Target Owns My Soul

It’s no secret: Target is my favourite place to shop.

I used to live about two blocks away from a SuperTarget, which is basically a giant Target store with grocery aisles. I immediately stopped shopping at Cub Foods for my groceries and switched to shopping at SuperTarget. I had many reasons. One reason is that usually when I buy groceries, I have to buy other things, too — shampoo, feminine products, pens, CD-Rs, a pair of socks with turtles on them — so it just makes sense to buy everything in one store. Plus, their prices are a lot better than some of the other supermarkets around here.

My only problem with Target is that I can never leave the store without spending at least $30.00. I’ll go there with the intention of buying a birthday card for a friend, a bag of M&Ms and some Scotch tape, but I end up leaving with three times that amount. The dollar bins are a big weakness for me, because they usually have such awesome stuff. When I moved into my last apartment, I was able to buy all sorts of things that I needed. I bought tools — pink and black ones, even! My toolbox now has a matching hammer, crescent wrench, screwdriver (with multiple tips), level, pliers and mini screwdrivers — and they were only a dollar each! I’ve also bought many pairs of socks. And yes, one of the pairs have turtles on them.

So, I know that when I go to Target, I’m always going to buy twice as many items than were on my list.

P.S. I definitely fail at NaBloPoMo. I really have tried to post once a day, but when it gets to the weekend I’m so damn busy that I just don’t have time. Oh well. I guess I’ll have my own National Post-In-Your-Blog-When-You-Can Month.

Dollar Store Shopping Spree

My boyfriend Nic and I were feeling a little stir-crazy this evening and decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood. There’s a bunch of shopping areas nearby, so we walked over to Caribou Coffee for some Coolers (very tasty, and highly recommended) and then stopped into some stores along the way home. We stopped in to Michaels, which I shop at frequently because I’m a big craft nerd. They always have a couple of aisles of great $1.00 and $2.00 stuff, like stationery, candles, toys, kitchen stuff, crafty stuff and just about everything else. I can’t remember the last time I paid more than $1.00 for note cards. They’re always really cute, too, and are perfect for sending along with gifts or just to send to friends when you feel like saying “Hi.”

Next door is a big dollar store called Dollar Tree, so we decided to check that out, too. Dollar stores can be really hit-or-miss. They’re either filled with useless crap, or they’re filled with awesome things. This one happened to be filled with awesome stuff. I picked up three 4 x 6 frames (and now I’m kicking myself for spending $3.99 each for them at Michaels), two 22 oz. glass beer steins, a 16 oz. Coca-Cola glass, a package of matches, and a night-light for the downstairs bathroom. Very awesome indeed.

(See? Pretty cool, huh?)

I love finding cool, cheap stuff. And hey, if those beer steins end up breaking, it’s just another dollar each to replace them. That won’t break the bank too much.

Favourite Blogs: Toothpaste For Dinner

I’ve been a fan of Toothpaste For Dinner since 2004, and it never fails to make me laugh. Drew’s drawings and dry humour have a twinge of cynicism, which is just the way I like it.

Some examples:

Oh, Toothpaste For Dinner, when will you stop being funny? Oh, right…the answer is “never.”

Music I Like: Ladyhawke

As a music-obsessed gal, I thought I’d write about bands and artists that I’m really into at the moment (or, you know, have been into for a while). I’m pretty sure this will be a recurring feature in this lovely blog.

Ladyhawke

I can’t remember how I first  heard about her, although I’m sure it was from my friend Siri who has pretty awesome taste in music. I love any music that has pop/electronic elements to it, because it’s part guilty pleasure and part who-gives-a-damn-I’m-dancing-to-this. Ladyhawke (real name: Pip Brown) is from Australia, and her music is sort of like 80s pop blended with some electronic elements. She’s kind of like a modern-day Kim Wilde or Berlin or something — I can’t really put my finger on it. All I know is that her music is extremely catchy, really well-written, and incredibly fun. I also love that she dresses in clothes that look like they were stolen from my closet circa 1994.

Ladyhawke is the kind of gal I want to befriend, write music with, and then go have a couple of beers with afterward.

Additional Info:

Official Website
MySpace Page
Wikipedia Page

Favourite Blogs: Sexy People

I waste a lot of free time reading a bunch of blogs, and so I thought I’d feature them in my own blog, just in case my faithful readers (all three of you) might find it interesting, too.

