The Addiction of Clearance Hunting

While tidying up the apartment yesterday, I decided that I would put all the clearance baby and kid clothes inside one of our suitcases because the bags of merchandise were starting to pile up. I don't need any of it until months from now for a baby shower and first birthday, so there's no need to keep it out. I have definitely accumulated a bunch of adorable clothing from the Disney Store, Old Navy, and Target!

I've talked to a few moms or soon-to-be moms who said that stocking up on other items like diapers is more worthwhile because everyone gets clothing. I completely understand that, but some things are necessary, I think. I purchased some onesies, sleep 'n plays, burp cloths, and really nice bibs because the babies DO need those things, and I don't feel bad buying them because I got them 50%-70% off. I've found fleece tops for $0.97 and Disney items for $1.99. Other gift givers may still buy clothing items, but as an aunt, I find that it is my duty to bring any of my nieces and nephews into the Disney sphere, haha. That's why you can see some adorably cute Disney gear!

It seems weird spending the money on things now even when items might be too big in size, but I will continue doing it this way so that when the occasions come up, I don't have to go out to shop. I can just "shop" from this suitcase. I have about 4 toys too put away for the proper time. You know how difficult it can be to search for a gift when it's needed. It's the same as having to find a dress before a party or wedding; it's just so difficult and can get expensive! But because of my feelings of buying things on clearance, I haven't had to do any last minute shopping for either of those things, and in the long run, it saves me money.

Of course, there are some things that are just too cute and so incredibly inexpensive that it's worth saving for little Luke or Leia. I bought two of those Pixar shirts and gifted one of them already, but that other one you see is for me! I will save it for as long as I have to! 

Clearance Hunting!

After work, my mom and I stopped by Target to do a little bit of clearance hunting. I love checking out what people are finding when I browse Instagram. Since my mom had to make a quick stop at Pathmark, I took my time in the Dollar Spot checking out the fun things I would totally buy for a niece or nephew. I would even buy some of these things for my own kids, but I'd save them for road trips to Disney World or their Christmas stockings!

I still get a kick out of seeing My Little Pony stuff. These were totally not the ponies from my childhood! This would be cute even for me if I knew who they were, haha. I only know Rainbow Dash. I also have no purpose for it!

I also love dry erase items. If Toby were older, I would've picked this up. I think these little dry erase activity books or boards are cute to bring along to entertain the kiddos at restaurants. I hope that it never gets to the point that we use our phones to keep the kids quiet.

Since it's January, there are a bunch of calendar options as well as notepad things. I'm actually contemplating picking up a 2015 calendar so that I have it when the next school year begins.

Lastly, I was immediately drawn to these blank books! The possibilities are endless, and I'd like to think that my future kiddos would see the potential and the fun in getting something like this. When I was really young, my family went on vacation to California an stayed with my dad's friend's family. The mom put together these journal-type booklets with paper that had lines at the bottom and a huge space for an illustration. It was stapled between construction paper. She had us write down the fun things we were doing like visiting Circus, Circus. I kept that for the longest time, and I knew even then that I'd want to provide the materials for such a simple activity for my own children.

My main reason for going to Target was to search for clearance in the baby section. The last time Howard and I stopped by was to grab a bunch of baby things on clearance for 50% off. Howard chuckled at me when we were there because he would look around and then turn to find me with stacks of onesies and sleep n plays in my arms! I couldn't help it! As I've said before, I'm all for buying things on sale or on clearance and using coupons if possible so that we have gifts to give when we need it. It's even harder to resist when there are little ones in families! I am definitely having a blast looking for items to be the aunt who spoils the kiddies.

This time, however, the whole section was cleared of the clearance and was replaced with new spring-themed items. I only found one clothing item amid all of it that my mom purchased. I checked the aisles for the other baby items and found a much higher priced item for just half off, so I snagged it! I'm thrilled about that purchase and am pleased that I can give it as a gift!

There was a rack of random cute items nearby though, and this was one of the things that always catches my eye. I love these things with detachable capes!

Part of me wanted to buy these sweatpants just because they were hanging there like that, haha. They're so tiny!

And of course, Disney socks are better than regular socks.

