Richmond Moment of the Week

When driving back to work from lunch a girl rode her bike across the street in front of me...and by rode I mean darted out in front of my moving vehicle...and by darted I mean swerved uncontrollably. Once I slammed on my brakes and she reached the other side of the road safely I realized the reason for her hurry...and her swerving. It was all because she wanted to get to the other side of the road so I could read the GIANT poster board sign that she was holding. It informed me she is selling her KING sized mattress and box spring set for ONLY $400. I sure hope she doesn't deliver by bike too!

Red, White and On Sale!

I have never really liked the 4^th of July. Sure I enjoy the excuse to grab a good burger and we all know I love a themed outfit so the whole Red, White and Blue thing isn’t lost on me. But the whole holiday has never been anything special…it’s already summer time so it’s not like you got a day off from school. You might go see some fireworks while sweating to death and getting eaten alive by bugs. Or maybe you stay home in the AC but there’s nothing to watch on TV except coverage of the fireworks--who watches fireworks on TV anyway? This year, things were different. This year, I discovered the true meaning of the 4^th of July...shopping.

It all started Friday after a particularly annoying day at work when I forced myself to drive to the bank to deposit my (now a month old) security deposit check from my apartment. I may or may not have been distracted by talking on the phone while driving when I missed the exit to my fave branch. Rather than make a giant circle I set about driving down Broad street until I found another one. Lucky for me the 1^st branch I found was the busiest one in all of Richmond. After waiting 12 years in the drive-thru line I realized that I actually needed to go inside because I also had to change my address…dagger! Thank goodness the line inside was even longer than the drive-thru line! And to make matters even more enjoyable…I had a close follower in line behind me. I take one step forward, she takes two steps forward. This is all enhanced by the constant sound of the lady who is operating the drive-thru lane wishing each bank patron a safe holiday. Why didn’t I appreciate the speedy drive-thru line when I was out there? It's moving at least five times faster than this line. I try to inch discreetly forward without lifting my feet in hopes close-follower won’t notice. She responses by taking two real steps forward. By this point I am contemplating my options. I will either leave the bank, go directly home and drown my frustration in Target Sangria (do not pass Go, do not collect $200). Or I will keep driving down Broad Street for some good old-fashioned emotional shopping. When it’s finally my turn and the teller informs me that I had been standing in the wrong line the entire time it all became clear: I needed to shop!

I go to Pier One followed by World Market where I manage to do some quality window shopping. Yes, I spent a leisurely hour walking through two stores that I love and did not purchase a single item. (Okay, okay! So maybe I spent $20 at Pier One…but that was on presents for other people so I say it doesn’t count.) By the time I leave World Market empty handed I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I came, I saw, I left. No (personal) purchase necessary. trifecta I will go to Trader Joe’s and get my grocery shopping done. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Go out to do emotional shopping and come home with groceries. This is going to be great. I park my car and in I go.

That’s when I saw it. Sitting not even two steps into the store. Just waiting to go home with me. The most amazing storage trunk I’ve ever laid eyes on:

Window shopping over.

I look at it for a while: it’s in good shape, it’s a reasonable price, it’s SUPER useful. I mean I just moved into a house with a significant lack of closets. Of course I need another storage trunk! This isn’t shopping for fun. This is a necessity. I will finish looking around the store and then come back for it when I’m ready to leave.

Approximately 2 aisles of rushed browsing later, I return to the front of the store and ask the lady to put it on hold while I shop. Phew. Now no one can steal it. I can continue window shopping in peace. I will not let this one lapse define the rest of my shopping trip. That was a necessity, like groceries…it doesn’t count.

I’ve almost made the full circuit of the store when what to my wondering eyes should appear? But a retro fan, all metal and red!

How perfect would that be for my kitchen? Way too perfect to leave behind. And I did just deposit that check in the bank...I can think of no better way to reward myself for not destroying my apartment than with amazing new items for my house. Shopping: justified.

Now let’s fast-forward to Monday the 4th...

I worked that morning with the small hope that I would get out around lunchtime and be able to take advantage of 4^th of July mattress deals. Low and behold, it happened! I went to Sleepy’s and quickly identified my favorite mattress. Now we all know I love a good deal and the deals seemed good…but I also didn’t feel educated enough on typical mattress prices to just up and buy one the first time out. So I decided to go to J.C. Penney’s (since I happened to have a $10 off a $25 purchase coupon in my purse) and get my table set I had seen on my Saturday evening window shopping trip. (Even though I was pretty sure I was going to get it after seeing it Saturday I knew I’d be coming back to that area for the mattress shopping anyway which gave me time to measure a few spots in the kitchen to verify the purchase.)

On my way to the table set I make a quick pass through the clearance jeans and shoes section…just to window shop, duh! But all the jeans are marked down to $7.57…so I try on all the pairs I potentially like and end up finding a style that fits perfectly and is my favorite wash. I don’t know if all you tall people know how hard it is to find “Short” length jeans on sale…but it’s hard. Typically they are only available at outlets or online which means they are never on super clearance for $7.57. Usually I just resort to buying clearance “Regular” length jeans and either cuff them or hem them. So this is an amazing find I cannot ignore. I go back to the rack, grab three more pairs (yes, three) and head to the check out!

Total for 4 pairs of jeans: $28.68
Minus $10 coupon: $18.68 + tax
Total purchase price: $19.61
That’s $4.67 per pair!

My next stop is the shoe section where I find two pairs that are just looking for a good home--and who am I to deprive them?

Originally: $50
On sale for: $19.99

Originally: $40
On sale for: $16.99

Total for both pairs: $36.98
Minus $10 coupon: $28.98 + tax
Total purchase price for both pairs: $27.28

Alright…now I’m really feeling good. All I have to do is actually make it to the home section and pick up my bistro table and I’m good to go! Before purchasing I decide to verify that the table folds nice and flat for storage purposes…it says so on the box but at this point I pretty much feel like I own J.C. Penney’s so who’s gonna stop me from moving their nice little table display and collapsing the floor model? That’s right, no one!

Originally: $239.99
On Sale for: $69.99
After tax and $10 coupon: $62.99

So all in all I scored 4 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shoes, and a folding bistro table with two matching folding chairs for the grand total of: $109.88

And that my friends, is the true meaning of the 4^th of July.