4 posts tagged “shopping”

Shopping online boring?

Try this store. Start by watching the blue cup...

This link's a bit wonky in Vox and you might have to click on it a few times for it to work.

I haven't been thrift store shopping for several months. I had plenty of inventory left over from before we moved and wanted to deplete that on eBay before investing in more.

But today there was a thrift shop right next door to the fabric shop where I bought material to make drapes for our dining room, so I couldn't resist having a look.

I walked straight through the clothes section in front towards the back where most thrift shops stash their used books, crafting supplies, and knitting patterns. Here's what I found.

A paperback book - Taliesin by Stephen Lawhead, $1.50. I'm just finishing up Hood by this author and liked it so much that I want to try another by him.

Crochet Fantasy, 50 cents. Patterns for doilies, placemats, table runners, etc. I can probably get $5 or $6 (US) for this crochet pattern book on eBay so it's a decent buy.

Fabric Ducks, 25 cents. A sewing pattern for a stuffed duck decoy and other duck items. The cover is a bit beat up so I wouldn`t normally have picked this up except that it`s pretty unusual (stuffed duck decoys!), the pattern was uncut and it was real cheap. Not sure what to charge for it...maybe $5. 

Wild Gliders, $1. Unother unusual item. This is a 48-page booklet on how to make flying paper birds that look like geese, owls, eagles, etc. I took a quick look at abebooks just now and copies are listed there for $19 to $20 (US). This is definitely a good find.

Then when I saw this last item in the back of the thrift store hidden away on a magazine rack I almost choked. I have fantasized about stumbling across an Alice Starmore sometime but never really thought it would actually happen! Some quick searching around on eBay, amazon.com and abebooks tells me this knitting pattern book, Stillwater, is worth around $150 to $200 (US). I paid $4 for it. Canadian. Woo hoo!

I went to Victoria for a few days this week.

Well, yes, the construction noise spoiled the hotel room experience. Otherwise it was good. Some of the highlights:

Went on a (free!!) tour of the BC Parliament Buildings where I saw the dining room's lunch menu, marble floors, the controversial murals, stained glass windows, the architectural drawings by Francis Rattenbury, the Legislative Chambers and the Mace (fortunately no longer needed by the Sergeant-at-Arms to defend the Speaker), plus narration by an actor playing the role of Matthew Begbie, the Hanging Judge.

People go on and on about the front view of the buildings in their Romanesque Revival glory. Personally, I like the fountain at the back.

 

Spent several hours at the Royal BC Museum which had a Titanic exhibit. I wasn't too impressed with the Titanic exhibit. It was ok but seemed light on artifacts and heavy on words written on the walls. The person named on my randomly selected boarding pass, Miss Jane Carr, was not among the listed survivors.

Upstairs in the museum, The First Peoples Gallery is truly amazing and I also visited the Woolly Mammoth. It was fun waiting for the thunder storm and then watching any kids in the room react to the thunder and lightning effects with the enormous Woolly Mammoth looming over them!

Hung around the Inner Harbour where an enormous sailboat, the Destination, was moored near the Pacific Swift, a replica 1778 fishing schooner. Watched whale watchers getting ready to go whale watching. Watched tourists trying to take pictures of a raccoon rooting around for goodies under the docks.

Ate out in several restaurants. My favourite was Pagliacci's. Insanely crowded, noisy and great fun! They had live music, a jazz trio, at 8:30.

Went to Munro's Books which claims to be "Canada's Most Magnificent Bookstore!" Went to Russell Books which is even better.

Shopping. Bought a new shoulder bag! It's made of bison leather and has lots of big pockets and zippers. There is room for my iPod, camera, wallet, $2.87 in loose change, tourism map of Victoria, eyeglasses, a couple of Canadian Business magazines, a paperback book (Darwin's Children), pen, lip gloss, a packet of toothpicks, eyeglasses wipes, 3 bandaids, a packet of Amosan, a bar of Purdy's dark chocolate, keys, receipts, and a bunch of papers with stuff written on them. How did my new handbag manage to accumulate so much stuff in less than 24 hours? Good thing it has a comfortable wide shoulder strap.

Broke in, really broke in my new orthotics. Results included one blister, a sore toe, aching lower back and a new pain I had never experienced before, shin splints. I didn't know that they were called that until I described it to my sister who's training for a half-marathon and has more familiarity with sports injuries than I. It seems unfair to have a sports-related pain and not be able to claim that it was caused by a sport. Tourism and shopping should be declared sports. Fortunately the shin splints were gone the next day. My chiropractor told me, as he yanked my ankle and foot bones back into their correct positions, that I'm "adjusting" to the orthotics. I'm so glad...

I just bought a pair of Converse Chucks. Isn't it amazing how stuff you wore as a teenager eventually, decades later, becomes trendy again? Of course, now that I've leaped onto the bandwagon, again, these sneakers are, by definition, no longer trendy, just mainstream.

Anyway, I suspected there were cool and uncool ways to lace up these shoes. So I googled "how to lace up converse" and came up with 983,000 results covering a vast Internet-wide sea of shoe lacing advice, pictures, debate and opportunities to spend more money. I already bought mine, thank you. For $24.99! Soft Moc found me in their computer and gave me a big discount for being a repeat customer. Yes!!

I settled on Ian's Shoelace Site and picked the classic Criss Cross Lacing technique (with a bit of a Over Under variation in the beginning to make it more interesting) being careful to make sure the lace coming from the outside of the shoe (e.g., from the left on my left shoe) crosses over the lace coming from the inside. I may change my mind and switch to all Over Under Lacing but for now this technique works for me.

Brilliant.

I wonder if my new orthotics will work in these shoes?