I then moved on to the toy section to check out the Little People Nativity set. It's still $14.98, and they do have a bunch of them so my mom and I are hoping it'll reduce to more than just 50% off. I checked the two aisles filled with clearance toys and scanned a bunch of things with hopes that it was less than what they said, but this Target is pretty good about keeping the prices correct.

Our friend's son likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and this was a bargain for 70% off, but I don't know if he will still like it for his next birthday. Plus, we have no room to store something so big. They had a few of them, so I would totally buy one for Toby too, but he's much too young and we'd have to keep this for maybe two years or so before giving it.

I was immediately drawn to the "Let's Play" items! How adorable that they create these sets for children to have realistic items! I loved the Fisher Price doctor kit my older brother and I had. I played with it all the time.

The words on the box are great: "Everything You Need to be a Real Stylist!" Because we all know it wouldn't be fun to be a fake stylist!

I laughed at this one though. A dish-washing play set? Haha, it's not advertised as dishes that come with a drying rack, but it's a dish-washing play set. Hey kid, practice washing these fake dishes. You'll have to get used to it because once you can reach the sink, it's your job.

This wasn't something that intrigued me though. In fact, it kind of creeped me out that there were two  multi-colored unicorn heads just hanging in front of me.

Behind a bunch of boxes hidden away in the back, I found this Star Wars set for 50% off! Of course, Lego sets are expensive and Star Wars ones are even more expensive so half off still means it's $72 or so. I took this quick picture and sent it to Howard to see. I know that if it were a more important set, it would've been worth purchasing at 50% off like if it were the Death Star or the X-Wing! I think I got those names right ...

Other than that one baby gift item, I bought Sabra hummus with a coupon, haha. I definitely had fun searching for clearance though! I know there's retail therapy, but just browsing through clearance can be pretty rewarding too when you hit the gold mine!

Husband and Wife Couponing

Despite the fact that people know that I coupon at CVS (and mention it in Sunday School, haha), I actually don't go very often any longer unless there's a specific need like a medicine refill or for clearance! I saw on Instagram via #cvsclearance that summer things were on clearance! I was actually looking for a few specific items including little bottles of toothpicks that people were getting for $0.25, and it was 2 in a pack!

I was happy to see that the clearance at my store was also 75% off since it usually takes a little longer for our prices to drop. But considering it was already that low, it wasn't surprising to see that most of the items were gone. That meant no toothpicks for me! That's one of those things that you don't really think about buying, but then there are random times when a toothpick is exactly what you need but you don't have them! Haha, one day I'll get them.

Anyway, I did go in knowing I had to spend my $3 ExtraBucks that was expiring soon, so I was hoping to roll it a little bit and then spend it all so I wouldn't feel obligated to go back. The Playtex tampons were a great deal as they were originally $5.29 for the box, but I had a $3 coupon for it making it $2.29. When I showed up at the store, I got a 25% off tampons/pads coupon from the redbox, so that meant saving another $1.33! So the box would have just been $0.96 out of pocket to get $3 ECB back! That was a pretty good way for me to roll the $3 I already had.

I purchased the summer clearance items in this transaction too just to make it easier. Howard and I decided to pick up two of the Freez Paks for ourselves and then I called my mom to see if she needed any since they were only $0.49 each (originally $1.99). There really should be four in the picture, but I left my mom's two in the car instead of bringing them all the way upstairs. Then we also picked up two of the Tundra Freez Paks for $0.32 (originally $1.29), which would be more useful in my Thirty-One Thermal Pouch or the Picnic Thermal for quick errands or for lunches. Lastly, I saw the 24 oz tumbler and liked that it was much larger than the ones I already have, so I got that for  $1.99 (originally $7.99). Basically, we just had to pay for the ice as the ECB I had paid for the other two things.

The next transaction was the vitamins. Isn't it ridiculous that the regular price cost of the bottle at CVS is $15.79? What?! How is that possible? They were on sale last week for $8.29. I had a $2 manufacturer's coupon as well and used the $3 ECB from the first transaction, so it was $3.29 out of pocket, which I think is decent for vitamins especially since I also got $5 ECB from it too!

