04.06.09
Costco
I really do love Costco. Maybe it’s the $1.50 hot dog and pop (mmm pop, I gave it up for Lent and have been craving it more than ever) or the fact that I can get a $3,000 copper casket with champagne velvet interior for when I die. I believe my obsession love with Costco started at a young age when my mom would take my sister and I there every week for the family shopping trip. I was so happy when they put in a Costco 10 minutes from my house last October (it doesn’t matter I work within 5 minutes of another one). I really want to venture to the downtown Seattle warehouse sometime because it has a car wash. I love the new Costco by my house because it has self check-out lines which no other Costco I have been to has. I was there on Saturday and I’m happy to see they FINALLY brought back the 2.5 pound blocks of Tillamook Cheddar Cheese. That pretty much made my day.
I had to go to the one by work to pick up a vacuum today (for work) when I was at the clothes section. I happened to notice they had David Bitton Buffalo Jeans which I had heard were EXPENSIVE but well worth the price. There was NO way I was going to pay $100-120 for a pair of jeans in the store but $40 at Costco why not? After all, I have had only one pair that has fit me since the whole jean debacle. Not being able to try them on and having no idea what size I was in inches I had to grab 3 pairs. Sure enough, FINALLY a pair that fits!! *Insert Angels singing from Heaven* 
I also have to say, when I got married, I ordered all of my roses through there and they were beautiful. Also your gas stations are always the cheapest in town. Ahhh Costco, I really do love you.
P.S. You return policy rocks.
P.P.S. I wish you would accept VISA.
03.21.09
March Puppy Truck
Today Mr. Charming, Topeka, and I went to the Puppy Truck at Cabela’s down in Olympia. Loyola was headed back to begin her formal training and her raising family was getting a new puppy! The new puppy is a female black lab named Malta. Below is the list of dogs that came off the truck (I was much better this time)
Siblings (Born January 12, 2009):
MYL-Manny
FML-Malta (The newest puppy to our group!)
Siblings
BML-Nate
MYL-Nacasio (That is how Michelle spelt it and don’t ask me to pronouce it)
BML-Navy
Siblings:
FYL-Santana
FYL-Savey
Siblings:
MYL-Pace
BFL-Pandy (Like Mandy with a P)
I have to say I held myself together rather well. My eyes did swell up but I didn’t have crocodile tears. I know she will have a great time learning new things at school with all her friends (especially Pretzel (picture below) and George!)
The Puppy Truck in front of Cabela’s:
Loyola waiting for her turn to get on the Puppy Truck:
Malta: Her coat was huge on her (too cute)
Loyola and Malta meeting for the first time:
Loyola’s Raiser putting in her kennel on the Puppy Truck 
This picture is for Anna…It’s Pretzel!
I do have some other pictures to upload from our last weekend with Loyola, Simmons, and Topkea. I’ll have to do those tomorrow as I’m tired and ready for bed. Also, if you have facebook, send me an email as I have few more pictures there.
01.08.09
Target
Dear Target:
I’m not sure what has happened with your customer service lately but I hope you figure it quickly. The past 3 times (at least) I have been to your store you have had 2 (yes 2) employees checking people out. Now I understand if I came at an off time, but when I go to the store it seems to be when EVERYONE else decides to go (like after work or during lunch). Your lines have gotten so out of hand that I’ve had enough. Today after a very rude encounter with one of your employees, I’m done. I dropped my stuff and walked out. It’s not worth my time or couple pennies saved. When you decide to get your “line situation” figured out, I’ll be back. I do except more like what your motto says.
Thanks,
Shelly (No smiley face this time) :/
12.12.08
It’s HERE! :)
To the one person who voted it would ship early, you were right! My Dyson arrived this afternoon and I think I’m in love. In its blog debut, my new Dyson DC18 Slim:
Tomorrow I will post the results of my “Dyson Challenge”. In other words, I will vacuum with my old vacuum and then vacuum with the Dyson to see how much extra stuff it picks up. Happy early Christmas to me!
12.08.08
Simmons does the Christmas Tree Farm
On Saturday we had Simmons so we decided to take him the Christmas Tree Farm:
Honestly, he wasn’t as helpful as we were hoping he would be in finding a tree. He seemed more interested in trying to figure out why the horses in the pasture next to the tree farm didn’t look like him.
Once we were back home, I pulled out the rope toy that I got at Petco the other day. He was really confused by it which was pretty funny.
Once he was done playing, he was one tired boy: 
On Friday, the Puppy Truck came and we got a new puppy to our group, Topeka. I haven’t seen her yet so I don’t have any pictures. When I do, I’ll be sure to post them. She is female black lab with some brindle coloring on her back and feet.
