i think the economy has been properly stimulated

I am home with my camera cable and .. umm.. my purchases. Did anyone notice how the stock market did today? I'm not saying we had anything to do with that... Maybe it was just a coincidence.

We were so excited to get going that I forgot to take a picture until we got to our first stop.... Marden's. We hadn't actually planned to stop there, but just before I picked April up she got an email saying they had a new shipment and it sounded great so we made a little detour. It's amazing how in an hour you can undo all of the stashbusting you have accomplished all year. :*( But Moda and Maywood studio for 2.99. What would you have done?

We stopped at a yarn outlet. Not thrilling. Then a really nice quilt shop. It was adorable. The people were wonderful, very friendly and helpful. It was about 3:00 pm after we were finished shopping and we were starving. They pointed us to a great place to eat and we had nice deli sandwiches for lunch.

Back on the road and next stop Harbor Freight. Judy did a post about Harbor Freight and how Vince could browse for hours and she would rather sit in the car and knit. Well April and I browsed for at least an hour and loved it so much we went back on the way home yesterday. I'm thinking Judy hasn't seen all the potential for the cool stuff you can find there.

The next day we went to the main stop of our trip, Webs. There was so much yarn and so many people we were overwhelmed. We had tried browsing online before we went, but without touching and seeing exact colors I had no idea what I wanted. Some time around lunch we were on overload and were more confused than when we got there. There was a little wool shop we had found online that was about 10 minutes away so we went there and then to lunch and went back to battle the crowds again. I really think I shop better without infinite choices. We each came away with about 100 in yarn and tired feet.

Here are pictures of all of our purchases laid out on our beds. April's first.

Now mine. Amazingly we bought almost the exact same amount.

On the way home we stopped at Trader Joe's. One of my coworkers from Massachusetts had brought in some nuts and trail mixes so I wanted to see for myself what they had. Let me tell you, we need one of those in Maine. I found some really yummy stuff at reasonable prices. I think our favorite so far is the Thai Chili & Lime Cashews. Soooo good. I emailed them today and requested that they open one in Maine. They would do great business.

Then, while I was in a persuasive mood, I emailed Outback Steakhouse and whined how much I miss the Sydney Sinful Sundae. I am hoping to start a write-in campaign to bring it back. Anyone with me? If you've never had it you should write just so you can try it when they bring it back

We had a really great time and I think it did me a world of good. I am much more relaxed and ready to get some of the stuff on my to do list done.

Now for the sad news. My stash report:

fabric in this week: 12.75 yards

fabric out this week: 0

fabric in ytd: 20.75

fabric out ytd: -.375

Ouch. It's a sad, sad thing. I have slipped into the red.