Category: Shopping

September 2026 Recap

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09/05 (Sat)
Did a little shopping at Michael’s and got these cute fall and Halloween floral picks for the small vase I keep on the table by the front door.

Also stopped at Half Price Books and finally found a copy of Seaquest for the Atari. They were having a 20% off everything sale for the holiday weekend so it was only $8.

09/06 (Sun)
We headed to Schaumburg’s Septemberfest. Instead of trying to find parking nearby we parked at James B. Conant High School and took the frequently running shuttlebus to the grounds. It was a bit of an adventure not having ridden on a bus since we toured NASA in 2015 but we enjoyed it and would do it again since it takes away the stress of looking for parking.

The festival is one of our favorites due to the extensive craft tents booths and their food tent and ample seating nearby. We tried a Korean BBQ Rice Bowl w/ Bulgogi Beef from K Grill and potstickers and Pad Se Ew from Thai Buri. The former was delicious and we’d get again but the latter, while not bad, was nothing special and we’d try a different booth next year.

After a couple of hours at the fest we grew bored and wanted a sweet treat so we left and hit up Rainbow Cone on the way home.

09/07 (Mon)
We went early morning grocery shopping, and when we left there was a huge line at the 7 Brew across the street just a few minutes after opening. As we drove past Joe counted over 70 cars. We were like “WTH is going on over there?!?” and guessed they were giving away free coffee. It was actually worse than that…

I cannot fathom waiting in that long of a line over a toy. One which looked like something I used to get in exchange for Skeeball tickets when I was a kid, no less. Have people collectively lost their minds?!?

We didn’t do a traditional cookout for Labor Day this year, but we went to Jewel and grabbed some fried chicken and what they call Tator Babies, which are basically potato wedges that are way better than KFC.

09/08 (Tue)
We were killing time while Costco was installing my new tires this morning when we saw they have mums! I heard they can sell out fast, so we grabbed this ginormous purple one even though I hadn’t planned on buying any just yet.

We were chuckling at the size while Joe was unwrapping it. I gave it a good soaking per instructions since it was really dry.

I hope they’re as good quality as I’ve heard. Time will only tell whether or not it was an $18 mistake. They have smaller ones in a four pack for $18 too. I saw purple, yellow, and orange. I’m not sure if they carry maroon. They only seemed to have the big ones in purple right now.

Afterwards we decided to hit up a place called Egg-lectic Café for lunch. We intended to sit outside but the wasps had another idea so we ended up eating inside which wasn’t as anxiety-producing as I worried about since we were the only ones there (we got there around 1:20 or so and they close at 2:30). I tried their Waldorf chicken melt with what they call onion petals (like onion rings but in a petal shape). Both were so good I want to go back there soon.

09/10 (Thu)
We attended a Radio Gaga concert (imagine Queen performing with Lady Gaga) at Wheaton’s Memorial Park. It was $12 each to get in. They had a couple of food trucks and a concession stand. While I wasn’t thrilled with the selection, I was pleasantly surprised by the reasonable prices at the concession window.

We brought our own snacks and water just in case, but always like to see what’s on offer.

We opted to sit in the back which would have been better if not for this guy who was so distracting walking around almost as much as his kids who couldn’t sit still.

I will never understand parents who let their children run rampant at these events. It’s like they have no concern about whether they are disturbing others. And of course the kids had a ball. I think those should be banned at events like these but that won’t happen until someone gets seriously injured.

I was initially worried about the small bathroom attached to the back of the stage area that only had three stalls, but they had an entire area on the west side of the park with porta-potties, which is where I took this photo.

As for the music, it was a bit of a letdown, especially the Lady Gaga impersonator and her backup singers who didn’t seem to know all the words to some of the songs.

We had parked in a nearby garage and left a few songs before the end so we wouldn’t have to deal with the crowd getting out of the park since they had all but one entrance/exit blocked. We ended up pulling into a parking spot outside the park to listen to the end of the concert.

