I slept for 9 glorious hours last night!! In case you missed it, I woke up yesterday at 2 a.m. (after 4 hours of sleep). I did okay yesterday, overall….I had some bouts of sleepiness, but hung in there ok. But, I was feeling it by evening and announced to my family that I was heading to bed by around 8. I was sleeping before 8:30 and it felt amazing. (It was a little odd going to bed before the kids, but I’m sure this will become more common as they get older…).
A few thoughts on in store vs. online shopping:
Yesterday morning after dropping the boys at the bus, I had to run to Walgreens to pick up a prescription. So, I decided I would go in instead of drive-thru, since I am almost out of my favorite concealer and a couple other cosmetic items. Well, apparently they no longer carry the shade of concealer that I need. (I know they have in the past, but now they don’t even have a labeled spot for the “sand” color.)
This is not the end of the world, of course. A bit annoying, because I like being able to just pick it up in person if I need it. I also don’t expect that they can necessarily carry every single shade that Maybelline makes (I think there are a lot).
But, I have had a BUNCH of situations lately (I could list them all for you, but I’ll spare you) where I have decided to attempt to shop “in-store” for an item, only to find that they either just don’t carry it or are out of stock. This can just be frustrating, because it feels like a big waste of time.
One time in February, I went to get two specific things from Target. They didn’t have either!! I literally stood in the aisle in Target and ordered them from Amazon on my phone instead (for a lower price, free shipping and took about 3 seconds to order), to be delivered to my house the next day.
I get so torn….a big part of me wants to support in-store shopping (I realize Target/ Walgreens are not exactly small, local establishments anyway, but hopefully you know what I mean) and other business that are NOT just the Amazon types.
I don’t really like the idea of a world where there are NO STORES to go to, because, well, it can be very convenient if you need something now. And I like to just browse sometimes! I like discovering new things, to actually see the products, touch them, etc. Also, I think the world would be kind of weird if we all just stayed in our houses all the time forever and had nowhere to ever really go!
But these disappointing shopping situations are becoming more frequent for me. Maybe it’s just an unlucky stretch, I don’t know. I guess it could be a Catch 22- less people go to stores, so they stock less stuff, but then when people DO go to the stores, they can’t find what they want….pushing them back to online shopping? Obviously the pandemic plays a role now, too.
Then, there is also the price aspect…it’s so hard to beat online pricing!! There are a few local stores that I intentionally pay more at just to support them (our local piano shop is one- I usually always order the boys’ books and sheet music from there (even though it costs more…) instead of online, just to support her business). But I have my limits on other products- the price difference can be pretty steep on many larger items, so it can be hard to stomach paying a bunch more just “because”…. (My husband is an especially big price comparison shopper.)
Anyway, those are just some random thoughts from my head today. 🙂 Hopefully my current tube of concealer will last until my new one is delivered on Saturday. Hahaha!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for some delicious quesadillas de papa that my mother-in-law made last night. OMG they were good. I’m so mad I didn’t snap any pics!
P.S. Happy Cinco de Mayo yesterday! You can check out last year’s Cinco de Mayo post here to learn a bit more about it AND see a ton of my personal favorite pics of all different parts of Mexico. It’s one of my favorite posts and includes my favorite parable, too! 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
I agree with you so much. I WANT to support local stores but end up buying a lot of things online because they don’t have the right size, or shade, etc. If it’s somehing very specific it seems online is the way to go but generic stuff I still try to buy in store.
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I agree that store shopping is beyond just get things, it’s the experience to browse and human contact. I like online shopping for boring things but prefer in store shopping for fun things and groceries. hopefully we still have the mix of experience in the new world.
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I feel similarly to you – I want to support local stores but online shopping is just so convenient. I rarely buy books, but when I do, I try to buy them from an independent bookstore. But so much of what we buy, aside from groceries, is bought online because of the season of life we are in. I will sometimes order things from Target for Phil to pick up on Saturday when he’s getting groceries, but I don’t like adding a stop as that means more time of being on my own with 2 boys (which isn’t the worst of course but can be tough when the toddler is having big feelings….). So I am leaning more on ordering through Target and Amazon during this stage of life. I don’t like to order clothes online unless I really know the sizing of the store so that is one thing I try to do in person although I haven’t in the longest time since I don’t really need clothes and have been in a weird stage of life w/ being pregnant/nursing/etc. I am one of those rare women who does not like to shop, though, so when I do shop for clothes, it has to be a fast power shopping kind of thing. I do not enjoy browsing and going to tons of stores, etc!
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I really don’t like clothes shopping either!!! I just find it overwhelming and stressful. Either I find nothing I like, or I find TOO many things I like and hate spending all that money…the whole process is just yucky to me in general. Whenever I need new clothing items I end up procrastinating SO BAD before finally dealing with it…
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I love that Cinco de Mayo post from you and the fisherman so much. A good reminder that everyone is valuable!
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Thank you. 😊😊
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Oh, I hear you on the shopping thing. I was just at Target yesterday and was completely stressed out by the fact that I might not be able to find a new lightbulb for my desk lamp. One thing I do now is search on Target’s website to see if something is available to “Buy in store” (and I set “my store”) so I can see whether it’s actually *there*. This helps a ton. I also do this with the grocery store, sometimes, if I’m looking for something that’s been in and out of stock. (Metcalfe’s – you know them, because you’re local! – doesn’t necessarily say “out of stock”, but the out of stock item doesn’t show up when you search for it, so that’s one way I know…) Clothes, though, are awful. I love thrift shopping and so HAVE to go in person. I’m totally in your camp and Lisa’s on that – HATE clothes shopping. Avoid it at all costs. 🙂
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I totally agree with this! Amazon is just so convenient and quick and cheap… but I want to browse in real stores (especially book stores!).
I also hate how wasteful Amazon are with their packaging. I ordered 4 separate tubes of 4head migraine rub sticks from Amazon (after looking in two supermarkets and it not being in either) – and each tiny tube came in a separate A4 sized box, all from the same place and arriving on the same day. I was pretty disappointed with that.
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Since the start of the pandemic my family has been intentional about only shopping off of Amazon only when absolutely necessary. They have basically gotten such a hold of the market that is hard for other businesses to compete. I personally do not want shopping malls to disappear. I like to be able to run to the store and look at the items that I want to buy. I am also willing to spend MORE money at a physical store because I know that the additional cost is going to pay my neighbors, friends, and just folks in town that work at the local stores. If I shop off of amazon that’s not the case. Also, if we don’t support local shops … what will we do when there is no store to run to when we need something urgently?? I mean amazon can’t deliver a gallon of milk to me in 20 minutes if I need it. But I can run to the local store in that time. ❤
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I know, I hate the idea of stores and shopping malls disappearing too!! That’s why I feel so frustrated when I TRY to buy things in store/in person/local but they often seem lately to not have what I need. It ends up forcing me to buy online sometimes and I feel like if other people have a similar issue, it will make more and more people turn to “only” online shopping.. unfortunately. I also like to be able to see things in person sometimes before buying! Or just to browse for an idea for a birthday gift or whatever- it’s just not the same to shop online.
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