Adventures in shopping...
I am not much of a shopper...I hate crowded stores, I have a horrible time making decisions, and I generally do one of two things: look and can not decide so leave with nothing, or buy on a whim usually because I have waited so long to buy something it is now becoming a necessity..
I decided that with the baby coming and everything, I probably really need to start gathering things needed for a baby joining your house and that perhaps I could find some of these things on sale during the day after Thanksgiving day sales. So, in that vein, I braved the pouring rain and dangerous roads (at one point the water splashed up in front of my windshield and I couldn't see anything as the car started skidding in a rut filled with water...luckily, no accident).
Mom had told me yesterday that Walmart had some baby things on sale so I started there. Walmart is either 15 minutes away or 20 minutes away depending on which city I go to (oddly, there isn't a walmart in my city). I decided to go to the bigger store thinking it may have more things. I got there, found a parking spot, and started my trek into the store. The water was so high in places that my pants were soaked up to my knees!!! (to clarify the water didn't come up to my knees, probably just above my ankles, but I guess the splash from walking or whatever soaked the backs of my legs...) I was not much of a happy camper, but I continued. Inside it wasn't too bad except near the electronics where it was an absolute nightmare to get through. I contemplated buying a cheap stand-up mixer for like 25 dollars or something because I thought that would be great, but realized I have no space in my kitchen for one more thing...I made my way to the baby department. I looked at everything but clothes (I am sure this baby will have more clothes than it will possibly be able to wear as my mom loves to buy clothes...and I already have a lot of cute onesies and a couple outfits that I have bought over the years in all sizes...). I didn't find anything on sale really and was a bit disappointed. I left there buying some spatulas (need them for our icing making every October in preparation of Day of the Dead), some baby socks because I realized I have none and saw them on some baby necessity list, and something else which I can't remember...A bit disappointing.
After making my way all the back to my car in the big puddles with my soaking legs, I drove back to my house, stopping for a decaf latte at Safeway Starbucks on my way. It was only about 9:30 and I wasn't sure the other store I wanted to go to would be open yet. Besides, I needed some time to dry off and warm up.
Around 11:00 or so, I headed out to Burlington Coat Factory, about 20 minutes away in the other direction. Mom had told me that they had a bunch of cribs there, so I wanted to check them out. I was surprised to see such a collection of cribs, actually a larger selection than is on their website. I found a couple that I liked at a reasonable price. I am torn between a crib that is only a crib and a 3-1 or 5-1 crib. Origianlly I thought it would be a good idea to get the 5-1, but the more I think about it, I think that I will probably not use the double bed anyway for my kid as I hope to have two children and have such a small room that they will need bunk beds...Plus, I would not be able to fit a crib and a double bed in the same room, but hopefulyl I could fit a crib and a single in there...
Anyway, I digress. They had quite a few cribs that I was happy with. My preference is for a natural crib and it must have a drop side. I found their prices to be similar to those at Babies R Us (BRU) for cribs, but not necessarily for the accessories like the changing tables and dressers. The two cribs I liked best were a 3-1 and a 5-1 and were 190-220 dollars. The cheaper one (3-1) had only a matching changing table from what I could see. The changing table was nice enough and a decent price at 99. The other crib had a matching combo table (flat surface for changing pad, drawers, and a taller "drawer/cupboard" on the side) for 200 or so. I opened the tall drawer/cupboard fully expecting it to either be one big cupboard (for the diaper pail or something) or two shelves. Nope, it was drawers attached to the door rendering the bottom drawer absolutely useless in my opinion because it is very difficult to access. All other dressers, armoires, etc in the natural colour were 400+. The real kicker was I asked the lady at the baby registry table how you purchase the cribs and she said you order them and they take 3 months to arrive. I was like, wow, I need to decide now then. But felt way too pressured and left with nothing.
So, now I am left needing to return to Babies R Us to compare prices. I am suspecting that everything together is going to be cheaper at BRU since I am pretty sure I can find a decent dresser for less than 400. Plus, I called them when I got home from Burlington Coat Factory to see how long it takes to order things there, and they said usually 7-10 business days, but rarely longer than a month. That puts my mind a little more at ease...
This is a time I really wish I had close friends out here, or even my mom because I need someone to help me decide what to do, what to buy!
