Slipping back...

OK, I like to shop. However, during our time living in Ireland, I really tried to not acquire too much stuff (besides yarn). We made a few lifestyle changes that I hoped we would continue when we moved back. For example, I like the idea of getting the food you need for the week and going each week to the grocery store (for fresh stuff anyway) and walking to places and taking public transportation. I liked not having a car.

However, upon moving back, I now need a car to get to work. Well, unless I want it to take 2 hours to get to/from work that is. The public transport system just doesn't work well for long distances (and we didn't want to live in area where my new job is). :( I do take public transport whenever possible to places, though. I don't mind taking it and I then John can have the car some. However, I feel us slipping back into driving places, even when they are walking distance away.

Since we've moved back, we've been in major acquisition stage. I don't really know why or how this happened, but we ended up buying a lot of stuff. I needed new clothes for work (I didn't really have summer clothes since Ireland doesn't have hot summers). We also needed bookcases to store all the books that we'd put into storage and have now gotten back. But we have bought loads of other stuff, too. Today we went to one of the ultimate mass buying places that probably don't exist in Europe: a discount warehouse. Everything is big in this store. Everything. I got two 72 ounce bags of chocolate chips and a 2 pound (I think) bag of M&Ms. We also got tortilla chips that came in a package about twice the size of the "normal" here which is about twice the size of those in Ireland.

After we checked out, we thought about how we would store everything that we just bought. I was happy that our refrigerator is probably about 3 times the size of the one we had in Ireland and we have probably about 6 times as much storage space! Everything really is bigger here...

I wanna Wii

In May, John and I went to a game night at my friend T's house. We spent the whole night playing various Nintendo Wii games, including the Wii fit. It was so much fun, that I decided that we should get one. John has talked about wanting one for a while as well. So, I decided that I should get us a Wii for when John moved home. Easy, right? Well, not so much.

I went around to the major stores that should carry them one day. Nobody had them. One major electronics store said that they were going to get a shipment in for Sunday morning and to come about half an hour before the store opened to get in line to get one. So that Sunday, which was the day John was coming home, I went to the store at 9:30AM and sat in my car waiting for the store to open. There were a couple other people waiting as well for the store to open. When it opened, I went in and asked if they had gotten the shipment of Wiis. The guy at the desk said that they hadn't and that they don't get shipments in on Sundays unless and it would be in their store ad if a shipment was coming in. So, no Wii. I then went around to more stores searching. Still no Wii.

Since I couldn't get him a Wii, I decided that I'd make him cookies as a coming home present. I didn't have any ingredients so I stopped at the grocery store and got what I remembered needing and continued shopping. Finally, I gave up on the Wii search and went home to make the cookies. Problem was that 1) I didn't get everything I needed and 2)because it was summer, the chocolate chips turned into a smooshy melted mass! (no leakage, though)

The following weekend, I went up to my sister's to collect some stuff. While there, we checked the ads and the same major electronics store had Wiis and Wii Fits in their ad! So, I consulted with my sister and we discussed which store had the best chance of having the best shipment and what time we needed to be at the store. So, we got to the store about 40 minutes before it opened and we weren't the first people there! We got in "line," pulled out our knitting/crocheting and sat outside the store for about half an hour before employees came to give us our vouchers for the product we wanted. So, about half an hour later, I was the proud owner of both a Wii and a Wii Fit. We've been having fun using them, too. The Wii fit is so much fun and I am actually "competing" with John to try to get top scores (normally I don't care about such things).

What did you do last week?

So, I have been back home for 10 days. They have been 10 long days! Yesterday, John looked around our house and asked me what I did last week since there didn't seem to be much done. So, here is how I have spent my last 10 days:

1. Sleeping! Last week, I just did not have energy to do much (other than go to Target). I have been absolutely exhausted. J assures me that this is normal (for moving country and changing jobs with the type of job we have) as she was wrecked when she moved from Ireland as well.
2. Shopping! We got rid of most of our stuff in Ireland and we did have some in storage but we have been acquiring things like crazy. Most big things we are acquiring used which is nice since it is better quality than we would have paid for new and then we aren't adding as much to the mass consumerism...
   
