Inspired by former cheerleader/ZTA sister/student affairs grad student extraordinaire Gracie and her blog, Student Affairs Sensible, I'm adding fashion to my list of adventures. I love clothes, shoes, purses, accessories, you name it. After I had Sophie, I found myself needing new clothes -- not complaining about that! I love the thrill of the hunt, as in hunting down bargains. I live for trips to the outlets and Bon-Ton's yellow-dot racks. :-)
Being a new mommy is not exactly conducive to high fashion. Most days are spent in tees, sweats, the like -- for comfort and for function, because who wants spit-up on their cutest clothes? Not me. It's bad enough when Sophie chucks on her own cute outfits.
But some days, I need or want to get out of the house, to run errands or just give Sophie a change of scenery (She seems to share my love of shopping). With Sophie now mobile and also rather cranky when I leave her in her crib for a minute, I find myself doing quick-changes to get ready to leave the house. Hey, I live in the Abingtons, dahling. We don't leave the house in sweats. So here are a few tips for Quick Mommy Fashion:
- If it's winter, don't worry about your top. Unless you're going somewhere that's boiling hot, you can pretty much leave your coat on while you shop or dash off that errand. Top it with a cute scarf and you're good to go. Focus on your bottom half.
- Flat boots are a godsend. Well, flats in general are a godsend, but right now is not the time for my super-cute purple striped Fergie flats - they'll just get destroyed in a puddle of slush AND my feet will freeze. Flat boots keep my feet warm, look cute, and can usually withstand the weather. The ones I bought last season were cheap enough that I don't mind them getting a little beat.
- Never underestimate the power of the ponytail. I usually don't have time to fully blowdry my hair when I wash it, so it ends up kind of funky-wavy. I throw it in a ponytail and I'm good to go.
- Use an eyeshadow set for quickie eyes and forget about eyeliner. Even if you just brush on the highlight shade, line your eyes with the dark shade and it makes your eyes pop enough that you don't look like Tired Mommy. This even works when I leave my glasses on.
- I have a foundation stick from Clinique that I adore. I don't think they make it anymore. I hate foundation as a rule, but if I need to cover up some blah, I can just swipe a bit of this on and it has a nice powdery finish. Basically, try to find makeup that does multiple tasks and it will cut down on your get-ready time.
Any other mommies out there have ways to look better fast? I'd love to hear them!
I now regret registering at Target instead of Babies 'R Us.
Now, before I get into it, let me just say: I once worked in retail. I refuse to be one of those people who thinks they are entitled to get whatever they want from a store just because "the customer is always right." I respect that stores need to have policies in place for their own protection. I get it, I do. But there's a right way to handle things, and a wrong way, as my story demonstrates.
I registered at Target about a year ago. Joe and I had registered there for our wedding and didn't have any problems, so we figured, why not register there for baby stuff? Again, we didn't have any problems, at least until recently.
We had chosen a high chair for our registry, but when my mom was planning my shower, I gave her access to the registry and she added another one, because the one I originally picked out kept going out of stock. We received both high chairs. No biggie, right? They might come in handy, plus the baby might outgrow the first one.
About a month ago, we realized that we wouldn't need the second high chair and decided to return it. We hadn't received a play yard, which was also on our registry, and could use one at this point with Sophie crawling around. So the plan was to essentially exchange the high chair for the play yard (and possibly a gate, depending on the prices at the time, which kept fluctuating).
We took the high chair back to Target, with the packing slip. We were told it could only be returned for the current price, which was about $34. It was originally about $90 - which came up via the packing slip. But because it was past 90 days, and the chair was now "discontinued," that was all we could get. We were also told our registry was no longer in the system, although I can still pull it up on my Target app.
Side note: Yeah, we should have just kept it and tried to sell it ourselves. But we figured there was no guarantee we'd get what we wanted for it, or even sell it at all, and this was at least some money we could put toward the play yard.
Well, my mom was horrified by how little Target gave us. So she called the store and said she'd buy it herself. It was already sold, natch. Then she called Target customer service and was told that we should have gotten the price paid for it, not the "current" price.