Even with some of the annoyances I’d still attend a concert there if the act sounded interesting enough because it was a cheap night out and the drive home was a breeze.

09/12 (Sat)
We picked up some breakfast from Paris Baguette and brought it to the arboretum to eat on the veranda.

They were giving away free branded packable bags to members starting at 9 am. I saw them unlock the doors a couple of minutes early so I went inside and got mine. As I was walking away they must have just opened the main doors because a line of people came streaming in to get their bag. I inadvertently cut the line just by entering the door off the veranda area.

09/13 (Sun)
We were back at the arboretum for the second day in a row for their semi-annual dog event. The booths were kinda boring because there were only 3 with dogs available for adoption – pitbulls, grey hounds, and some type of large breed puppies. One of the booths was cleverly named however. It was CRA (Chicago Rescue Authority) and all the colors were like the CTA L. We camped out on a bench by the visitor center so we could see all the people walking past with their dogs. They kept approaching Joe more than me though. How dare they! I did get a few quick hand licks at least.

09/18 (Fri)
Joe’s daughter and SO came over for dinner and games. We got food from Steamboat BBQ which everyone really enjoyed and played a new game called Something Wild that I had gotten Joe for his birthday.

It was… interesting. I didn’t love it. We eventually played a few games of Aggravation too.

09/25-09/27 – Extended weekend recap

Notable media this month:

Overcompensating (Prime) – Benny, a football player, struggles to accept his sexuality in college, finding himself overcompensating as he tries to appear as something he is not. We got hooked on this show quickly and blew through both seasons because we couldn’t get enough. I hope they end up making at least two more seasons before cancelling it!

They Will Kill You – I thought this was going to be another Ready or Not type movie but there’s more to it than initially meets the eye. While it got more and more strange it definitely kept our attention!

Scary Movie – Was it dumb? Yes. Was it funny? Also yes. It was good to see the original cast back and I do not regret borrowing this one from the library.

Passenger – Holy crap, this had some of the best jump scares of any movie I’ve seen in recent memory. Even when you KNEW it was coming it still made you jump!

August 2026 Recap

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08/02 (Sun)
We attended the annual charity dog show in Carol Stream. I like seeing all the dogs but it does make me a little sad since we are currently dog-less and might be until next year the way things are going right now.

08/04 (Tue)
We attended National Night Out.

08/07 (Fri)
Joe’s daughter and her partner came over for dinner and games. I made a cheeseburger casserole I hadn’t made in years and completely forgot about until K suggested it after I asked if she had any requests. Wow, it was better than I remember! Or maybe I’m just a better cook now, I don’t know.

We played the new UNO K gifted us, UNO POP.

We also played Mantis since we all love that game.

08/08 (Sat)
We decided to visit the Schaumburg library for the first time in many years. It’s massive and laid out so nicely. It has a huge snack area, the kids section has a playroom, the DVD and CD area look like a store, and their selection of magazines is awesome. There were so many cars in the parking lot but it didn’t feel crowded inside at all because of the size and how spread out everyone was. I wish it was our library! They have a huge magazine section with multiple titles I’d like to read.

We decided we’ll hang out there one of the days soon, probably when it’s cold outside with not much else to do.

08/11 (Tue)
More intense storms in the area. It’s been really scary this summer. Illinois is leading the country with the most tornados but luckily we weren’t hit with any on this day.

We hit up Costco when Joe got home from work and I picked up this Bousin cheese.

I had no idea what Boursin really was until last month when it came on a sandwich I ordered while at my friend’s house. It’s very yummy!

08/18 (Tue)
Know what’s a great way to be woken up at 3 am? By a tornado siren! Thought I was hearing things since they faded out just as I became more clear-headed. Luckily it was activated in error which is why it wasn’t going for long.

This Reddit thread about the incident made me laugh with The Simpsons reference.

