Mini-Vacation Haul

OK, those who know me know that one of the things I love to do when I make my NC visits to my family is go shopping. That is my down time. I can go through the stores and just...enjoy what they have to offer. The stores I go to there are not any different than the stores I have available to me at home. Truth be told, there's only one store I go to that is not available where I live. But when I am out of town, away from work and commitments at home (except for the Buffinator), I have the time to drive around and do a little shopping without feeling like I have to rush this place or that to do one thing or another...I'm sure many of you understand.

So, where did I do most of my shopping on this trip? Home Goods.  Now, there is a HG in my city...in fact, there are two. However they are too far away and they really suck for the things I would be looking for when I make the trips there.  When I'm home, I mostly do what would be my HG shopping at Marshall's and sometimes Ross. But mostly Marshall's. Ross is my dress heaven. The other two places I went to were Trader Joe's and an accessory store called Versona.  There's a TJ in my city too...but its out there with HG...and I'm not driving that far in all that traffic for a trip to the grocery store.

Any of you who have shopped at HG, Marshall's TJ Maxx or Ross know that this line of stores is the place to go for very reasonably priced, damn near cheap, decor, kitchen appliances/tools and specialty spices.  Seriously...my spice cabinet runneth over from the many trips I make to Marshall's alone. As often as I say "I'm not going to get another spice blend until I have made a dent in what I have at home," I walk out of the store with another spice, or marinade, or salad dressing, or oil blend....its really a bad habit.

So, here's my swag from my trip to Charlotte:

This is from my trip to Home Goods. This isn't all I bought, but its what I've been looking out for that I haven't found at my local Marshall's. Only one thing was over $10, I think. Even the pastas were $4 & $5 each. LOVELY!


Seriously...$8. I've been looking for one for a while. Now I have it to make my guac and grind whole spices.



I've been looking for one of these for a while. Rachael Ray uses them a lot to transfer food from the cutting board to the pan. $3 later, no more sneak treats for Buffy!



I don't know why this flipped back to the side, but I'm done w/picture editing...I have a candle problem. This smells heavenly. Bought two.

And this one



Yeah, so much for no more spices and stuff...
The preserves were bought just because of the "Habanero." It better be spicy!
Will post how I use it when I use it.
The dressing to the right is a vidalia onion & tomato dressing....HEAVENLY!!!! Good Lord its slamming!



More coffee. I love coconut and I love chocolate. This was in the aisle that taunts you and you are making your way in line to the register...gets me every time. But the one in the grocery store I can always ignore.

I had to get this. I love the different size & style pastas you can find at these stores and this is that egg pasta that they use on Food Network all the time and I always say "I have never seen that kind of egg noodle."
Seen and bought!



More pasta. Roasted red pepper fettuccine



More neat shaped pasta.

Super soft, cushy throw...$12.99

Flax seed gel is on the way!

And then we have the Trader Joe's run. I FINALLY bought the shampoo and conditioner that people have been raving about and I bought their one with rosemary also..just because I love rosemary. No captions needed, but dang folks, if they are as good for me as they have been for others, when I go back to Charlotte for the holidays, I'm loading up something serious! $3 a pop is an awesome deal.



 So that's it. I haven't taken pics of the jewelry I bought from Versona. Some of them are gifts, so posting spoils the surprise. So we're going to wait on that. 

TTFN!