Wednesday, April 18, 2007

spt - the recap



back in the day, i used to get up at 5 a.m. to do the "friday after thanksgiving" sales thing. one particular year, as we were queued up outside our local target inhaling coffee and brushing the sleep from our eyes, we found ourselves in the company of a group of women who were obviously serious shoppers.

in my memory, there are 12 or 13 women in this group (although there were probably only 5 or 6). they were in their 20s? 30s? they were a group of friends who had obviously left their spouses and children at home. they had planned for this event with the precision of a military unit. this morning, they were huddled around a map of target (to scale!) tuning their walkie talkies and engaging in a strict calesthenic routine. (i'm kidding! about the calesthenics.)

they were first in line, and as the bright red doors opened to reaveal the great goodness of target on the biggest shopping day of the year, i was temporarily blinded by a 50% off sign! when i came to my senses, the shopping girls had dispersed, each with their "as-advertised" assignment. each girl was off to a separate department. (as you know, most targets are set up in similar fashion, with the departments fanning out amongst a larger aisle that runs around the entire store.

a little bit later, i was browsing the clearance rack in the women's department. in a flutter of limbs and multiple shopping carts, one of the shopping girls flew by, screaming franitically into her walkie talkie: I'M SHOOTING THE LOOP! I'M SHOOTING THE LOOP!

i haven't taken advantage of the "friday after thanksgiving" shopping in a while, but if i were to go, i would want all of YOU right there with me, shooting the loop! here's what we would be looking for, according to this week's spt posts:

first, we would make change for our $100 bills, because it can be tricky to wave those benjamins around!

then we would fuel up with our favorite beverage, and browse the www for our tride and true faves, or to check out some new stuff. we notice that our t-shirt has a bleach stain on it, so we change into a hip graphic tee.

then we're off to the mall (because we have some time before the afternoon carpool). on the hike from our car to shopping mecca, our sandal finally gives up the ghost. as we hobble into the mall, we catch a glimpse of our reflection and note that it really is time for a cut and color, and possibly a wax. (thank goodness we don't have to wear that hat anymore...)

we look so good when we leave the stylist's chair, that we might decide to brighten those pearly whites. so far, our virtual shopping bag is entirely empty of clothing! we're seriously thinking of heading home to our closet full of easy faves, but before we go, what the heck? we've wanted a new scent for sometime now.

back at home, we flip through today's catalogs, but we're simply not inspired.

just for fun, maybe we try on our old 'fat pants'. and then, since we're crafty girls, we decide that maybe it might be fun to make our own clothes made out of our personal wool stash. (seriously, go check out how these new image consultants would spend their money!!)

kudos to those of you who were able to spend "real money" this week! you got some really cute stuff (and your hair looks great, too!) thanks for doing your best to stick to our meager budget (i know many of you out there passed on some super expensive jeans!)

i'll see ya around the clearance racks!

23 comments:

Lucy said...

I think your recap posts are the "Friday after Thanksgiving sale". Can't hardly wait 'till the doors open!

Good one.

Barb said...

I love coming back for the recap - I'm sure it takes lots of time to be this creative with the summary - I appreciate it!

michelle said...

I always look forward to the recap too. I really enjoyed this weeks SPT.

I am Laura said...

Wow!! Great work putting that all together. What a fun SPT Challenge. You are so clever.

donna said...

I LOVE the recap post. Thanks for letting me join the SPT. It is so much fun. Have a great day.

carlo said...

awesome recap! i felt like i was right there shooting the loop. (hilarious!)

i love the tie back to spt'ers from all over the blogworld. you are a genius.

agree with lucy 100%-- your posts are like the big event...thanks for your time.

Mandy said...

fun recap. I liked the challenge, although I wasn't as creative as I had hoped to be. Too practical.

Angie said...

I always am excited to see what you come up with for the recap post. It is as much fun as the actual SPT challenge.

Darla said...

Lelly,
Thanks for posting on my blog. I was so excited... I would love to add you to my blog list.. Would you mind? I had an experience that I will never forget. I live about 20 miles from the nearest shopping stores, 100 from the mall but was up bright and early and at Walmart by 5:30 ..thinking I'd be safe ... OH MY GOSH..... The parking lot was full, I had to park a ways a way in another business's lot. I get in there... They were dressed in P.J's no hair combed, In Dinner attire all duded up & were running like the alarm had sounded. I was there for 1 thing only.... I reached the electronics ... had to literally grab & hold on for dear life praying nobody would take my item. I made my way to the huge lines at the front of the store, dodging people & carts.. Paid & left. I swore I would never go back on the day after & I haven't ... What an experience...

Chris said...

I like your clever recap for this week's challenge. You are very creative with that!

Elizabeth said...

Great recap as always. I love that target story, too funny. I don't think I will be able to go there again without thinking, I'm shooting the loop!

Amy said...

You are definitely the queen of clever. And I love how Lucy said it...can't wait 'til the doors open. I will admit to checking your blog quite often between Tuesday pm and Wednesday pm. Yay!

Buffy said...

Loved the recap. These are so much fun. This has made another day in my week exciting to have SPT. THanks!!

jenny said...

That was so great!! I can't believe you took so much time to do it. That was awesome Lelly! Hmmm whats in store for next week. Can't wait friend. And I would go shopping with you anytime. As long as you can stop to grab a diet coke on the way :)

Anonymous said...

outstanding and creative recap. thanks for taking time out of your life to keep us anxiously waiting at the door waiting for it to open so we can fly in and have a hay day!

Amanda :-) said...

Thanks for your recap again, Lelly. It's great to see how all the SPTs seem to 'flow' into each other so well. You make it look effortless, but I'm sure it takes a lot of thinking. Thanks.

Price Cream Parlor said...

Fun recap! Always a treat to see what you do!

Serendipity said...

As always, another fun SPT challenge. I love reading the recaps as much as I enjoy trying to come up with a post idea! (Thanks for taking the time to put it all together each week!)

Thanks for providing such fun challenges! You are wonderful!

Jill said...

I'm officially impressed! It's not like you haven't been doing a superb job reading all the SPTs and then writing the recap, but the way you did this one was crazy good. Wow!

katherine said...

What a creative way to explain the challenge recap! Love it!

melanie said...

I LOVE this recap! Great job! Thanks for all the work, it's awesome!! I love the creative writing. Very clever!

amy gretchen said...

love the recap. so creative you are.

Anonymous said...

hi lelly: this post really cracked me up, especially how you described the shoppers with walkie-talkies :)