I decided that with the baby coming and everything, I probably really need to start gathering things needed for a baby joining your house and that perhaps I could find some of these things on sale during the day after Thanksgiving day sales. So, in that vein, I braved the pouring rain and dangerous roads (at one point the water splashed up in front of my windshield and I couldn't see anything as the car started skidding in a rut filled with water...luckily, no accident).
Mom had told me yesterday that Walmart had some baby things on sale so I started there. Walmart is either 15 minutes away or 20 minutes away depending on which city I go to (oddly, there isn't a walmart in my city). I decided to go to the bigger store thinking it may have more things. I got there, found a parking spot, and started my trek into the store. The water was so high in places that my pants were soaked up to my knees!!! (to clarify the water didn't come up to my knees, probably just above my ankles, but I guess the splash from walking or whatever soaked the backs of my legs...) I was not much of a happy camper, but I continued. Inside it wasn't too bad except near the electronics where it was an absolute nightmare to get through. I contemplated buying a cheap stand-up mixer for like 25 dollars or something because I thought that would be great, but realized I have no space in my kitchen for one more thing...I made my way to the baby department. I looked at everything but clothes (I am sure this baby will have more clothes than it will possibly be able to wear as my mom loves to buy clothes...and I already have a lot of cute onesies and a couple outfits that I have bought over the years in all sizes...). I didn't find anything on sale really and was a bit disappointed. I left there buying some spatulas (need them for our icing making every October in preparation of Day of the Dead), some baby socks because I realized I have none and saw them on some baby necessity list, and something else which I can't remember...A bit disappointing.
After making my way all the back to my car in the big puddles with my soaking legs, I drove back to my house, stopping for a decaf latte at Safeway Starbucks on my way. It was only about 9:30 and I wasn't sure the other store I wanted to go to would be open yet. Besides, I needed some time to dry off and warm up.
Around 11:00 or so, I headed out to Burlington Coat Factory, about 20 minutes away in the other direction. Mom had told me that they had a bunch of cribs there, so I wanted to check them out. I was surprised to see such a collection of cribs, actually a larger selection than is on their website. I found a couple that I liked at a reasonable price. I am torn between a crib that is only a crib and a 3-1 or 5-1 crib. Origianlly I thought it would be a good idea to get the 5-1, but the more I think about it, I think that I will probably not use the double bed anyway for my kid as I hope to have two children and have such a small room that they will need bunk beds...Plus, I would not be able to fit a crib and a double bed in the same room, but hopefulyl I could fit a crib and a single in there...
Anyway, I digress. They had quite a few cribs that I was happy with. My preference is for a natural crib and it must have a drop side. I found their prices to be similar to those at Babies R Us (BRU) for cribs, but not necessarily for the accessories like the changing tables and dressers. The two cribs I liked best were a 3-1 and a 5-1 and were 190-220 dollars. The cheaper one (3-1) had only a matching changing table from what I could see. The changing table was nice enough and a decent price at 99. The other crib had a matching combo table (flat surface for changing pad, drawers, and a taller "drawer/cupboard" on the side) for 200 or so. I opened the tall drawer/cupboard fully expecting it to either be one big cupboard (for the diaper pail or something) or two shelves. Nope, it was drawers attached to the door rendering the bottom drawer absolutely useless in my opinion because it is very difficult to access. All other dressers, armoires, etc in the natural colour were 400+. The real kicker was I asked the lady at the baby registry table how you purchase the cribs and she said you order them and they take 3 months to arrive. I was like, wow, I need to decide now then. But felt way too pressured and left with nothing.
So, now I am left needing to return to Babies R Us to compare prices. I am suspecting that everything together is going to be cheaper at BRU since I am pretty sure I can find a decent dresser for less than 400. Plus, I called them when I got home from Burlington Coat Factory to see how long it takes to order things there, and they said usually 7-10 business days, but rarely longer than a month. That puts my mind a little more at ease...
This is a time I really wish I had close friends out here, or even my mom because I need someone to help me decide what to do, what to buy!
posted by Katrina | 11/25/2005 01:53:00 PM
1 Comments:
be careful of burlington. they have a pretty awful return policy if i am remembering correctly, like you can't return anything. i may have gotten my crib there (it was 6 yrs ago so i don't remember) but i knew i wanted it so it's ok if you really know. and it didn't take 3 months either. putting them together can be fun....ha, ha! kris
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