3. Laundry
4. Cleaning

Here is a general idea of what I accomplished:

• Tuesday (day after arrival): Got new mobile phones for both of us since our Irish ones don't work here (well, we can receive texts/calls but not send). I also got 2 pairs of shoes since I didn't have any work shoes. Really, I didn't. I donated or threw them away because they were worn or not so comfortable or just too big or heavy to bring back with me. After dinner with friends, I picked up the car we are buying from friends.
  
• Wednesday: Got the cable and internet set up. After this, I got a bed. After this, I went to Target and got loads of stuff for the house (think garbage cans, garbage bags, laundry soap, etc). I then met up with friends for coffee and unpacked some of the stuff and watched silly cable.
• Thursday: I don't really remember Thursday. Oh wait, that is the day that I drove out to my new job to see where I'll be working. That took a long time! I meant to go to Ikea but didn't get that far.
  
• Friday: I got a few clothes from Kohls (I don't have many work clothes left, either) and visited a friend of mine. It was so nice to see her and her daughter and reconnect with people.
• Saturday: This was a wonderful day! I had a day at the spa and got pampered and a lot of stress relief. After my spa day, I had more energy than I had in a while. I also picked up John's favorite chair from a friend's who had it in his condo. After that, his brother brought a van full of our stuff to me! Happy days, stuff from storage. It felt like Christmas because I had no idea what John had put into storage since I had moved before him. We didn't get our couch or TV but that should happen this weekend.
• Sunday: went to many stores trying to buy a Nintendo Wii for John. I was unsuccessful. I intended to make him cookies but that is a different story with a different post...
• Sunday: John came home!!!!!! His flight was 2 hours late but he made is safely and we had frozen pizza for dinner since he was exhausted.
• Monday: Checked Craig's list for furniture and responded to many, many ads looking for 2 dressers and some bookcases. Also went to a thrift store and found some decent dining room chairs and a TV/plant stand thing that has been put to good use. We also put together the dining room coffee tables (legs had been removed for storage) and unpacked a bunch of the plastic bins full of stuff and washed loads of dishes. I was wishing for that dish washer...
• Tuesday: Unpacked more, got a dresser and filled it. John worked from home. I also got to go see the Sex and the City movie with a friend of mine. :) I had missed my girlie movie partner.
  
• Wednesday: went to Target again, Home Depot, and the pet store (twice) to get general home/pet stuff. We then went to the electronics store to look at printers and TVs and found ones we liked. We wrote down numbers to check reviews (both got decent reviews but are cheaper elsewhere). We then went and got a bookcase and had dinner with two of John's friends. Stopped at the grocery store at 9:15. :)
  
• Thursday (today): got a dresser (pretty close in color to the other one we got) and I filled it with John's clothes. John worked from home. I played online and made cookies.

So, that is how I have spent my last week and a half. Somewhere in there, I also got keys made for John and got a kitty lounger thing and two scratching posts. Tomorrow I get to go on "mission get stuff from sister."

Easter Markets

Each year, we go to Christmas markets. We have gone to a different one each year, but this trip had a first: an Easter market. :) We didn't know that Vienna had an Easter market but it was a pleasant surprise. As we wandered around the one at Schonbrunn Palace and looked at the Easter Market, we imagined what the palace courtyard would like like for the Christmas markets. Wandering around city centre, we also stumbled upon small markets.

Like other markets, there was Gluwein. However, there was also warm sangria, champagne, and beir. Lots of beir. Much to John's dismay, there was not sausage. There were chocolate covered strawberries, though! As for items for sale, there were egg ornaments, Easter related trinkets, and one market even had bunnies! All in all, they were good fun and interesting.

Changes

A while back, I went shopping with my friend Yvonne. She wanted me to take pictures of a sweater that she designed and made, and I was looking for a dress to wear to a charity event that I am going to in April. So, we went to the Debenham's that used to be the Roches store. They didn't have any dresses that I liked. I then suggested that we go to the Debenham's in Jervis street shopping centre because they usually have a bigger selection of formal dresses. When we got there, there were signs all over the windows saying it was closing down! There was almost no stock left over but a big crowd of people looking through what was there. We spent about 2 minutes inside, decided that we couldn't handle the crowds and disorganization, and went and got smoothies. I then took pictures of her in the sweater and we went home.