The third and final transaction was a spur of the moment purchase. Howard was looking for hydrocortisone for his hand, so we saw that the Neosporin one had an ECB deal. The original price was $10.49, so I used the $5 ECB from the previous transaction meaning it was $5.49 out of pocket, but I got $4 ECB back.

The total was $11.56 out of pocket with another $4 to spend for next time, which is more than what is typically spent at CVS, but it included vitamins and ointment. Considering the regular price of the Neosporin was just about a dollar less than what we spent out of pocket, I think it was pretty good unplanned couponing with my standing in the aisles with pen and paper doing the math to figure out the best deal. It also helped that Howard was there to help with mutliple transactions because as I rang up the next purchase, he was ripping off the ECB from the previous receipt! Husband and wife couponing!

Fun Prints!

I went shopping last week with the $10 off $25/$20 off $50 coupon at JCPenney because I wanted a few more tops that could be worn to work and church. I was very excited to see clothing and accessories with such fun prints. Though I didn't purchase any of them, I thought they were cute enough for pictures!

For some odd reason, I've been loving bicycles a lot recently. Maybe it reminds me of my childhood and then also the dates Howard and I used to have when we rode bikes on the Belt Parkway or went on our church's annual bike trip. The glasses have always been a favorite probably because I've had to wear glasses since the 3rd grade or so. Lastly, the Scotties remind me of a craft project my mom did at church when I was a kid when I was too young to do it myself. For a while, they were my favorite animals because of that craft. I don't think people would understand my love for those dogs on a bag when I have never owned a dog and don't care to!

Are there any prints or designs that immediately draw your eye?

Nose Snuggles

I normally just go to the Disney Store to browse and trade Vinylmation, but the last time I went, I did actually make a purchase. There was a t-shirt deal when purchasing two, and my mom needed to get one as a gift, so I volunteered (hehe) to get the other one!

How adorable is this shirt? I admit I haven't watched Lady and the Tramp since I was a kid, and even then, I don't know if I saw the entire movie. It still came home with me anyway!

Haul: Bath & Body Works (FREE candles!)

Despite the fact that I've only completely finished 2 of the 3-wick candles I have purchased, I just bought more. And I'm not making any apologies for it! I know I have mentioned it before, but I really started burning candles more often to cover the smells from the hallway that would travel into our apartment. Once I picked up a few around Black Friday 2013, I've been loving my stops at Bath & Body Works even if I don't actually purchase anything. Sometimes it's just as much fun going in to sniff the new scents that I know I won't like (ex. bakery/dessert scents, floral scents, and pumpkin scents), but the curiosity gets the better of me because I see everyone else loving them. 

At this point, I can pretty much predict which ones I will enjoy since I'm fairly predictable! Citrus scents or musky scents (like "mandles" because they smell like men's cologne) are the ones I typically enjoy. Because I saw that the fall test candles were mainly pumpkin scents and other items that don't look like they're for me, I knew I should grab a last few summer candles and be set for the year. I still have plenty of winter candles from last year (mmm, Sparkling Icicles, Black Tuxedo, and Mahogany Teakwood!), so these would be the last set for a while. I did recently buy 2 Pomelo Grapefruit as backups just in case they don't bring it back next year since it might be my favorite summer candle, but other than that, I haven't bought any in a really long time. 

Now before I get into the actual scents I chose, I'd like to point out that I did not pay ONE CENT for any of these candles! Because of Swagbucks, as usual, I got all 6 candles absolutely FREE! I knew I would want to get some of the Summer Sips candles, so I exchanged 5000 SB for a $50 e-gift card. I used the code on that to purchase an actual gift card online, which I received in the mail to spend in the store!

Howard was with me that day, so these are the ones that we chose together.  

These four are from the Summer Sips line: 

Nectarine Green Tea (Japanese green tea and ripe nectarines): This was the one I was looking forward to getting when I saw the Summer Sips candles online and on Instagram during the testing phase. I adore London Calling (Tea & Lemon) because it's just so calming. I was hoping this tea scent would come through fairly strongly too, but at first sniff, I was actually a little disappointed. I didn't think it was too special because all I could smell at first was the nectarine. Later on, I took another whiff and got some of that green tea. I'm hoping it burns really well too, so I chose to get two of them instead of one of the Pink Apple Punch candles in the same line. That one smelled a lot like Jolly Ranchers to me, so it was just a bit too sweet. 

