More Extended Birthday Indulgences

 In Real Time it's The Day After my Birthday... and it was such a whirlwind Day that I'm spending Today not doing much except taking The Granddaughter to her Dental Appointment at Noon and perhaps having Lunch with her, as is our Custom.  She Treats me to Lunch for taking her places she needs to go so that she doesn't have to Learn to Drive.  Her Car works well now but she still has serious Anxiety about Driving so it's best she doesn't until she feels ready, if ever, to.  She wasn't here for my Birthday so perhaps she has something Planned to Celebrate it with me Today instead, I just don't know?   She and Rusty had Bought me Pressies early for my Birthday and presented them already, so I don't expect more. 

 She was too excited to give them to me to wait until the 16th.  *LOL*  She reminds me of my Mom that way.  Mom would be chomping at the bit to give you Presents earlier than your Birthday or Christmas... or any Special Occasion actually.   She'd hint constantly, you'll never Guess what I got you?   And then, if you couldn't Guess or wouldn't Guess, she'd just HAVE to then give it to you early, becoz SHE just couldn't stand it to have to wait!  *Laughing still at how it became a Family Inside Joke*  Mom's Birthday was the 5th of July and I can't tell you how many times I got my Mid August Birthday Gift on HER Birthday coz after she got her Pressy from us, well, she had mine tucked away and I'd just say, it's Okay Mom, you can just give it to me now if you want to.  *Ha ha ha*  Mom gave Great Gifts BTW, it was her Love Language for sure.

My Love Language is Gifts of Service, pretty sure, if you do something Nice for me, it means a lot, no matter how small a gesture you thought it was.  The running Joke with me is the Kids AND their Friends vie to do something Nice for me so that I'll then say, "Now, YOU'RE my Favorite!"  *Bwahahahahaha*  And then the next Person tries to Top THAT so that THEN THEY are my Favorite, and so it goes and it Works very well for me and they all find it Fun, Amusing and Humorous as a Competition to be my Favorite for a Minute.  *Winks*   Who doesn't like to hear that YOU are their Favorite?   Even if it's done and said in Good Humor.  They're ALL my Favorites and they know it, but they enjoy Hearing it Individually all the same.   And every one of their Friends enjoys it as much as our own Kiddos do, so they try to Top my Kiddos in competition of doing stuff for me.  *LOL and Winks* 

I'm Sharing some of the Halloween Merch I trawled around various Stores to look at.  They had some enormous Decorations this Year, I don't know where folks Store something that large, probably Renting Offsite Storage for it coz it would take up a LOT of Space at Home to Store anything that enormous.  Some was inflatable, so, would deflate to Store, but you'd need Climate Controlled Space to adequately protect this kind of serious Investment, they're not cheap.   This Skeleton Horse was Lifesize, the actual Size of a Horse!!!   And I've seen full Sized Pirate Ships with Lifesize Skeletons, Inflatables that are as tall as a House!  There was an inflatable Black Cat at this Store that was bigger than a Bus and taller than a House!!!  I don't know how many of those King Sized Decorations they Sell, they take up a lot of square footage of Retail Store Space to have just any out of the Box on Display!!! 

People were diggin' the early Halloween Merch being out, even Christmas Merch is already out in force actually.  But People were Buying a lot of the Halloween Merch already and enjoying the early Autumnal Vibe.  It's been so HOT, that I'm sure we're all ready for Fall already.   Autumn and it's Holidays are my personal Favorite Season and Holidays, so I can languish and revel in it early and then late too.  I don't get tired of it, but I know many people despise Holidays rolling out too early Commercially.  But, in a shitty Economy, I say, make your Money while you can in Sales, High Five if you Sell it all and don't have to mark any down in order to get it Sold.  I don't know what Supply Chain Issues due to Import Tariffs are ever gonna do, to getting it into the Country and to the Prices?  Even tho' deemed Illegal, we know he's still imposing them and not refunding to Small Businesses or the American People for the illegality of them.  Only very Big Corporations are getting any of their Money back that everyone is actually entitled to be Refunded. 