The next day, John and I decided to go see what the sales were like on Nassau Street. We walked down the street and saw that Eason's had closed. They were there in December when we both did our Christmas shopping. And the Blarney Woolen Mills had closed as well, with a sign saying it was relocating to Eason's. AND Reads had signs saying it was relocating to the Blarney Woolen Mills building! All of these stores were open a month before!

It is amazing to me how much turnover in stores there is in Dublin. It seems like we always see "closing down" or "opening soon" signs...

On the road again

This past weekend, we were in Prague for the Christmas markets. As usual, we took loads of pictures. Mostly, we wandered into churches and around the markets drinking mulled wine. While wandering around Prague, I realized that I am getting a bit used to European architecture. A lot of it doesn't impress me as much as it used to. Instead, I find myself comparing cities.

As we walked down Wenceslas Square, we noticed that we could have been in just about any major city. Many cities seem to have this major "shopping street." It was a wide boulevard with major shops on either side of the street. I noticed many of the major European shops. There was Marks and Spencer, Tesco, and I believe a Debenhams! Then there were other chain stores whose names escape me at the moment. As we walked down the street, we were struck by the structural similarity of this "square" to Las Ramblas in Barcelona, the main street in Paris (the name escapes me), 5th Avenue in New York, the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. Change the stores around a bit and we could have been walking down any of these streets.

Later, we wandered into a shopping mall. As we looked down on the glass escalators and open spaces from the top floor, we again realized that we could have been almost anywhere in the world. There was nothing really indicating that we were in Prague. Most signs were symbols rather than language. The shops were international. The restaurants had chain names or English names. The only hint we got that we weren't at "home" was that the menus on the restaurants were written in Czech.

AHa - Alles Handarbeit

As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to Alt Koepenick based on a recommendation of a fellow knitter. When we got to the area, we looked around, found the yarn shop on Rosenstrasse (which was closed for lunch) and went and had lunch in the Rathskeller and then went back. It was a lovely little shop with a decent selection of yarn. I got some fun yarn to make socks striped in the colors of the German flag. They also had what I is my favorite yarn from the trip. I really wish that I had bought more of the tangerine colored silk/merino blend because it is such a beautiful color and I don't even like orange. I got enough to make a scarf for a friend but when I mentioned it to my mom, she oohed over it so now I think I am going to try to find another yarn to go with it so that I can make two scarves, one for my friend, one for my mom. Or maybe I'll just be a good daughter...

Ka De We

Ka De We is Germany's largest department store. Since we had been to Harrods in London, I wanted to see how Ka De We compared. Well, that and the guidebook said that it had everything from yarn to washing machines. Yep, that means I wanted to see the yarn. :) So, we hopped off the bus tour to stop at the store and walked in. Wow! It is massive.

We found a store directory (really useful and needed) and found that the yarn was located at -1. We assumed that meant it was downstairs. So, we walked through the sock department looking for an escalator or lift (elevator) trying to find our way down. However, the elevators stopped at the ground floor. So, we looked through the sock department some more (it was the biggest sock department I have ever seen since it was the size of a small shop in Ireland). Nope, still no way to get below ground level. Then we looked at the store directory again. -1 wasn't in the main building. There was another building to the store across the street!

When we stepped outside, I noticed that there was also a pharmacy building. The craft building was labeled in a funky way (which I quite liked). We went inside and to look at yet more yarn. John found some sock yarn that he wants me to make socks for him (I will learn how to make socks later this month) and I found sock yarns to make for some friends and maybe a pair for myself as well. The yarn that John chose for himself is Opal sock yarn based on the colors in a Hundertwasser painting. I also found a wonderful lilac baby alpaca which I am hoping to make into a hat (and by I found, I mean John found). I was very happy to find when we got home and I showed off my finds to the girls at This is Knit that other than the alpaca, I got good prices. :)

Oh, we didn't have time to wander the rest of the store (aka the main building)...

Murphy's Law

I am really picky about shoes. I tend to buy comfortable shoes that I hope will be durable as well. I want my shoes to be a bit fashionable but don't have to be trendy. So, I have spent two years looking for a pair of comfortable, versatile black heels (with a low heel so I can actually walk). About a month ago, I decided that I would stop looking and just buy a pair of Clarks in black even though I have the same pair in brown. I can wear the heels with skirts or trousers and they are pretty comfortable throughout the day. So I caved in since I need a pair of black heels for the wedding we are going to next month. And I bought them. And I like them.

