This morning, promptly around sixish, we, Mom, Dad, and I, got up and started on our adventure. After driving for some way the time for breakfast arrived. We stopped at McDonalds since I greatly desired to eat at McDonalds and get the little toy which comes with HappyMeals. We stopped at McDonalds and Dad ordered me a breakfast happymeal. When the HappyMeal arrived I was a little bit… um, let me wait a moment before stating my feelings on the matter. I had never consciously ordered a breakfast happymeal before and I did not know what sort of happymeals could be ordered. At this McDonalds there was a choice between flapjacks and a sausage biscuit. My Dad had ordered me the sausage biscuit. I do not like sausage very much, nor do I like hash-browns. However I was in high hopes of having a delightful toy when low and behold… It was the boy toy!!! I had specifically stated several times while Dad was ordering to inform the person taking the order that it was to be a Girl happy meal as that would mean a Barbie toy.
Hypoglycemia from not having eaten breakfast yet and the prospect of eating a breakfast I did not like the taste of combined with the fact that the toy was not the one I was hoping for and wanting probably would have caused me to burst out in tears around this point. I certainly felt like crying but I wanted to show my self control and not cry so I didn’t. And not crying proved to be quite effective because Dad, after ordering his breakfast at Jack-in-the-Box, actually drove back to McDonalds(since I had explained about their being two different sorts of toys offered) went in and exchanged the tiny hot wheels race car for the GIRL toy. And the toy was sooooo nice. A little white plastic polar bear perched atop a glittering pink plastic rock formation which had a button in it which caused the top part to open and reveal the huge purple plastic ring inside. Oh so very nice it is(I got it out to describe it. The polar bear has a very happy grin) And that, combined the fact that I had now eaten something and Dad had gotten me some scrambled eggs at Jack-in-the-Box made my happiness level rise. There is a Moral to this story, in fact to the story of the whole day. When at first you are disappointed, happiness often follows. But that still doesn’t make me like sausage.
We drove on now towards the Dollmarket purposing to arrive early for there was to be a great sale this day in the clearance room, half off the already greatly reduced prices! When we arrived there was already a slight lined formed and by the time the sale room opened about fourty-five minutes later there was a line of great length waiting to go into the clearance store. I took a picture of this, though you can’t see that the line extends much further than what you see.
Due to restrictions limiting the amount of people in the store at one time in case of a fire, not everybody was let into the store at once. Fortunately we got in with the first batch. I don’t think I could have stood the anxious and nerve-racking wait outside while everybody else got the good stuff. As it was, even though I was the seventeenth or eighteenth person to go in I arrived just in time to see some of the best bargains before they vanished. Carts were being piled high and I took this picture when Mom pointed out this shopping cart. This picture is slightly out of the sequence of events as I took it after I had been in the sale room for some time but it works better here than elsewhere.
I had paused briefly to grab without looking at it a doll and place it in Mom’s cart before rushing to the fashion doll section. After looking there I risked nothing being still their when I came back and departed to go to the Magic Attic doll section. After looking there, though not picking up anything, I went over to the magazine section. The last time I was in the sale room I had found a really nice magazine on doll costuming and I was hoping there might be some more of them.
It was here that the general disappointment of not really finding something spectacular that I wanted on sale finally revealed itself to me, but I brushed it off and ignored it for a few more minutes but it came back after I had walked around a bit more. I stopped to look at the doll I had picked up earlier and I found that she was not very pretty and I didn’t like her. So I put her back and somebody else got her. I picked up another doll but Mom didn’t like her and just about then I began to wish I had taken Mom’s advice and drunk some milk before entering the sale room. I was about to go out to the car since I felt on the verge of tears but just as I reached the door I saw the line outside waiting to come in and I knew that I would have to wait in that line to come back. I turned around.
The main cause of my panic was that I was not taking advantage of the huge savings around me. I really like sales and getting things on sale but the common practical sense I’m trying to develop was telling me that I didn’t need to buy things I did not need and would not enjoy or use much just because they were on sale. I wandered around for a bit more searching frantically for things while my emotions warred between wanting to take advantage of the sale and my reasoning that I didn’t need the stuff I was looking at. Finally however I was able to briefly appease my emotions by selecting a hat for one of my dolls, a Magic Attic doll outfit, and a little porcelain angle who had a price tag of $3.00 which meant that half off she was $1.50. After picking her out I felt better and more appeased for she was an excellant bargain and would be useful as I could put her on one of my shelves and she would look very nice there. As she does.
As Mom was going to stand in line and as she was paying anyway I left the Clearance room and went out to the car. I relaxed for a few minutes and drank a good deal of milk and attempted to compose myself. It’s a lot harder to compose oneself when one has Hypoglycemia but milk really helps combat it. And something else really helps too, something that I was about to encounter… I walked into the main showroom of The DollMarket.
For me, describing the Scope and Grandeur of The DollMarket is probably like Bilbo Baggins describing the Smaug’s Horde. If you have never read the Hobbit then I will simply say this, The DollMarket is very impressive and very huge although Smaug’s Horde, with Smaug the dragon on it, is, or was, probably more so. However, I did take a picture of approximately what you can see from the entrance.
I quickly hastened to where I probably get the most joy and happiness, the fashion doll wall. Here is one third of it.
