Shopping The Bend

Hartfordauto.com

2010-03-22T23:49:00.001-07:00

Hartfordauto.com

To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems

2008-08-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

The best relationship anyone can form is between themselves and their martini glasses. Okay let me rephrase that: The relationship between yourself and your martini glasses are the most intimate relationship in comparison to all other glasses in your kitchen. Does this make me sound like an alcoholic?

Let me just say that I came to this conclusion because I was trying to find the perfect wedding gift for my cousin, Trish. I felt buying her Martini glasses would be the perfect gift for her (and her husband too, I guess). But I couldn't buy her glasses I love; they had to be ones that she loved. That’s when I decided Martini glasses are the most intimate relationship of all glasses.

Well I told my Trish about Swank Martini Company and she picked the glasses she liked. I know it’s a horrible way to give a wedding gift but I could not bear to buy her glasses she didn’t feel intimate with. She liked the Calypso, which I would have never picked because I thought they had candy canes on them. In reality they had hand painted/glass-etched multi color leaf on the side. They also have glass-etched circles around the glass.

You should know that I LOVE Swank Martini glasses and shopping on this website. I think the prices are reasonable, no added sales tax, no added shipping cost, free gift warping, and a free card for the gift. CHEERS!

Farm Living is the Life for Me

2008-08-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have made a list of things I would like to do while living in South Bend. If you would have asked me what was on the top of my list a year ago it would have been 1) Find a job that is not in South Bend 2) Move out of ~~South Bend~~ the entire state of Indiana and back into Michigan.

My list has changed a bit over this past year (imagine the H*** I made for myself since I have been living the Bend for three years). Now on the top of my list is 1) shop at all the local boutiques frequently 2) dine at all the locally owned restaurants 3) attend local events such as festivals/shows/games 4) white water rafting on the East Race 5) learn to golf.

(This list also helps fulfill my summer staycation – sta-ca-tion [stay kaysh’n] (noun) plans. Do not get this confussed with “summer vacation” plans. Those would be plans that are made for leaving Hodunk Midwest area that you live in and visiting a fabulous resort preferably near an ocean.)

Well there is a few more on my list but you see where I am going with this. I am making the best of where I live and I am also starting to actually like South Bend (trust me I was shocked over this revelation too!). So as I start to work my way down my list, I decided that the South Bend Farmers Market falls under #3. So this past Saturday Patti Smith kicked Kel’s and my butt in a 8:45 am Aerobics class (Kel wasn’t thrilled about that morning activity but she forgave me over a chicken buscit at Chick-fil-a) and after class we went over to the Farmers Market. It is a little bit smaller then I expected but I left a happy shopper.

I bought a ton of blueberries, homemade honey, a few really cheep but wonderful spices, a small can of Pumpkin Butter, and sweet yellow banana peppers. Kel and I also split some homemade wheat bread. I so impressed with all vendors, they had a polish bakery, homemade salsa (I am so going back for some raspberry salsa – trust me it is good), herb plants, flowers, and meats/cheeses. I am going to make the farmers market a regular stop for myself since it is open all year round.

I Will Remember You

2008-08-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

I had a variety of friends from elementary to high school. There was one girl in particular I met Jr. High, who has never been too far from my thoughts, my friend Nicole. We didn’t go to elementary together but we joined up at Pierce Middle School. From the beginning we shared classes and luck would have it we had the same two letters in our last names, so being the traditionalist school that Pierce is, all students sat in alphabetical order and we always sat together. We were destined to be friends. We even lived on the same street divided by West Chicago. I lived on the north side of the street and Nicole lived on the south side and thats how we ended up in different elementary schools.

Anyway, as the years past Nicole and I did everything together. Nicole was always the best at whatever she did and never let anyone think of her in any other way but the girl down the street. She never dressed in the latest fades, but every guy loved her and she dated the cutest guys in school. She never made you feel stupid but she was in the National Honors Society and all of her classes were advanced placement classes. She was so funny and so thoughtful . . . she was the best.

