Fabulous Friday

Friday was a wonderful day! It was the first "dry" day we had in nearly a week. Up early Orion made his way to the bus and we made our way to sign another year's lease on the Big House. We've come to view the river in the basement more as a water feature than an obstacle or nuisance. I made it to campus long enough visit with a student and then we were off to Overland Park! We rarely make it to the city, which is a shame- there are so many fun things to do there! And despite our limited visits, we've decided we really like the Overland Park area a great deal! We first explored the area when we took Orion to Children's Mercy South and were looking for Asian markets. We have since expanded our trips to include book stores and now the Overland Park, Costco!

Our first stop Friday was the Happy Dragon on W 103rd Street! This small Chinese restaurant was suggested by one of John's Asian work-study students in the computer lab. There was a line out the door to get a table! The buffet was simple, but wonderful! My favorite was Butter Shrimp! How can you go wrong with two of my favorite things? Yum!

From there we made our way to Half-Price Books on Metcalf! I love that store! (Thank you Sal for introducing me to HPB!). The store sells new and used books! I was so excited to find three of the Foxfire books for my collection! I also found a couple of lovely children's books and some Hello Kitty thank you notes. Their stationery prices are wonderful!

Then we stopped at Ambica Foods, an Indian Market, for spices, tea, and samosas! But we were still so full from lunch that the samosa were placed in the cooler for another time! Next was the Oriental Supermarket, a Korean market, where we picked up 25 pounds of jasmine rice, super-thin, sliced rib-eye for bulgogi (Thank you Tree and P.D. for introducing me to that wonderful Korean dish!), and the largest bag of Shrimp Crackers (Orion loves these shrimp flavored chips!) I've ever seen! Around the corner was the Indian Emporium where we bought 15 pounds of Basmati rice, more spices, flat breads, and other tasty treats! This store has a clothing section that I often walk through and drool over. They do not have my size, but they do have some lovely saris and salwar kameez outfits. I would have to say my favorite part of these stores, however, is the smell! Walk into any of them and your nose is greeted by the warm smells of cumin, clove, coriander, fenugreek and more! Yum!

Last on the list was Costco! I was already getting pretty tired and knew I might have to hit the 'hard stuff' (Read: Coke with caffeine and sugar) to make it through the warehouse! Last spring my friend, Ruth, purchased me a Coscto card for a belated Christmas present! Last summer I made three trips to Costco to purchase staples for the pantry and freezer! I didn't have to buy toilet paper until spring this past year! While I hadn't planned to visit Costco till summer school started, I had several coupons for items that we use on a daily basis! We really raked it in! We spent a lot. But we saved $89 with our coupons! And we didn't buy anything we don't regularly use! Some items to come home with us included: a case of canned corn, a case of green beans, a case of black olives, toilet paper (of course!), 96 pounds of Iam's dog food (I had $10 off coupon, limit two- so that was $20 of savings!), 6 months of Claritin (another coupon opportunity, and I'm wishing I had purchased 12 months!), batteries, bagels, brooms, and other assorted things. We were both exhausted when we walked by the cat litter (40 pound bags of Fresh Step) and John shook his head, "no room in the Kia." So we headed to the checkout counter! After loading the car and proving, once again, that the Kia was bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, I returned for two bags of Fresh Step! It is $7 for an 18 pound bag at Wal-Mart and $10 for a 40 pound bag at Costco! There's no hard math involved!

It took us about an hour to return home and another hour to unload the car and put everything away! The best thing is that I received another book of coupons for Costco for later this month BEFORE this trip so I knew not to purchase paper towels, Zip Loc bags, and other items on the original list till our next visit when I can use the coupons! Hooray for Costco! And thank you, Ruthie (again), for my first year's membership and turning me on to Costco!