We know the vast majority of products are not made in America, they haven't been for as long as I've been Alive.  Used to be Made In Japan mostly when I was growing up, now most is Made In China... or other various Countries where they can make it more inexpensively than we can here.   I now always look at where everything is made, 99.9% of it isn't Made In America.   So we are very reliant upon our Trade Partners, even Companies that do make their Product here in America, they Source a lot of their Supplies to make it from our Trade Partners abroad.  Farmers rely on Imported Fertilizers to grow their Crops, things like Potash that isn't Sourced locally.  Not to mention what isn't Grown here locally either and are Food Sources we receive from our Trade Partners.  And let's face it, this Administration has not been Kind nor Decent to any of our valuable Trade Partners and staunchest Allies, it's disgraceful and shameful.

All of these Halloween Props were really Cute, but so Big and so Expensive, I wouldn't be a Player, but enjoyed seeing and Photographing them for Blog Fodder.   This Haunted House one with the Ghosts, for example, was damned near as tall as me and is Resin!   I may Sell Off some of my Halloween Decor that I don't use so much anymore.  We still Decorate more for Halloween than for Christmas, especially Outside, but, there's some I'm not Decorating with and would prefer to have the Cash during the Holidays.  So, I may start bringing it in now to our Showroom and on top of my Locked Case, especially big Halloween Blow Molds.  They Sell very well and aren't that abundant, especially Vintage Halloween Decorations.  So they can fetch a really good Price.  So Scouting what is out there now also helps me know what isn't out there that would entice my Buyers.  I always try to make a small Seasonal Holiday Vignette of Products to Sell.  Some Vendors do their whole Space in Holiday Merch, which can look great but be risky if that's all you're Selling.

Princess T did take me out for Lunch at "Wildflower Bread Co." after her Dental Appointment.  She can't use her Insurance except for Dental Emergencies, AHCCCS doesn't provide preventative Dental Work for Adults 21 and over, which is ridiculous, you have to get a Dental Emergency to be covered.  But, then I remembered she couldn't get her Wisdom Tooth pulled under AHCCCS either unless it got infected.  She'll have to pay $150 for Cleanings/Exams/X-Rays but she can still go to her Pediatric Dentist, so she said she'll budget to do that twice a Year.  We had Soup at Lunch, I had the Potato Cream Cheese and she had the 12 Vegetable, with Rosemary Sea Salt Bread and Butter, and Lemonade.  Then we went to The Mall, and she bought me Two Fugglers for my Birthday and Four of my Magazine Books at "Barnes & Noble".  They had a Sale where if you bought one at Regular Price the 2nd one was 50% Off.   So I got "Where Women Create", "In Her Studio", "Daphne's Diary" and "Somerset Halloween".

These are called the Baddies Line and have Bling on their Grills and the one has a Tongue Piercing.  *LOL*   I couldn't decide which I liked best so she insisted on Buying both for me... Awwwww, she's so good to her Gramma!!!   We had a lot of Fun at The Mall, she got the Plush Anime Character below at "Spencer's" for herself and some smalls of Anime stuff at the place she got my Fugglers at, which specializes in all Japanese Import Collectibles and Snacks.  It was a larger location than the one at the bigger Mall so she's glad we went to this smaller Mall nearer Home.  We actually went coz we thought it said they'd opened a "Spirit Halloween" Store in there, but we never found it, Online it said it was Open, I think it was probably in a different location near the Mall???  There's one by the Restaurant we ate at too but it's not Opened yet.

 

I thought the Cat Butt & Balls Pillow at "Spencers" was hilariously Adorbs, but not for $29.99.  {See Below} It would have been Cuter if the Cat's Face was on the other side, but it had the Cat Butt & Balls on both sides.  She'd of got it for me if she thought I really wanted it, I didn't want her spending that much on a Pillow that my infantile sense of Humor thought was too funny.  *LOL*  She got another Playboy Bunny and Bling Belly Ring while there too.  And when we stopped by the Antique Mall to put some Merch in, a VERY VERY Handsome Guy was Staring at her with his Mouth agape, like he'd just seen the Gal of his Dreams!  *Smiles*  I noticed, she didn't, I Smiled at him and he looked embarrassed that I'd seen him Staring so hard at my Granddaughter as we walked to our Truck.  He was just getting out of his Car to go into our Antique Mall, he finally got her Attention and said, "You really are in Shape...", {He was VERY in Shape}... and she Smiled, a bit at a loss as to what to say to that, and just said Thank You.  She gets embarrassed easily if someone she doesn't know says anything to her.  He was Drop Dead Gorgeous, Tall, Dark and Handsome, Movie Star Handsome, so we talked about it inside the Truck coz he made an excuse to walk back to his Car and look at her again as we drove off.  *LOL and Winks*

