First, we went out to eat at Red Robin next to the Dulles Town Center. We only eat out once a month, even with gift cards, so its a big deal! Red Robin has some yummy burgers! I always get the Royal which adds bacon and eggs to a hamburger. It is delish! Doug got the 5 Alarm Burger and needed several refills on his water. We had a good time and didn't have to spend a penny since we used a gift card!
Next, we headed over to the mall because it would have been a nightmare to leave after dinner with the traffic the way it is on 7 at that time. I headed over to the Borders Express and tried to look at the adult books with Doug, but I was pulled away to the Children's Literature section. (I couldn't help myself!) I had a $25 giftcard from Christmas that I hadn't spent yet, so I started looking over all of the books there. I picked out some great ones! "Clementine" by Sara Pennybacker, "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan, and 3 "Dear Dumb Diary" Books. These books are by the same author who wrote the Franny K. Stein series. This is an excellent series that has gotten many of my "reluctant" readers into books. I brought them to my classroom today and showed them to my kids. I had three students with their noses in them for the rest of the day! I keep a digital library record of all of my books in the classroom. Today I went ahead and totaled the quantities of my list and I have 434 chapter books! I'm getting more from Scholastic this month. I love their $1 deals on books! I asked at the register and it turns out that Border's has a 20% teacher discount so I didn't even use my whole gift card!
Next, we stopped by a Starbucks to get one of the only things they have on their menu that doesn't have caffeine, a Caramel Spiced Cider. It was quite yummy! And OF COURSE, we used a gift card! Buying stuff at Starbucks makes us feel fancy.
After that, we headed over to Bath & Body Works to use up the rest of my gift card there. The foaming soaps have been on sale for the last while. Last time we went shopping, I only picked up "girly" scents, so I got one "manly" scent especially for Doug this time. It was some kind of rainwater scent. Now we have a whole bathroom closet worth of both manly and girly smelling soaps.
A little annoyance... the nicely manicured male behind the register asked for my phone number and email address. I said, "No Thank You" very casually and politely. He seemed almost offended at my response. It seems like everyone is trying to spam you these days! If I would like to get email or phone calls from you, I will look you up online and sign up for it, but don't bother me during every single transaction! It turns out I didn't actually finish off my gift card and I have 30 cents left on it. Is there some kind of charity that I can donate that to?
Yay for gift card dates!
I LOVE Red Robin!! And I totally get the Royal also!! Love it!! :o) And that is awesome that you guys can go out with gift cards.
ReplyDeleteHey! Somehow I missed that you had a blog and that you were following mine-such is my life at times! Sounds like things are going great for the two of you. Didn't you just build your house-and now you're moving to DC?
ReplyDeleteUm what? How do you get all these giftcards? What an amazing date! That's like a dream date right there, seriously. And I love love LOVE the royal at Red Robin! So many freakin' calories, and every single one worthwhile. :o) I aslo really like their shakes. Chocolate is my fave.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a fun time!