I started quickly, I wanted to reach the Tiny Kitty section, but I soon slowed my pace. I’d seen most of the dolls before and I’d seen pictures of the rest but seeing them in person made things much more interesting and enjoyable. I wandered leisurely down the fashion doll section looking at Gene, Tyler, and quite a few others until I finally reached Tiny Kitty, and there I stopped for quite a long while. Here practical sense was telling me that I played with Kitty’s a lot. I made movies with Kitty’s. I made clothes for them, so here I could indulge. And the bargain hunter in me was stating that three of of the Kitty Dolls were excellent bargains.
As usually happens in stores where there are commissions a saleslady soon joined me. She liked Kitty’s too and while waiting for Mom to show up I got a chance to show off and I showed her some pictures of some the outfits I’d made for Kitty. She really liked them and I was quite flattered. My spirits were rising rapidly and Mom arrived soon after.
We looked at the dolls and I pointed out several things of note. The saleslady had already written down one doll I had great assurance that I would be getting, a basic redhead. Then I pointed out to Mom the two Kittys who were greatly on sale and excellent bargains. I had not chosen which one I liked better, though I think I know what my choice would have been, so I was quite happy when Mom said the word, “Both” though I forget the other words in the sentence. I also got a set of three shoes for Kitty, my dolls being sadly lacking in that department. Then Mom chose a Kitty and we were able to pay attention to other matters.
The saleslady then led us down a display case and we were confronted by Marly Wentworth, Tyler Wentworth’s little sister. If you know nothing of the elite fashion doll world then you may not know who Tyler Wentworth is so in explenation I will say she is a little like a rather large Barbie only much prettier. Marly Wentworth is very new and though I had seen a prototype of her Mom had not consciously seen her before.
The saleslady’s talk was quite effective, Mom got a basic brunette Marly. And then… Well… She was very nice so… Suffice it to say that after a few more minutes of deliberation the quantity of the basic brunette Marly Wentworth was increased to two.
Then Mom got in line. She had a few more purchases to make than the ones I’ve mentioned and as the line was somewhat long I had time to look around a bit. Mom got through the line, made her purchases, and then it was time for a break and something to eat.
We ate at Subway and the main reason this is of great significance is that the Subway was located in the same shopping center as a Hancock Fabrics and after lunch, I had a six inch meatball sub on wheat, I went there.
I have been to Hancock Fabrics before and the last time I was there I found some great remnants for excellent prices. I went into the store with that in mind and after some searching I found the remnant section. I was looking through this when I heard an announcement over the radio system of the store that Hancock Fabrics was having special sale on McCalls patterns, all in stock McCalls patterns for $0.99 up to five patterns.
I did not believe my ears at first. I went to the pattern section at top speed as you might imagine and saw signs there, McCalls patterns for $0.99! Still not absolutely sure of this I asked a saleslady and found that yes, it was true. That was all I needed and I rushed to the pattern books and began looking up patterns. I knew just about every pattern of interest to me from doing quite a lot of pattern research on the web.
Now in case you are wondering about my excitement at seeing the patterns for $0.99 the retail price of the first pattern I selected was $16.95. So I was really, really, really happy though I was almost in a state of shock. I got five patterns, that being the limit for the $0.99 price. They are as follows: A Southern Bell Ball gown pattern, a princess seemed medieval gown with four sleeve options, a pattern with an oriental theme including a Ninja style outfit and a Kimono, A wedding dress in a very Elizabethan(Queen Elizabeth I) style, and lastly, but certainly not least, a pattern with Tyler sized clothing.
After finding all of these patterns, and they had in stock all of the patterns I looked for, and in the right sizes too! I went back to the remnant section after getting a basket to hold everything. I found a lot of very nice remnants for good prices and then, after looking at every single remnant they had, I wandered back towards the front of the store where I noticed something I was surprised to find I had not notice before, a seventy percent off sign.
At first glance I didn’t see much, it all seemed to be miscellaneous wedding stuff. Then as I glanced away from the neatly boxed veils I suddenly noticed TIARAS!!! Seventy percent off tiaras no less. So as you might imagine, I got one. It’s quite nice.
Though I spent some more time in Hancock fabrics I think I shall not discourse on it any longer as I have mentioned all that I bought. I was very very happy when I left there with my large shopping bag full of delightful things that were all on sale and very good bargains. Times like that make up for a whole lot of unpleasantness.
Mom and Dad meanwhile had been in a store that had excellent buys in the home decorating department and after our shopping in those two stores was done we went back to the Dollmarket to make sure we hadn’t missed anything.
Entering the clearance sotre we found that it was a lot emptier than it was when we entered it when it had just opened. I forgot to take a picture of it. Sorry. After a bit of looking Mom found some catalogues she decided to get and I found some nice doll belts for $0.20 and Mom and I each got one.
Then we went into the main showroom for a last look around. We looked around. My feet were beginning to hurt me greatly. We didn’t get anymore dolls or things in there because pretty much all of the dolls who begged us to bring them home were already in the car waiting for us.
So soon we were on our way home. On the way back we listened to the last two CD’s of an audio recording of “Pride and Prejudice”. It was very enjoyable. Jane Austin has a great command of the English Language as well as much Humor and Wit.
I was, and still am, very tired which is why this post is not much longer. Also I have a few more things to do this evening. I haven’t mentioned everything I did but I think I mentioned the highlights, though with less depth as I reached the end.
So here is the “General Aftermath” of the excursion though you can’t exactly see what lies inside the boxes. However as the boxes primarily contain dolls who will probably be being featured in many movies and who will probably be having outfits made for them and so forth, I think that you will be seeing them at some point, eventually…
So, I had a fun day! And I got a lot of good bargains and I think I’ll be enjoying them immensely. And my parents are very very very nice. And God is certainly very good to me.
