I’m Free! But It’s Not Really that Exciting.

So I’ve already shopped at Walgreens.  I have a cold and needed OTC cold whatever and I was about to go way out of my way just to go somewhere other than Walgreens, but I realized that would be silly.  I haven’t gone crazy shopping other places.  I went to the grocery store but all I bought was some bananas (yay!), grapes,  apple cider, mulling spices, and then like milk and stuff.  I was kind of overwhelmed at the grocery store.  It was overwhelming partly because they have so much stuff, but also partly because there’s so much stuff I need!  I didn’t know where to start.  Admittedly, my cupboards aren’t normally stocked to the brim with food, so it’s normal for me to need a lot of stuff at the grocery store, but usually I’m better at narrowing it down.  I just couldn’t.  I need to relearn that skill.  I think when I go back I’m going to get some Brie and some good crackers.  That’ll be a good start.

I bought a couple of Christmas presents.  I bought a sweater for myself.  But I needed to wear it the very next day, so it’s a good thing I had it.  Oh, and I got a couple of sweaters at Savers.

So all in all, I’ve kept it pretty under control.  I didn’t totally fall off the wagon.  Hurray!

Shopping List

Everyone keeps asking me what’s the first thing I’m going to buy when I’m done, or what’s on my list to buy on Friday, and really, there’s not much of a list.  I’m probably going to buy a couple of Christmas presents that I found online and want to order them right away before I forget. For myself, there’s really, for reals, not much I’m dying to buy right now.  And actually I’m running low on some cleaning products and things that I could buy at Walgreens, but I’m waiting because I’m just so tired of shopping there!  I figure even little stuff like sponges and Comet cleaner will be more fun to buy at Target, at least for a little while.

Probably, the main thing I want for myself is conditioner.  As far as makeup and skincare go, I think the drugstore brands do just as well as the department store stuff.  And I’m really not usually willing to pay 25 bucks for a tube of lip gloss, so I buy at least half of my makeup at Walgreens anyway.  But hair products?  That is a whole ‘nother story.  I think there is a world of difference between drugstore hair products and salon hair products.  And Walgreens does carry a few of the salon brands in the stores, but they don’t carry the conditioner I want.  And, yeah, I could’ve ordered it online, but I’m just not really about ordering things like conditioner online.  It’s weird to me.  I can buy clothes online, or books, but conditioner?  No. Can’t do it.  So I’m dying to go buy my normal conditioner.

And bananas.  I’m looking forward to having bananas on-hand regularly again.

So that’s my list.

1. Christmas Presents
2. Conditioner
3. Bananas

Well, so I say now.  I’ll probably be going crazy shopping for all kinds of stuff come Friday.

Learning My Lesson… And Applying It

My hair color disaster a couple weeks ago was a great example of a lesson that I’d already learned, but failed to apply in my life.  When I go to a drugstore or something and buy a box of hair dye and follow the instructions in a half-assed manner, the results are never good.  About a year and a half ago I tried to do that with a highlighting kit from Target and the results were blotchy and weird.  So, I really spent some time thinking about the hair color I wanted and how best to achieve it.  Then I went to the Sally website and store and spent a lot of time figuring out which products would work best.  And when I finally lightened my hair it turned out really nice.  It worked because I really put some time and energy and thought into it.  That was the lesson I learned: when you put thought and planning and energy into at-home hair coloring, the results can be lovely.  But I did not apply this lesson when I colored my hair recently.   I find I have to relearn similar lessons in cooking from time to time.  I get all cocky about what a good baker I am, so I get sloppy and wind up with bad results.

I have a little less than a week left in the project, and I feel like I’ve learned many lessons.  I’ve learned about how easy it is to save money when I’m not buying random little things I that I don’t need for fifteen or twenty bucks a pop.  I’ve learned that if detergent or razors or toilet paper or something like that is on sale, it makes sense to go ahead and buy it whether I need it right that minute or not.  Stuff like that has an indefinite shelf life, and while I wouldn’t tie up a ton of money in things like that, it’s nice to have it around when I need it.  Because you know that stuff is never going to be on sale when I absolutely have none left and need it right away.  I learned that recreational shopping takes up a huge amount of time in my life.  I had no idea. I also learned that I don’t miss it very much when I don’t have it (except for the used book store shopping!)  I learned that I don’t really need more shoes, at least not until some that I already own get worn out and need to be replaced.    I’ve learned that the writing is easier when you work on it regularly and not sporadically. I learned that there aren’t as many places to wear a bright pink terry cloth romper as you might think (it turns out I’m not Crissy Snow).  I learned that if I eat out all the time I’ll end up adding a few pounds on (actually that one I think I’ve learned early in this life and just sometimes fail to apply).   I’ve learned that the people in my life that visit my blog regularly are often the people that I can count on to be there for me when I really need someone.

Hopefully these lessons will stick with me, and I won’t need to relearn them in order to apply them.  Unlike that lesson about needing to pay attention to things you leave under the broiler.  That lesson just does not stick with me for more than about 10 months.