11.18.08
Jeans
I have such a hard time finding pants that fit that when I do, I tend to buy 2-3 pairs. I have had the most luck at Banana Republic. The best part is, there is a Banana Republic Outlet about 15-20 minutes from where I live so I don’t have to pay $100 or so for a pair of pants. Recently I was in need of some “nicer” looking jeans for work so I headed off to the store. I ended up finding a pair that I knew by the time I tossed them in the dryer, would be perfect in length (which they were). Me being logical thought, “I know the style and size I need so I’ll go back and grab two more pairs”. I tried them on at the store as I know that each pair of jeans can fit totally differently (nothing against factory workers in Macau but I don’t think quality control is their top priority). Anyways, I washed the other two, and between three pairs of jeans, they all came out in different lengths even though they started out pretty much the same. I washed them all in cold and for the same amount of time in the dryer. One will be perfect and the others too long. I guess I’ll just wait and hope they shrink up a little bit more (or wash them in warm water and hope they don’t shrink around the waist). For now, I’ll be the girl on the street who looks like a geek with her jeans rolled up…
11.01.08
Shiny New Toy
Let me introduce to you my shiny new toy:
Isn’t she pretty? She is a HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebook PC with Intel Core 2 Duo CPU @ 2 Ghz, 4 GB of Ram, and 64-bit Operating System (Insert Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor’s Grunt from Home Improvement). My Dell was slowly dying and it was time to upgrade. It is running Windows Vista Home Premium which I’m slowly becoming a fan of Vista (or more like I have to or would be kicked out of the house). In the initial set up, Mr. Charming showed me this Mac Ad which is very true if you have ever had to deal with Vista:
I got my shiny new toy with a killer deal at Costco which reminds me that they just opened one within 15 minutes of the house. Woot!
08.01.08
Picture Update
My sister was at Best Buy one night and picked this up for me. I did pay her back, but that reminds me, she still owes me money. Anyways, it’s a lot of fun and is really accurate. My balance sucks.
Over the 4th of July weekend, Mr. Charming and I decided we would head over to Leavenworth. We did some hiking and tubed the Icicle River (there is a reason they call it the Icicle River). This is a picture of the ski jump on the hike we went on. I think Mr. Charming was trying to kill me The hill was like this: | instead of \.
Picture of Leavenworth from our hike:
The entrance to our Bed and Breakfast. We have been there 3 times and love it.
The garden my Dad planted for me is finally in season. We have been enjoying the raspberries and blueberries so far (especially since they are so expensive in the stores). The corn is almost ready and the carrots and onions are getting bigger.
We also had our annual BBQ and went to a wedding down in Vancouver. It was SO hot the weekend of the wedding and every place we went either had no A/C or it was broken. I don’t remember the last time I sweated that much. My next update in pictures will be about our weekend to Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands with my family.
04.23.08
Garage Sales, Farmer’s Markets, and Gardens Oh My!
This weekend the city we live in is doing a community yard sale. It might sound like we live in a small city but according to the 2000 Census, there is about 70,000 people. They posted addresses of people who are having one by zip code, if they are Saturday and/or Sunday, and if they are multiple families in the local paper. I think it’s a great idea considering one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. You can find some great things at garage sales and be able to recycle something that might other wise end up in a landfill. I think you will know where to find Mr. Charming and I Saturday morning.
I was also reading in the paper this morning that they won’t be starting a farmer’s market until May of 2009 which makes me sad. There is another one close by in the next city that I will have to check out. I love fresh veggies and fruit and would prefer to support local growers than by from a supermarket like Safeway. Speaking of Safeway, they no longer carry turkey pastrami in their deli (at least at our Safeway). It is one of my favorite meats.
I am trying to do my part in “going green”. I know there is always way I can improve. My parent’s live on about an acre and my dad is planting me a bunch of things for me: Blueberries, raspberries, onions, corn, lettuce, and carrots and in our backyard we have a plum, pear, and apple which will produce a little fruit. I can’t wait for summer.
03.24.08
Wedding Dresses
Mr. Charming’s littlest sister is getting married in September (he has two younger sisters). Mr. Charming and I were asked to be apart of the ceremony (as in Mr. Charming a groomsmen and me a bridesmaid). I helped go wedding dress shopping at David’s Bridal on my lunch break today with my sister-in-law. Speaking of which, I need a name for her. Anyways, wedding dresses are so expensive! I borrowed mine from my cousin (which I am thankful we are the same size and have the same taste). I can’t justify a $1,000 or even a $500 on a dress to wear for a couple of hours ONCE. Just can’t do it.
Maybe I’m cheap. I don’t know, but I do know I can find a lot better ways to spend my money.
