Yesterday I got these cute little mini-size paper note cubes at Target, 50% off (so, $2 for a set of two), and I wanted to tell you right away in case they’re a size you needed as much as I did. I often need to jot something down on actual paper, but I don’t need even as much as a regular-size memo sheet. Just enough space for a name and phone number, or for a several-item list, or for writing down the name of a library book I want to remember to look for. I might have paid full price for these if I’d even seen them before they went on clearance, but the clearance sticker sure enhances the prettiness.
Next, I had to deal with a snack-food-related emergency: it came to my attention via pitiful inquiry (“Mommy,” said the child reading a book, “What does a Twinkie taste like?”) that none of the children had tried certain classic cakies. So I got a pack each of four things. Divided five ways (well, six—but only because it’s easier to divide in half and then in thirds, certainly NOT because I WANT a share), they’ll be the perfect Trying It size.
This next item is super boring, but I tell you about it anyway because this is the first time in my life I have purchased invisible socks. In MY day, we wore two pairs of extra-bulk slouch socks and wondered if adding a third might improve the effect. Below-the-ankle socks (often with pom-poms) were for DORKY MOTHERS. (…Wait a minute.)
THEN, we went to a used furniture store. On a table was a packet of Victorian cat notecards, and I said, “Oh, hey! Sure, yeah, I’ll buy these.” Then I took one out…and they were postcards. POSTCARDS.
…I can tell you are not feeling the stunned delight I felt. I was nearly dazzled. You will just have to imagine something similar that would make you feel the same way: you’re in a consignment shop, you see something that you like just enough to buy it. And then you see it’s ACTUALLY something ELSE—something that, had you known it was in the shop, you would have run across the store panting in a way that alarmed other shoppers, instead of casually accidentally almost not even seeing it there. (Afterward I felt uncomfortably as if I needed to carefully go over THE ENTIRE STORE, just in case I’d missed MORE.) Here’s the set, as I first saw it:
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| Oh, nice. Sure, I’ll buy that for $3! |
And here are the postcards laid out (two are missing from the set), and then a closer view of some of them:
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| OMG!!! |
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| OMG OMG!!! |
Anyway. Very exciting. For me.
I love these kind of posts! it’s fun to see all the little things that other people find.
You post pictures of Hostess snack cakes for this pregnant women to see first thing in the morning? (sigh)
FUN!
But did they like the snack cakes? A while back I bought some of the cupcakes with the swirly white icing for my girls to try for a little tea party, and they were Not Impressed. Which broke my heart, because even though they are not real food they are fantastic…..
Ha, I actually DID feel the stunned delight, what a great find! I feel like your Target has better clearance than my Target but I hate my Target a lot.
I think your Victorian Cats are fantastic. Also, I feel like Hostess has changed Twinkies considerably. The flavor and texture seem very different from what they used to be. I don’t even like them any more, and Twinkies used to be my favorite thing to eat, EVER. In high school, had several near-death experiences resulting from inhaling Twinkies too quickly and choking. SO GOOD.
Wendy- The trials have not yet occurred: I’m saving them for a Perfect Thrilling Distraction the next time I need it in the next week or two. I am bracing for them to be meh: I had one of the cherry pies myself recently, remembering their wonderfulness from when my parents would have a date night and we’d each get a pie to eat with the babysitter (that probably happened only once or something but got SEARED INTO MY MEMORY)—and I was like “…Huh. Not…quite as heavenly as I remembered.” (The cupcakes, though, THOSE will be just as good, right? RIGHT??)
Josefina- Ha ha, that would be so funny in an obituary! DEATH BY TWINKIE. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Hostess Foundation.
I vaguely remember hearing that they changed their recipe back when it became legally required to put nutrition/ingredient information on the packaging. (I wonder what was in them BEFORE?)
Your thrilled reaction to these postcards totally made my day! I totally love your Target (and more) bargain posts.
Your postcarding hobby is just so darn cute. :)
My hubby and I check yard sales a couple of Saturdays a month and I stop at the consignment shop at least once a month. Most of the pictures in my house came from one or the other. And nobody knows but us. I love finds like that.
I haven’t had a twinkie in 20 years. Brilliant idea!
Wow – I’ll have to save that Twinkie-tasting party idea for a boring summer day. The kids will think it’s awesome!
That excitement you felt over the postcards, that’s how I am at Target clearance items. Yup. I can avoid everything else in Target but am like a magnet attracted to the clearance displays throughout the store. So exciting to get cute stuff at a great deal.
Hostess is going to be very confused by the blip in snack cake purchasing this is surely going to cause. They are not familiar with the Swistle effect :)
The first victorian cats pic is cracking me up because the one on the far left is like “These cats have BOWS and UMBRELLAS and HATS, I can’t deal with this. I’m gonna jump!”
It might not be quite the same thing, but I’ve bought cheap make-your-life-easier type doodads, thinking it’s only $2, so if it’s junk, I won’t mind throwing it out, but at least I can say I’ve tried it. Then… BAM! Greatest. Invention. Ever.
It’s a great feeling. Congratulations on your find.
Oh, I totally understand your delight with the postcards. As you know, you got me into Postcrossing in a big way, so I am all about finding different ones to send out. You just know someday you will read a profile, and the person will say “above all else, I desire Victorian cat postcards”, and you can pull one out, send it away, and the receiver will be amazed by your thoughtfulness.
I love vintage looking postcards anyway, and would probably be back at that store, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
You forgot the HoHos
I had the same realization, except it was ME – I was going crankily through the kitchen looking for something to eat and I said “Why don’t we have any Twinkies?!” and my husband said “Have you ever even had a Twinkie?” and I hadn’t. So I bought some. And my kids love them. And I love them. But the cupcakes? are FREAKING AMAZING.
Best mom ever for two things: that your kids haven’t had that stuff and that you made it an fun experiment when they did!!!
I haven’t been to Target in over TWO MONTHS. I craved this post and might refer to it often over the next weeks.
I hear Twinkies have replaced legumes and whole grains, for the next two weeks. (There is fossil evidence that cavemen ate them 10,000 years ago, which coincidentally is their shelf life.)
Those postcards are such a huge score! And I also very recently decided to try those little tiny socks and was surprised by how much I love them.
I didn’t try a twinkie until I was 22 and my now-husband insisted. I wasn’t impressed and haven’t had one since.
I TOTALLY get the cat postcard excitement. Once I found a blanket, folded and labeled in those plastic zipper bedding packets – my favorite color green. It was on clearance so I put it in the basket and kept hemming and hawing over it. We didn’t need a blanket, but it was clearance and I loved the color. Eventually I unzipped it a bit to feel the thickness of the blanket, to help make my decision. That’s when I discovered it wasn’t a blanket- but a complete twin sheet set, which we DID need. I actually jumped up and down in excitement, until I realized where I was, then tried to carry on like normal.