to the post office before work and go grocery shopping after.

Fun with a friend

Friday: I read all day. Took care of a bunch of books, whether finishing ones I'd started or reading a few short ones. 

Saturday: Last basketball game of the season, I didn't realize how excited I was about it. It was raining when I left, and unfortunately a bit more slippery because I thought it would be easier to walk on but the sidewalks were still shitty. I almost fell when I left for work. I made it down the driveway and walked in the street to the bus stop, the streets were much nicer. Asked my mom for a ride home because I was afraid of it being bad. It was a lot better when I got home, it had stopped raining and stuff had drained so there weren't puddles everywhere. Found a package when I got home.

Quick Crafty swap:

 We had to send each other a couple crafting items, total of $3. I probably won't use the bows, but I really like those butterfly buttons.
Sunday: read more. I had opened all the surpriseamals and here's what I amassed:

 A bunch of the Dalmatians and koalas for the Valentine's ones, but also the extra surprise (hedgehog), pink bear, elephant, white bear, polar bear, and zebra, For the Christmas ones, I had double unicorns, a green penguin, a grey penguin, grey cat, owl, candy cane bear, and the extra surprise (silver moose), I also had a couple regular ones: the pink fuzz ball, and the multi colored dragon. I enjoy opening them and the mystery about what's in them, but I don't particularly enjoy once they're opened, so I won't be buying more.
Monday: It was icy again in the morning, asked my landlord about getting a bit more ice melt and they basically said, just wait it will all melt off soon.
Found some mail when I got home.
Washi swap:

 Wish for tea:

 And an empty envelope:

 It was supposed to be a Valentine's Day tag, when I posted it to the group, the person sending to me said it was supposed to be a keychain. I'm amazed how people think things like that can be mailed in a regular envelope and won't get damaged or jump out. If you send anything breakable, it should be in a bubble envelope.
Tuesday is always my catch-up on getting things ready to be mailed day.
Secret sister:

 She said she liked adult coloring books, colored gel pens, mermaids, blank cards, embellishments and buttons. She had mentioned somewhere that she didn't have very much washi. I think I did pretty good.
Butterfly swap:

 we had to send 10 die cuts to a partner.
Wish for Kawaii stickers.

 Wish for stickers:

 she said she liked Disney and cacti.
And I made a Taped up Thursday tag:

 We had to make a 4x6 piece of art with washi.
I actually had not signed up for any tags since Thursday. I felt so accomplished being done with a lot of my tags and swaps, I just didn't feel like dealing with the world. Also, I found out on one group if you get 12 people granting your wish, you have to grant 12 other wishes, I can't really afford that. So, I made sure the wishes from that group were all filled.
I did sign up for one tag, Pineapple:

This is a pineapple squishie from Dollar Tree.
I really wanted to go shopping on Thursday, but we were in a Flood watch from 1PM on Tuesday until 7PM on Thursday due to warmer temperatures and the forecast of rain until Thursday night. We were in a dense fog watch from 9PM Tuesday until 1PM Wednesday. Found a wet spot in the back of the library (staff area) and it will probably be there until we're out of the flood watch.
When I got home from work on Wednesday, Facebook was messed up. I like to post my mailing photos shortly after getting home on Wednesday so I don't have to worry about it later. It's amazing how annoying it is when things don't work. My mail from Wednesday.
Unicorn tag:

 I think it's a bit childish. I like it, but I hate that it's basically a kid's stuffed animal.
Wish for tea:

 These all sound interesting. I was very annoyed that Facebook wasn't working. I should have read a book, but I hate it when the world tells me what I should do. I'll read a book when I want to read a book. I basically wasted time on the computer and watching Youtube. 
Thursday was my day off. Read a couple books: Imbeciles by Adam Cohen about Eugenics and the laws about sterilizing people, and Working Stiff by Judy Melinek about a medical examiner and the things she encounters.
I found a wish granted of tea in my mailbox.

