back-to-school. AKA, shopping time *g*There is, of course, all kinds of shopping. And I'm a fan of most. There's holiday shopping. There's summer shopping. There's scrapbook shopping. There's the ever-blessed shoe shopping. There's... well, the list could go on and on, couldn't it?
But there's
nothing quite like back-to-school shopping. The fun of hitting the stores, scouring the sales for just the right shoes and the perfect skirt to go with that hot new blouse. Then there's the actual school supplies. I'm not sure if its the subtle kick of combining office supplies with the purchasers high. Or the crafty angle of finding so many ways to use office supplies when I scrapbook (like a two-fer deal). Or if its because they bring out all the good stuff in late August, filling the stores with cool new colors, toys and 'stuff'. But I love back-to-school shopping for sure.
Maybe its a writers thing? I've yet to meet a writer who doesn't go a little giddy when walking up and down the aisles of Office Depot, cruising the bright notebooks, the fun accessories and the always-necessary pen varieties.
A few back-to-school goodies are definitely in the nostalgia category. I seriously doubt I'll ever be in the market for a lunchbox again. But if I was, what'd be more fun than Retro Barbie?
And shoes. Oh man, the idea of combining my all-time favorite shopping delight, shoes, with the
thrill of back-to-school just got better. Check out these sneakers that look like one of those old fashioned composition books!! Right down to the lined paper design LOL. Gotta love it!
I think the back-t0-school shopping craze might have leaked over just a smidge in my recent Blaze, FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME. Its a class reunion story, so there's a huge hit of school nostalgia. Plus, there's that whole 'going back to see your old classmates and make a big impression' thing my heroine had going on. She didn't shop for the perfect binder, but she was all about finding the perfect outfit (which didn't quite work out the way she'd planned, since she ended up dressed as a dominatrix).How about you? Do you still get a happy tingle when you hit the office supply aisle? Does finding the perfect mechanical pencil fill you with joy, and do you have a specific brand of purple pens that always rocks your writing (or is that just me?) Does September bring Back-To-School memories for you? And are they good ones? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and I'll choose one random name to win a copy of any book in my backlist!!
25 comments:
September comes I think back to school. So of the memories are some not so good. I'm just glad I don't have to go back to school. I used to love picking out my school supplies though. The cute folders and notebooks.
I'm so glad it's not just me! I LOVE shopping in stationary (or is it stationery?) shops. I can go round Staples, and Rymans, and still think, 'OOh, look, a new stationary shop!'. I NEED a pink folder and some colourful post-it notes.
Ok, I with you guys all the way! I just love, love, love all things paper! I am a die-hard card maker and scrapbook fan.
That was always my favorite time of the year too shopping for school supplies. Oh, and college supplies too! Somehow, having that right pad of paper and folder made starting college and school all the more exciting! I would spend an hour or more deciding just the right one to pick! Am I nuts or what?
I too love going to an office supply (stationery) aisle or store. I could spend hours in there, especially in their clearance aisle. Office Depot has a deal where if you bring in your used toners/cartridges, they apply $3 each toward a gift card for you. In a three-month period, I had redeemed 17 toners to equal $51 on a gift card. (I had saved them for a few years, as I have a typing business and go through quite a few, plus my daughter was printing lots of things in colour during her college days.) Then when I went in to redeem it, what I bought went towards my next quarterly gift card. I LOVE those bonuses in life!
I too scrapbook and make my own greeting cards (complete with original poetry), so I love to buy stickers, acid-free pens/markers, etc. at these places. (Dollar stores are great too!) What a treat!
My 22-year-old daughter loves buying stuff for herself and others at these stores. She will buy the "good stuff" and then when she's done writing on one side, I eventually get the other side to write on! (Waste not, want not!) As a result, I rarely get to use "pretty" brand-new writing paper, but that's okay.
Yes, back-to-school supplies are cool too. I was thrilled beyond all get out recently that Office Depot had 200 pages of binder paper for 33 cents a package. I think I picked up 14 packages, even though I don't have any kids in school anymore! I use binder paper for so many things. For example, instead of buying a day calendar, I use one side of the binder paper per day to record all that my family has done for that day. There's definitely not enough room on a calendar to write all this stuff, and I certainly can't remember it all, so binder pages work well for me. (My kids know they will have a lot of shredding when I'm gone, but I DO go back and look stuff up several times a year, so it's worth it to me!)
Thanks for writing such a great blog that is near and dear to many of our hearts!
Hello Tawny,
Memories of school are not my favorite topic of discussion. I was a bit of a loner in school. However, I do love a good mechanical pencil and journals for my personal thoughts. Have a great day.