08/19 (Wed)
I went with Joe to his eye exam in the evening since he was getting his eyes dilated and I would need to drive us home. What is with rude people? We’re sitting there in the little waiting area and his lady was watching TikToks with the sound full on. Then she was walking around while dragging her feet. Both she and her husband had their phone notifications turned up to full tilt. No one wants to listen to that shit!

08/21 (Fri)
I decided to experiment and created a homemade pasta sauce with multi-colored cherry tomatoes.

I’ve also grown to really love zucchini with my pasta, as well as in other dishes.

It came out delicious!

08/22 (Sat)
We ran so many errands, I wrote a separate entry about it.

08/23 (Sun)
We attended the Festival of the Arts at Lake Ellyn. We parked by high school which was nice walk compared to finding street parking. There were many art booths, no real food trucks, but four food booths (popcorn, hot dogs, Mexican food, and gelato). Nothing really floated our boat so afterwards we went home and made sandwiches for lunch.

08/24 (Mon)
I’m so out of touch I didn’t realize that Marc Maron ceased his podcast last year. I listened to the final episode which was none other than Barack Obama.

Have I ever talked about how much I love Barack Obama? His wife too. They’re both so kind, intelligent, funny, and poised. I never get tired of listening to either of them speak. What a contrast to the clown currently in office.

08/27 (Thu)
Spent some time lounging on the patio since the weather was so pleasant and heard an unusual bird chirping. According to Merlin it was a Cape May Warbler!

Too bad I didn’t see it because I haven’t added one to my life list yet.

That made my want to do some birding so we went to Churchill Park when Joe got home from work.

I was reminded why we don’t do too many nature outings this time of the year, though, because the second we got on the wooded trail we ran out of there quickly because of all the mosquitos. We didn’t have bug spray on, but even with it I swear it doesn’t work as well as I’d like. We didn’t even see any birds, just insects.

We stopped at McDonald’s after to grab dinner. I don’t crave their food often and I was reminded why by the chewy bun on my double cheeseburger. Their fries are only good the second you get them too. Wait until you get home and they are already cold and hard. Yuck. And for the price I’d rather get a kid’s meal at Culver’s where you get a burger, fries, drink, and a frozen custard for less than $8.

There was a lunar eclipse and this was my contribution to the massive amount of photos people took.

08/28 (Fri)
Just a few days ago I was bragging to my Facebook friends about how much I love our bee watering station and how I’m not afraid of them anymore. Today it dawned on me that the recent uptick in visits weren’t even from bees but yellowjacket wasps!

Needless to say I took down the watering station. It’s bad enough those wasps won’t leave the hummingbird feeder alone.

08/29 (Sat)
Joe had to work in the early morning but came home shortly after 9 am. I made us breakfast which we ate on the patio. After cleaning up we headed to College of DuPage to check out the Russell R Kirt Prairie nature area.

Once again, the birds were nonexistent (it’s been really quiet the last few weeks), but there were plenty of insects to be seen, mostly dragonflies. If you looked at the sky long enough you’d notice many of them zipping about.

I also explored the dining area in their student services area when I needed to use the restroom. I learned they have cafes with coffee during the week which might be useful in the future when Joe has a day off. We can grab a coffee on the way to the arboretum or nature area nearby.

08/30 (Sun)
We went to the arboretum to attend the Honeybee Festival. It was a little underwhelming, but I enjoyed just chilling on the visitor center veranda while people and animal watching. There are sparrows all over hoping for some food, as well as chipmunks. I could sit there all day.

We stopped at Bath & Body Works on the way home so I could look at the new Nightmare Before Christmas line. Well, what little was left of it. I had no desire to get anything but the hand sanitizer but neither scent (Jack or Sally) smelled good.

Notable media this month:

Mercy – I really didn’t want to enjoy this Chris Pratt movie this much, but it was done quite well and was not a Minority Report remake like the trailer seemed to indicate.

The Running Man – This was way better than the original and kept my attention throughout the entire film.

