Desperation...

During my spending hiatus earlier this year, I avoided going to any sort of big box store… Specifically, I stopped going Target (which is really the only big box store I ever frequent.) My underlying motivation for the hiatus was to purchase more mindfully -- to only buy items that were meaningful and lasting, embedded with history or some level of craftsmanship -- which is fundamentally at odds with the endless choices and masses of stuff I was obtaining during my frequent pilgrimages to Tarjay…

Post-hiatus, I still occasionally hit Target (old habits are hard to break), but I can honestly say the last time I visited Wal-Mart was over a decade ago during the aforementioned college-era rice and beans phase. (My feelings about Wal-Mart are a wholly different can of worms that I’ll spare you...)

But if you happened to be at the super Wal-Mart in Milford, Ohio at 10:00 p.m. last night, you would have spotted me trolling the craft aisle.

My “day-after” Wal-Mart guilt is going to result in a bit of long-winded justifying here…I’m in Ohio for work, and one of the promises I’ve made to Audrey is that I’ll return home with a little “prize” for her every time I go on a business trip. Obtaining said prize has been a bit of a challenge on this particular trip, as I’m not only stuck in a meeting room all day, but shopping options are pretty much non-existent. But (yep, you guessed it) there's a super Wal-Mart across the street from my hotel, and upon spotting it, I recalled Rachel’s post about the Martha Stewart collection now on the shelves. So there you have it…me, at a giant Ohio Wal-Mart late last night, with two completely bummed male co-workers in tow, searching desperately for Martha’s offerings, in order to avoid coming home empty handed tomorrow. Wow.

I have to say, Martha's stuff is pretty cute. (I’m not sure it's cute enough to get me back to Wal-Mart, but again another can of worms.) I picked up three different craft kits for Audrey -- the blue bird puppet above, a felt flower jewelry kit and a glittery butterfly mobile kit. I’ll report back on how easy they are for a 4-year old to make once we’ve had a chance to dig into the little projects this week-end. Stay tuned…