(no subject)

[titusnowl]

Today my mom and dad are at the big flea market in Stormville. I know because Mom called me at 9:30 in the morning to ask what colors of Fiesta Ware I have (cobalt, persimmon, cinnabar, turquoise, periwinkle, and sunflower, for the record), and whether I would rather have crimson, plum or pumpkin to round me up to an 8-place setting. Well, I want all of them, actually. But I already have a shade of orange, so I went with crimson, and I had to have plum because I have a footed serving bowl in that color. Dad also asked me whether I needed any glasses, as they had some polka-dotted ones that coordinated with the Fiesta, but we have so many glasses that we're running out of cupboard, so I declined. They also took notes on what flashbulbs Justin uses and what a fair going price is, and whether there was anything else we wanted them to look for. So I suppose I know what I'm getting for Christmas now.

My day is going to consist of the library, an antique shop, and Walmart. Woo. I had wanted to go to the farmer's market but Justin wanted to sleep in, so I let him. I have an urge to go to Dallas tomorrow - maybe check out the vintage clothing stores on Lower Greenville Ave that I've heard about, and go to the big JoAnn Etc fabric store, and possibly Sam's Club to buy six cows' worth of steaks for $10. The problem with that is I don't really know how to get to any of those places. The JoAnn is on a road that we got on before, when we accidentally drove to Dallas and decided we might as well tour the place while we were there - the road goes from downtown up through College Park and a really, REALLY ritzy neighborhood I forget the name of (it was like frickin' Malibu Barbie Mansions on every lot, and the GAS STATION was in a fancy building), and then we ended up getting on what I think was LBJ freeway, but if we'd stayed on that road it would have gone past the JoAnn. I still have no idea how to get to the Sam's Club in Garland (the closest one to our house) or where Greenville Ave is, though.

Comments

[thenixxi.livejournal.com]

Fiesta Ware!! i want some so bad.

ahh Dallas.

[chikkiboo.livejournal.com]

Keep an eye on Dillard's, they have awesome sales every once in a while; we got two of our 5-piece place settings there for like $15 apiece (they're usually around $30).

[up-a-creek.livejournal.com]

the road goes from downtown up through College Park and a really, REALLY ritzy neighborhood I forget the name of

Sounds like Preston Road, which goes due north from downtown. The general rule of thumb in Dallas (and Plano) real estate is that the closer one gets to Preston, the more valuable the property. It's not very close to The Land of Gar (I mean, Garland), though.

Email me if you want directions, details, or whatever.

[chikkiboo.livejournal.com]

Yes, Preston, that's it - the JoAnn's is in a shopping plaza called Preston Something, where Something is the other road that crosses.

[(Anonymous)]

I just looked on Jo-Ann's website and it's Preston Forest, which would be the first major street south of LBJ.

If you want to combine visits to Jo-Ann and Sam's, though, there are two better (IMO) options, one that's probably closer to you, and the other perhaps a bit more straitforward to get to; both of these involve taking 380 into McKinney, then turning south on 75 (Central Expwy):

Closer

• Jo-Ann (not a superstore) at Collin Creek Mall, on Alma just north of Plano Pkwy. Drive south on 75, exit Plano Parkway, turn right (west), pass the mall, then turn right (north) on Alma.
  
• Sam's on Spring Creek Parkway. Note that Spring Creek is farther north than Plano Pkwy, so you may hit it first or last, depending on the direction of travel. Drive south (from McKinney) on 75, exit Spring Creek Pkwy, turn east (left if you're coming from McKinney, right if you're coming from Plano); it's not too far from the freeway, on the SW corner of Spring Creek and Greenville Rd.*

Straightforward

• Jo-Ann Superstore at Stonebriar (or Frisco Village, whatever). It's on Preston (waaaaaay farther north than the store you were in) just north of Hwy 121. Drive south on 75/121, then exit 121 (the sign may say either south or west, since the road goes SW). Keep driving on 121 until you hit the biggest damn acreage of shopping you've ever seen. That'll be Preston. Turn right (north); beyond that, you're on your own for finding it among the warren of shopfronts, strip centers, and parking lots. I said straightforward, not easy.
  
• Sam's on Ohio Dr., which is one block east of Preston on 121. The store itself may not be right at the corner (it may be a bit farther south on Ohio).

* One of the jokes about Dallas traffic is that Greenville changes its name often, and at this intersection it's either Greenville, Hwy 5, or Ave. K (I can't remember). And Greenville Rd. doesn't lead you to the city of Greenville.

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, I just glanced at a map, and both options look about the same distance from the 380/75 junction.

[chikkiboo.livejournal.com]

It's unfortunate that Greenville Rd doesn't lead to the city of Greenville, because that would make getting there so much easier.

We'll have to make separate trips to Sam's and Joann's, as I require a superstore Joann's and would need to have Sam's be the absolute last stop so the meat wouldn't go bad. There's a normal one in either Rockwall or Mesquite, but normal Joann's stores are of varying quality and therefore untrustworthy; I've been in very nice ones AND in ratty little hole-in-the-wall ones, and I'm not willing to drive half an hour or more each way to find out this is a rat-in-a-hole - besides which the little ones rarely have any selection in the more sumptuous fabrics, and part of my purpose in the expedition is to choose a fabric look, feel and color to advise my mother in the manufacture of my wedding dress. I'm leaning towards a matte duchesse satin in candlelight, but it's important to be able to touch it first and get a snippet to mail to Mom for color-matching; the last thing I want is for my interpretation of "ivory" to be "extant scrimshaw on a narwhal tusk" and hers to be "brown hen egg."

I'm trying quite hard not to be too bridey as the wedding's still two years away, but the dress might take a full two years to sew, as simple as it is, because of Mom's various home duties and child-watching...

Still and all, tomorrow's going to turn out to be a Home Day. We'll be baking bread and reading, and saving the trip to Dallas for another time.