a day in the life of sleepyeve

Christian and I decided to get some shopping done today and boy was it not what we imagined or wanted… at all.  We went to Michael’s with my 50% off coupon but I wasn’t able to find a great big-ticket item to use it on.  I ended up using it to save a whopping $2.50 on treat bags.  We then went to Borders to use up a $10 gift card I received from participating in a focus group at work.  We were on the hunt for calendars since we didn’t get all of the calendars we wanted for Christmas.  No good wall calendars at Borders (at least not at the one in Milpitas).  I picked up two desk calendars (Scrapbook stickers and “How to Cook Everything”) but no calendars for Christian.  We went to pay for my stuff and the cashier scans my card and tells me it isn’t valid.  Apparently, whoever scanned it to put money on it didn’t punch in the number correctly, so my gift card was useless.

Moving on to the Great Mall:

Since there were no good wall calendars at Borders, we decided to try the calendar store in the Great Mall.  After unsuccessfully scouring the Great Mall parking lot for 15 minutes for a spot, Christian dropped me off to shop on my own while he continued on his hunt for a space.  It only took him a total of 25 minutes of roaming the lot before he found a spot.  I met up with him at the calendar store where there were no good calendars left.  We then decided to go to Old Navy since I had a gift card and it was right across the way.  The place was packed and things were a mess.  I found a couple of things but really wanted a knitted sweater that I saw hanging by a 50% off sign so I had the cashier price check it for me before ringing me up.  Of course, it was not 50% off… even though all of the sweaters were hanging in that same 50% off section!  Idiots.

We headed to the Skechers store because we are both on the hunt for new shoes so we can chuck our worn out ones.  I found a pair that I liked – no wait – I found a single shoe in my size that I liked (its partner was the display shoe with scuff marks all over it).  Christian found a pair that he liked but not in his size.  He asked an employee if he could check for a size 14 and the guy automatically shot him down and told us that they didn’t carry 14s in the store.  Total lie.  We’d purchased multiple size 14 shoes from that store in the past.  Granted, this time there really was no size 14 for that particular shoe (we insisted that he check the back for us anyway) but to not even put the effort in before shooting us down just pissed me off a little.  Whatever.  After that disappointing venture, we decided to leave the mall.

Next up – Target:

I found most of the items on my shopping list there, so that wasn’t terrible.  The annoying part of this trip was the clearance suitcase that we found for Lily that we weren’t allowed to buy!  I wanted to pick up a little suitcase for Lily to hold all of her food, treats, and toys when we drop her off at my parents’ house or take her on trips.  It was annoying to pack three little bags for her, so having one suitcase would have been nice and organized.  We came across a cute pink camo rolling suitcase that was clearanced for $17.50 with just enough room for all of her stuff.  When the cashier scanned the item, the computer gave her an error and then bold red text appeared on the screen that said, “DO NOT SELL THIS ITEM.”  Apparently, the suitcase was recalled and they were not allowed to sell it.  We just wanted it for our Dog!  Lame.  Stupid.  Pissed me off.

The only fully successful shopping destination we hit was Walgreens.  We were in and out in 5 minutes – no fuss.  Of all places.  *Sigh*