Not that simple

I have spent way too much time lately looking at shoes at 6pm.com. All Simple shoes are $14.99 (well, plus $7 shipping, of course). They're made of all natural/recycled materials. The outsole is made of a tire. A tire!

Also, these shoes go for $50 or more at zappos.

Also, my current pair of well-loved Teva flip flops have holes in them. Real holes in the bottom from wood chips on playgrounds. I have to dig sticks out of the soles of my most-worn pair of shoes. But, if I don't walk on wood chips, I don't really notice the difference. And also, I have a pair of birks from 5 years ago that have little wear and are probably better for my feet anyway as daily drivers.

But, 6pm has had this deal on these shoes for weeks now (and I have put the same shoes in my cart and not bought them for weeks now). But, if they lower the price even more or drop the shipping, I may not be able to say no anymore.

A Mom's Dream

Yeah this is pretty much every mom's dream. It's like the best way to get your kid outside and active. James is such a creative player. I never was. I lack imagination. But he loves it. When he's at his cousin's house, he is using the play set to play pirates, house, hide-and-seek.....

I have been fantasizing of a play set for some time. I think I have finally convinced my parents we need one. All of the grandkids are young and live nearby. It would give the kids so much more to do at the house than just play in the dirt in the back yard.

$1700 Costco play set, I dream of you.

Party on my head...

I had a couple of minutes to kill before a friend came to pick me up so I hopped on to Esty and fell in love with this...

So cute!

Hair accessories are so fun and they have some awesome homemade ones on Etsy. They are pretty expensive and its a good thing because the sticker shock kept me from purchasing the above and a bunch others. I could go spend crazy on these.

Here a couple more that are so adorable but so stinkin' pricey.

This one is pretty funky but would be fun to wear on the weekends. It's a whopping $165. Yowzer!


I really like this one. It would make me feel like a Roman goddess. A little too pricey at $24. It really tempts me though.


I forgot how much this one would've set me back. Probably not as cute as how much it costs. But still cute.

$20 bucks for a season of laughs

last time i went to target, i happened to notice that they are offering whole seasons of shows for only 20 bucks. 20 dollars for an entire season of laugh-out-loud funnyness. these two are the seasons i've almost bought...

i always spend more at costco

i never leave costco without at least one thing i wasn't planning on buying. however, today that changed - hooray! it doesn't mean i wasn't tempted though.

maybe it's the cute baby on the cover or the beautiful piano music playing from the speakers right next to it or the fact that my own cute baby loves music and the hymns are getting a little old...but this lovely little three pack of CDs with lullabies on it was a pretty big temptation. if it weren't for the fact that i could post it on here, i might not have removed it from my cart before checking out today...

Yes, actually I am 11 years old.

So once again, I am blaming my 101 list on this. Perhaps the item on that list I was dreading the most was to read a novel. I hate reading novels! I prefer non-fiction. I hadn't read a novel in years.

Since Brianne is the reading queen, I asked her suggest a novel that could hold my attention. She hastily suggested Twilight.

Yeah, from the first page, I was glued. My sister describes it as emotional pornography. Not sure how I feel about that. Not dirty in the least but incredibly passionate.

I read it very quickly and loved it. Now I am dying for the rest of the series. But I can't. I'm going to wait until I can borrow it from Bree. At least it's saving me $45.65.

I wish my boss was Torey Malatia

The other night, Scott and I went to the movies. We saw "Wolverine," which was just what I expected it to be. It was very entertaining and altogether awesome. They had a preview for the live in theatres episode of This American Life. Now, I LOVE This American Life. Ira Glass is amazing and the stories are everything from totally heart-wrenching to incredibly funny. I also really enjoyed Season 1 of their TV show, which airs on Showtime. (I don't have showtime, but I do have iTunes, and I think they were $1.99/ea) Tonight in theatres all across the country they are playing an encore of their live show, which I have heard was amazing. It will also be broadcast this weekend on the regular radio show, so it should show up in our podcasts next week. I really want to go to the show tonight. I don't know if it will fit into the schedule, but almost more than that, I really really want to buy Season Two for my very own.