 Friday: Found a St Patrick's Day loaded envelope swap in the mail:

 A better look:

And a surprise tag:

 It's hit or miss on what I get on these tags, too. I'm not sure about signing up for them in the future.
Saturday, I finally got to go shopping. My original plan was to head out to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's and the Asian food store and a few places downtown and then go home for awhile and then meet a friend and get some blizzards at Dairy Queen. So I went out to Hobby Lobby and found a few interesting things. These were all in the 'spring' section, I think they're supposed to go outside, but I'm not sure if I'd trust Hobby Lobby things outside.
A cute snail and sloth:

 Dragon:

 Hedgehogs:

Birds:

 My haul:

 ribbon flowers ($1 and $2 respectively), mermaid stickers ($2), purple trim ($1), charms ($1 each), frog garden stake ($2), charm ($3), washi ($3).
I totally waited too long and there wasn't a lot of clearanced items left. I found some in the decorate your own shirt aisle and picked up the ribbon flowers. The purple trim has flowers on it. All the paper studio stuff was 50% off, so I picked up these layered mermaid stickers and the washi. The washi has animals with flower crowns on them.

 Easter stickers ($2 each), resin bunnies ($2), eggs ($2), Christmas ornament ($1), fairy girl ($3).
I did want to wait until Easter stuff was 40% off because I wanted Easter stuff, but I wasn't going to pay full price for it. I try not to pay full price for anything at Hobby Lobby. I really liked these stickers. The bunnies in the middle are wooden with little fluffy tails. I really liked those bunnies on the right side, they had little flower wreaths. There were some resin lambs that I wanted to buy, but there was at least one where the paint was messed up on it in each package. I saw these bunnies and there was only one package, so I grabbed it. I liked these eggs and hope I have an Easter swap, I'd love to include them. I found this yeti thing ornament in the back in the regular clearance aisle and totally had to have him. I also just liked the fairy girl. I spent about $29 there.
Next up was JoAnn's:

 rosette stickers ($2 each), ribbon ($0.50 each), wooden pieces ($0.50 each).
I totally picked up the rosettes because I'm not good at making them and I figured I could easily put something over the top of them. I figured if I didn't use the ribbon, I could include them in swaps. I noticed after getting home that I wasn't charged for the owls on the right side. I spent about $12 there.
While I was in JoAnn's my friend texted me and said her daughter and her would be in town soon and did I want to go to a thrift store, I said sure.
Next up was the Asian food store:

 green tea Hello Panda ($7), strawberry corn snacks ($2), green bean cakes ($12), wafer roll ($2), corn snacks ($2).
I love Hello Panda, though I usually only see them in strawberry or chocolate, so it's fun to find another flavor. I didn't want to buy the large package, but there was no other choice. I've had the corn snacks before and picked up the regular flavor for a friend. I didn't know what those cake things are on the right side and when I got home, I found out I paid $11.99 for them, they better be damn good, I'm going to be very upset if they're not good at all. The wafer rolls just looked good.

 Lychee mochi ($4), wheat flour cakes ($7), coconut and mango jelly ($2), and chocolate cookies ($4).
I love mochi, and lychee sound great, when I opened the package, it smelled wonderful. The last time I bought wheat flour cakes, they were really good, these were a different packaging, but I thought I'd try it. I like the 'jelly', it's more like tiny containers of jello, they're really good. Spent about $42 there.
At that point, I had started home. After getting halfway there, I looked at my phone and noticed I had missed a text from my friend stating they were at the Asian food store, so I turned around and went back.
I met them at the Asian food store and we headed over to the thrift store, I didn't end up buying anything, my friend asked if I wanted to go anywhere else, I asked if we could go to the Dollar Tree, so we did.