Sparkling Berry Fizz (sweet elderberry, tart black currants and bubbly spring water): So I don't know what elderberry or black currants are supposed to smell like, but this is a pleasantly sweet candle. I'm okay when candles have a sweet fruity scent, but I don't like sweet bakery scents. This is actually very close to the "almost too sweet" side of things for me. The first whiff smells a bit like candy, but then when I smell it a bit more, I get a deeper berry scent. I was okay just having one of these. I have to say that the wax colors in this line are really pretty!

Peach Cilantro Twist (summer peach, garden cilantro, and a hint of juicy mango): Howard really enjoyed this candle! He really zoned in on the peach aspect of it, but when I smelled it, it was almost all cilantro! If you don't cilantro, steer clear of this one. I feel as if there's no escaping it. I said that it reminded me of fish, haha. It's not that it smells like fish, but my mom used to grow cilantro and use it on whole fish because that along with ginger really takes away fishiness (it's the equivalent of other types of cuisine that use lemon or other acids to remove fishiness). I admit I actually chose this one because he liked it so much. If I were choosing them quickly, I might have chosen a Pink Apple Punch instead. I have a feeling it's going to burn very well though and work very well in our apartment since burning a candle in the apartment means burning it in the bedroom, the computer area, and the kitchen since we're in a studio.

These two are from the Coastal Cool collection, and are in frosted holders without lids: 

Sunset Beach (pineapple, papaya & sugarcane fragrance although the paper lid says "Fruit Pops, Sugarcane, & Sunrays"): First of all, I'm really hoping that this burns well because I did see after the fact that many people had bad experiences with it having no throw. We'll see what happens when I try it out myself. In terms of the cold sniff, it has a fruity scent, but it's very different than the other ones that I already have. It must be the papaya since it has a bit of tropicalness to it. If there are issues with the burn though, it'll have to go back. I do love the colors of these frosted holders though. Haha, that did sway us a bit in terms of narrowing it down. I do wish they had lids though for easier storage and also knowing that the wax is protected from losing all of its scent.

Beach Day (saltwater, lemon leaves and citrus musk): The thing that I think of when I sniff this candle is "summer musk." I do like the musky scents when it gets warmer because when I'm cold, the smell just fills the room and makes it much more inviting. This candle is a much lighter version of the muskier scents from the winter lines, but if you don't like that aspect of candles, this is another you'd have to avoid. I was actually thinking of getting the Coastal Sun one because it was orange and grapefruit, but Howard pointed out that I like it because it's citrus ... just like other candles I already have. He said that the Beach Day is much more unique, and he was absolutely right. I like having quite a large variety instead of having the same ol' same ol'. 

Yesterday I took the time to pull out the two candles I finished from the one Expedit square I have reserved for candles (one Sparkling Icicles and one Flannel), so I could fit the new ones in. Of course, I didn't have enough room, so I had to pull out the ones I had triples of and put them in the big BBW bag I have off to the side with extra lotions and body washes I bought at the last winter semi-annual sale. Do I have a ton of candles now? Yes, I absolutely do! But I know I'm really going to appreciate them even more when it gets cooler out, and I look forward to returning home each day in September and then throughout the winter!

Oh, can I just end by reiterating that I got these new candles for free? Okay, just had to get that out again.

(edit)

I just wanted to add for my own records that the candles were on sale 2 for $22, and RetailMeNot had a coupon for a free 3-wick when spending $20. That meant that each candle was only $7.33 not including tax. We split this up into two transactions (Howard had to pull up the coupon on RetailMeNot on his phone), so that means I still have money left on my gift card too!

Haul: Old Navy ($1 Flip Flop Sale!)

Last Tuesday, I mentioned that I was setting an alarm for Saturday morning so that I could head over to Old Navy to get some $1 flip flops. I'm so excited that it worked out this year! On the website, it said the store opened at 9am, but I knew I had to get there earlier. I had seen that some people who went during previous years had to stand in line outside the store just to get inside. I didn't want to have to wait too long for that. Howard was the one who actually suggested we go extra early because it would be less frustrating waiting before the store opened than waiting later on in the day, so we actually made it to the store a little after 8am!

