Never Say Never

For Thanksgiving we went down south to visit some family. Living in San Francisco has many perks, but unlimited parking and proximity to chain shopping stores are not two of them so I've been making up for that down here. While I'm staying in on Black Friday (as well as on Thanksgiving), I did get some shopping in earlier on in the week.

At Target I saw boys' long-sleeved T-shirts on sale, three for $18 so I stocked up for Not-a-Bub. After I got home, cut the tags and threw the shirts into the washer, I checked the receipt and realized that they charged me $7 each instead of $6. Why does Target do that? This isn't the first time it's happened where there's a discrepancy between what I'm charged and what was advertised. But it's only $3 and gas being as expensive as it is, it doesn't seem worthwhile to go out of my way to haggle. It does make me want to stop shopping at Target though.

In the picture above you should see, clockwise from top: a ski helmet, a make-your-own headbands kit, two pairs of kids' ski gloves, girl's lined Crocs, women's Hunter rain boots, big boy's leather loafers, and Hello Kitty rain boots. On Wednesday I hit Nordstrom Rack, Michael's and Costco. The ski stuff was from Costco; I don't actually like to ski but we go skiing all the time because Not-a-Bub loves skiing (so skiing we go). I'm not at the point where I feel comfortable buying my own skis or boots, but seeing as the helmet rental is extra and I'm the type of person who worries about head lice, buying my own helmet to use for an unforeseen number of future ski trips seemed like a good idea. Not-a-Bub lost his ski mittens last ski trip, so he needed another pair, and honestly, it doesn't seem like a bad idea to have extras.

Actually, the Hello Kitty rain boots were from Costco too. They were the last pair and what do you know, in Princess' size as well. Serendipity. The added bonus was that they cost less than a pair I was eyeing at Nordstrom Rack.

Which brings me to Nordstrom Rack. Everything else (but the headband kit, which is obviously from Michael's) was bought there. On Monday at the Santa Ana Mall Princess stopped at the Crocs store, gazing lovingly at the plastic, multi-colored shoes. The rest of us were bemused but she really seemed entranced. At Nordstrom Rack she really wanted a pair of sequined shearling boots, but she has so many pairs in different sizes at home waiting for her I couldn't justify them. These, however, I could. Not-a-Bub found the loafers on clearance and apparently, the style agreed with him. I made him promise to wear them with jeans and not with sweatpants or shorts (he would do that too), and that brings me to my new rain boots.

When I lived in Southern California I swore I would never buy Uggs or rain boots (let alone the name brand Hunter ones that are prevalent in this area). After we moved to San Francisco, I spent my first winter with cold, sore feet due to the shoes I had been wearing--mesh-paneled Merrells for hiking. Perfectly fine for Southern California most winter days, not so much in the Bay Area with its wind and damp cold. When it rains up there, I still have to walk one to six miles in a day so I find myself wishing I had rain boots. A few months ago I caved and bought Uggs as well as a few pairs of the fake Costco Uggs (the Costco ones are predictably plain; the Uggs I bought are "fancy"). And now I've also bought rain boots. My only saving grace is that at least both were bought on sale at Nordstrom Rack. So never say never, you just never know.

On Wednesday night, we began festivities early.

I also got a treat for the kids on Tuesday:

Coconut! Not-a-Bub has been dying to have a fresh coconut and they were on sale at Mother's Market, so we cracked some open, drank the water and ate the meat. Between all of that and catching up with friends and going to the Science Discovery Cube, it's been a very nice Thanksgiving.