The first blog I’m featuring is one called Sexy People. Basically, it’s a blog that features photos of people (usually) taken by portrait studios from the past forty years or so. The results are pretty hilarious, because portrait studio photos are pretty awkward and weird to begin with — now, just add some bad fashion choices, and you have instant hilarity.

Some examples of a few of the fine gems:

Friggin’ laser beams!

Too cool for school. Too cool for you.

Pika! Pika! Pikachu!

I really should submit my seventh grade school photo. I had a perm. I looked like a poodle in a pink sweater.

Furry Death & Guinea Pirates

Those who know even a little about me know that I absolutely love guinea pigs. I’ve had guinea pigs as pets since I was about thirteen years old. I currently have two — Paul and Andy — and they’re the most hilarious little guys ever. I adopted them from a woman who posted on Craigslist offering them for adoption. They were still fairly young when I adopted them, and I found out that they’re not even related, but they’re basically inseparable. Paul is a “tough guy” and likes to rumble-strut around, making sure everything is alright. I joke that if he were human, he’d  be a bouncer in a night club. Andy is the big sweetheart that has a habit of grooming Paul’s unkempt fur by trimming the longer bits with his teeth. If he were human, he’d be a hairdresser. I say that while I’m away at work, he goes and takes classes at Aveda.

(Andy & Paul.)

On Sunday night, I went to a friend’s house and we had dinner with some friends. After dinner, we watched an episode of South Park called “Pandemic” and the sequel, “Pandemic 2: The Startling.” They’re both from season 12, which I haven’t seen because I haven’t had cable in years. I think the last season I watched on television was season 6. In any case, I’m a huge fan of the show, and I hope to buy the rest of the seasons on DVD someday (I have six of them now). She said I needed to see this episode in particular because it had guinea pigs in it. I figured it’d be animated guinea pigs, but no! They were live action, and they wore little outfits. I laughed so hard.

(Guinea Pirate!)

I’m normally opposed to subjecting animals to wearing outfits, but I pretty much died from laughter and cuteness overload when I watched the episode. And yes, I do plan on seeing “G-Force.” An entire film about guinea pigs? Count me in! (I do expect it will be cheesy and awful, but that’s okay.)

Free Bacon

I went with a few friends to the Triple Rock Social Club last night to take advantage of “Free Bacon Wednesday,” which is something they do every Wednesday night from 9:00 P.M. – 11:00 P.M. Basically, you buy a drink, and they bring you a basket of bacon. It sounds too good to be true, right? Nope, it’s not a hoax. I bought a PBR and with it came a basket of bacon. It was crispy and delicious. It felt delightfully white trash to be sitting there with a PBR in one hand and a slice of bacon in the other. In the words of LOLcats: “Nom!”

Another freebie to take advantage of on Wednesday nights is to head over to Baker’s Square for “Pie Rush Wednesday” where you get a free slice of pie with any beverage purchase. So, you can grab a Coke and a slice of French Silk pie for less than $3.00. Can’t beat that!

On an unrelated note, I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). Hopefully I don’t forget to post!

P.S. I’m considering making a “Pork Products” tag or category, since this is the second post I’ve made referencing a pork product.

Back To School

The thing I love about July is that most stores start putting out massive amounts of school supplies on the shelves. For anyone going back to school, that usually brings on a bout of depression, as it’s a reminder that summer does indeed have an end, and school will resume soon. But, for me, I get sort of a sick excitement out of school supplies. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t resist buying spiral-bound notebooks, 3-ring binders, folders, pens, markers and other supplies I don’t really need. School supplies tend to bring out my inner child, and I find myself buying notebooks and folders with cartoon characters or other “cute” things on them. Last year, I bought a notebook with cartoon hedgehogs on it. I still have it, and I still use it. I’ve also been known to stock up on Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and Winnie The Pooh school supplies, as I have kind of an obsession with the 80s and Eeyore. This year, I’ve kept it under control for the most part. I bought two notebooks so far, and one has the Rock Band logo on it (I’m kind of in love with that game), and the other has a blueprint of an electric guitar on the cover. It just looked really cool. I might go back and buy the one with a drum kit on it.

Target is where I have the most fun buying school supplies, because they also have a lot of college dorm room stuff, and it’s all incredibly inexpensive and very cool-looking. Last year, I bought a lot of great pink storage units for  my office, as well as a matching trash bin. I also bought a pink laundry basket, because I had been using cardboard totes as  a laundry basket, and it was falling apart. So, really, it’s not only great for college-bound students, but for people who want to add some colour to their apartments and don’t want to spend loads of money.

