Consumer Nation

What does the Fourth of July mean to you? Family, Cocktails, Fireworks, BBQ? For the CoJo household this year it meant spend, spend, spend! We thought that staying home over the long weekend would be a good way to save some dough, but, boy, were we wrong.

My defense? We were just doing our part for this great nation. The economy is in a downturn, jobs are being lost - what do people need to start doing? Spending, right? We were just being patriotic! We spent a month's salary for YOU, AMERICA!

Here's how it all went down -

Saturday - Pedicure for Corie - some festive red toes made my morning! Later that day, a little trip to Target turned into a furniture shopping outing (one day we will no longer buy all our furniture from Target or Rooms to go - one day...) Mama got herself a nice new bookcase for the living room to display her goodies on! Then daddy put it together. I think the Target bookshelf is happy to be reunited with his twin sisters, Target Striped Chairs and his brother, Target T.V. Stand.

We did manage to save a couple of bucks this Saturday, however, by dressing in the glorious colors of our beloved country and stopping by our local Chick - Fil - A for their free spicy chicken sandwich giveaway! This time we each got our own. Yum, Yum, Yum!

Sunday - Back to Target yet again. This time to buy a new grill that John has had his eye on for a while. It's very pretty and infrared so we can cook up steaks like the pros. And it was on sale. And J checked consumer report for reviews. And looked at 5 other stores to make sure we got the best deal. And we did. Thanks baby. We tried out some chicken breasts and veggies with Jon yesterday. Yum. Can't wait to try out the good stuff - some Texas rib eye!

Monday - A paid day off? What else to do but shop? I dragged my hunny all the way up 290 to the "Houston" Outlet Mall. It only took us about 45 minutes to get there. The place was jam packed with folks who had the same idea. The deals were good, not great, but we still managed to pump plenty of dough back into the economy. My favorite purchases were two pairs of running shorts, new socks and a cute pair of sneaks. I also can't wait to wear my bright green shorts from Banana Republic. Sporty, Spicy, Nice!



Tuesday - Now I know this isn't technically the weekend, but John John had a nice present waiting on our door step when we got home from running club this evening. He had ordered a new surround sound system and  Blueray player online a couple weeks ago and anxiously drove home each day to find it wasn't here yet. He is happily setting it up as I write this blog right now! Movie night at the CoJo house, anyone??

Though it sounds like it, it wasn't all shop and no play. We had a wonderful Fourth of July night. We brought our canned food over to the Freedom Over Texas celebration and got in free, enjoyed a concert by Pat Green and watched some great fireworks over the city. It was exactly what I think the 4th should be like. I even have the ant and mosquito bites to remember it by!

So all in all, it was a great weekend. I guess we are lucky to be able to have the money to spend like this once in a while. At a time when so many Americans are suffering and struggling, we sometimes take for granted how lucky we are to have good jobs, and yes I will admit it, live in this strong economic city that is Houston, TX.