As we drove into the parking lot, we saw two people standing outside. Then we realized they were actually employees and that the store was already open! That was so exciting because we wouldn't have to deal with crowds at all! I was actually thinking about calling the store the day before to ask if they were opening earlier than the regular time, but I never got around to it. It would definitely pay to find out because when 9am rolled around, there were definitely more people in the store though it wasn't too crazy a little after 9 when we left the store.

The employees out front gave us paper coupons for $5 off $35. I saw that it was in the email ON sent that morning, but it was nice not having to deal with my phone since it wasn't fully charged. I really need to get one of those rechargeable portable batteries! Anyway, I went straight to the back of the store for the flip flops! There were some women back there, but it wasn't difficult at all to access any of it. If anything, I just had to wait a bit to get to the section that had black flip flops.

Along with the ones hanging on the wall, they also had flip flops in boxes organized by the sizes. If it were a mad rush, grabbing 5 from the boxes would probably be the easiest bet just to secure your 5 of any color and then swap them out once you can get to the wall. I did read that some couponers and freebie sites mentioned that if you get there later and they're out of your size, you could just grab 5 of any size and color and exchange them on another day. 

Unfortunately for me, they didn't have any black flip flops in my size! They only had sizes 5 and 6, and later on others asked the employees if there were any in the back, and they said no. Oh well. I would have purchased 3 of my 5 in just black since that's what I wear outdoors, so that means they'd wear out the fastest compared to my home slippers. Regardless of the lack of black, I still purchased 5 of them so that I won't have to go next year either! We checked the baby clearance items too, but we didn't find anything worth getting. Then I figured since we were there early, others should benefit from it too! So Howard texted his sister, and I texted my sister-in-law and brother to ask if they wanted any flip flops. Howard's sister did want 5 of them since company uses them as slippers when they visit (and I'm sure they'll have more visitors soon since it's almost time for the baby to come!).

We were there for maybe 45 minutes browsing. The few times we actually make it to Old Navy, I like scouring the clearance sections especially for baby boys since we're so excited to have a nephew. Howard took some time to browse as well and found this rather awesome Star Wars shirt of the Millennium Falcon! Unfortunately, it was XXL, and that was the only one! He had to make do with just a picture.

He also saw these sharks shorts, but again, there weren't any in his size. It really is difficult being a guy! But I guess to some degree, it's also a bit on the easier side since there isn't a lot of variety so you end up saving money since you already have what you need, haha.

We were at Old Navy for about an hour, but the waiting on line was only a small portion of that, and it's all because of these babies! I thought I was going to purchase colors, but then as I stood there and debated, I ended up sticking with all neutral colors. Haha, I'm really kind of a boring person when it comes to footwear, but that's okay since my tops usually have the color. As I said above, there no black ones, so I only got one black with white straps. I'm not too big of a fan of that look, but I'll deal with it. I initially had one light purple one too, but I knew I'd probably not get as much use out of it, so I switched it for another white pair. I kind of tried it on in store, and they look nice since I always have a pedicure during the spring and summer. My only concern was that they'd get dirty quickly, but I'm not too worried about it. If anything, I can also use a white pair at home for slippers and use the gray ones I have on right now for outdoors. By the way, they did change the gray as the strap portion is shiny in the new ones, but the ones I bought years ago aren't. 

Since I knew that I was getting the flip flops anyway, I considered the coupon to really be $5 off $30 in terms of saving. I know 17% really isn't that big in terms of savings, however, it would make sense to use it in store on things that count as Everyday Steals because percentage savings aren't allowed to be used on those things! I knew for sure that I wanted to get tank tops. If you've EVER seen me in the summer months or if you've EVER seen any of our Disney World vacation pictures, you will know that I wear the same tank top all the time. I just have it in different colors! That's Old Navy for ya! They're my favorite. But I have paid only $2 for each tank, but I haven't seen that price in a while so I figured the $4 price (retail $8.50) was good. However, I didn't want to buy 8 of the tanks since I didn't need that many. I browsed for a while before I found this great buy: $8 shorts (retail $19.94)! I tried on the 3.5 inch length and the 5 inch length thinking I'd prefer the latter. I ended up going with the shorter inseam though since they're a little wide, so the longer ones swallowed me up too much. I grabbed the black pair since my only black shorts are the messy cargo roll-up kind that I LOVE, but I like that these are neater. I decided to get a navy blue pair too. I can see pairing these with a nicer top and wearing them on the occasions when my regular shorts are just a little too messy.

