Me-weekend, Day 3 & 4!

Oops... Didn't mean to leave anyone hanging! 

Yes! There was in fact a day three, and a day four in the fabulous 4-day Me-weekend, which followed my birthday last week. And, while I did have every good intention of updating before now, hot yoga happened to me on Monday night. So for now, I'm letting hot yoga take the fall for the absence of any updates since day 1 and day 2!

Day three of my me-weekend was arranged weeks ago... You see, my friend SpaBoy relocated back to his home in High Point from Chapel Hill last week so this weekend was our first opportunity to get together without one of us having to drive an hour and a half. I had his house rented for over two years; however, after my tenant vacated, SpaBoy and I decided it was high-time for him to high-tail it back to High Point! I'm so happy about this for so many reasons; but especially because his return means we'll be spending more time together doing the thing we do best... Shop!

And, that's exactly what we did Sunday! First, we met for lunch at PF Chang's, then we walked the shops at Friendly Center... We stopped in at Sur la Table where we exercised my professional discount card, then we hit the Apple Store and then Williams-Sonoma for even more goodies! Since I found this post by the lovely Lora, macarons have been on my mind. But everyone knows that you cannot properly create macarons without a food scale.

So when I saw this one on the clearance

rack at Sur la Table for $14, it was a must have!    

I had to make a bee-line to Williams-Sonoma for mini-rubber scrapers

after seeing this post on Dara's blog last week! I cannot wait to duplicate

her success with this yummy recipe... But my first thought as I read along

was that popping Nutella out of my measuring spoon would be so much easier

and less messy if I had a set of these super-cute mini silicone scrapers! Now,

I have no valid excuse for also buying this set of 3 mini spoonulas, except to say

they were on sale... And, for this Catholic, not buying them would have been a sin!

On the way home I stopped at the best kept secret in my area... It's so funky, a bit

gritty, and up until just recently, when the Law changed in North Carolina and the

employees were finally forced to stop smoking inside the store, I wouldn't even

venture in unless I had a lavender-scented hand wipe to cover my nose. But all of

that aside, the deals there are always so amazing, I didn't mind sacrificing a few of

my pricey lavender hand wipes! So what do I find there? Well, the store is packed,

wall to wall, ceiling to floor with items from every department in any retail store

you might shop. I'm talking Target to Bloomies! But... Everything for sale there

is at least 50% off, if not 75-90% off the suggested retail prices. When son #2

moved out I picked up everything from a locking mailbox to a coffeemaker by

Krups, shelving from Pottery Barn and kitchen tools from you-know-where!

Admittedly, most of the items are discontinued but a lot of it is brand new stock

that has simply been salvaged. You see, if a truck carrying goods is in an accident

or burglarized, the carrier's insurance pays the manufacturer for the entire load,

even if the shipment hasn't suffered any damage at all. Then, the carrier sells or

auctions off the merchandise for the insurance company to stores like this one!

So what prompted this latest visit to my secret savings spot? Honestly, I was

after latex surgical gloves! My s-s-s carries tons of hospital supplies, such as

disposable gowns, surgical masks and caps, barf-trays, and even empty/fillable

prescription bottles. And, they usually stock a ton of surgical gloves... Usually!

Anyway, since I cannot stomach touching raw meat, and won't polish my silver,

copper or clean my oven without protecting my hands, I go through a lot of latex

gloves in my kitchen! Sadly, I didn't find any on this trip. However, I did find a ton

of these handy food-service poly gloves! And, at only $1.95 for a box of 500, they

will do just fine until the next shipment of latex exam gloves finds its way here!

But you know me, so you know that I didn't just buy gloves... No! Eight bottles of

my favorite shower gel also flew into my cart, (only $14 a bottle!) and then, as I

was browsing the baking supply corner, grabbing up all the .25 silver-foil covered

cake boards I could, I spotted the very best deal ever! And, since this is all that

remains of my stock of disposable pastry bags... This deal arrived just in time!

That's right fellow baking-fanatics...

I'm talking about 18" disposable pastry bags...

On a Roll!

Squee!!!

I have already used one, and these pastry bags are every bit as durable

as the bags I paid much more for, but at a fraction of the price! My
friend Melanie, aka The Coupon Goddess would be so proud of me!

And, these bags are longer, which means they'll hold

almost twice the volume of my old, expensive bags,

and the extra length makes them easier to fill too!

Of course, let us not also discount the convenience of being on a Roll!

I found other rolls of 18" disposable decorating bags here, but just

look at their price! Doing the math, my roll of 500 bags would

cost well over $150! So at $9.95, at my secret-savings-spot...

I grabbed several boxes! And, I'm thinking of going back to buy more. But again,

doing the math, I'm not sure that I will still be baking when I'm 108 years old. So
I might be forced to leave some for other area bakers to discover... Drat!

Okay, that was day-3, Janet... What about day-4, you say?

Day four brought the adventure of my very first Hot Yoga class!

I listened carefully to the advice of my dear friend and Hot Yoga

devotee, Teresa and took along everything she advised me to pack! A

bottle of frozen water to hold against my pulse-points, a bottle of water

with fresh-squeezed lemon juice added, to drink during class and a plain

water for the drive home. Plus, a towel for my mat to prevent slipping and

a cold, wet towel to wipe sweat from my face and arms. Check, Check!

I arrived as prepared as I could possibly be. I am also delighted to tell

you about the best Hot Yoga studio in the area, if not on the whole

East coast! I am impossible to please, and so sensitive to stinky smells,

and yet, Hot Yoga Therapy in Kernersville impressed me with the

cleanest, freshest-smelling workout studio I have ever experienced, and

the most knowledgable, caring and helpful staff anyone could ask for! I

also found the advice and warnings about the hot yoga experience on

their website particularly helpful. Therefore, none of what I felt came

as a surprise to me. It doesn't mean I enjoyed the dizziness, nausea, or

the overwhelming fatigue I felt following my first class. It just means

it was not a surprise! Nevertheless, I didn't give up, I stayed for the

whole class and at the end, when our instructor announced that we

had just endured 105 degrees with 46% humidity for 90 minutes, I

felt really good about my first hot yoga experience! Dizzy, terribly

nauseous, and I do not remember driving home... But I felt good! So
good in fact, I am paid and signed up for 20 more Hot Yoga classes!