The One That Got Away

Last night the hubs and I took our monthly trip down to the good ol U. S. of A. Man I love that place. I bought FOUR containers of fat-free feta cheese. Four BIG containers. Why? Because a) we don't have fat-free feta up here, and b)what costs me $10 in Canadaland costs $2.50 in Americaland. Blows me away. I will never buy feta in Canada again. Ever. I also scored some suuuuper cheap 2 buck chuck wine from Trader Joe's. It's not the best in the world, but it's tasty enough for "wine o'clock" emergencies. And again, considering most wine in BC starts at $10 a bottle, you can't beat a 75% savings! Other things my American friends should be thankful for? Cheese in general (we buy cheddar and parm down there at again, 75% less), milk (50% less), tzatziki (75% less), chicken (50% less) and butter (60% less). And did I mention the discount stores! TJMaxx, Ross, Marshalls, etc etc. I want to be a little angry and jealous inside, but I must say that not having them here makes it a huge treat when we do get to visit them in down there.

Now onto the real reason of this post. I have a minor light fixture obsession. At the designer warehouse sale I attended last fall (still have to do a post on that sale!) I came home with 4 fixtures, 2 shades and 3 table lamps. For a small townhouse, that's a lot of light. Since moving in, we have added a pendant above the sink, a chandelier above the dining room, changed out 1 flush mount, and added chandeliers in all 3 bedrooms. The only place without a real fixture to call it's own is our small entry way. So when I saw this baby at TJ's my heart started pumping real fast.


OH. EM. GEE. Ain't she beautiful? I don't even know what it's called, but I'll call it a chrome pentagon pendant (although it looks to have more sides than that) or maybe a honeycomb? Any ideas let me know!

Anyways, I fell in love with her the instant I saw her. And when I looked at her price tag I loved her more. $38.99. The "compare at" price was $499. EEEEKS!!! How could I say no? I tried to stuff it in my cart, but it was already overloaded with other things. I put it back down. And I thought long and hard. And then I walked away. Well, first I had to show the hubby what I was walking away from so he would be proud, and then I walked away.

How could I? Well, I did self impose a spending restriction this month. My Already Own April is supposed to help tame the spender in me, and cultivate the user of things already owned in me. Plus, it was pretty big. And it had a really long bar (so it would hang really really low) which might have been able to be cut down to make it a flush mount, but I didn't want to take the chance. Also, the fact that it was so steeply marked down made me worry it might not work. And we don't have a TJMaxx around the corner to return it to, so big potential hassle.

Should I have just gone for it? I'm starting to regret not buying it. If you live near Bellingham, Washington, hop in your car right now and go buy it! She deserves a good home. Here's a fixture I found online that looks VERY similar.



Super cute, right? You can buy it here for $1040. YIKESABEE! Now I'm really wishing I had bought it.


Another thing we walked away from? This adorable shirt. We are a touch obsessed with our wiener dog, so it was a big deal not to buy this. But it was too small for hubby and too large for me, so at TJ's it stayed. I am slowly starting to realize I don't need to buy EVERYTHING that has a wiener on it. Although I really want to.

Anything big you've walked away from and regretted? And am I certifiably insane for leaving that pendant behind?

Comments

  1. I'm from Ontario. Do you stay for 48hrs to bring everything back or do you pay the duty? If so how much is that?

    Christine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Christine! We just go down for a couple of hours (we live 5 minutes from the border). Groceries are duty free (yay!) with some limits (such as $20 dairy per person) and although clothing and goods are not supposed to be duty free, I've never actually been charged duty. I've brought everything from $200 night stands from Target to a wedding dress across! Wine is usually taxed very heavily, like 100%, but since I buy the cheap stuff I've been lucky enough to not have to go in and pay duty and taxes!

      Delete
  2. Girlfriend, hop back in your car and drive back to Washington RIGHT NOW!! You need this light! And if it doesn't work for you, I'll buy it from you:)

    I know what you mean with the us shopping! We used to live about an hour away from the Michigan boarder and would do girls weekends in the us just for the shopping! And then when I moved here, I went CRZY at the stores! You get so much more for your dollar here than in Canada, but I dearly miss the North:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Accckkk, I know I made a mistake, right? Every minute that passes I wish I had just gone for it! And I know that when I go back it will be gone :( My heart is breaking a little bit right now.

      Delete
  3. Yeah you should have just bought it for the $40.00. If it came down to it, you could have put it on Kijiji! Next time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eeek, I know! But what if it didn't work?

      Delete
    2. For the price of it, you probably could have had it wired (or buy the kit from Ikea or Pier 1 for $5-$1) for less than a new one. What a GORG light though!! You just have to think that "things happen for a reason". :)

      JMxo

      Delete
    3. You know, if I HAD the perfect place to hang it I totally would have!

      Delete
  4. It was obviously not meant to be. Which means, there a better one around the corner.
    Probably doesn't make you feel better... I know bc I've totally been in that situation.
    I wish you luck in finding the perfect pendant :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what I'm thinking. To be honest, it would have been a totally different situation if I had a big house with lots of opportunities for new lighting. Unfortunatley I don't, and I think this one might not have worked that well in our entry, and that would be the only spot it could go. I am usually impulsive with deals and buy things that I may or may not need, but at some point you just have to hold yourself back from things you really don't need, right? Thanks for the cheer up!

      Delete
  5. Fair enough. . Im sure you will find something. Oh! BTW I don't know if you would of have seen, but at Superstore, they had ceramic black and white wiener-dog salt and pepper shakers for $4.00!!!! Can't beat that!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did not see those but am going there stat! I need those!! Even though I already have JA cat and penguin s&p shakers, these are a must! Thanks for the heads up! :)

      Delete
  6. This was around easter time so hopefully they will still have some! There were pigs, birds, sheep and the dogs. I totally got the sheep! Black sheep, white sheep <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. The reason milk is less expensive in the US is that they use hormones to stimulate milk production. This is against the law here in Canada. Because we have less milk we pay more that simple. I rather pay more for hormone free milk products thank you very much!

    http://www.dairygoodness.ca/good-health/dairy-facts-fallacies/hormones-for-cows-not-in-canada

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never thought of it that way, and it makes so much sense! I will definitely have a different perspective when buying my Canadian milk. Thanks for the insight!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for your comment! You made my day :)

Popular Posts