I LOVE office supplies. Especially notebooks and pens/pencils. I see them and I just can't help myself! It's like they have a gravitational pull... and then I start to pull out my wallet, too... when I become conscious again, I'm at home, surrounded by five bags from Staples, and broke.
Hi, Tawny!! Like Housemouse, I'm not sure I get a happy tingle thinking about back-to-school, but I do adore school supplies, office supplies, and stationery! Aside from battling crowds, I definitely enjoyed getting the kids their stash of paper, pens, binders, notebooks, and all that other good stuff!
ROFL - I love how many office supply addicts I'm finding here :-) There's nothing like it, is there? I'd give up shoe shopping (well, for a month or so) over office supply shopping.
I used to enjoy doing the school supply shopping when I was a kid and now I enjoy doing it for my kids. I remember how esciting it was to get one of those boxes of 64Crayola crayons with the built in sharpener. I still find it fun to think of all the variety of colors to use. The same with colored pens and pencils. They still give me a little thrill.
Now I get to help with my grandkids school shopping. I love it. We were in Wal Mart looking in the school supply department and they had 70 sheet notebooks for 15 cents and it was such a bargain I had to buy 10 of them. Then I bought pretty colored pens and mechanical pencils, highliters and sticky notes. You would think I'm in school. I love shopping for office supplies. A few months back my daughter and I went to a business expo and we picked up all kinds of pens, notepads, rulers,sticky notes and just about everything you could use in an office. I grabbed up as much as I could hold, then I got a bag and got some more.
Linda Henderson
Whoa, pens over shoes? That's serious, Tawny! ;)
*g* Fedora, pens are cheaper. But... yeah, its an addiction. I'm wondering if there is a twelve step program somewhere for office supply jonesin'?
We could all join :-D
Now that I'm not in school, I love shopping for supplies. I especially love Post It notes. I love the assorted colors and sizes. I remember when they only came in yellow. I still haven't got one of those fabulous Post It flag pens/highlights.
Hi, Tawny,
My Honey can't understand why I hit
the school supply aisles every year. I kind of think he questions this behavior because we have not had a school-age child since 1990! I feel it's partly habit after 23 years of school kids, partly for the grandkids & partly because I donate the rest to our church's
backpack program.
Pat Cochran
Oh man, post-it notes. Pure heaven. I have some here in sort of a rounded shape, with quote marks on them. They make me giggle LOL
I have another pad of post-its that are shoes (go figure).
I don't know if guys get it -the whole office supply addiction.
Then again, I don't get the tool aisle addiction myself, so I figure we're even. My husband can spend as much time in the nut/screw/bolt aisle as I can in the pen aisle.
Back to school was long ago for me. I hated having to buy all the supplies an new clothes--I AM NOT a shopper.
Estella, from the response here, I'd say you could easily find a few people who'd be more than willing to hit the office supply store and shop for you ;-)
It's not really the back to school feeling that I like, it's the shopping itself that I like. lol I love it that I have so many nieces and nephews now that my daughter is an adult that I can still go buy a bunch of school supplies for and send to them. I just like the shopping and while I'm shopping for them I can always find a little something for myself. lol
I love office supplies, especially when you can get matching stuff, you know, like purple staples to go with your purple stapler. I could go on, I get gaga over fine tip pens in different colors.
My 10yr old daughter loves gel pens and journals. She has a collection of journals, its so funny. Hmm..I wonder where she gets it from.*giggle*
Every year I walk through the back to school aisle at WAl-Mart and always find something I need or think, Jeesh, wish I'd had that when I was in school! :)
Fun blog today!
My FAVORITE thing to buy for back to school was shoes and jeans though. Always knew it was back to school when I had those two new things.
Oh man, you had to mention purple staples. I have a whole collection of colored staples. I justify it by saying they are to use in my scrapbooking, but thats such a bunch of bunk LOL. I just love colored stuff.
Rachie, I hear you -the goodies are SO much cooler now!!!!
A huge thank you to everyone for sharing their office supply addiction -or resistance - stories with me today :-)
I had my daughter pick a number, and the winner is: Mary! Mary, if you'll drop me an email to Tawny@TawnyWeber.com with your shipping info and which of my backlist books you'd like, I'll get that right out to you :-)
Congrats Mary !
I love all this back to school shopping too... love it even more than my kids, the ons I'm shopping for ;-)
I loved school and miss it big time. I still do alot of bookwork and shop for kids so I like shopping for the supplies more than they do.
I love the Sharpie markers and pens. Certain pencils I like b/c of how htey feel when ur writing. I thought I was the only one that was picky about little things like that. LOL It's good to know I'm not.
Thank you! I can't believe I won. Tawny, I sent you an email with my info. :)
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