But I won't.

What are you gonna do??? Bleed on me???!!

So it was brought to my attention on Saturday that Al has never seen Monty Python's Holy Grail.  This is an unbelievable tragedy.  Did she skip her teenage years as an American Mormon!?  So I was at Target tonight and I reached for it... the Grail.... Thankfully, my sister was there to remind me that I would not be partaking.  Looks like we'll just have to de-MontyPythonVirginize Allison some other time.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzcLQRXW6B0

Mr. Sun, SUN, Mr. Golden Sun

PLEASE SHINE DOWN ON ME!

Okay, maybe please don't. Because I can't find my sunglasses anywhere and I can't buy new ones until July.

These are cute though, no? I had to borrow some of Al's on Saturday so my eyeballs didn't burn up.

I have a rough life.

good design + inexpensive

= why i can't even go into target these days! seriously, look how cute:



designer orla kiely has a limited edition set of products for the home available at target right now. mom and dad gave me a target gift card for my birthday, and i have been thinking hard about using it on these cute cute dinner sets. for now, i can't quite justify it, but at least i can drool over them a little. here are the others:

so this might not look like much, but when you see it in the lay-z-boy store with its golden sheen and comfy cushions it becomes logical. then, when you compare it to the ugly, used, huge, tiger-striped luvsac in my living room (the only thing we can comfortably sit on together) this sofa becomes practically irresistible. it is actually really really really cute. and comfy. and perfect. how i wish for a real couch!

Get Yourself a Little Something

I just bought some groceries on Amazon (although groceries is one of my main weaknesses, and I did just spend $35 on grade b organic maple syrup... but it was the Friday sale so I had to jump on it today. I'll just add it to my collection of "natural" sweeteners I am keeping in my pantry in case of an emergency).

Anyhow, Amazon would like me to get a little something for myself. Yes, I would very much like an All-Clad Stainless Steel pan and a new CI recipe book. I definitely can't just drop $200 on a new pan right now, but I should definitely consider the cookbook. This is the danger of setting up a wish list... now Amazon can tempt me with things I actually want!

This is much geekier than iTunes music or dresses... but my extra purchases mostly end up in the kitchen and I just patch my jeans so I can buy more organic sugar.

Calling all Frugalists!

When Janelle and I first talked about starting this blog, we really thought it would just be her and I writing and wishing about things that we can't have. In the few short weeks since then, I have completely changed the way that I spend my days. Lunch hours that used to be spent perusing the aisles at Target are now being spent reading. Drives home that were peppered with stops at different shops along the way are now straight shots home. I am even trying to be more creative in terms of gifts that I give others. It is liberating and awesome, and quite addicting. Now it seems like when I finally spend money on myself, it better be for something worth it, you know?

Because I have gotten a couple of requests and because traffic has been increasing lately on this site, I decided to put it out there. We are now happily accepting new contributors to the Things We Almost Bought Today community. You don't have to agree not to spend any money on yourself, just if you post something, it has to be something that you wanted to buy, and then decided not to. If you are interested - just email us at notbought [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Saving!

iTunes - more like iBroke

Two nights ago, Janelle and I went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert (don't worry the tickets were bought long long long ago), and like any concert, hearing some of those songs live, along with a couple amazing sets by the Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot, had me jonesing bad for some new music. I actually leaned over to Janelle at one point and whispered "You totally CAN'T go home and buy any music!" She groaned. I groaned.

But...thanks to YouTube, Pandora, MySpace, and even applications on Facebook, we have so many options for music at our fingertips and FREE! So we can enjoy our music and even discover new stuff we love and still keep our pact, and our pocketbooks full. Thank you, Modern Technology!