The Sheep Detectives – When my brother mentioned this movie to me awhile back I pictured the claymation style of Shaun the Sheep which is not my thing, but after hearing people talking about it I looked it up and realized I was completely wrong. It was a very unique and entertaining Who Done It.

The Institute (MGM+) – An MGM+ original series we discovered when looking for something, anything, to watch on this lame streaming service. The first season was good but left us with questions. I would re-subscribe to MGM+ just to watch another season; they better make another one!

How to Make a Killing – This is the second Glen Powell movie we saw this month and I’m not mad about it – he’s fun to watch. The premise was pretty unique – a man starts murdering his relatives to ensure he inherits the family fortune. Sure, it’s short-sighted of a character to think they could get away with such a thing, but that’s part of what made this fun to watch.

Don’t Let Go – A unique time travel / alternate dimensions murder mystery.

The Night Of– A series from ten years ago that I found while browsing HBO Max. It started off a bit boring and the ending left a bit to be desired, but overall it was an interesting tale of how prison changes a person, and their family.

Marc Maron: Panicked – I’ve always found Marc Maron funny but this special in particular knocked it out of the park! Seriously, most standup has been lucky to make me chuckle even once, but this one had me laughing multiple times. Kudos, Marc!

Awkward – This show made me cringe more times than I can count, plus hate Jenna much of the time, but it was a fun re-watch.

Whirlwind Morning of Errands

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Last night I checked the weekend weather forecast and it was showing rain for today so I thought we might as well get my vehicle emissions test done first thing in the morning. They opened a few minutes early so by the time we were done it had just turned 7:30 am.

On the way home we decided to stop at Tony’s Fresh Market which replaced the Valli Produce we used to shop at years ago. It looked much nicer inside even though the basic layout was nearly identical. Testament to what a little updated flooring and lighting can do. We ended up getting $50 worth of food there which included some fresh salsa and deli items.

When we got home Joe checked one of my tires that was making a noise from what he thought might be a rock (I heard it recently as well). Turns out it was a nail, so off to Discount Tire we went, hoping it wouldn’t be busy since they had just opened a half hour early. Wrong! We were told the wait time was 2+ hours so Joe made an appointment to bring it back in a few days to have it patched. The guy noted the tires could use replacing too which we already knew.

We stopped at the library and then decided since we were out we might as well head over to Target so Joe could pick up a prescription.

At the store I was telling him about this Newsweek article – Foreign hackers are actively targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, including water and wastewater systems, using artificial intelligence-powered tools to identify vulnerabilities and gain access to industrial control systems.

I wanted to buy some bottled water (which we haven’t done in several years) just to be on the safe side in case something does happen. He said Costco would have the best price, so we decided we would go on Monday. Well, that is, until we were leaving Target and saw someone with a lot of water in their cart. Was this the universe telling us to get the water now? We thought so, and Costco had just opened a few minutes before, so we headed over.

Before we went inside we decided to check out their Tire Center since Joe had been planning to replace both my battery and tires soon. Neither have ever been replaced and I’ve had my Crosstrek since October 2017. We ended up getting a battery right then and there since they carry a better brand (Interstate) than the Everstart he had been eying at Walmart, and it was cheaper to boot!

Once we got inside the warehouse I bee-lined over to the AT&T kiosk with the iPhones to get a feel for what the new one will look like. If the predictions are true, the iPhone 18, which comes out next month, is going to be the same size as the iPhone 17. The AT&T rep was really nice and showed me how his personal iPhone 17 Pro compared in size to the iPhone 17 Pro Max by placing it on top of it. There is a very slight difference in width, but the majority of the difference is in how tall the Max is. I personally find no benefit to that, so unless the iPhone 18 Pros differ, I plan to get the base Pro but not the Max version. They both should have the same exact cameras (of which there are three).

