All the stars must have aligned right yesterday, because it worked out where I was able to get out of the house, and do some much needed shopping. I had Cole with me, and he is quite the shopper.
One reason I always wanted a girl, was I just assumed you had to have a girl to go shopping with. Ryan is not a shopper- he is just like his dad in that area-go in, get what you need, get out as quick as you can. Cole, on the other hand, takes after me. He loves looking around at all the people, and he loves touching clothes, and just seeing what is going on in the stores. I have to be in the right mood to shop, or else I hate it, and fortunately, both Cole and I were in a shopping mood today.
We started out at Old Navy, where they are having a huge baby sale- all baby/kids clothes were 40% off. I stocked up on tee shirts and shorts mostly for Ryan for the summer, since Cole will have plenty of Ryan’s hand-me-downs. They were all on sale for $3.90 each. I did get both boys one matching outfit- a navy and gray shirt, with matching shorts. Then I found a nice work / dressier occasion black short sleeved blouse for me on sale for $7. It was triple that originally, so I scored there. I looked for a birthday present for my niece, who will be one in April, but I just didn’t see anything that I liked. I take that back- I saw this adorable onesie, which fits my niece to a T, but they only had newborn sizes. However, I got my friend, who is expecting her first baby, a boy in March, a gift, (not sure if she reads my blog or not, so can’t say what it is, other than it is cute!) I had a coupon for an additional 10% of everything, so I saved quite a bit.
I was getting hungry, so I stopped at a bakery and got a chicken walnut salad sandwich. Cole had eaten before we left, and didn’t want any of my food, except for the delicious oatmeal raisin cookie that came with it. He sat on his chair like such a big boy and smiled at everyone who walked by. While we were eating, I saw a new mother sitting a few tables down with a baby that looked about a month old. They looked so happy and calm. I wondered if I ever looked that happy, or if I just always looked as frazzled, and tired as I felt.
After we were done eating, it was off to Children’s Place, where I had another coupon for 15% off. We went shopping there right before Christmas, so I figured I had seen most the merchandise, but I have another friend who is also due in March with her first baby, but she doesn’t know the gender. I thought I would see if there were any cute outfits that would work. Now I know what everyone went through with me- we didn’t find out the gender either time. I really wanted to get her some things, but everything was so gender specific, I couldn’t. I did find one nice little gift though, that will work for a boy or a girl. I also found two long sleeved graphic shirts for Ryan for next fall, that were originally $14, marked down to $5.99, and then they were 50% off that. With my coupon they ended up being $2.54. Not bad for two brand new cool shirts. One had a snowmobiler on it, and one had a helicopter scenes. Right up Ryan’s alley.
Cole was starting to get a bit tired, but I wanted to go to New York & Company to see what kind of jeans they had. I debated on stopping at Pottery Barn Kids first to let Cole play for a while, but it is so hard to get him out of there- he never wants to leave. So I decided to go to NY&Co. first. They were crazy busy! It was my lucky day to need jeans, because they were having a sale on all their pants- buy one get one for 50% off. And, yes you guessed it, I had a coupon for $30 off, if you spent $75. I have never bought NY&Co. jeans before, but my sister has a few pairs that are really cute. Plus, I can wear jeans to work if they are nicer, and it seems like the jeans there are a little dressier. Plus they have tall lengths, which I usually need.
Because of the sale and my coupon it really did make sense to get two pairs- two pairs would cost me $10 more than one pair. But, I was out of luck. The jeans were so picked over, I only found one pair that were my size, and they weren’t even the long length. I tried them on anyway, and surprisingly they were long enough. I even asked the sales person to see if they had anymore jeans in my size.
The store was so cramped, and the aisles were very narrow, it was NOT fun trying to maneuver a stroller through all of it. The sales person told me I must have the only pair in my size- she couldn’t find anymore. I was still going to get the pair I liked, and found some great sweaters for work and a blouse, all marked down from $36 to $7.99. Then I spotted a clearance rack by another dressing room that had some more jeans on it. I looked through every pair, and the very last pair, was my size, in a long length, with a design on the back pockets that I really liked. After trying them on, it seemed like they were a little too long. I guess they don’t mess around- tall means tall! Usually tall is like half an inch longer than the regular length. Not at NY&Co.! But they were so cute, I decided to get them anyway, and I know Joe’s mom could hem them up for me.
While I was standing in line, I noticed EVERY fashion conscious person in the store (you know what they look like- they aren’t mom’s who have dried chicken salad from lunch on their black shirts, and pushing a toddler in a beat up stroller) had on really long jeans- most had the hems to the floor, and were standing on them. I guess these pants were the height of fashion. Maybe I won’t have them hemmed- now if I could do something about the dried white mayonnaise spots on my black shirt.
I was over the $75 mark with the sweaters, but after using my coupon, I got $30 knocked off. I am really happy I found two nice pair of jeans I can wear to work if I want to. Here is the first pair, and here is the second, long, pair.
Cole was really getting fussy at this point, so we went to Pottery Barn Kids, and spent the next hour there. He was having a blast playing with the toy kitchen, stove, washing machine, ironing board, and vacuum cleaner. It also was not crowded at all, so he had the toys to himself. Almost everyone who walked by and saw him playing told me how sweet he looked. He would stop what he was doing, and wave at that the person. Finally, he was getting so tired, I had to pick him up and carry him out of there. He cried, but he stopped as soon as we started walking in the mall again. He fell asleep on they way home.
Hopefully we are set on clothes now for a while. It was a really nice, fun, and laid back day, and I really enjoyed spending that one-on-one time with Cole. Oh, and if you are wondering how I got so many coupons- the last time I was at Old Navy, the reciept selected me to take a customer satisfaction survey for the 10% off. So I did, and I got a code when I was done. For the other two stores, I am on their mailing list, and they send coupons quite regularly. You can sign up on-line at their websites, if there are any shopping trips in your future to these stores.