My Beef with Costco

So I had to go to Costco after work today to pick up some chicken breasts. That's it. Just chicken.

Well, at Leigh's party on Saturday night I commented on the beautiful poinsettia in her dining room. It was huge and a nice deep red. She tells me she got it at Costco for $19.99. So of course I had to get one of those too.

As I'm booting it down to get some chicken, I pass the pet aisle and see some dog beds at the very end. Those of you who frequent places like PetSmart, Super Pet, etc. know how expensive dog beds can be, especially the bigger sizes. Costco usually has nice ones on for about $30... well, tonight they were on for $19.99... so I got Mikey a new one for the living room.

(Side note: when I got home, the second I took his new bed out of the truck, he started doing his little happy dance at the front door. Totally worth the money just to see that!)

I'm still on my way to get some damned chicken when I realize I told Shaun I'd picked something up for dinner. So I stroll over to the deli and pick up some chicken alfredo. Then I finally get some stupid chicken breasts, after one woman hit me with her cart and then I accidentally backed up and stepped on another woman's toes.

I'm flooring it to get out of the food section, sans injuries, when I spot one of my favorite Christmas items: Maroc clementines! Only $4.79 a case! So I had to get one of those. At least I had the god-forsaken chicken by this point.

I'm almost at the cash when I realize we're out of Centrum multivitamins, and they are marginally cheaper at Costco then at Loblaws. So I grab a bottle and finally, finally make it to the register.

Ninety-seven dollars and thirty one cents later, I have my flipping chicken and several other items I "needed".

It's funny.. one day last year, I was at Costco after work, and just as I'd finished checking out, this Costco rep comes up and asks if I'd be interested in the platinum membership benefits. He says it's very beneficial for people who spend a lot of money at Costco.

Who, me? Surely you must be mistaken. We don't spend that much at Costco to warrant a special membership...Or so I thought. When he showed me how much we'd spent at Costco the previous year, I nearly cancelled my membership.

They get you there with the items on your list that you legitimately need, then they suck you into their "high savings" vortex of hell so you buy about 200% more than necessary. Shaun and I have learned to watch the unit price on each sticker and we're getting very good at price comparing... but the cement floors, lack-lustre lighting, and denim-wearing employees lead you to believe that because of their "low overhead costs" they really can help you save money!

I digress. I still love Costco in all its glory.

A Post for Vanessa

I have been neglectful in my blogging duties since we got married, so I must apologize to my readers, and thank Vanessa for reminding me to get my arse in gear. So, 'Nessa, this post is for you! :)

Just got back from a long weekend in Syracuse and oh, the fun we had! My friend Megan and I had been planning this trip for about a month... this being the only weekend before Christmas that we were both free. I picked her up Saturday morning at 7am and after a stop at Tim Horton's we hopped on the 416 to Prescott. We decided to take the bridge over at Ogdensburg since we heard the wait was a lot less than at the 1000 Islands border crossing. We waited maybe 10 minutes and then were off to Syracuse with some American cashola. If you stay for more than 48 hours but less than 7 days you can bring back $400 worth of goods duty-free.

We got to the Carousel Mall around 10:45am and got to a good start! Deals were abundant at JC Penney, Borders (a book store like Chapters), K-B Toys, and Bath & Body Works. We made a couple of trips back to the car to unload and had a nice lunch in the food court. We each got a pair of shoes from Charlotte Russo. By 5pm we thought we should check into the hotel, so we drove over to The Red Roof Inn on Thompson Road, just off Carrier Circle. The rates were awesome (less than $60 a night) and it came highly recommended from a friend of mine.

We went to dinner at Applebee's, where the food and service were awesome. It's a lot like Kelsey's in Canada - similar menu and similar decor with the memorabilia and stained-glass lampshades. The food and service were wonderful! Not to end our shopping day early, we hopped up Route 11 to a brand new Target that had just opened, and stayed there from 7:45pm until 10pm when the store closed. Many more good deals at the American counterpart to our Zellers: Christmas gift tags and wrapping paper, dog cookies, and this great brand of snacks called "Archer Farms". They make cookies, chips, crackers, salsas, dips, cereals, etc. and Meg and I each brought some back for us and our hubbies. I also got another Soggy Dogs towel for Mikey. In Ottawa the large size retails for about $60... I got it for $19.99. Meg got a ton of toys for the kids at a fraction of what you'd pay here.