 bandaids, nail art, strawberry muffin, giant whoopie pie, air fresheners, shower cap, sponges, more bandaids, hair ties, cards, croissant.
My Dollar Tree had just installed their Snack zone and they had a ton of good looking snacks, I wanted to load up on those, but I refrained and only bought two filled croissants (I ate one), a strawberry muffin and a giant whoopie pie. I'm running low on bandaids, and I know these aren't a great deal (though we found out at Target, they're a good deal for decorated bandaids), but if I have to have a bandaid on, I'm gonna have a cool one. I picked up the mini bow nail art for crafting stuff. I needed the air fresheners and the sponges and the hair elastics, I also picked up the shower cap for showers. I take a shower every night and my hair takes awhile to dry and it's only getting longer, so I thought I'd try wearing a shower cap. I also always seem to need blank cards. I've noticed I have a lot that people have made for me, but I don't want to part with them.

 stickers, squishies, pen, figurines, notebooks, tape dispenser.
I'm surprised there weren't very many stickers this time around. I love these squishies, one is a cat on it's back and the other is a sloth. Found this cute donut gel pen (though I didn't notice it was a gel pen until I got home). Thought these figurines were cute, one package has a fox, raccoon and hedgehog, the other has a frog, turtle and owl. Also, couldn't pass up these notebooks even though I certainly don't need more and how cute is that donut tape dispenser? I can't decide if I want to keep it or pass it on to someone.
Here's the packages of notepads:

 I totally got the top set for the sharks and found out there were octopuses in it as well. I love that second set. It's 'Be kind' with a deer, 'Be Brave' with a bear, 'Be wise' with an owl, and 'Be clever' with a fox. Spent about $28 there.
Next stop was Target.
Found these cute mugs:

 And some interesting Bob Ross games:

 My haul:

 Twinkies ($3), mug ($3), flag ($1), envelopes ($2), Tsum Tsums ($1.50 each)
I was curious about the taste of these limited edition Twinkies. I couldn't pass up the mug, it says 'Due to unfortunate circumstances, I'm awake' I only have two mugs that I use as mugs, I have quite a few I use as holders of things, but I loved this one. Had to pick up the flag, I'm going to put it in my mug at work and call it a pride flag. I needed envelopes. I have a box of these, but I can't find them, now I'll have enough for ever. I saw these Tsum Tsums at the checkout and totally picked them up, I found out later they were $1.50 each, normally $5.99. Spent about $14 there.
We decided while walking around Target that we needed food at that point, so we went to Dairy Queen and had lunch. It was about 3pm at that time.
We headed to Fresh Thyme next.

 Ok, we actually went to Petco first (cause it's right next door), I wanted to hold a guinea pig for a bit, but they didn't have any in. The guy I asked, said next week, maybe.
I found this egg custard pie at Fresh Thyme and really wanted to pick it up, but I didn't.
After getting done there, we decided to hit Staples and be done for the day.

Stickers ($1), pom pom keychain ($2), surprizeamals ($2 each), tags ($0.50), squishy ($1), stickers  and cards ($1.60)
 I haven't been to Staples in years, it's way down south and I just have no desire to go to anything by it, so I don't. We headed straight to the clearance section. I found out later I wasn't charged for the owl stickers. The pom pom keychain was just too cute for $2, and as we know I can't pass up the suprizamals, these were also $2, and I was so excited to find the guinea pig in one and the walrus in another. I thought the deer tags were cute. I love the octopus, though technically, it's a sticker. Also, owl stickers and llama cards. Spent $13 there and we headed home. Found some mail when I got home.
Rainbow happy mail:

 I'm disappointed in them. Not sure about this tag in the future, either. I'm also annoyed to see the postal date on the package, it said March 13th, but the person who was sending to me said she mailed it on February 25th.
Wish for patterned duct tape and tea:

I have so much loose tea, that it fills my special tin for it, so I think I'm done wishing for it for awhile.
I spent about $150 today, I feel I'm good with shopping for awhile. We never did get those Dairy Queen blizzards, so we're going to hang out again in the future some time.

a couple hauls

I meant to post on Monday after going shopping but life never happens like you mean it to. I'm not religious, but I've always loved this saying: If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.
Anyway, I guess this will kinda be a weekly checkin.
Sunday: I had to work at the library at noon, it was actually kind of quiet. We didn't have anything going on, not near as many people seemed to be there, the weather was nice. There was a little rush at about closing, but there's always more people at closing on the weekends.
Monday: I finished some swaps.
A flamingo and pineapple pocket letter:

 I also decorated some paper bags for a destash swap:

 I like this one. I love all the embellishments I added to it.