Side note 2: The high chair was still available on Target's website for EVEN MORE THAN WAS ORIGINALLY PAID FOR IT! Discontinued, my rear.
Back I went to my Target, and told them my mom had called customer service --
-- "Guest services, you mean," said the associate.
Um, sure.
Anyway, she was told that I should have gotten the price paid for it. Here's my packing slip.
The associate, for her slight snippiness, did at least call Target's website's cust-- er, guest services. But the person she reached couldn't even pull up the order, it was "that old."
Oh, and it's still available on Target's website and more expensive because Amazon runs their website. ?!??
My mom, still horrified, posted on Target's Facebook page and got a response. They gave her a form to fill out, and she hasn't heard anything more yet.
And here's why I wish I'd registered at Babies 'R Us instead...
A few months ago, they had a pretty good sale on diapers, so I bought two boxes each of size 2s and 3s. Sophie outgrew 2s before I opened the second box, so I wanted to exchange it for a box of 4s. Being wary after my Target experience, I called my local Babies 'R Us first to see if it was even possible.
"Sure, just bring it to customer service and we'll take care of it," I was told.
"I don't have the receipt," I told him.
"No problem."
Whaaaat?
I took the box back today, still wary. I went to customer service, explained the situation, and the associate said, "No problem. Just leave that box here, go find what you need, and we'll do the exchange."
I went back to the diaper section, and discovered that apparently that packaging is being discontinued, because there were only two boxes there like it. Both size 6s, and marked "clearance." Oh boy, here's the snafu, right?
Nope. I took a box of 6s (hey, I'll need them eventually anyway) up to the counter. Not only did the associate cheerfully and easily make the exchange, she didn't give me grief when the price of the 6s came up more than the return value of the 2s. AND she threw in a sample pack of baby wipes!
As I thanked her, I told her a bit about my Target experience, and she told me that they allow returns on registries up to SIX MONTHS.
So if you're not psychic, and don't know exactly what your baby will need ahead of time, register at Babies 'R Us. I wish I would have.
Yes, it's been a long time since I've written in this-here blog. New baby and all. And wouldn't you know, I find myself inspired to write about an adventure that should essentially change the name of this blog.
Soon, Joe, Sophie and I will no longer be Abingtonians, dahling. Joe has accepted a job at the Central Penn Business Journal, based in Harrisburg, covering York County and other topics.
What does this mean (aside from the aforementioned location/blog name change)?
The CPBJ is like journalism utopia: Joe will work "normal" hours (as in, daytime instead of nighttime). He won't have to work major holidays. Heck, he'll even have extra time off around Christmas!
Better yet, we can live closer to our families. We're casting a wide net, and can live just about anywhere convenient to Harrisburg and York County. I'm hoping for Carlisle or somewhere down U.S. 15, which will translate to about a 45-minute drive to my parents' house. Or even Gettysburg, although that would make a bit more of a commute for Joe.
And while I'm ecstatic to ditch the three-hour drive to see Mom, Dad and Andrea, and the pile of baby stuff to lug anywhere because family visits aren't day trips, there are some things I will miss about NEPA. I've enjoyed our adventures: tooling around back roads from Tunkhannock to Towanda (I think going out U.S. 6 was my favorite), up into the southern tier of New York, and out to Honesdale and Hawley. We meandered down to Jim Thorpe one day, just for fun. This is a very scenic area and there's always a new road to follow.
I'll miss the history and the ethnic pride that is so prevalent in NEPA. Trains, trolleys, the St. Patrick's Day Parade, all sorts of cultural festivals... and the food that goes with them...
I'll miss the people we've met. Joe has worked with a good group of people at the Times-Tribune, many of whom have become friends. I was welcomed into the NEPA ZTA alumnae chapter with open arms and found a whole new group of sisters to love.
So it's off to new adventures in the 717. Who knows what lies ahead...
Oh, anyone out there want to buy a house in NEPA? :-)