Oh and let me talk about that for a bit. I have an iPhone 11 which is going on seven years old. It has two cameras and only has a 2x digital zoom. The iPhone 17 Pro by comparison has a 4x optical zoom. The rep showed me how he could zoom in on a shopper very far away with clarity. I was wowed. Not to mention the latest iPhone camera has 48 megapixels compared to my phone’s measly 12MP. I’m definitely going to be spending money on storage in the new phone with that photo size, but it would be worth it if I could take more nature photos than I do now. I would still need my SLR for birding treks, but I bet the phone would do pretty well for everything else.

I’m getting very excited at the idea of getting a new phone soon. As much as I love my current phone, Apple is dropping support on it with iOS 26 and the battery is to the point it needs replacing, so now is the best time to upgrade even though it’s going to hurt to drop what I’m guessing will be $1500 thanks to the chip shortage. Hopefully I can get another 7 years out of the new phone to make it a more digestible $225 per year. But I digress….

Costco had more water out than usual which made us feel like something might be going on, so we grabbed 3 cases (40 bottles in each) instead of just 1 or 2. I really hope we won’t actually NEED it!

When we got home Joe started working on a late breakfast while I did a little research to find the best place to get new tires of my car. Costco is cheaper than Discount Tire (our usual go-to), especially when you factor in Costco’s free installation. Furthering my research, I learned that Costco rotates their tire sales by brand every 2-3 months, and was able to confirm the Michelin tires we want go on sale this Monday. Therefore, waiting just a few days to place the order will save us another $80. Gotta like that!

Speaking of money saving and stuff, we got a check from State Farm for $105 as part of some cash-back dividend they received.

I’m also getting a credit to my CC for an overpayment on a medical procedure.

Money in. Money out. Repeat until you die.

Update: Leaked information for the iPhone 18 series points to a major main camera upgrade featuring a variable aperture (ranging from f/1.4 to f/2.8) that physically adjusts using moving blades. Reports suggest this advanced hardware might be exclusive to the larger iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Ugh, I hope that’s incorrect because I don’t want the taller phone.

Weekend Recap (07/11-07/12)

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Saturday (07/11) we ate homemade breakfast burritos I had prepped on Friday before heading to the arboretum.

We arrived just after they opened at 7 am. The plan was to take advantage of the relatively cool weather and get a few hours of bird watching in before we had to get home to prepare to drive out to my parents house. Well, the mosquitos had other ideas so we mostly drove around the grounds, although we did stop by the visitor center to look at the flowers.

We made a quick stop at Walmart before heading home where I spent two hours on the patio reading a book before it got too hot and humid for comfort.

We left the house around 1 pm so we could get to my parents around 2 pm. We had some good food, helped my mom and brother with a few things, and left around 8:30 so we could be home by 9:30. I had a hard time sleeping which is typical anytime I socialize.

Sunday (07/12) we stopped at Old Time Pottery before heading out to the Bath & Body Works in Geneva to pick up an online order I had made on Thursday for this adorable light-up spooky kitty hand sanitizer holder.

It was sold out nearly everywhere else so I feel lucky I was able to grab one. I hate buying Halloween stuff in mid-summer though. Why can’t we live in the moment a little more? Call me crazy but didn’t stores wait until kids were back in school to start putting out the Halloween stuff back when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s? Now it’s out in early July. It’s very annoying. By the time any holiday arrives these days I’m burnt out on it because of this nonsense. But I digress…

After B&BW we went to the Barnes & Noble store in the same shopping center.

I love the smell of a bookstore; there is nothing like it.

I looked at their e-readers but they seem overpriced for what they do and seemed to operate slower than my very old Kindle.

I was also amazed by all the cool educational toys they had from stuff about bugs to things about our solar system. I would have loved so many of them if they had been available when I was a child.

We browsed the magazines last and this caught my eye…

Hmmm… that seems familiar. A little closer look…

Aha, I knew it was Robert Smith!

I was shocked to see that 2600 magazine is still being printed.

I used to think I was so cool reading that even though I never hacked a damn thing.

