Sigh....

Sep. 15th, 2017 06:38 pm
insaneladybug: (coleyandlafe)
I've been missing Fred Meyer's ever since we moved down here. When I heard they had built one about ten minutes away, I was thrilled. I finally saw it yesterday, however, and now I'm not so thrilled. It was more like a big Smith's with a clothing shop in the middle of it. The toy department was kind of pathetic. Instead of being more like ShopKo or K-Mart, it felt like the old grocery store toy sections. Although, granted, they did have more toys than a typical grocery store, but not as much as Fred Meyer's used to have. And the prices are horrible. $17-something for a Fashion Style Pony?! That's even worse than Walgreen's price! But at least I saw some new Pony merchandise I hadn't seen before, so that was fun to look at.

Now, Smith's bought Fred Meyer's years ago and converted them to Smith's Marketplace, it's true. But the ones where we used to live were still Fred Meyer's. Only the name had changed. I guess if they build them from the ground up, they make them more like Smith's. Now I'm wondering what the ones in the old area are like, if they're still Fred Meyer's inside or if they've all been remodeled and have less merchandise, like Smith's.

I was there in the first place not just to see what it was like, but as part of my search for Halloween costume pieces. I didn't have any luck there. Whereas Fred Meyer's in the old area had a big costume section, this one was dinky and not much better than a regular Smith's. And they had inflatable graves like like year, only these had dumb epitaphs that weren't even creepy. They said dumb things like, "I liked bacon" and "Dead Fred." Compare that to last year's, which had corny but creepy things like "I'll be back" and "Rest in pieces."

I also looked at the Wal-Mart in that town. They had a wonderful selection of stuff, but not what I wanted. I am especially baffled at the lack of lab coats. Mad scientists are a Halloween staple! There's never been a year when I didn't see lab coats. Surely they're still coming. I'm more worried about the wig problem. I may end up having to get that one that looks like season 1 Baxter's hairstyle, even though I really don't want to.

ShopKo was horrible. I thought maybe if I looked early in the season, they'd have more stuff. Their costume section was just as pathetic as the last couple of years. Barely any costumes and only a handful of wigs way too expensive for just Halloween usage. It's sad. I remember when their Halloween section was epic. It was one of the best ones that I looked forward to seeing the most.

At least the trip wasn't a total loss. I finally found a nice birthday present for a friend and can at last mail her birthday (and Christmas!) stuff. And I saw two Baxters in the figure department. Honestly, all the Wal-Marts except ours are ordering more than one set of the Mutagen Canisters now. I don't know why ours always has to be so insistent on just one at a time. Ugh.

It was a beautiful overcast day and fell like Fall, and the sight of the Baxters gave me a special sense of nostalgia, both of when I found mine early this year and shopping times years ago when I found YGO merchandise. The feeling only lasted for a minute, as I was walking outside in the gloriously cloudy day, but it was nice. I miss when YGO was in first-run and I found something neat pretty much every time I was out. And discovering figures of favorite characters was always the best part. Or shirts.

And I did end up ordering the Indigo Pokemon DVD set. I kept wanting it really badly and felt like I was just torturing myself by waiting, so I ordered it early Thursday morning. As usual, I immediately waffled over whether I'd made the right decision, especially when I saw eBay had it for a few dollars less. Problem is, for me it wouldn't really be less since I'd have to pay entirely in cash on eBay. On Amazon, most of it is paid with the gift card. After I'd slept, I felt at peace and that I'd made the right decision and got what I really wanted. It hasn't shipped yet. It will probably show up next week sometime, either two weeks before my birthday or less than that. And I probably will try to save it for opening on my birthday, as planned, since I likely wouldn't be doing another Amazon order to be the birthday order.
insaneladybug: (Default)
Working on a Turtles fic, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it and my attention keeps wandering, hence why I'm writing this long entry.

I never did take the time to record what I thought of the other two Equestria Girls shorts. I loved the first one so much because it seemed to go back to the formula that really worked, the urban setting and school stuff going on and no constant magical powers courtesy of mysterious stones.

The other two shorts I liked less than the first one, even though they also had things I liked.

Spoilers )

So yeah, in the end, it was a mixed bag and I haven't bought the DVD yet. I'm debating whether I really want to, since I only really liked the first short and there were just things I liked in the other two rather than liking them as a whole.

It feels so good knowing autumn is on its way. The days are getting shorter and some days are getting a little cooler and it's wonderful. I feel sad for Mom, as she always feels bad when summer ends, especially if we haven't been able to do much during it, but autumn is totally my favorite season and I am always so relieved to say Goodbye to summer heat and Hello to autumn leaves, spooky stuff, and my birthday. Heh.

I'm also wondering, honestly, what to even ask for on my birthday or what I might like to buy on my celebratory shopping spree. I'm pretty happy/content at this point in time and can't seem to think of much I want, at least that would be available around here. If I saw, say, season 2 of U.N.C.L.E. or that awesome Charlie's Angels boxset or season 1 of Rockford, or the other DuckTales and Talespin DVDs (or new human Baxter merchandise!), I'd be happy to snap them up. But I'm unlikely to see them offline (and unlikely to see human Baxter merchandise at all). I'll still want to have the shopping spree, though.

Normally one thing I always ask for is the latest Clair Poulson novel. But the one he's just released didn't sound quite as compelling to me as most of his books do, so I'm a little "Eh" right now. It sounded like it might focus on romance even more than most of them do. Honestly, as much as I love the plots and suspense and most of the characters, I get really bored when there almost always has to be a romance. I just tolerate it because the rest is so great. I think he only has one book where there isn't a romance between the male and female leads, and that's Conflict of Interest. I should read it again. It was a breath of fresh air to see a friendship instead.

Maybe for the shopping spree I'll focus on trying to get the other pieces I'll need for my Baxter Halloween costume. I really only need a wig and the coat; I have everything else. And without K-Mart, that seriously limits my costuming options. Sigh. They had such a good selection of stuff. ShopKo used to, but the last couple of years they've hardly had anything. Wal-Mart usually has a pretty good line-up, so I'm hoping I'll be able to find what I want there. If that fails, I guess there's Target and maybe a party store to try. The lab coat should be easy to procure, but the wig may be a little harder. Baxter's hair is such a unique color. I'd be willing to get a blond one if it was the right style, but I'd prefer light brown. And wild scientist wigs usually only come in white.

Most years, I'm lucky to find one or two things I want on the shopping spree. A lot of years, I find nothing and decide what I really want is online and get it there (and have to wait for a week to get it in the mail, sigh). Last year was one of the best times I've had in ages. I got ... let's see ... the Indigo Zap doll, a Real Ghostbusters DVD, the plushie that became Baxter, a YGO book (not a manga, a book about the anime and the characters and such), and TMNT seasons 1 and 4. It was so awesome.

Seems like most of the Pony Movie toys coming out are Sea Pony related or Ponies dressed as pirates. The new characters I wouldn't want toys of until I see whether I like their characters. And I have no desire to own the established characters in Sea Pony or Pirate form. I want to see the movie, but I am not thrilled at all about the main characters having to change into mermaids and blowfish (WTH, poor Spike). And since that seems to be one of the main product lines being pushed, it seems like it must last longer than one scene in the movie where they go for help. Then again, I guess some of the other lines have been based on scenes in the show that were only one scene. One can only hope.

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