Tag Archives: Borders

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye!

Good evening!

Have I ever told you that I have a really hard time with goodbyes? My sweetie and I did something that we probably shouldn’t have done and that was made ONE MORE trip down to Borders before it actually closes it’s doors this week!

It was a little weird being there. Everything was for sale, and I mean EVERYTHING!! Fixtures, counter tops, bookshelves, mixers, chairs, tables, if it was in the store, it was for SALE!! I would REALLY LOVE to replace my cheapie bookshelves up in my office with a wall full of Borders book cases, but I am going to refrain – believe it or not!! I think I just want to somehow keep a piece of Borders alive – sad right???

Anyway, we had told ourselves that we would never go back again, since we had such a bad experience the last time we had gone there since their closing was announced, but they were claiming 70-90% off!!

HOW CAN YOU PASS THAT UP?????

Anyway, we ended up getting something like 20 books for less than $100!!

SHUT UP!!!

No seriously!! 😉

I honestly don’t know where I am going to put all of these little treasures, but I am very happy to be able to add them to my EVER-GROWING library collection!! 😉 I know, I will have to have another intervention with myself about my excessive book shopping, but truly I am working on it!! LOL!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Nesting on a Saturday Night!

Good evening!

I am having quite a lovely evening at home hanging out with my sweetie! I am busy running around the house, nesting my little heart out. Redecorating, reorganizing, arranging fresh flowers, and generally just having a GREAT time!! I feel like I am totally in my element right now!!!

Jason and I went to lunch with a friend of ours, and then the three of us went to the movies and watched Captain America. Good movie, by the way – Captain America was EXTREMELY HOT! 😉 I can’t wait to see the movie, The Avengers next Summer. There is something about the idea of Stark, Thor, and Captain America in the same movie – YUM!! Ok, so apparently I revert back to a teenage girl at a moments’ notice! 😉

After dropping our friend, Don, off. Jason and I headed over to Borders to see if there were any good deals to be had, which I am happy to say that there were. 😉 I did pick up a few books, but I didn’t stick around at all because it is not longer “my” Borders. I think I will make one more pitstop in about two weeks or so, there are a couple of literature books that I am really looking forward to adding to my collection, but if I can get them at a better deal, then it will be worth it to me to wait for it!

I wanted to tell you that the pictures this evening are all taking of my favorite building downtown. This building is the building that houses the US Bank downtown. It is called the Ladd and Bush Bank building, and was built in 1867. Isn’t it lovely??

As I finish toodling around the house tonight…

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

So Long Borders!

Part of the LOOOONG line at Borders!

Good evening!

Well, it is official! Jason and I went to Borders this evening, and it already is nothing like the safe haven that we had come to know and love. The coffee shop, Seattle’s Best, is already closed, the chairs are all stacked and put away, and the books are just an ever-loving mess!!! You had better have known what you were looking for and where in the general area you were going to find it, because staff people were hard to come by. Then when it was time to finally check out, the line wrapped all through the store  it was QUITE INSANE!!! You would think that people would NEVER be able to purchase a book again!! The “sale” prices that we thought would be coming out today, really never materialized. Most everything had a mere 10% off, which meant that I am going to be doing some waiting before I go there looking for some great end of business deals. The staff did say that they were hoping that they would be open through September, but really, whenever the merchandise runs out, that’s about it!

So, this is it. No more Borders. There seem to have been a lot of people running around feeling a lot like I am:

“Now what?”

“What do I do now?”

“I can’t believe this place is closing!”

You see, in Salem, Borders is more like a community center. People stop there, of course, to read and purchase books, magazines, music, and DVDS, but there are also groups that meet there every evening, and to come enjoy the live music during the weekends. People stop by to grab a coffee and catch up with friends, do some studying, spend some time people watching, or to come practice some sign language with other like-minded individuals, not to mention some of our most memorable times of midnight release parties of special books like and of the books from the Harry Potter series, or the Twilight Saga DVD releases.

Good times!! 😉

I heard one woman say,

“Now what am I supposed to do with my weekends?”

