Needless to say the JoAnn gift card not only went fast but it was the first to go. I picked up some much needed sew-in interfacing, a half yard of some really pretty blue and white quilter's fabric (reminded me of my grandmother's china) and I grabbed some gorgeous yarn at a steal. I have such a love/hate relationship with the JoAnn stores. Mostly I hate that I love them so much, but between JoAnn, Michael's and AC Moore I can get everything I need and usually more (especially now that Martha Stewart is selling her crap at Michael's and I get sucked in every time). I will say, however, that I'm really annoyed by the fact that all JoAnn's employees are required to ask you what you're making with the things you buy there. I can't remember the last time I wasn't asked on any given visit and it really irks me. Ah, well. Sometimes I'm so tempted to make up some outlandish lie when asked just to get them to leave me the hell alone, but I know that they don't actually WANT to ask, they just have to. Besides, harassing retail employees is bad karma for someone who is about to open their own retail shop.
After JoAnn's, we headed to a couple of game stores so Ben could get his fix. In a way I have the same attraction/revulsion to video game stores that I have to craft stores. I want to hate them in the worst way because I don't play video games (unless it's on the Wii), but I love to secretly spy on the people shopping there. Sure, you're guaranteed to stumble upon the young kids and game geeks struggling to decide on how to spend their own gift cards. But I love seeing the 40-something men in business suits arguing with the sales crew over which version of Halo is best. Or the women who are obviously exhausted from screaming at her kid to pick a game and get the hell out of the store. Makes me wonder where these people come from and what their day-to-day lives are like. Guess I'm just nosey.
Finally, after the game store extravaganza (we visited 2 game stores in all), we hit up Barnes and Noble. I love to support the little guy as often as possible, but gift cards are inevitable and this was the last place to spend our loot. I headed to the craft section, which, by the way, is incredibly large at B&N now. Impressive. I picked up two books:
The Crafter Culture Handbook by Amy Spencer
and
Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book by Ziggy Hanaor
Both look interesting for sure, and better yet they were absolutely free! Gotta love it. I'm gonna read 'em tomorrow...fo' sho.
2 comments:
Kate, we are destined to be friends. I too have a love/hate relationship with Joann's, have a bit of an obsession with the Martha crafts at Michael's, hate all video games except on Wii and have been so wanting BOTH of those books. I'm so going to my B&N tomorrow to see if they have them there.
-Sarah @ Birch Handmade
That's so cool. I can't wait to meet you, Sarah. One of these days I have to drive down to Catskill and check out your shop! Better do it sooner than later because time is running out and I'm going to be glued to my own shop soon!
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