Impromptu Shopping Day

I woke up Saturday morning with one goal in mind--buying my textbooks. I trekked over to campus shortly after the bookstore opened and purchased said books, a mega notebook, some portfolios for papers, and two new pens, one blue, one black.

A few pages into Tobias Wolff, Sarah called me. We were not scheduled to hang out this weekend, but she came to get me, which was fortuitous. Beyond the simple pleasure of getting to hang out unexpectedly with my best friend, I got the chance to go with her to Ryan's Daughter, a place we discovered just before Christmas. Going out to eat is one of my favourite things in the world. We enjoyed an opulent lunch of curry chips (to start) seafood pot pies in cream sherry sauce, and trifle for dessert. I also ordered a Guinness, because why would one go to an Irish Pub and not?

Because there are a lot of fun novelty shops in the immediate vicinity--including a stationery store called Simply Noted where Sarah bought some beautiful, deep red card stock with which to make homemade Valentine's Day cards, we ended up staying out for several hours. "Tuesday Morning," a catchall store which features department store goodies at significantly marked down prices yielded and Iced Mocha Latte flavoured candle and a glass baking dish for me. We also meandered more around the Belvedere Square Market which is a compound of stores, restaurants, and shops across the street from our Irish Pub.

From there we hit the Dollar Store Circuit. Sarah and I are fast becoming connoisseurs of the "Everything's a Dollar!" venue. It was here that I made out like a bandit, scoring Valentine's Day wire garland for my cubicle, Barbie and Spider Man boxed V-Day cards (I will distribute these at work. You got it--Spidey for the boys, Barbie for the girls.), candy, and little presents for the people on my team, including blowing bubbles. My friend Catherine's phrase "Age-appropriate whimsy" inspired me.

Some plans that I had on the docket for this evening have been canceled, so now I am getting groceries delivered and doing the wash. I have a bit more reading to do to be prepared for classes this week, but I may knock that out on my lunch break today.