Shopping Report: the 5th Day of Christmas

My shopping fu is mighty. There's a lot of 4-part harmony to accompany that statement, but for tonight, you'll just have to take these highlights and my word for it. Well, mine and elaine_brennan's. I called and told her the tale when I emerged from the mall down at Buckland Hills tonight. She'll vouch for me.

The highlights include finding a top that goes with the velvet duster jacket I bought the other day. Normally my closet is golden on such matters, but it betrayed me this time around. I found the brown, metallic shell for under $20...and walked out of the store without buying anything else there!

I remembered to stop at Blue, picked up the item I needed...and scanned just that single item at the self-checkout.

I found several other small gifts and household items that were on my shopping list.

But none of that or other shopping successes prepared me for tonight's encounter with the Women's Department at Macy's. After trying on several items, learning some surprising things, I found myself empty-handed. ( Surprising things natter )

Then I wandered by the special occasion dresses on my way over to the lingerie department. Oh, my, there was a pretty one. It looked comfortable, too. I thought I was through trying on clothes, but when I dress calls to me that strongly, I have to at least see what it looks like. ( Click away for dress and budget natter )

I liked it. The price was reasonable as such things go even though it wasn't marked down at all. None of us are surprised I decided to buy it.

No, the surprise came at checkout. The clerk asked if I wanted to use my Macy's card. Doing so would save me $6, and they could look it up since I didn't have the card with me. Okay, $6 is $6. We updated my address, though I would have sworn I'd done so after moving 4 years ago. (I really don't use that card much!)

Then it was time to approve the amount and sign.

The terminal showed the total. $33.99.

Say, what?!

"Is this the right amount?" I asked. My voice was full of doubt.

Color me croggled. Yes, it was the right amount. "We didn't mark everything that's on sale," the clerk explained. Heck, it wasn't even on the sale rack. It was on another rack of special occasion dresses, none of which was marked down. But there it was -- marked down to $39.99, less another 15% for using my Macy's charge account. It's my best-ever $34 party dress!

Forget making it a business-only. I'll see the New Year in wearing that dress. The other new outfit will be similarly over-the-top when we return for brunch later on New Year's Day, but a little extra festivity seems a good way to mark the end of a remarkably good year and to welcome the adventures 2008 promises to bring my way.

$33.99.

Geez.

Here's what to do...

...when your carrot nose gets in the way....

Irn Bru snowman commercial, with a tip o'my stovepipe hat to mizzlaurajean for the link.

Travel meme

Cities (and towns) stayed in for at least one night in 2007:

Bronx
Middleton, MA
Boston
Kansas City
McDonald, PA (Pittsburgh)
Crawfordsville, IN
Chicago
Battle Creek, MI
Jasper, IN
Columbus, OH
Batavia, NY
Minneapolis
Winnipeg, MB
Towson, MD
Framingham, MA
Brooklyn
Wales, MA :-)

...and Yorktown Heights, NY, I think...I just don't remember when, exactly.

There may be others. Memory hazy.

Thanks and a tap on the cruise control to drplokta.

Edited to add: Yes, there were others. Montréal and Austin, at the very least.

rushthatspeaks reminded me of my trip to Montréal for Farthing Party and fringefaan reported that I was in Austin, TX for Corflu Quire in February. Yes, that's right, I was. It seems a lot longer ago, was it really just earlier this year? Guess so.

My hind brain kept trying to remember a trip into Canada here in the east, but only came up with Toronto (2006) and dlacey's in Waterloo (2005, I think). I'm most surprised that I forgot Montréal -- it was a new city, a new province, and only a couple of months ago. Duh.

There was probably other travel in March-April-May (beyond the trips to Minicon and ConQuest, that is). And in August-September-October. Everything that immediately comes to mind involves overnights with friends in the Boston area and various trips down to New York, including big fun hanging out with Bobbi Armbruster and seeing The Wolves in the Walls in mid-October. Those trips don't add any more cities to the list.