The cutest thing was that not only did our hotel accept pets as guests, there was a dog show in town this weekend so there were coiffed and well-behaved dogs everywhere! Pomeranians, Golden Retrievers, Collies... it was too adorable.

Not that adorable at 6am Sunday morning when the puppies starting barking, but my feet were still throbbing from Saturday so I was sort of awake anyways. We got up and went to Denny's for breakfast where we met up with Kristy (from our work) and her mom, who were also there for the weekend and staying at the same hotel as us. They headed home and Meg and I hopped in the Outlander to drive 45 mins to the Premium Outlet Mall in Waterloo, NY.

This mall is INSANE. One hundred and thirteen stores in an outdoor-outlet-style mall that is more massive than you think. We got there as the stores opened at 10am and didn't leave until close (6pm). We didn't even get to every store. At Izod we picked up some cute argyle socks (4 pairs for $10)...at The Children's Place Outlet Meg got some clothes for both her kids PLUS two of their friends' children they buy for every Christmas. There were adorable corduroy skirts for girls on for 99 cents!! We struck gold at Kitchen Collection, where I got a marble rolling pin for $9.99 and a silicone spatter screen for $11.99. I got a new calendar for my mom for Christmas and saved about $8 vs. what we pay here.

By far, our favorite store was Harry & David, which is a gourmet food store at normal-people prices. They had assorted salsas on two for $10. They had a variety of snacks and mixed nuts: by three and get the fourth free. They had spiced pasta noodles, dips galore, flavoured coffees and teas, and best of all: you could sample ANYTHING in the store if you asked a sales rep. At the front they had cranberry-walnut relish served with smoked turkey. They had gingerbread chocolate coffee at the back - a cup for free! It was just too much. I wish they had a store in Ottawa (or even anywhere in Ontario!)

And talk about a small world: I ran into my friend Jeanell, her husband Sean, and his mother at a clothing store! Jeanell and I used to work together at Binks. They were staying at the same hotel as us too.

After the outlet mall closed we drove back to Syracuse, dropped off our purchases, and headed back over to Applebee's for a totally crappy Sunday night dining experience. The waitress was terrible, there was no cream for my coffee, and they brought me the wrong type of wrap which I didn't notice until I was halfway done. Our waitress did not get a tip.

This morning we slept in a bit, hit Denny's for some oatmeal and toast, then drove to Watertown where we hit Kohl's and another Target. Megan is a "wanderer" when it comes to shopping so when we'd gone to the Target in Syracuse, she didn't get a chance to hit every department before the store closed, so we went again today. I got some cookies for Mikey, and ran over to Walmart to get the CD my dad wanted for $3 cheaper than at home. Then we drove to Mobil and filled up the car, stopped at Starbucks (because the Denny's coffee sucked), Meg popped into Ponderosa to get a bottle of their steak sauce, and we were on our way home.

Now, my producer at work loaned me his GPS navigator for the weekend which came in extremely handy until we tried to map our route home. We wanted to go back through Ogdensburg but the stupid thing took us to the 1000 Islands bridge. But no worries: not only was there no wait at the border, but the guard was really friendly and didn't pull us over. We were both under our limit anyways but I hate being questioned.

Overall we had a great weekend. Meg and I don't work in the same unit anymore at work so we were going through a bit of withdrawal and thought it might be nice to get over to Syracuse while the dollar is so good. We complimented each other well: she wandered aisle through aisle while I'd run ahead to find deals and keep my eye on the clock. She has a "bad sense of direction" (her words, not mine) and I didn't mind driving and really got the hang of the GPS system. We got to vent to each other about work stuff (more drama/gossip than anything serious) and we kept our eyes open for cute doggy purchases at stores (she has a lhasa apso named Sammy).

I highly, highly recommend the Premium Outlets Mall in Waterloo NY. If you're going to be in Syracuse anyways for the weekend you'd be insane not to go.

I'm 120% exhausted so I have to hit the sack. Promise I'll post more soon!!

PS - I'd like to share that I have the best dog ever: he caught a MOUSE this weekend while I was gone! Go Mikey!