Sunday, December 02, 2007
T'is the season to go shopping
Yesterday afternoon we took a drive up the mountain to go shopping in Arden at World Market. We stupidly got directions from mapquest, and got horribly lost in the middle of nowhere. I guess Arden just isn't completed in the mapquest database.
After wasting about a quarter tank of gas, we finally stopped to ask directions and a nice lady in the Ingles gas station told us how to find it.
When we finally found the store and got in there, I intermittenly loved and hated it. Loved it because I was finding so much yummy international junk foods but most of the stuff on the shelves didn't have price tags on them, it was annoying! We ended up spending way more money than I wanted to, but we've got enough munchies to last a week or two. ;-)
We also got a few holiday gifts. They not only sell junk foods, but beers from around the world, so we picked up a few bottles (at $5 each!) for our holiday dinner. And they also have some nice trinkets, knick-knacks and gee-gaws that we'll have to go back for sometime.
I wanted to get some Christmas crackers, but they were $12.99 per package, and I thought that was a bit too much. Maybe we'll go back closer to the holiday and see if they get reduced in price to clear out. For those who don't know what a Christmas cracker is, it is NOT something you put cheese or peanut butter on and eat, it's a kind of party favour, that you pull apart and it's got a cap in it so it "cracks" when you pull it. Each has a paper hat, a toy and usually a riddle or trivia of some sort.
My Mum had some really awesome ones last year, with some really good toys in them. A few years ago I had bought some Harry Potter ones, and the paper hats were big pointy wizard hat types. James said no way would his family wear the hats, but they did! And they had fun with them too!
After our shopping excursion we stopped at a restaurant called Black Forest and had some yummy German food and beer. I had goulash for starters and James had the potato pancakes. For our entrees I had the smoked pork, and James had sauerbratten. The wait staff was awesome, so friendly and happy. Unlike most that we've run into who seem to be annoyed that they have to actually talk to customers in order to get their orders, and who just figure they're entitled to a tip because they showed up to work. :-p
We were so stuffed we couldn't do much of anything after we got home. Except fan the air, because I'm tellin' ya, that sauerkraut is potent stuff! peeeyeww! LOL
But of course we had to munch on the gingerbread and Tim Tams that we picked up at World Market! I couldn't believe they actually have Tim Tams (labelled Arnott's here of course, not Tim Tams, but I knew what to look for!) I'm not kidding when I say we got lots of junk! There's also a bag of German pfefferneusse, a bag of Belgian wafers, a box of 3 different types of scone mixes, 2 boxes of Scottish chocloate coated ginger shortbreads, 2 sacks of Belgian choclate coins (its just not Christmas without chocolate coins!), a package of Jaffa cakes, a huge bag of Hawaiian potato chips, a jar of Devon cream (to go with the scones), a couple of little tree decorations (stuffed bear and stuffed moose) and I'm sure a few other things that I can't remember at the mo.
It's probably a good thing that the store is more than an hour drive away! ;-) The lady who helped us find our way around the store (she was so incredibly helpful, she found us a buggy, found the Arnott's and then she also saw us waiting in line for check out and she went and opened another station just so we wouldn't have to wait!) she was amazed that we'd drive an hour just to go shopping. It was well worth the trip though.
Now I'm sitting here resisting the urge to go eat all of it! I think I shall have to leave the house for a while to remove myself from temptation!
TTFN ¶ 11:05 AM
After wasting about a quarter tank of gas, we finally stopped to ask directions and a nice lady in the Ingles gas station told us how to find it.
When we finally found the store and got in there, I intermittenly loved and hated it. Loved it because I was finding so much yummy international junk foods but most of the stuff on the shelves didn't have price tags on them, it was annoying! We ended up spending way more money than I wanted to, but we've got enough munchies to last a week or two. ;-)
We also got a few holiday gifts. They not only sell junk foods, but beers from around the world, so we picked up a few bottles (at $5 each!) for our holiday dinner. And they also have some nice trinkets, knick-knacks and gee-gaws that we'll have to go back for sometime.
I wanted to get some Christmas crackers, but they were $12.99 per package, and I thought that was a bit too much. Maybe we'll go back closer to the holiday and see if they get reduced in price to clear out. For those who don't know what a Christmas cracker is, it is NOT something you put cheese or peanut butter on and eat, it's a kind of party favour, that you pull apart and it's got a cap in it so it "cracks" when you pull it. Each has a paper hat, a toy and usually a riddle or trivia of some sort.
My Mum had some really awesome ones last year, with some really good toys in them. A few years ago I had bought some Harry Potter ones, and the paper hats were big pointy wizard hat types. James said no way would his family wear the hats, but they did! And they had fun with them too!
After our shopping excursion we stopped at a restaurant called Black Forest and had some yummy German food and beer. I had goulash for starters and James had the potato pancakes. For our entrees I had the smoked pork, and James had sauerbratten. The wait staff was awesome, so friendly and happy. Unlike most that we've run into who seem to be annoyed that they have to actually talk to customers in order to get their orders, and who just figure they're entitled to a tip because they showed up to work. :-p
We were so stuffed we couldn't do much of anything after we got home. Except fan the air, because I'm tellin' ya, that sauerkraut is potent stuff! peeeyeww! LOL
But of course we had to munch on the gingerbread and Tim Tams that we picked up at World Market! I couldn't believe they actually have Tim Tams (labelled Arnott's here of course, not Tim Tams, but I knew what to look for!) I'm not kidding when I say we got lots of junk! There's also a bag of German pfefferneusse, a bag of Belgian wafers, a box of 3 different types of scone mixes, 2 boxes of Scottish chocloate coated ginger shortbreads, 2 sacks of Belgian choclate coins (its just not Christmas without chocolate coins!), a package of Jaffa cakes, a huge bag of Hawaiian potato chips, a jar of Devon cream (to go with the scones), a couple of little tree decorations (stuffed bear and stuffed moose) and I'm sure a few other things that I can't remember at the mo.
It's probably a good thing that the store is more than an hour drive away! ;-) The lady who helped us find our way around the store (she was so incredibly helpful, she found us a buggy, found the Arnott's and then she also saw us waiting in line for check out and she went and opened another station just so we wouldn't have to wait!) she was amazed that we'd drive an hour just to go shopping. It was well worth the trip though.
Now I'm sitting here resisting the urge to go eat all of it! I think I shall have to leave the house for a while to remove myself from temptation!
TTFN ¶ 11:05 AM
