It's So Easy...

It has been well established that I work for a bank (NABABNA). As a bank employee, it would stand to reason that I would have every single banking product known to (wo)man at my disposal. It has also been established by certain comic strip creators that women like to shop. Now, I'm not a huge fan of clothes shopping or Christmas shopping. I tend to "Power Shop".

Power shopping, in the context of Beth, involves me walking into a store with a goal in mind and grabbing everything I possibly can between the front door, my goal, and the checkout counter. The ability to do things in moderation is not my forte.

Case in point. Scrapbooking and stamping. I feel the need to possess EVERY single tool known to the human race to work on my scrapbooks and make cards. This may be why, during my move to the new apartment, I had an entire room of my apartment filled with boxes upon boxes of scrapbooking and stamping materials. I don't have a dining room. I have a scrapping area that tends to try and overtake my kitchen. You should see my stove and my second refrigerator. They are both have a dual purpose. They serve as shelves for items I want within reach while I work on crafty projects. It's a little sick.

Where am I going with all of this information? Well, I'll tell you. Yesterday, on my lunch break, I needed to purchase some card stock for a project at work. I needed to make stars with my dye-cut machine for a billboard at work. Simple, right? Yeah, right.

I bought twenty sheets of card stock at the scrapbooking/stamping store near my apartment building (which is also conveniently close to work! Imagine that!) I also managed, during the entire 8 minutes I was in the store, to purchase $60 worth of scrapbooking materials for myself. I found three sets of new stamps, three additional St. Valentine's Day stamps, and some paper. Oh yeah, I also bought a border picture for a page I haven't even taken pictures for. It's a disease, I tell you. A disease.

That's what happens in person. With the joys of the Internet and the benefits of Visa, I can shop without leaving the comforts of home. My addiction turned on me tonight when I decided to "browse" iTunes for some new music.

I managed to get on a 70's rock kick and I bought way too many songs. Granted, they are great songs. Did I need them? Not at all.

But I got really cool songs. One disclaimer - I did not search these songs out. They just showed up under categories like: Classic Rock, Guilty Pleasures, and iTunes essentials.

Some highlights:
The 35th Anniversary Hits Collection of Three Dog Night (this is the only album I purchased outright)
Let's Get it On (Marvin Gaye)
Car Wash (Rose Royce) - Don't ask what came over me here
Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix) - Live
American Woman (The Guess Who)
Rock and Roll All Nite (Kiss) - In honor of DM and my nights at the old dungeon
Bye Bye Bye (*Nsync) - Hey, I was a closet *Nsync fan. This is the one song I still like and the entire CD was stolen when my car was broken into
Owner of a Lonely Heart (Yes) - It showed up, I clicked yes.
I Can't Drive 55 (Sammy Hagar)
Save a Horse/Ride a Cowboy (Big & Rich) - Yeah, it's the dance mix. How strange is that?
It's Not Unusual (Tom Jones)

It makes for an interesting playlist, I can tell you that. But I'm lovin' studying!

I need to be better about shopping. I have to save up for Portugal and seeing Johnny in April. An update to the trip: DM and I both managed to acquire time off from work during April. We're working on the passport issue and I need to contact a travel agent to find out a few answers to questions about overseas travel. But the trip is on and we're gaining excitement.

At Christmas, I told my parents that I was going to Portugal to see Johnny. They don't read my blog (like I'd give them the address! I can share with the blogosphere, but my parents? Are you on crack?) so they don't know who Johnny really is. I braced myself for the, "Who are you visiting?" "But it will be so expensive." Or the "What, that's another country, you might get killed."

What response did I get, fully reinforcing my love of my parents:

"That sounds exciting and wonderful. Need any help?"

My mom did say, "Oh, I bet your passport expired, I can help you if you need to get it renewed."

On a slightly funnier note, my mom's boyfriend asked, "What type of money do they have in Portugal?" We explained the fact that Euros are pretty common in Europe now and then he asked, "What if you get kidnapped?"

My mom replied to that one, "Oh, just be yourself. They'll give you back right away."

Ouch! Then I reminded her that she's 50! And she hit me.

6 Comments:

At 10:44 AM, CarpeDM thought...

Ooh. New scrapbooking stuff. I am looking forward to our next scrapbooking session. Yay!

What page haven't you taken the pictures for yet? I am intrigued.

Yay! Tom Jones!

At 11:53 AM, The Lioness thought...

OK, first, GET A GRIP! You are not allowed to buy anything else till you go through ALL your wxisting supplies. HEAR ME?

Second, that was hilarious! I doubt you'll be kidnapped though, we're into petty theft more and the likes. Kidnapping is not yet a Portie hobby. Anyway, you can give them my email and they can grill me ove rthe web, wouldn't that be fun?

Finally, please tell DM, that scatterbrain, that I DID HER CODE FOR *HER* DROP DOWN MENU, emailed it, she only needs to replace it in her template. yes I did. Get her to get going already, DDM are the coolest thing ever (which makes you equally cool of course, still can't believe you figured it out you bloody genius!)

At 5:00 PM, Weary Hag thought...

Loved this entry! The only difference between your shopping and my own is that I to go to stores on a specific mission, race through the aisles and get what I absolutely need, then somewhere between the aisles and the check-out, I usually wind up putting half the stuff back ~ unable to justify my purchases. Your writing style is comfy and casual ~ I really enjoyed this post and will now have to continue through your blog. Glad we connected!

At 7:14 PM, Wandering Coyote thought...

The comment from your mom's boyfriend reminded me of something I went through with my husband when we were backpacking around Europe (he was living in Italy;I went out to visit; we travelled afterwards; I planned the trip and set up the Eurail passes). He didn't want to go to Spain of all places because he believed it was too "politically unstable". He couldn't satisfactorily explain that one (something about the Basques), but we didn't go in the end. Also, he didn't want to go to Turkey because "they shoot tourists there." Never got to Turkey, either. In any case, I am pretty confident that Portugal (along with Spain and Turkey) are quite safe. I know people who have vacationed there and they loved it. April should be a very good time of year to go, too. Those southern parts of Europe can be brutally hot/humid in the summer.

At 6:15 PM, Matt thought...

Little Sister,
As you know, when the mood and the time of the year is right, I can also do some damage to a store. How many times have we gone into a Wal-Mart at about three in the mroning just to have some shopping fun? It is weird to do it, but it is also fun, isn't it? I would like to say something however about your playlist....it is awesome! I have never heard the song Save A Horse/Ride A Cowboy however, but the rest of the songs are excellent choices. I especially liked to see Tom Jones, I feel that he is a wonderful talent that most people just do not seem to appreciate anymore. The Owner of a Lonely Heart song? I grew up with that fantastic piece of music, and still like to hear it today. I also like Car Wash, it is from a peiod of music that I feel should never have been made (I hate the Disco era, however there are some Disco songs that I like) And who could go wrong with Jimi Hendrix? I looooooovvvvvvveeee Jimi, he is awesome! He is awesomer than awesome! He is awesomer than the awesomest guitar player that ever aopted the title of awesome! I don't know where that came from, but it is true and I do love Jimi, he is a talent that will never be duplicated, ever. Period. No questions asked. Ever.

Until later when I see you,
Big Brother

At 1:50 PM, srmc thought...

I see nothing wrong with the scrapping supplies taking up more room than a human being. Nope nothing wrong at all. Now of course should I admit that the only reason I had to move into a 2 bedroom apartment was because of all my scrapping crap? Nope. Not telling anyone about that! No siree!

So when are you gonna post to your scrappin site? huh? Oh wait......I shouldn't talk. I have not posted a new layout in ages.