Mall Day

Started out a breezy, warmer day with a short Saturday Farm Market-yard sale run. The Collingswood Farm Market is now in its last month. Several of the stands are already gone, and another one announced that this would be its last week. I was able to get most of what I needed from what remained, including honey, apple butter, carrots, apples, bananas and kiwi from the wholesalers, and the first New Jersey Brussels sprouts of the season. (And I've been looking forward to fresh Brussels sprouts after the ones I had last year were delicious.)

I rode around Collingswood and Oaklyn after that, looking for yard sales. There weren't nearly as many this week as there have been in previous weeks. I made my only finds at a garage sale on East Haddon Avenue down the street from PNC Bank. Picked up the first Great Songs of Christmas LP, two CDs (a two-disc Readers Digest collection of selections from operettas and a collection of World War II swing music), a small green shelf for DVDs, and an American Girl book of "inspirational words" (mostly passages from the books written through the advent of Julie in 2007).

I was home around 11:30, much earlier than I have been on Saturdays in a while. Good. There were other things I wanted to do today. I put everything away, had chili for lunch, listened to the operetta CDs...and went right back out again.

I've been needing to get to the Deptford Mall for ages. I was going through my bus schedules, and I realized that the 400 going from Philly to Sicklerville passes by Audubon Park and makes a stop at the Deptford Mall. That would eliminate having to take the PATCO train and the bus and ride to the PATCO.

I was really early walking to the bus stop, so I strolled around the neighborhood behind the Sunoco on the Black Horse Pike. That was nice. I passed a pretty park with small gazebos with booths, a baseball field, and a playground. I was surprised to see that the playground had some older equipment, like a balance beam, springy bounce riding boys, and a see-saw that was deliberately low to the ground for the youngest riders. I stopped at Di'nic's, a beef-and-pork roadside restaurant on the Black Horse Pike, and got a Diet Coke after my walk.

Finally got on the bus at quarter of 2 and arrived at the mall around 2:30. Shopping-wise, I generally did very well. My first purchase was new errand sneakers at Payless Shoes. I needed them so badly, I took off my old ones right after I left the store and threw them away! They were in such bad shape, I couldn't have saved them, even if I'd wanted to.

American Greetings was having a 50% off all WebKinz sale. They had a great selection, and I had a hard choice, but I finally went with something small I could carry in my big blue and white Aeropostale purse. I chose a canary. I haven't bought any bird WebKinz in a while.

Hit the department stores next. Didn't find anything in Sears, but I hit the motherload at JCPenny. For one thing, their St John's Bay Cuffed Socks were on sale, $5.99 a pack. I got a pack with red, gray, white, navy, and black socks. Lee's Jeans were on sale, too. Got a pair of khakis for work for $19.99, $20 off the original price tag. Holiday-themed beauty items were on sale, too. I bought two bags for friends for Christmas.

I browsed in a few other stores after I left JC Penny, but there wasn't really anything I needed in them. I hiked over to Target next. I mostly needed underwear there. They have better prices and a better selection of bagged underwear than Wal-Mart. I bought a few other little things that are cheaper there, as well as orange socks and a magnifying glass to complete my Velma costume.

It was well after 5 by the time I finally got through Target's lines. I figured I'd just cross the street and go home. I was dead tired. I waited for the 5:28...and waited. It never showed. I saw busses go by Target, but I never saw them go on the other side of the street. I bought a bagel from Dunkin' Donuts, and still saw nothing.

I finally gave up around 10 of 6 and made my weary way back to the Deptford Mall. I cheered up when I passed a kiosk selling clothes for American Girl dolls on my way over to the bus stop. I ended up buying a long jean skirt and emerald green tie blouse for Jessa and a beautiful blue-and-white colonial gown and mob cap for Felicity. Felicity's outfit is particularly lovely. Someone put some thought into it. It's made with very thick and sturdy fabric, and has sweet ruffle trim on the skirt and sleeves.

I found out why the bus never showed when I hopped on the 6:28 bus to Philly. It turns out the 400 goes past Target on the way to the mall...but NOT on the way back to Philly. It goes around the mall and past Wal-Mart and Sam's Club on the other side. Oh well, live and learn.

It was dark when I finally got home around 7. I had a rather nice walk home in the dark. It was rather pleasantly spooky, with the full moon and the breeze running through the trees.

Oh, and meet Sunshine the Canary! Her sound system pet item is going to keep the Cabana Room (and her roommate Alex the Citrus Dragon) hopping!