Inane Chatter

I’ve read in lots of places (I can’t name a single one, but at this point, it’s probably in the public consciousness so I don’t have to) that to be successful at losing weight (or at anything), it helps to set up little rewards at certain milestones.  I found my first little reward.  But I can’t have it yet.  I had the afternoon off work today (left early to take my data modeling exam (got an A), and had a couple of hours left over), so what did I do?  I went to the mall.  Horror of horrors.  I wasn’t in a shopping mood, but John needs new brown work shoes and he has enormous feet so no one ever has his size in stock.  I went to Nordstrom because I know they’ll order or transfer shoes from other stores so he can try them on before buying.  Nice people there.  And while I was at the mall, I decided to shop for skinny jeans.  Not because I’m particularly skinny, but because it’s time.  Sadly, I’m between sizes.  So my reward for losing the next few pounds will be a pair of skinny jeans.  Mostly so I can wear my boots over them.  My shopping mood didn’t last long (it never does), and I escaped from the mall before it could ruin my day.  Malls have a way of doing that.

Seriously, could today have been any better?  Only if it had unicorns and sparkles.  And it’s not over yet.  There’s hope.  Sure, we got up super early on a Saturday, but it was only so we could go to the giant used book sale that happens every six weeks in a warehouse in Annapolis.  Worth it.  AND I had a croissant and my favorite candy-coffee from Starbucks for breakfast on the way (tall, skim, no whip white mocha with two pumps of toffee nut – yes, I’m one of those now).  Extra worth the early wake-up.  AND we hung out with Jess while looking for books and then having bagels.  Better than extra worth it.  And THEN we went to IKEA and bought two more bookshelves, upper shelf extensions for those two plus the six at home that didn’t already have them, plus two wall shelves to go over the couch (and hold more books – maybe the graphic novels?).  We’ve spent the afternoon since then putting the shelves and the extension together while watching Law & Order: SVU, and now we’re going to pick up dinner from somewhere and settle in and watch a movie.

A day like today makes me so very happy.  Books, best friend, shelves, dinner, and a movie, a whole day hanging out with John, and sure, I didn’t do any calculus like originally planned, but John and I worked it out on the way home from IKEA.  Today we get the furniture part out of the way and relax a little.  Tomorrow, we’ll run, mow the lawn (it grew, like, two feet in 8 days), and do homework (my calculus, his thesis).  Sunday is the responsible day.

Yesterday, I went to the mall.  (Cue the screechy violins.)  I had an Ann Taylor LOFT gift card (my mother who loves me sent it for my birthday), and they were having a 30% off everything sale, and I found an outfit.  Went to the counter, asked about my gift card, and found I can’t use it in the store.  It’s an e-gift card, and I can only use it while e-shopping.  Not a big deal – I wrote down exactly what I planned to buy and continued my shopping (Target, Home Depot, other stores in the mall to find shoes for this new outfit I couldn’t buy, etc).  When I got home, I hopped online, found the website (30% and free shipping on the website!), put the skirt in my shopping cart, found the top, and that’s where I got stuck.  Turns out the top isn’t available online.  In stores only.  Really?  REALLY?  SO irritating.  I ordered the skirt anyway.  Today, I went back to the store.  I was in and out of the mall in less than 10 minutes, maybe less than five.

But just because my return trip was relatively painless doesn’t excuse Ann Taylor’s behavior.  Why would any retailer NOT sell everything online?  Yes, I know malls are endangered, and yes, they got me to visit their physical location TWICE in two days, but they also made me a tad less likely to order from them again.  A tad.  A teeny tad.  That was a good sale.  And free shipping.  Who am I kidding?  I’m still irritated, though.

I heard something a little (a lot) ridiculous that made my mall visit more palatable.  On my way out, I went through the shoe department in Nordstrom and listened to the pianist by the escalators.  I heard the opening chords of something familiar, but I couldn’t place it for a minute.  Then he got to the chorus and all of a sudden I recognized it.  Why would anyone bother to arrange a piano-only version of Justin Bieber’s “Baby”?

Why do I still ask these questions?  A quick search on YouTube found lots of piano versions of it.

I think I share that problem with many many many many other people.  There’s so much cool stuff!  I mean, check out these earrings.  How cool is that?  Geeky, yes, but there’s a whole category called Geekery, and I’m very tempted by those earrings.  They might be a little too long for me – that’s the only reason I’m hesitating.  And these owl magnets…I’ve been looking for magnets for my desk at work, and these are adorable.

Etsy is on my mind more than usual today because two of my favorite bloggers, Bridget and Spokeit, have Etsy shops for their photographs.  I only found out about Bridget’s today, and so we have today’s post.

Bridget’s Etsy shop

Spokeit’s Etsy shop

Go, browse, buy (or at least admire and send them nice notes).  Send Etsy some love.