Our senior year was so much fun, I could go on and on about spring break in Jamaica, parties, and fights (with other girls never between us) but that could easily turn into a book. By the time graduation took place, I had made plans to spend my summer at BGSU to start my college courses. Nicole had just broken up with her boyfriend Doug and was going to spend the summer working. Doug was a guy I have known basically my entire life. Never really “friends” but always a sweet guy. I specifically remember us at our elementary school (we went back together to the Fisher Elementary School days) visiting for some reason and my little brother ran into the boy’s bathroom. Doug was in there and brought him out, he was like “I believe he belongs to you.” I don’t know why I remember that, it was easily 10+ years ago, but it’s my most vivid memory of Doug.

Well that summer I got an email from Nicole that she was pregers (we didn’t use that word back then but you get the point). I remember crying. Here I was at a university taking classes and she was back home pregnant. She was the smart one and the pretty one, she should have been doing the college thing, not me.

We went back and forth with emails and letters. I visited her and the baby once and then all communication stopped, no reason just stopped. I moved back home after college for a few months and tried to call her and left a message. Not sure if she ever got it. I always felt bad for not trying harder to keep in touch with someone who was such a great friend. Its weird but I have dreams about her all the time, I dream that we are hanging out; like no time has ever past and we are having a having so much fun.

Last week I got a myspace message that there will be a funeral service for Doug. He was in a fatal accident. Although my heart broke for his family, my first thoughts went to Nicole and her baby, who is now no longer a baby.

So I shopped online for flowers to send to my dear friend Nicole, to let her know I was thinking about her and praying for her. “I will remember you” that’s our senior song. It seems appropriate then, as it does today.

The only thing worse than a liar is a bad liar

2008-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

I wish I could give all these wonderful and exciting stories of why I haven’t been writing about all my shopping but I just don't have one so, I am not even going to try to lie about it. But don’t get the wrong idea . . . I have been shopping and I will write a few blogs to catch you up!

So let me catch you up. I unfortunately stopped writing before my big early-mid-twenties-mid-life-crisis-parents-meet-my-new-boyfriend birthday. I actually had my BIG mid-life crisis birthday when I was 24 about to turn 25. It was the year I realized I am only five years away from being thirty, I am not on the right career path and my personal life is nowhere near a wedding isle and I am on the path of an old spinster! So that was the beginning of the end of my last non-committal ex-boyfriend and the search for a new job.

Fast forwarding to this birthday (after I am done with this babel I promise to talk about shopping). I have been at my new job for almost two years but this year everyone treated my birthday like the holiday it was always meant to be! We went to lunch with my favorite work people. After work my boss took us out to dinner and drinks to celebrate my BIG 2*th birthday (some people think this age is old, some people think I am still a baby so I am just going to let everyone know I am 2* years old and leave it at that)! I also got flowers sent to my office from my favorite new guy in my life.

Birthday Recap: I don’t have the big city job in Chicago that I always thought I would have. I’m not married living in the “burbs” with Mr. Right, with our own little ankle bitter. And although I did feel kinda old this year, I have a job that is a career and I work with some of the greatest people in South Bend and I even really like my boss! I have the greatest friends in the world and I live in a town that I am starting to fall in love with (did I mention it was only an hour away from the Chicago shopping). And I am dating a great guy who buys me flowers. I cant think of another thing I could ask for . . . well maybe some more money for shopping!

Shopping Recap: I didn’t do a lot of shopping that week but there was a lot of shopping done for me. Which is the best kind of shopping! I received a sophisticated turquoise/red mug (replacing my Winnie the Pooh work mug) and gift card from Starbucks, a “Linen” scented Yankee Candle (that is being used in my bathroom right now) and singing birthday card from the people at work. I got this wonderful huge goldish/green bowl from Kel. She gave me a warning that it might be wired BUT I cant put into words how much I love it and its not just a “bowl” . . . its art! My parents got me the Red KitchenAid mixer I have always wanted (I am working on improving my domestic skills). I also got some really great cards from my cousin and some friends, my sister was concerned that they all involved martinis. I figure my motto for being 2* years old is: “It’s the year of the Martini”!