Today on a whim, I went into a Clarks store on my way home from work and what do I see: lots of low black heels that are cute! There was a pair with a little bow thing on them that I really liked but I can't buy two pairs of black heels, especially since when I buy a pair of shoes I get rid of one. I also saw two pairs of red shoes that I really like. I tried one pair on and I think they'd be quite comfortable. Now I just have to figure out what pair of shoes I'll get rid of if I get these...

(Note: I tried to put in a link to the shoes, but Clarks web site is set up such that you can't copy images or link to the shoes)

Shopping

In September, we are going to a wedding at home. I recently found out that the attire is "cocktail." I didn't really know what that means and still don't really even after a Google search. My friend Ci is going to a wedding the same weekend and also needed a dress to wear to the wedding.

Last night, we went to a "color me beautiful" party at S's house and learned what colors are supposed to look good on us, what style of clothes to wear, and what our body shapes are. Armed with this information, Ci and I went shopping today after work. We headed out to one of the bigger shopping centres and shopped. And shopped. And shopped. Ci found a dress at Monsoon that looks absolutely fabulous on her. I found an outfit with potential at Coast but didn't buy it. We then had dinner and shopped a bit more. At 8:45 PM, we went back to Coast and I bought this top and this top to go with the skirt and have 28 days to return it if I find something better. I do like the outfit, though.

Adventures in shopping

Today John and I wanted to go hiking. However, the weather didn't quite cooperate. So, instead, we decided to go shopping to get John some new work clothes which he has wanted to get for a while. We headed to Mark's and Spencer to look for trousers. While shopping, I noticed that some of the trousers had hips on them on the hanger! When did they start making men's trousers with hips? Why do men need to appear to have hips? Many of these trousers were slim through the hips and thigh and then got full, much like the cut of women's trousers.

Not deterred, we found some trousers in the size we thought John needed and he went to try them on. While I was waiting for him to show me how they looked, I watched the lady at the men's department dressing rooms. She was laughing at the men often. She was laughing because the men would come out and show the women that they were with how the clothes fit. The women would then evaluate the clothes. One even made the young man (I think it was a mother and son) turn around and she commented on how the bum made him look and the cut, etc. It was actually quite funny.

Since none of the first round of trousers fit, we tried another size and and found some with a slightly different cut. Since they were cheap trousers again and tend to only last a few months, we are planning on stocking up on trousers when we go home for Christmas.

Since we weren't too disheartened after going to Mark's and Spencer, we then went to the only store in the city centre that sells shirts to fit John. So, we got to the men's section and they had two shirts in his size. We bought them and a tie tack and then went grocery shopping.

We tend to go grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons lately because we are too lazy to go on Saturdays. Last week, the Tesco that we go to was out of most items. We wondered if the stock people were on strike or something. This week, they were also out of a lot of items like bread, eggs, and flour. How does a grocery store run out of bread, eggs, and flour?????????? They are a grocery store. They are supposed to have these things. Oh, they were out of the yogurt that I eat, too. Actually, they were out of most yogurts. Maybe we should start grocery shopping on Saturdays again...

Where's the beef?

On "Irish" TV, there is an ad for Spar. In this ad, the product displays change in front of costumers. The display starts out as something the costumer doesn't want and turns into something they do want. Well, except for the child who wants sweets/candy and the display turns into fruit. He hits it as his "mother" takes him out of the store.

Frequently when I am in my local SuperValu, I feel like the child in that ad. Not because I want sweets instead of fruit but because the store is rearranged so much that I never know where things are when I go in there. Desserts and bread are in one place one week, and a totally different place another week. Also, they recently added checkout lanes to the store. I think this totally messed it up since it took away merchandise area and the store is already small. Products also turn over quickly. For example, one week it may have fresh raw chicken or minced turkey, the next it doesn't.

Today John also noticed that they don't have the best advertising techniques. By best I mean honest and clear. The store is having a sale on a brand of pizza for 99 cents. John picked out two of the normal single sized pizzas that were right below the sign. When we checked out our groceries, they were 2.99 each! Of course John protested and after the check out girl stopped laughing was told that the smaller (minature) pizzas were on sale, not the ones we bought. He went back to look at the sign and there was another costumer making the same mistake...

Accident, I think not.