Aruba Blue + Grocery Blues

I was paging through the newspaper on Canada Day at the store (seeing as how I had *a little* time on my hands) when this full page ad in the Shoppers Drug Mart flyer caught my eye:

notice the name of the nail polish colour??!

Hey hey! Only my favourite hot spot on earth:

file photo from my trip, march 2011

Some Essie-brand Nail Polish Colour-Namer must ♥ Aruba to pieces, too. Question: are they referring to the blue water or the blue sky? Both are fantabulous shades of gorgeousness.

As you see, the nail polish is available for $8.99…hmmm, remember the $10.11 I still have left on my Adidas Amex card? And after I tell you this next little story, I really think I’m meant to use it on “Aruba Blue“….

Inspired by “Aruba Blue,” (and the thought of writing this blog post), I decided to slap on some nail colour give myself a manicure last eve. Of course, my colour choice had to be blue.

I no sooner got out the little bottle of colour and look what happened:

i really am a full-fledged blogger now: for the first time ever, i thought to grab my camera before starting clean up

the crash 'n' smash happened so suddenly, i swear gremlins were at work...

Wah. (For the record, Wet ‘n’ Wild  – at about $3 a bottle – makes the best nail polish, in my books. I would choose it any day over OPI or another $$ brand. Doesn’t chip easily and dries super-quick).

Luckily, my pause to snap photos did not impinge on my ability to wipe up the (quickly drying) spilled nail colour. No harm done. I switched to my back up blue:

i have a whole series of metallics: this blue, a silver, a pink and a light purple

very summery. shall we call it "lake huron blue?!"

So, I’m feeling severely tempted to go pick up some “Aruba Blue” later today. I’m still chuckling because I’ve never dropped a bottle of nail polish in my life – it’s a sign!!!

Although, after you hear this next story, you’ll agree that I should be putting my $10.11 towards groceries…

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Following Holly‘s lead, back in May, I conducted my own May Grocery Challenge which basically consisted of me tracking grocery expenditures and also trying to use coupons. I loved doing it! For June, I kept up the practice of saving all my receipts (and searching out coupons). I didn’t tally my money spent until June 30th.

Ho-ly. S*#& !!!

There is no way in H – E – double hockey sticks that I am going to tell you the final result. I was floored, completely and utterly (yes, that is double adjective usage, but that just shows my shock level).

I’m singing crying the grocery blues.

Now, of course, I’m going to justify my expenditure. Here goes:

• I lump food, vitamins, toilet paper/bathroom necessities etc all together as “groceries.” So what I spent is not for food, alone.
• I did a lot of stockpiling this month (except for coffee! Still good from May’s stashing!) when I found oft-used items on sale – maybe I over-stashed, but I can’t contain myself when I know I need and will eventually use an item. This month, I loaded up on: ~toilet paper ~peanut butter ~almond milk ~Puffins ~vitamins ~contact solution ~eye drops ~stevia ~tinned tuna, salmon, and shrimp – – > I am set on these items until 2012 for a while, I sure hope.
• I refuse to go without fresh produce. Apples, lettuce, avacados, zucchini, cucumbers…these items are on the “daily edibles” list, and I will pay whatever I need in order to have them on hand. Sadly, you can’t stockpile fresh veggies and fruit. Happily, the grocery gods are smiling on me this coming week: both lettuce and avacados are on sale at Valumart!

With any luck, all this bulk-buying in June will impact the July totals (I do like tracking my bills, so I’m going to keep doing this). We shall see at the end of the month!

Favourite nail polish brand and/or colour? I like black, but it’s too heavy for July, IMO. And, Wet ‘n’ Wild is the way to go, friends, trust me.

Did you do any stockpiling in June? I’m now very low on storage space. TP is piled in the guest bathroom shower!

Happy Sunday, all!

Oh – I’m patting myself on the back because here we are at July 3rd and I have not spent one red cent on groceries this month (although I will have to make a run to Valumart later this eve).