12.28

I remember buying this from Urban Outfitters. I never buy furniture/decor type items from that place. Even their air is too expensive. But it must have been on sale, else I wouldn’t have gone near it. It was most likely a purchase from one of my many Urban shopping trips with my bestie. Which was not unusual considering she lived right down the street from this place and a Borders. Yay! We were in college at the time, so the giant annual sale they have was our favorite. Well, any college girl’s favorite. Even those that had mommy and daddy shoveling money into their bank accounts.

Quite obviously, this pillow is not really the most comfortable. So, once it found its way to my home, I used it as one of those annoying decorative bed pillows. You know, one of the ones you have to take off the bed every time you want to sleep in the aforementioned bed. I didn’t mind though. I purchased a king size bed soon after and that gave me plenty of room to share with all my fancy, non-sleeping pillows.

Before that, it happened to live in direct sunlight. So during my next move, I found that it wasn’t exactly the same color I had bought it as. Oops. That doesn’t really matter to me though. I was practically the only person staring at it. And when there was a boy in the room.. well, guys don’t normally care about all that home decorating crap. I was safe. Or rather, the pillow was safe.

11.25

I remember always playing with these at the drug store when I was little. They’d be sitting in a basket on the counter and I just couldn’t resist. It’s squishy! Who couldn’t resist? I didn’t actually know what it was meant for, but I liked picking out my favorite color of the time and occupying myself while my mother was done spending my dad’s money. She never noticed me pick one of these up; there were other things to look at.

Even when I got older, I still absent-mindedly would grab one while I was waiting at a counter. Actually, I still do. Not that I go shopping much anymore. But that’s when I finally realized what they were meant for. And at the time, I really didn’t need much stress relief, but as the years passed.. boy, did I wish I had twenty of them.

My best friend actually bought one for me a few years ago. Either for Christmas or my birthday. But it was a gift full of small, cute and/or useful things. One of which being this green squishy. And it seems even though I seriously needed to take advantage of its miraculous healing powers, I barely used it. If anything, if was fun to play with when the day was done. Then, it sat in a box for a while. Now, I’m not all that stressed. But it certainly does the trick for writer’s block!

11.22

I remember when I spent an evening making this with my sister at a Michael’s workshop. I had been shopping, and saw it advertised. Plus, it was free. I had been looking for ideas to spend some quality time with my youngest sister. I see all of my siblings plenty, but at the time, my sister was in the middle of a CPS custody battle. She needed some time away.

We had to buy the actual plain mailbox, but the workshop provided all the glitter and stickers and fun stuff. Luckily, when we got there, there was only one mailbox left, just for her. There weren’t very many people, so we had free reign of the supplies. It only lasted an hour, but by the end, we both had awesome, sparkly Valentine holders.

The next year I had this sitting out for Valentine’s Day. On top of my television, not that it would ever see another human. But the boy I was seeing at the time snuck a love note in there. I didn’t notice it until as I was putting the mailbox away. Cute.

10.26

I remember this always being a destination for vacations. It wasn’t to visit the history-filled city of Frankenmuth, but for my mom and Nana to wander a giant ass Christmas store at least once a year. And of course us kids would get stuck with them. My dad was usually the only guy who was here with us, but he kept his mouth shut and took it like a champ. However, I’m pretty sure I hated it more.

I’ve never been a fan a following the rules. I hate being told what to do. And I hate not being allowed to explore and learn on my own. My mom would always screech at me if I looked at something too long. She would have been happier had I not been there while she was spending my dad’s money.

I did find the inside of this store amazing; almost overwhelming to a young child. There were so many colors and lights and sounds. It really is a winter wonderland. Not that I ever got to pick anything out. I was just the burden my dad got to look after.

10.15

I remember being allowed to pick out one thing in this gift shop after dinner with my grandparents. I was extremely young when I used to go out with them. And we’d always go to the same place. Our IHOP used to be a small cafe type restaurant. I can’t really remember much about it, but I know I loved their pumpkin pie. That’s how dinner always ended. My free kid’s dessert and coupon to the gift shop.

This store used to look a lot different. It’s been through two separate renovations, and it looks nothing like what I recall from my childhood. I’m pretty sure they don’t even have what I used to pick out with my coupon. It was this puzzle type book, with some sort of magic marker. I guess it was made for the joy of parents, because those are the people who usually have to wash the crayon/marker/paint out of the clothes/walls/limbs. I didn’t mind. I must have enjoyed it considering I went straight for that every time I got my store coupon. It’s just sad to see the surroundings change so much.

8.13

I remember the first time I took a pile of clothes here. I wasn’t so sure about it at first, but my best friend convinced me somehow. Apparently she had taken her own clothing there before and had good results. And since we shop at the same stores, I figured I would come out with a few extra bucks. I never knew what to do with all my old clothing. I tried the garage sale thing, but could never seem to move anything in my size. And giving it all to my sisters never made me money.

I was slightly disappointed with the store. But I don’t quite know what I was expecting from a resale shop. Everything was cluttered and disorganized. I was told I had to stay in the store while they took a look through my box, but I couldn’t find anything! So, instead I stood by the front window and waited until my name appeared on the board. I made a decent chunk the first few times I brought stuff in, but eventually the styles turned to super gaudy and unflattering. No thanks.

7.19

I remember when this used to be a Mervyn’s. It was the go to shopping destination for younger me. My Grandma would only buy me things from here, mainly because it was cheap. But I actually liked this store. It was a decent mesh of shoes I liked and jeans that fit. Plus I wasn’t bombarded by sales associates. That just pissed me off. I’m not going to buy your shit when you’re constantly shoving it in my face.

I can’t even recall how long ago it went out of business. But I know I was very disappointed. I had to try finding new stores that carried clothing that worked with my strangely shaped body. I guess it was a positive thing. I started discovering myself around that time. And although the stores I found were a bit pricey, I was happy. I had a job by then.

Now this building remains empty for most of the year. Very sad. Around August is when the Halloween shit moves in. And I refuse to purchase anything from there.