And now here are 3 of the 4 tanks I purchased that day! Years and years ago, I had similar colors, but they were the thicker straps and thicker material. They also shrunk in the wash, so I wear the old ones as pajamas. I also prefer long tanks so that I know it won't ride up on my back; Old Navy tanks are exactly what I like. I don't even bother with other brands because I have purchased a Target tank once, but it wasn't the same. I have to wear those as pajamas too! Anyway, I also have a dark navy blue one too, but I ended up wearing it that day to the zoo! I kept the same shorts on that I wrote to the store, but the blank tank I had was not long enough for me. It's in the wash, so I couldn't include it in the picture. Realistically, I could pay the $8.50 price and get a lot of use out of it, but why do that when there are sales and coupons?

Though it may not be a stylish haul since I'm not the kind of person who really owns currently stylish clothing, I'm very happy with my purchases! Summer, here I come!

"Hi! Back Again?"

In an old sketch on MadTV, these 3 girls working at a shoe store talk about they really need to be honest because they say they're going to do things, but it never actually happens. For some odd reason, Howard and I randomly quote bits and pieces of it. We even say, "Back again?" which is what the main character says when the guy she likes returns to the store. Well, yesterday I ended up hanging out with my mom again because I wanted to get a price adjustment on the candles I bought at Bath & Body Works since they went from half price at $11.25 to $10. I thought it was funny that we were there two days in a row, and I just kept thinking that one of them would say, "Back again?" 

We also went back to the Disney Store too since we were there. None of the Vinylmation in the box actually changed though, so I didn't trade. It's entertaining to me when I go so soon after a recent trip because our werewolf Pluto and vampire Goofy Vinylmation figures are usually still in the box!

My mom made the funniest comment when we passed by the stand of plushies! All of a sudden she goes, "Awww!" She said that it was sad how Piglet had such a small space on the stand! Haha, look at those 2 Piglets in that narrow area compared to Eeyore!

As we were leaving the mall via JCPenney, we passed by Claire's. Out of the blue, my mom said she wanted to go in to look around, so after years of not having stepped foot in the store, we were browsing once again! She commented that we used to hit Claire's all the time when I was a teenager. Even when we drove down to Florida and stopped at the outlets, Claire's was at the top of my list! Well, yesterday they were having a sale where EVERY item that was listed as clearance was $2 regardless of the actual price on the sticker. I definitely was excited when browsing, hoping to find a hidden gem. These My Little Pony BFF necklaces weren't THE gem, but I thought it was cute anyway. If we had daughters, I'm sure the little trinkets like this would be super cute in a Christmas stocking if they liked the characters.

These hats, on the other hand, were rather creepy! The images themselves are a little odd to wear atop your head, but the fake hair hanging from the back was a bit much! They were not part of the clearance items.

This Cinderella skirt was though! Again, if we had little girls, I would've scooped that up for just $2! What a cute skirt to wear for dress up with the satin and the tulle!

The clearance stuff required patience though because I had to search every row to actually see everything since there were some items where they only had one. I'm used to just glossing over things really quickly, knowing what I like and don't like. These keychains were things that I bypassed during first and second go around. How cute are they?! I'm sure if you knew how to deal with polymer clay, these things are so easy to make. I admit I've been slightly intrigued by polymer items because of what I've seen on YouTube and Etsy. There are people who would make even cuter versions that the ones found in Claire's! It would definitely mean getting into an entirely different crafting category though. I think it might be fun to try things out when I have kids are they're a little older because they we could have some summer fun!

By the way, recently all I've been saying/thinking is "When I have kids ..." haha. I do realize it. 