She and I always have a good time going out together on our Girls Day Outs.  We Smack talk Shit about People we see and Laugh a lot, it is quite the Human Sideshow out there and Characters galore.  *Ha ha ha*   Plus, she gets a lot of Jealous Shade thrown at her by Random Females, who give her Hard Looks and then we Laugh about that too.  We don't Care, I guess some Girls would get upset about someone doing that, we find it to be hilariously insecure on the part of whose doing it.  Actually our Antique Mall and the Retail Mall were super busy for a Monday, which was really Odd.  My Sales were spectacular for the Two Days of this New Pay Period, I'd Sold some more expensive Merch and a $30 Pokemon Jiggly Puff Card out of our Locked Case.  I put in a Pokemon Plush Toy called Tapu Lele.  I actually Scored a Trio of them, New Old Stock with original Tags, so I'm putting them into Inventory one at a time. {See Below}

The Showroom, in spite of Strong Sales, wasn't tore up so there had been respectful traffic thru there Shopping.  So, we didn't have to spend any time running damage control and tidying up, which was nice, coz we had things to do and wanted to be in and out in a hurry.   We visited with a few of our Vendor Friends is all, after dropping off the little bit of Inventory I'd Priced.   I Closed last Pay Period quite Strong for Summer too and will get a decent Check.  *Whew*  It's very sporadic tho', you have hit and miss with Sales now.   I heard Strawberries will be next to be hit with High Import Tariffs and about 90% are Grown in Mexico.  There are American Suppliers who they claim were complaining they can't compete with the Importers, but, mostly they only supply a small amount of the Product and only in a way more brief Season than they grow them in Mexico. 

 So, that will only serve to drive Prices way up for them and people won't Buy what they can't afford to.   I avoid anything that has escalated in Price, I don't Need it so much to overpay for any of it.  So, then they lose my Business.  If it's Perishable, and they lose too much Business coz the Price is too jacked up high, they end up with spoilage and waste when it goes Unsold.   So, I may buy some while they're still reasonable, but will not buy any once they jack the prices up.   If every Consumer did that for things not Essential, then it would convey a strong Message.  Same with Interest Rates, while they're too high, wait for any major purchases that require financing.   If Demand is low and Supply remains too high coz nothing is getting Sold, the Price will come down.  Likewise, if Demand is too high and Supply is too low, prices go up... Economics 101.

I hadn't been to a Retail Mall in a long time, so I was Surprised that most Shops are Selling Shoes and Hats... or Urban Streetwear... so the Demographic Shopping is definitely not Middle Aged or Seniors at all.  They're conspicuous by their absence and it used to be at Malls you'd see a wider Demographic of Shoppers and of all Age Groups.   There would be few Stores at these Retail Malls I'd even walk into, and not just right by without a second look, nothing in there for me or my Demographic of Shopper.   With my Granddaughter of coarse I go into the Shops her Generation Love and we walk around and she tells me about all the Merch since I know nothing about any of it.  *LOL*   Below were some Adorbs Plush Ice-Cream Cats called MOFUSAND Ice-Cream.  They're so Cute but Expensive, Princess T doesn't Collect them so had no Interest.  Online the Price Point is even Crazier, even for a Keychain Plush of it!!!  OMG!!!

But she Schools me on these Characters so that if I see any For Sale Secondhand, at some Chazzas, I know what they are and what a Profit we can make off them Resale.  You don't know what you just don't know.  I have to confess, they're so damned Adorable, that if they were Cheap, I'd Buy some of the Keychain Plush Kittens seen Above and have a Collection of 'em.  *Smiles*   And when I Unboxed my Fugglers I realized the Pink Rabbit also has a Bellybutton Piercing!!!  OMG, Adorbs.  {See Below}   I know, I'm such a Big Child!   I still splash thru Puddles and Skip, what can I say?  *Smiles*

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The Extended Birthday Indulgence was fun... Dawn... The Bohemian