We were getting hungry so we headed home to eat the stromboli sandwiches and potato salad my mom sent home with us on Saturday. Then Joe washed both our cars while I attempted to install garden edging around the tree out front before giving up.

I got it because my next door neighbor put some around her tree and it looked really nice, but the soil was too hard and the plastic edging too flimsy. It just felt like more effort than I was willing to put in. Back to Walmart it goes!

And yes, I know that makes me a hypocrite after I said I was boycotting Walmart. I do admittedly buy things from there once in a blue moon if I can’t get in anywhere else, like the bike shorts I’ve been living in since my skin went all sensitive on me.

4th of July Weekend (07/03-07/05)

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Joe had Friday (07/03) off for the holiday. Since it was so hot and humid we decided it would be a perfect day to run errands, like dropping off an Amazon return at FedEx and hitting up Trader Joe’s since it had been awhile since our last visit.

Afterwards we stopped at Paris Baguette for some delicious pastries and Korean Iced Milk Coffee. It’s a good thing they aren’t closer because I’ve gained enough weight this year since I’ve been stuffing my face without discipline; I’m just so happy to be able to eat after what I went through last year. I do need to reel it in though.

We had Culver’s for dinner as our little holiday celebration since Joe had to eat light on Saturday in preparation for a medical procedure on Sunday.

Saturday (07/04) we hid in the house all day and didn’t do anything to celebrate. Not sure what is worth celebrating right now anyway. This current administration is fucking up anything and everything it can get its hands on. That’s what happens when you put a bunch of narcissistic, unempathetic, rich, brainless cretins in office. Not saying the other side are angels, but this group of people takes the cake.

I temporarily unfroze our credit at all three bureaus so we could apply for Amazon’s Prime VISA. They sent an invitation in the mail and we had just been talking about how annoying it is that Costco only takes VISA or debit and how much we hate using debit, so they caught us at the right time. Plus we got $200 just for signing up!

Now we have all the frickin cards – AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Target, and VISA. I literally had to put together a cheat sheet for both of us so we know which card to use where to maximize the cash back benefits on each.

Obviously the VISA will be used at Amazon, as well as Costco. We have no choice but to use Discover at Woodman’s since they do not accept any other card, and we’ve been using the AMEX at Aldi since we get more cash back for groceries on it vs the other cards. Frankly the Mastercard offers the least incentives lately so it barely gets used. Target doesn’t get used a ton, although with having to get our prescriptions at the CVS inside, I have been using it more this year than previous years.

Surprisingly I was able to fall asleep before midnight and wasn’t woken up by fireworks even though I know they were popping off.

Sunday (07/05) after grocery shopping, my B12 injection, and Joe’s procedure we headed to REI so I could look at binoculars. I do not understand how an outdoor store has so few binoculars on display to try.

In fact, it doesn’t seem like ANY store really offers the ability to try most of the binoculars they sell, although to be fair the variety is always lacking. Are people really buying them without trying them first? This seems like yet another example of the patriarchy at work – chances are most binoculars are perfectly suitable for men, but for women, and petite ones with small heads, close-set eyes, and glasses like myself, it’s not that easy. I can’t even see through most of them because either the minimum distance between barrels is too wide, or the eye relief isn’t high enough. In fact, I tried two different Nikon models and I was able to see through the mid-range ones with my glasses on, which is the goal, but couldn’t with the higher end pair.

I’m a buy it for life gal so it’s frustrating that I might have to resort to ordering thousands of dollars of binoculars off Amazon just to see if I like any of them. That makes me feel icky and I’m trying to avoid that, but none of these retailers are making it easy.

We even stopped in Best Buy briefly because they sell binoculars but we couldn’t find them. It’s amazing how much I used to love that store and now abhor it.

We stopped in Disc Replay to look around but didn’t buy anything, then picked up Potbelly since we were starving by this point.

We made it home just in time to watch The Cure playing a festival show in Belgium. Since it was being streamed on YouTube we watched on the TV which was especially nice.