 This one, I didn't really know how to decorate it, so it's rather plain.
My parents asked if I wanted to go to supper with them. I always have to figure out whether or not the free meal outweighs how much they will annoy me at supper. I took this picture to compare the differences in serving proportions:

 I had gotten the special of butternut squash ravioli and got 5 ravioli, my dad got a calzone and it was huge. They were also rather slow. I got a cannoli to go, and it wasn't that great when I got around to eating it, I probably will not go back there.
We were very close to an Asian food store, so I wandered over there before we left, I found this guy on a window on my way over:

 I really shouldn't go in to the Asian food stores, I always end up spending way too much money and half the things I don't end up liking.
 It was basically green tea everything.

Green Tea Mochi ice cream, I've had a few of these and I don't find them too flavorful, I think I need to let them warm up a little before I decide I don't like them. The wafer thing was like a square sugar cone with chocolate and green tea ice cream, I liked that one. There's another green tea ice cream mochi on the top, I haven't tasted this one yet. Green tea kit kats, I love these. Green tea cakes, there's too much cake and not enough green tea in these.

 Milk cake, they are kinda like a fig newton in the cake part and the inside kinda reminds me of mochi, it's not creamy like it looks like. The bags with faces on are like giant cocoa puffs. I've already finished one bag. Raspberry kit kats, love these too. The only thing I don't like are the bags are $5 each. Banana cream cereal sticks, these are strange but kinda good. It's like cereal on the outside and a banana cream on the inside, I wish the outside was sweeter.
Tuesday: I watched TV all day. It was a good day.
Wednesday: I opened at the library and then did my errands. It was a pretty good day. It's funny the week before I had a great Tuesday, too, and then on Wednesday, someone on Facebook annoyed me, same thing happened this week. It's my art swaps and how I seem to get a lot of people sending out late or not really putting any effort into the swaps.
Today, I had to be at the bookstore at 8, I got up at 6:30, not feeling that great, I saw this beautiful sight at the police station:

 all the police SUVs lined up.
I continued to not feel so great at the bookstore, so I went home early. I found this box on my porch when I got home:

 It's my hollar haul. I'm not as enamored with them as some other people, the last few times I was on the website I didn't find anything I really wanted to spend my money on, but when I was on this time it was specifically for the coloring pads in this picture:

 I had seen someone on YouTube haul them, and I'm not a coloring person, but I thought they'd be fun for art, and you can't just buy those, so I ended up spending about $30. The paper pad was $1.50
Here are some close-ups of the insides:
DCWV color and create tags - colors and objects, $3

 DCWV color and create tags - nature designs, $3

cutout journal and photo album - vintage $3

some envelopes, stickers and clear acetate ephemera

The coffee cup stickers were $2, which is a bit steep, but I really wanted them. The scrapbooking stickers were 99cents.
 Close-ups:
Embellished journey envelopes and cards, 10 count, 99 cents

Embellished surf shop envelopes and cards, 10 count, 99 cents

 clear cut love shapes with glitter accents, 99 cents

 Family time clear cut shapes with glitter accents, 99 cents.

stickers:

Everything was 99 cents in this picture. The monsters are temporary tattoos, but I've seen people use them in crafting stuff.
I also picked up a few stuffed animals:

The owl and the monster were both $2, the bear was 99 cents.

I'm excited to get into these and start creating with stuff.