P.S. My parents met my Mr. K Man the weekend of my birthday and it went very well. They really liked him! Now we are on the "meeting friends" step so I will have to go shopping to find something cute that says "Wow that Mr. K Man is a lucky man!"

From My Lips to Camellia's Ears

2008-07-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

I have been praying for the perfect lip gloss and I think i found it. While at camellia's at heritage square in granger, I found smashbox. I know it sounds a little violent but you will have to trust me it is wonderful. Its not too tacky (which is not cute when you are trying to give sweet kisses away) and its not too slick. It is also moisturizing which is very rare of even some of my fav lip glosses!

There seemed to be some wonderfull colors but i went with my stand-by shear, which is the Smashbox "illume". I plan on wearing it all the time and drenching my lips in this stuff while I am sun bathing by the lake this weekend.

"Camellia, I love the zebra tissue paper, it gives a sassy touch to my shopping bag."

My Voyage Stops Here

2008-07-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

For a long time I have been trying to find something that would be a design focus for my living room. I can dress to the nines but I can’t decorate to save my life, I watch HGTV with envy in my heart. But the best advice I heard on one of those shows was to pick an item for a room and decorate around that item, pulling from the theme and colors.

That has worked for me so far but sometimes finding that one item is a real challenge. When I moved into my apartment I though my couch would be my “item” and put down some dime for it too. But it’s a strange brownish/green color and I can’t find anything to match. So three years later I am still on my search. So before my visit to Target the other day I decided to visit Marshall’s in Granger/Mishawaka.

While in Marshall’s I found this glass mosaic dish. I believe you are supposed to use for your bathroom but I thought it would go wonderful in my living room. They also had a trash can to match, which I believe I can convert to a vase and I will probably go back for next week. I love the purples, reds and oranges in jar. When you move it around you can also see some greens too so I guess my couch was just saved by this jar!

“Thank you Marshall’s, it took three years but you helped my find my “item” it was worth it!”

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

2008-07-10T05:51:00.000-07:00

Who knew the three R’s I learned in grade school would be the trendiest thing in 2008. I personally don’t believe that there is a lot that us humans can do to fix our ever changing Earth. But it is obvious that it is changing and I will do my part to slow the process down!

I have been doing my part to practice the three R’s. I reuse printer paper (which drives my boss crazy), I donate all my old stuff instead of throwing it away, I reuse my plastic water bottles (I even switched over the water cooler to reduce my plastic intake), I reuse my plastic bags, etc. In my efforts to conserve waste, the cabinet under my sink is exploding with plastic bags on the waiting list to become my next garbage bag. So I decided to go and look for some canvas grocery bags. I have one bag that is really cute but it just doesn’t do the job.

So then started my search. All local grocery stores have their version of reusable bags but none of them fit my fancy (I refuse to be conservationist looking like some hippy dippy chick out of the 70’s with her peasant skirt and hemp shoes!), but my ever-faithful Target didn’t let me down. I found these adorable red bags online for only $1.49. I was sadly disappointed to find that they were only available in the Target Stores. So I made my way over to the brick and mortar location in Granger/Mishawaka.

At Target I went straight to the bags and accessories because if I wonder too far into Target for an extended amount of time I end up with a cart filled with treasures, I never knew I needed. While in the bag area of the store I started to get VERY frustrated that I couldn’t find the online bags! I was finding all these “Love” the earth bags but not the red ones. Although cute, they were not the bags online and they were $6-8 instead of $1.49. In my head I was using all sorts of swear words toward my beloved Target (I find that my love is conditional), I imaged myself in the face of the Target manager telling him that "Target is a big fat liar, they shouldn’t place a product on their website and tell people to go to the Target store, then not have the item in the store! Think of all the gas I wasted and how I just polluted the Earth and I all was trying to do was use on of my three R’s!" After I ranted and raved in my head, I decided it was time to go home. On my way out of the store, guess what I found, my red reusable shopping bags! (And there were only .99 cents, which would explain why they were in the .99 cent bins near the entrance of the store) I was so thrilled and smiling from ear to ear. This picture does not do them justice but they are great and they can even be folded and zipped into a pouch. I bought three and made my way home.

