WebKinz In, Taxes Out

It was such a gorgeous mid-February day (36 degrees, windless, and sunny as could be), that I decided to ride over to Collingswood to do some things I'd been putting off for weeks, even months.

The first one was drop off a few donations at the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop. Alas, the store was closed, both today and on Monday. The new proprietors must have gone on vacation for the holiday weekend.

So, by default, my first completed chore today was one I've been meaning to do for ages - get a hair cut! My hair is very pretty, thick and curly, but it frizzes like crazy and I'd let it get too long, so the ends were really split. I went to Haddon Hair Designs, across the street and down the block from Friends In Deed, and they did a really nice job. It's now shoulder-length, layered, and very curly. I'm so happy with it. I decided to stay in Collingswood a little while longer and show it off and enjoy the lovely weather.

My next stop was the Collingswood Variety Store two buildings down. The "Variety" store is mainly a party store, selling seasonal decorations and items, but they also have a small selection of toys, food, stuffed animals...and one of the largest collections of WebKinz in Camden County. I picked up two WebKinz and two packs of cards, to make up for my bare Valentine's Day.

I spent the next hour or so browsing up and down the Haddon Avenue Commercial District. I bought a small bag of Valentine jelly candies that were half-price from Sweet Treats Candies, and got three boxes of Christmas tea at a gourmet shop for $2.50. Collingswood (Used) Book Trader yielded paperback copies of One Hundred and One Dalmations, The Rescuers, the Jaqueline Girdner Kate Jasper novel A Stiff Critique, and the novelization of the 1987 movie Adventures In Babysitting. (Dalmations and Rescuers even had covers that were tie-ins for the original releases of the Disney movies.)

I had lunch in a hip, upscale coffee shop a block down from the Tree House Cafe. GrooveGround also sells CDs and t-shirts, which were too expensive for me, but it's nice to know someone else in Collingswood still sells CDs after Abbie Road moved to Audubon. Unlike the eclectic Tree House Cafe, GrooveGround is all dark colors, spare furniture, and bold angles. It's really a bit intimidating, which is why I never went in there before. I had a tasty lunch of vegetarian chili and flatbread. The Chai Tea Latte had too much milk, but was otherwise not too bad, not overly sweet like Starbucks'.

I went home after that and spent the rest of the afternoon on my computer, playing with my new WebKinz and doing my taxes. I normally do my taxes in late January-early February, but my W-2 was a little late this year. I got it all done in less than a half-hour. I don't have much to list. I own no property, pay no taxes beyond Student Loan Interest, have no dependents and no job outside of the Acme.

Oh, and meet my new WebKinz, Eliza the Black Poodle and Nanni the Husky! Cockney darling Eliza is living with Linda the Collie in the Modern Condo. Nanni will keep Elvis the Lil'Kinz Penguin in line in "The Igloo" winter-themed room. (Actually, I kinda bought Nanni to complete that room. He comes with an igloo-shaped bed!)

Nanni and Eliza's names both derive from the previous collector's darlings, the Beanie Babies. The Beanie husky was named Nook, as in Nanook of the North, so I went with "Nan." The Beanie black poodle is Gigi. Gigi and Eliza (Doolittle) are characters in 1950s Lerner and Lowe musicals. (Respectively, Gigi and My Fair Lady.)

Since Nanni and Eliza already had rooms prepared for them, I was able to use the money they came with to do something I've been wanting to do since we got all that Winterfest stuff, and even more so with the arrival of the Valentine's Day gifts. I greatly expanded the "Holiday Store" where I put all the Christmas stuff after the holiday season was over. Not only all of the holiday items, but the clothing won from ads (the bee and Alvin and the Chipmunks costumes) were moved there. It took me a while to do, too, since everything was scattered all over the "house." The former Holiday Store is now a "Sitting Room," i.e a place to put the couch, dresser, and table I won from the Trading Card Game and Eliza's Poofy Poodle Chair.

So...welcome to the Grand Opening of the Modern Pizzeria and the Grand Re-Opening of the Kinzville Holiday Store!