I have to say that normally I wouldn't deal with a price adjustment UNLESS it was a big one and I was definitely going to be in the area. However, the BBW price adjustment was TOTALLY worth it since I got $2.72 back, and that ended up paying for the one thing I found at Claire's and grabbed the moment I saw it! I actually mentioned to my mom the day before that I was on the searching for more pillowcases so that I can change them out more often. Plus, I'm not a fan of the cotton ones because they're hot in the summer and not as comfortable. Well, what do I end up finding? A Disney princess pillowcase! It was originally $15, but it was on clearance for just $2!!! Um, I think I might need to check Claire's more often for great finds like this! And in this case, it's a good thing I don't have a daughter yet because I'm happy to have this pillowcase for myself ... hehe.

Clearly, I am still 6 years old although strangely, I never really went through a Disney princess phase! I did, however, like all the Sanrio characters a lot so when I saw this tiny Hello Kitty pail at our next stop, I took a picture of it too. We were at Burlington Coat Factory since I wanted to hit AC Moore, and they're in the same shopping center. 

There are many women out there who have huge collections of designer shoes and handbags. My mom and I are not those women, haha. We do, however, very much enjoy looking at bags even though we don't typically ever purchase designer items. I mean, does it count to say I have two LL Bean tote bags? I mean, that's a good brand, right? Haha. I also have a LeSportsac crossbody (thanks to my students who gave me a check for Christmas one year!) that I use mainly in Disney and usually in the summer. I also have two Disney handbags and one tote too! Uh, do those qualify as designer? Haha, yes, I know that they don't, but we're okay with that! My philosophy is that you can use the same amount of money for ONE designer and get a bunch of different ones for various occasions! I love having options, and I do change my bag out rather often. Howard can attest to that because I have bags EVERYWHERE because I'll change them last minute before I head out, so the previously used one is on the floor. Whoops!

As a sidenote, I used my brown Mickey barrel bag (it basically looks like a Louis Vuitton bag, but it has MM and Mickey heads on it instead) to the 8th grade graduation last week. One of my siblings of a graduate who was one of my students two years ago said, "Of course you have a Mickey bag!" and I replied, "Yup, did you expect anything else?" Haha, my kids know me. 

Anyway, we browsed in the bag section at Burlington, and I spotted this adorable bag. It looks so perfect for summer and has a nautical look to it. At only $14.99 (compared to $30), I was rather tempted, but I recently purchased a bag for the summer months from Kohl's. I haven't used it yet though because I keep forgetting to bring it to my mom's house because I need to use Scotchgard on it since it has a lot of white on it. I don't want it to get dirty! The Scotchgard is supposed to be done outdoors, and when you're in an apartment, there is necessarily an outdoors unless I want to go outside in the parking lot and hang around my car ...

The only downside to the bag above is that it isn't one that you can wear on your shoulder. For me, that would limit the amount of places I would be comfortable using it because it would definitely not be the kind of bag I'd bring when running errands. The Lily Bloom bags below would be though! They're so bright and cheerful! They were only $12.98 (compared to $40). If I didn't have my bag from Kohl's, I definitely would have purchased one of these. It's definitely similar to LeSportsac in terms of the bright patterns, but I think the Lily Bloom ones as a whole are nicer. The construction of the bag also reminds me of all the Relic ones I've seen at Kohl's. There was another one I saw down the aisle that had a bicycle print on it, but I didn't take a picture of it. I found the print on Zulily here. When I did the search for Lily Bloom items, I realized it was Zulily where I originally heard of the brand.

We left the handbag section empty handed. Though there were a bunch of cute finds, we didn't need any of them. I said to my mom that it's okay to have a bunch of different bags as long as there's a use for each one and it's not replacing the use of one you already have. Alas, the ones I saw would've been replacements. But that's why I do take pictures of them because they're pretty there too! 

I wanted to go to the kitchen housewares section because there are always fun finds there if you're patient enough to look. While mom was looking at the snapware-type containers, I had fun with some oven mitts because as I've stated above, I'm apparently 6 years old.