Only five days left!

 

Saving Grace

One other thing happened in Las Vegas.  I almost fell off the wagon.  I really wanted to wear some sort of stretchy knit pant for the road and I hadn’t packed any.  I was all bloated and puffy from eating and drinking too much, and I wanted something stretchy and comfy for the ride home. I came really close to buying some pants at Ross.  And I thought about how I was so close it was silly to cheat so blatantly here at the end. And if I were going to cheat this far in it should be on something amazing, not some $10 workout pants.  And I thought about buying some pants at the Walgreens down the street, but they didn’t have any I liked.  Their pant selection most definitely leaves something to be desired.  There were two sweat suits that were ok except for the giant, ugly Las Vegas thing embroidered on them.  And it was tacky bad, not tacky kitsch and fun.  ‘Cause a giant Las Vegas logo could be fun on a velour sweat suit.  It wasn’t.  And they were overpriced. By the way, my friend Zanne thinks that the reason they have so many clothes in those two stores on the strip is because people might need a change of pants after eating the sushi that’s there.  Ha! Good times.  I’m sure it’s fine.  Pretty sure.  Not sure enough to have actually tried it.

Anyway, I really wanted those stretchy pants at Ross.  And what finally convinced me not to buy them was the threat of bed bugs.  There probably haven’t been any reports of bed bugs in any Ross ever, but I’ve heard about people getting bed bugs from clothes that they brought home from the store and didn’t wash right away.  And it’s not like I’d have been able to wash them there very easily.  Even if I’d washed them in the sink at the hotel, they wouldn’t have dried in time.  So I couldn’t buy any clothes there.  So thank you, bed bugs, for keeping me honest in this project.

And, if you were wondering, yes, I inspected the hotel room thoroughly for bed bugs.  I even brought a flashlight.  It was fine and bed bug free.

Vegas Part 2!

I visited two other Walgreens in Vegas.  One was further south on the strip — across from the Monte Carlo.  It was really similar to the one next to the Venetian, only older and slightly shabbier.  But like the other one on the strip it had a BUNCH of clothes.  No luggage or cute hats though.  But it did have sushi.  So 2 Walgreens that carry sushi so far.

I also visited the one on Fremont Street was just like every other store on Fremont Street.  It was mostly souvenir shot glasses and t-shirts, though it also had Tylenol and Imodium.  No sushi at the Fremont store.  It did have more pantry type foods than the stores on the strip, like pasta and rice and Stove Top stuffing.  I guess maybe there are more people that live near Fremont Street?  It’d be sad if many people lived actually at one of the really cheap hotels near there and just had a hot plate and lived off pasta from the Walgreens.  Wow.  That’s a really depressing thought.  I totally just bummed myself out.

Also went to a Walgreens in Flagstaff that I think was fairly close to NAU (maybe not.  There’s no particular reason to trust my Flagstaff geography knowledge) and it was as worn and dingy as the store that’s right next to UNM.  So at least Walgreens doesn’t play favorites with its student-ghetto stores.  Louie the Lumberjack gets the same treatment as Louie the Lobo.  But weird that they’re both named Louie, right?

Finally, unrelated to Walgreens, but a tip from me to my readers: Halloween on the Las Vegas Strip was kinda lame.  Nobody was into it.  Like only 10 percent of the people there were dressed up and everybody was taking themselves very seriously. Who knew?  But Halloween on Fremont Street was AMAZING! People were in super fun, crazy costumes and it was just all one big party.  So, if you find yourself in Las Vegas on Halloween go to Fremont Street.

 

The Fanciest Walgreens EVER!

I already knew that different Walgreens carry different stuff — sometime almost totally different stuff.  I was still not prepared for a Walgreens that looked like this:

It doesn’t even look like a Walgreens, right?  When was the last time that you’ve ever walked in to a Walgreens with a giant jewelry display endcap at the very front of the store?  Or that had like 4 aisles of clothes?  Or luggage?  Or cute wide-brimmed sun hats?

Here’s the store from the outside:

This is the store that’s right outside the Venetian and across the street from Treasure Island.  So it’s a pretty high-rent neighborhood.  If I had done this project in Vegas I think it would’ve been easier.  At least as far as my clothing and accessory needs went.     They also had a fancier looking electronic section, though they actually probably had fewer electronics.  And sushi.  They had sushi.

Right there on the middle shelf.  Sushi.  At Walgreens. I heard tell of it on the internets, but I was skeptical.  And then there it was.  I thought about trying some.  Then decided against it because I had an eight hour drive the next day.

The only thing I actually bought for myself was a pink oven mitt that has a print with the “Welcome to Fabulous  Las Vegas Nevada” sign on it.  I’m not sure how practical the oven mitt is.  It feels like it’s made out of synthetic fabric.  I’m not totally sure it won’t just melt the first time I use it. Maybe it should just be hung on the oven for pretty.