Crafty Bastards!
Cheri and I went to the Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday. This was a self-described alternative craft fair featuring young hipsters selling their unique (and sometimes cliched) designs. There was jewelery made from typewriter keys, blown glass, nails, and bolts. There were disturbing children’s and pet toys. There were ironic t-shirts, trendy belts, and punk-rock baby clothes. In a nutshell, you weren’t going to find your grandmother’s crocheted sweaters here.
Along with the crafts, there was live music, mustache painting, and craft workshops going on as well. It was fun to window shop the different vendors and their items. At times it felt that I wasn’t artsy or ironic enough to fit in, but oh well. I still had fun taking a few pictures and window shopping at some of the cool items. A couple things we got were some glass coasters and some earrings for Cheri (both made by the same artist).
Our Living Room is Now an Ikea Showroom
Cheri and I took the plunge today and finally replaced our grimy old couch. We got the Ektorp loveseat from Ikea with the cover that matches our other chair (not pictured).
Yesterday we reserved a pick-up truck to rent from Avis to haul the couch from Ikea to our apartment. We did this because it was much cheaper than having the loveseat delivered ($80 versus $300).
We had made the reservation to pick up the truck this morning at 10 am. When we got there we were told that the truck was being brought in from another location and would be there shortly. Shortly translated to 90 minutes. We were easily upset since we wanted to return the truck the same day. When the truck finally arrived I asked for a discount and the Avis guy surprisingly gave me one. He knocked $30 off our rental. Cheri and I were pleased as we drove down to Ikea to pick up our new couch.
While we were down there we saw a coffee table we liked too that was on sale and went ahead and picked it up. As you can see from the picture its been put to good use.
10 Ways to Reuse Your Target Bag*
1. Tiny Trashcan Liner
2. Doggy Duty
3. Water Balloon
4. Roadtrip Rubbish
5. Soggy Laundry
6. Ice Pack for Head Lump
7. Toiletry Tote
8. Kitty Litter Liner
9. Tomorrow’s Lunchbag
10. Care Package Padding
*These were actually printed on the side of one of our leftover plastic Target bags.
My First Wegman’s Experience
Last night Cheri and I wanted to celebrate the end of the week by making a nice dinner. We already had the pasta and some sauce, we just wanted some good bread and a good dessert to go with it. Since my co-workers are constantly raving about Wegman’s, we decided to go there.
The first thing I noticed was that it was a grocery store that had a parking garage. And on a Friday afternoon, the parking lot was pretty packed. I don’t think I could ever imagine a parking lot that size just for a grocery store.
So we walked in and we were instantly floored by the interior. The produce section was almost as large as a normal grocery store. Plus everything was fresh! We walked up and down some aisles just gawking at the selection. That, and the prices (ouch!). Even though they had an amazing variety of all foods, everything was expensive as crap.
They had an extensive organic section which impressed me (even though I don’t normally buy organic stuff, but the selection was larger than any other store I’ve seen). But what really got us was the cheese section, the bakery, and the fresh meats section. They had an amazing amount of cheeses (all in wedges or blocks, I didn’t see anything grated or shredded). Their meats (both deli and butcher) were impeccable. They had beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, game hens, and seafood. But not only were there freshly cut meats, but there were meats that were prepared to be taken home and thrown in the oven. For example, stuffed meats, seasoned meats, marinated meats, etc.
The bakery was great too. Tons of specialty desserts and breads including cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, baguettes, jewish breads, itallian breads and anything else you can imagine. All the desserts were so beautiful that you could just buy them to admire their looks instead of their tastes.
In the end we just got a loaf of ciabatta bread and some cookies and spent too much money on both. But they were worth it. Wegman’s is the type of store you go to create a special meal. Unless you have money to burn, I wouldn’t recommend shopping there for your everyday grocery needs.