Now that I think of it, I remember being really excited about going to office supply stores as a child. I have no idea why. I guess some things never change.

(I think I need this notebook. It’s only available on Target’s website.)

I doubt I’ll be able to resist shiny new school supplies for much longer, though. Two notebooks is a nice start, but I really need some pens, too!

Fireworks & Elvis

For Independence Day, my friends Sarah and Amber and I went to the Taste of Minnesota, which is basically like a mini state fair complete with food that is terribly bad for you, live music, carnival rides and games, random vendors, free samples, big crowds and lots of walking. I’m kind of a sucker for these types of things because I love exploring and people-watching. I also love food that is terribly bad for me.

The reason we went was because Elvis Costello was playing. The cool thing about the Taste of Minnesota is that you pay ten dollars to get in, and then they give you ten dollars’ worth of food tickets, so basically you can get a bite to eat and see a show for ten dollars. Which, really, is a really good deal, especially when the live act is Elvis Costello.

We arrived around 4:00 P.M. or so. It rained pretty hard right before we arrived, and we thought for sure it was going to rain again, but it didn’t. We wandered around and tried a bunch of awesome food. Over the course of the day, I consumed:

• Falafel
• Mini donuts
• Pulled pork barbecue sandwich
• Coke
• A sample of Honey Bunches of Oats with strawberries
• A sample of grilled pork
• Soft serve ice cream
• Lots and lots of water

We had fun looking at all of the stuff the vendors were selling. There were lots of places with jewelry, clothing, trinkets and other fun stuff. Amber bought two pewter necklaces and I bought a sling bag that’s bright red with white skulls all over it. It’s incredible.

The portaloos had Taste of Minnesota adverts on them with the different bands that were playing over the four days of the event, and so the three of us took turns posing with them. Hilarious. Or, at least, we thought so.

(Sarah with Elvis Costello.)

(Me with Bret Michaels.)

(Amber with Judas Priest.)

Elvis Costello was so, so amazing. He played a lot of “greatest hits” stuff, which would make sense for that type of crowd, but it was awesome to hear such a great, lively set. He’s so amazing, that’s all I can say. He has a fantastic band with him, and he just sounded great. I had so much fun. I’m so glad I got to see him.

(Elvis!)

(More Elvis!)

We stayed and watched the fireworks, which were really, really pretty. They do a great display there. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen fireworks, since I never really make an effort to go watch them anymore. It was really fun. Lots of walking was involved. I’m pretty sure I walked off any fat grams I consumed throughout the day.

(Fireworks!)

All in all, it was good fun.

(Thanks to Sarah for the photos.)

Lipstick & Bruises

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a birthday party aboard a party bus. It was for Michelle, who turned 21. Michelle is my boyfriend Nic’s sister, and she’s a riot. Now, I had seen these party buses around the Twin Cities on Friday and Saturday nights, especially when I’ve been downtown to see a show. They’re converted former school buses, which have been painted in bright colours or animal fur patterns. There’s a toilet on the buses, an area for a keg, and rope lights and disco lighting all along the ceiling. It’s pretty crazy.

The bus we went on was called “The Pink Panther” and it was bright pink. I loved it. In fact, if I owned a vehicle, I would love to drive a gigantic pink school bus.

While I didn’t have much to drink over the course of the evening, I had fun dancing around and holding onto the seats for dear life so that I wouldn’t get thrown across the bus. Unfortunately, there are no bars to hold onto on the bus like there are on city buses, so at one point, the driver stopped suddenly and I went flying across the bus. I landed directly on my knee, which hurt, but it didn’t really start hurting until I got home at 3:00 A.M.

That photo was taken the next day, and I thought it looked terrible then. A few days later, the bruise had spread even further and started turning various shades of purple and green. Two weeks later, it still hurts, and it looks even more frightening. Granted, I bruise really easily, and it takes ages for bruises to heal. Gotta love it.

All in all, it was a fun experience. I’m not really a fan of bar-hopping, but just hanging out and having an impromptu dance party on a giant pink bus is pretty amazing.

Almost as amazing as the guy outside of a bar downtown at bar close who pulled off his shirt and twirled it around his head while we were blasting Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and singing along.