Just call me The Aviator

2008-07-02T09:07:00.001-07:00

Oldie but a goodie at Charlotte Russe at the University Park Mall in Mishawaka.

Who Wears Short Shorts - Kohls has short shorts!

2008-06-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

Went a little crazy at kohl's on saturday in mishawaka. they were open 'til 11pm and they had kohl's bucks ($10 in store credit for every $50 spent) so i decided it was a great time to beef up the summer wardrobe. plus i needed something cute to wear for friday. (taking friday off to drive up to chicago with my Mr. K Man for this weekend's wedding) just an fyi i could come up with about two-three excuse to buy something at any time!

Found a really cute tank top with the floral print that is so popular this season, to go with some plaid shorts. i'm loving the two pattern look, its helping me break the 'matchy-matchy' look i have going at this time. i hope Mr. K Man likes the look too, he was teasing me that i look like a amish girl because of all my layers, this from a man that thinks nike flip flops are everyday foot wear!

Back to the kohls shopping trip . . . i also purchased a black pair of the same shorts and black strappy kitten heel shoes. and i can't leave kohls without a vera wang item and i found a green silk scarf to complete my mission. i'm not really a summer scarf girl but i'm going to give it a try with this white linen skirt and white tank top - we will see how amish i look!

Fancy Big Lot Glasses

2008-06-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

i'm going to share my biggest secret . . . here on this blog . . . i LOVE buying things at Big Lots. if I'm shopping for a simple "thing" for my place or a gift and I am low on cash, I head straight to Big Lots. (dont judge me!)

my friend Kel is having a dinner party tomorrow and I need to bring dessert. So I brought two sets of glasses at the Big Lots in South Bend. One set of Basics water goblets ($5) and another set of Libbey mini martini glasses ($5). i am going to fill them with a pudding dessert and leave them with her as a gift. i LOVE these glasses and I almost kept them for myself!

(kel if you ever read this I promise I ♥ you more then $10 worth!)

Victoria Secret

2008-06-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale Starts June 17th!

Linens N Things is Closing

2008-06-13T07:30:00.001-07:00

Linens N Things on Grape RD is closing. Big sale!

Barnes and Noble Boxes

2008-06-10T20:50:00.001-07:00

First let me start by saying that I try to pay patronage to local stores. This is always trumped by any business based out of Michigan and double trumped (I dont know if that is possible I really dont play Euchre) by my budget. So in other words, my first stop for something like a book is always at Boaders (call out to store based in Ann Arbor), but I will then visit local stores, then finally visit a place like Barnes and Noble to buy that much needed book.

I digress . . . I received a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble for listening to some presentation at work. Since I don’t normally shop at Barnes and Noble and I have about 20+ books at this very moment that are on my bookshelf waiting for me to open and read, I decided to buy something cute for my apartment. I wasn't overly impressed with their office decor selection so I ended up with two Mosell Bordeaux Document Box ($20 each). I got them in today and I really like them . . . now to fill them up with some important junk!

The Limited Wedding Dress

2008-06-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I needed a dress for my cousin's wedding (June 14th) and for Mr. K Man's nephew's wedding (June 28th) (meeting his family for the first time so this had to be good). Went to University Park Mall in Mishawaka and found a dress at The Limited on sale for $50. I am really stepping out of my black/white box and purchased a dress that wasn't black or white! :) So of coarse I had to get accessories, necklace ($22) and bracelet ($11). I wasn't going to spend $22 on a necklace but the sales lady told me it was "big city" and that spoke to my heart.

Mirria Shoes

2008-06-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

I never had a silver pair of sandals before but when I seen these Mirria Shoes ($50) at Aldos at the UP mall in Mishawaka I had to have them. I think they go well with the rest of my "wedding" outfit. (No, Im not getting married) Also purchased Comfort Cushions for the shoes only $5 but I dont think I will need them, they will be returned. I got one more item, Kasungu braclets ($15), I thought those where going back too but I feel in LOVE with them today when I wore them to work.