They actually had a ton of lunch box options! Many of them were the Fit & Fresh brand, so along with the actual lunch box, they included the food containers and icepaks inside too. That ended up making them even better deals! My mom was searching for a new one that was a little bigger than the one she's been using since she's actually a healthy lunch packer with the fruit and all that, haha. Instead of doing that, I have a big Pyrex container of carbs or something, haha. But the two in the picture were the ones that we narrowed it down to, and eventually she chose the one on the left to better suit her needs. If I hadn't just purchased my lunch bag two years ago AND if I hadn't just placed a rather large order with Thirty-One, I could easily have been lured into buying a new one myself! I loved how they opened fairly large so that there'd be no need to maneuver the Pyrex container in them. I don't need mine to be fancy with room for ice packs though since I have the benefit of sticking the whole bag into the refrigerator at work.

We moved on to the baby section in the back, and it was like hitting the jackpot! Well, except for the fact that we have no babies on the way ... oh well! There were a TON of diaper bag options, and they were all so nice! I initially thought I'd go with an LL Bean bag as a diaper bag when the time came because of the fact that it could function as a diaper bag but not actually look like one. Then it could be used thereafter as just another bag. But then when I saw these Mickey ones, I totally changed my mind! When else would we be able to use a bag like that? My favorite was definitely the one on the left in the picture below. For $40, it'd make a great diaper bag! Of course, it would make more sense than the Minnie ones since even if you have a daughter first, who knows if the next kid is going to be a boy or girl?

As we walked down that aisle, every few seconds, one of us was picking out a new Disney one! I did love them all, but that first one really was the best. This one looks very much like a LeSportsac tote bag. I think the profile view of Mickey is absolutely adorable!

There was even a "mini diaper bag" that kind of looked like a cooler, but I don't think it was actually thermal-lined. It's probably more so for the quick things on the go.

You can see that it coordinates with this larger diaper bag. Ahhh, the choices! They're all so cute and perfect for a Disney-loving family.

Before we left the baby section and then looked at the dresses really quickly, I got this picture of superhero sheets for a toddler bed. Haha, I liked how the superheroes were made to look cute!

Though we were there for a while, the only purchase that was made was my mom's new lunch bag. We were going to walk over to AC Moore, but a HUGE truck was parked next to my car, so I decided to move it. It was kind of annoying considering I usually park farther from other cars just so I don't have to deal with backing out of tight spots. The fact that the truck parked right next to me was irritating. It didn't help that we had to hop in the car where it showed the temperature to be 100 degrees! And yes, I'm aware the "Check Engine" light is on. It seems to do that with the extreme heat, and then it goes away.

The last stop was AC Moore. My intention was to pick up some 6x6 paper pads because I want to do a sunburst/starburst card where it would look better if all the papers were from the same stack so that it would coordinate. I knew there would be a lot of nice choices there as opposed to Michaels, so I specifically wanted to go there. But as you can see in the picture, each little stack would have been $3.58 whereas the bigger 12x12's were $8.99. It didn't make sense to get the little stacks although I do wish that they had the larger stack of the American Crafts "Summer" stack, which is the second stack from the left of the last full pictured row on the bottom.

I was able to find 2 of the smaller stacks in the 12x12, so that made me happy! As you can see in the pricing underneath, it stated that some were $8.99 and some were $6.88. I couldn't tell what the original price was, so I brought 4 that I liked to the register. I already knew in my mind which ones I'd choose if they all ended up being $8.99. Of course, they all were, so I chose not to buy one stack. I was going to just pick up two, but the last one was one I L-O-V-E-D. 

It's kind of crazy because I have NEVER done that with paper. I buy the value stacks at Michaels because you get so much bang for your buck, but in terms of patterns, it's definitely clear as to why these stacks cost more. I don't remember seeing them at Michaels, so that's why I was okay picking them up at AC Moore. I would have bought the smaller pads anyway, so I might as well get the ones that are more worth it. When I brought it home, I definitely thought that Howard would be like, "More paper?" But thankfully, he doesn't seem to mind it because he knows I'm not the kind of person who buys things on a whim. Even so, I thought it'd be somewhat appropriate to post these things I saw on Scrapbook.com's Instagram!

 

Since I purposely bought those stacks to cut, I know they won't just sit around and remain unused like the few DCWV stacks I purchased on sale from Marshall's and TJ Maxx. However, I think I'll at least wait until the next week starts before I make those first few cuts, haha. Now it's time to stop having adventures in stores and have more adventures at home!