Good Stuff

Frustrated with the frustrations of this often-frustrating season, I began to blog about the ironic frustrations of the "most wonderful time of the year".  But then I thought, "Why babble on about bad drivers, slow check writers, and bad customer service?  Why not babble about some good stuff instead?"

So here we go - 

My Top 5 Retail Favorites of 2008...

5. 99 Cent Stores

Desperate to finish stuffing stockings, I ran into a 99 cent store and found lots of unexpected treasures.

4. Online Shopping

My wife has a favorite perfume.  Naturally, it's expensive, obscure, and (oh yea) discontinued!   It's really hard to find, but without the internet it would be impossible.  

And yea - She's worth it.  

3. Starbucks

Specifically - the drive thru at Brookhurst and Adams.  They're always pleasant.  They always get our drinks right.  They never scorch the milk.

2. Home Depot

Our tree dried up and died about a week before Christmas.  On a trip to HD for something unrelated, I mentioned this to an employee.  She said, "Bring it back and we'll give you a new one."  When I returned the dead tree, another HD employee apologized that we had to take down all our decorations and start over again, then he told me to take any tree on the lot.

1. Target

I love Target.  Clean stores.  Wide unobstructed isles.  Good employees.  A good selection of quality merchandise.  Reasonable prices.  Not as cheap as Walmart, but I'll gladly fork over a few more bucks because hey - I didn't have to go to Walmart.