That was pretty sad, but she is kind of right. Besides going out to eat, or going to the movie theater there really isn’t much in the way of entertainment in this community. It is going to take this small city some time to recover. Who ever thought that the one and only true book store in Salem would EVER close???

It might be time to look for a new stomping ground. It’s something I am going to have to seriously consider.

Anyway, I am going to go spend some quiet time with my sweetie!! Until tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

An Evening of Organizing!

Good evening!

I am going to try and make this a quick post this evening! I am in the middle of getting some organizing done and I don’t want to take too long, but I thought I would just quickly stop and tell you how my day has gone.

Work? Well, it was alright! I am doing some research right now, and every time I think I am getting close to figuring out what I am looking for, I realize I am stumped again, and almost feeling as if I am back to square one!! So, tomorrow, I will just roll up my sleeves and start again, and if I don’t figure it out by lunch, I will put this assignment away and work on something else for a while!! 😉

I had another Zumba class today, and it is official, I love Zumba, I don’t love this class. I know myself, and if I feel like I am not having fun then I don’t want to do it, and it makes it harder to get to the next class. Well, this instructor, although a fabulously nice person, doesn’t know anything about being plus-size. So, I am trying to do stuff that God had never meant for a body of this size to be doing just yet!!! If we could just stick to all of the fun-crazy dancing, and skip all of the crunches, squats, and yoga/pilate moves, that would be cool – at least for now!! My knees, ankes, elbows, and wrists just aren’t faring so well. Even with two days between classes, I am finding that I am still hurting so badly!! So, with all of that said, I am not sure if I am going to quit yet, or if I am going to stick it out and just modify more!! We will see, and I will keep you posted!!

Oh, I wanted to give a shout out to my sweetie this evening! When I got home, I had the most pleasant surprise, not only did he wash my car today, but I was completely amazed that the house had been cleaned while I was at work too!! Isn’t that just the sweetest thing??? Well, let’s just say that his brownie points meter was busy racking up points tonight!! Thank you, Love! I appreciate all you do for us!! 😉

Anyway, one last thing before I get back to what I was doing. I just received this letter in my e-mail from the Borders CEO, Mike Edwards. Borders happens to be my husband’s and my favorite bookstore and we have spent many hours there reading books, magazines, enjoying a coffee, people watching, visiting with each other, and with all of their stores closing it is going to be quite the culture shock in Jason’s and my world – truly. I thought this letter was sweet, and I wanted to make sure to keep it, kind of as a memento of this great company who I have been a loyal, and frequent customer of for so long.

 

With that, I bid you good night, and…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Some More Weekend Pics!

Good evening!

This is the last evening that my youngest sis in town, so I am going to try and get in some more quality time with her before I have to head off to bed! I wanted to make sure to share some more pictures from our fun weekend!!

After Megan’s soccer game, we had to stop over to mom’s to pick up something, I can’t remember what, but when I had gotten back to the car, this is what I found – Trina reading, “The Witch Has an Itch”. You know there is nothing like some hardcore, intellectual reading for my dear little sis!! HAHAHAHA!! 😉

Trina had been pestering us all weekend to take her to eat at Love, Love! So here we are, and here is one HAPPY girl!! 😉

Next stop, Borders!! Apparently we are ALL BOOKWORMS!!

Reading a cookbook – such concentration!

Next stop our house, and decorating treasure boxes!! Mine is a butterfly!

Trina is making a box to hide a surprise for someone back home! Wink! Wink! 😉

and Megan, made a treasure box for some of her jewelry! 😉

Next, it was downstairs to make french bread pizza! YEAH PIZZA!! 😉

Here is Chef Jason, doling out the ingredients and the instructions!

YUM! Doesn’t that pizza look good??

For dessert, a few rounds of Uno, which I totally got my booty whomped!! Even the 8 year old beat me!! Oh, well! You can’t win them all!! 😉

Finally, we all ended up in our pj’s to watch the movie Tangled!! We were a bunch of very giggly girls!!

SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Wrapping Up a Delicious Day!!

Good evening!

I have had a VERY SWEET Friday hanging out with my sweetie! We stopped at the craft store so I could get some missing supplies. After which my car battery decided to conk out, and my mother-in-law very sweetly came to give us a jump, so in turn, as a way to say thank you, we took her out to lunch and had a very nice visit with her!!

Next Jason went to the pet store to get the dogs some treats, while I headed over to St Vincent’s to see if I could find anything that might help me organize my craft room – no luck today! BUT, Jason and I quickly met back up again, and we headed over to Borders to do some book perusing!! I bought a few books, one of which was a book on Uncluttering my life, which I will tell you about in another post, but was really ironic, because I have been going through some SERIOUS shopping issues right now!! I can’t say that I am a shop-a-holic, but when you have so much stuff that you are bringing it in faster than you can get it back out – that is a problem!!

I have psychoanalyzed myself and have decided that what is happening is that throughout the past 8 weeks, while working on uncovering my inner artist, I have discovered that there really was a different me inside than what I was letting show on the outside. So, what I think I have been doing now, is letting her shine a little more! My style is softening up and becoming more girly, my hobbies, and free-time activities have really changed, and I have been re-stocking supplies (so to speak) to support the new me, HOWEVER I haven’t let go of the old me and all of her trappings yet!! In all honesty I am a little scared! Old Christina has been around for such a long time that it almost feels kind of like a death, which is ok, I just have to get some support as I get my environment in new Christina shape, while getting rid of anything that doesn’t honor my authentic self, which includes all of this old clutter!!

My sweetie has told me that he would help support me/cheer me on, while I pack up boxes and make some serious headway in getting rid of all of the un-me things in this house, tomorrow morning!! Which is EXACTLY what I am needing. I think I am finally at a place where I am cool with letting go of those old disappointments, unfinished projects, unread books, unworn clothes, craft supplies, etc. etc. etc. You know, all of the miscellaneous stuff that I have been holding onto just because “I might need it someday!” So, I am hoping to be able to post some serious before, during, and after pics tomorrow of some of the areas I am going to tackle! I would like to see, by Sunday evening, some SERIOUS progress having been made!! I will keep you posted!! 😉

Where was I? Oh yes, back to today! After we left Borders, with new books in hand, we stopped at another craft store – I am in search of a mini crown rubber stamp, and for some reason am not finding any!! Anyway, next we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some deli sandwich, that we used  for a light dinner when we got home. YUM!! and finally, we watched Gnomio and Juliet, which was such a cute movie, but I must confess, I may never look at gnomes the same way again!!! LOL! 😉

I am excited to see what tomorrow brings, I know we have a date night with some good friends of ours tomorrow evening, so that will be fun!!

Until tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

An Evening In My Head!

Good evening!

My sweetie and I just got back from an evening that started hanging out with the family. After spending some time catching up with mom, we got the opportunity to hang out with the niece and nephews! Megan went on a walk with me through the neighborhood chatting up a storm, while Uncle Jay-Jay did some work on his truck. After we got back, and Jason finished up his work, we rounded up the kids around the outdoor basketball net and we played a game of H-O-R-S-E out in the street, which was soooo much fun!!! There was a lot of bantering and fun ribbing between the kiddos and us “old folks” (yes, unfortunately, that would be us!) 😉 I think I will have to swing by tomorrow and do that again!!!

Later tonight, Jason and I eventually found our way over to one of our FAVORITE places, Border’s. I did manage to find 3 clearance books to go home with me this evening! WHOO! HOO!! Only $12 – I LOVE THAT!! More importantly, Jason and I had a sweet evening just reading, walking around, people watching, and just enjoying each other’s company!

I really am so in love with that man of mine!
I realize what a fortunate girl I am!!

Jason and I don’t have any extravagant plans for this weekend. Jason is going to work tomorrow, and I am not exactly sure what I am going to do just yet, but I am sure that I will find something creative!! Maybe I will sweetly ask if we can sneak in an episode of Bones before bed! We will see!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