Ode to Target

Did you know there are some towns that don't have a Target? Yeah, I don't want to live there either.

I'm not sure what it is about Target that I love. Maybe because it's clean. It's laid out well. I know where everything is. I don't question the quality of the products. I trust the Target brands of ArcherFarms, Market Pantry, and Up & Up. I don't have to get a salesperson so I can buy razor refill cartridges. There are plenty of checkout people. The list could go on and on.

I do remember when Toledo, Ohio built its first Target. I was in junior high. This was monumental in my family and we went there after church every Sunday. Okay, not every Sunday but it seemed that way. I don't know how we knew about Target and why were obsessed with the place - I think we had one where we lived before or there was one in Milwaukee near my extended family. Either way, we'd been exposed and we knew the beauty of Target before the rest of Toledo. Yeah, we were cool.

Then Target topped itself with the creation of Super Target. Oh Super Target. If I could put the movie spotlight with the choir of angles singing on this blog over the words "Super Target," I would. I love it that much. A Target AND a grocery store? And generally reasonably priced? What's not to love I ask you?

We had a Super Target when we lived in Davenport, Iowa. When we moved in, Super Target was the closest store. The fact that we could do ALL of our shopping there was just the icing on the cake. The downside of the Super Target was that I had no idea there was a whole other world with stores and parks and schools if I turned the other direction out of our neighborhood. But who needed those anyway? I had Super Target.

I live fairly close to a Target in Charlotte, but Walmart is walking distance so I find myself at Walmart far too often. It's just so easy to walk to Walmart to get sunscreen or toothpaste or a lawn chair whenever I feel like it. However, I don't linger at Walmart. I have in my head what I want, I find, I buy, I leave. I don't go to Walmart to browse. I usually check myself out because it's faster. Walmart is convenience and nothing else.

Target, on the other hand, is a compulsion. Today, for example, I wanted to see Toy Story 3. We have a movie theatre in walking distance (the same place as Walmart) and a movie theatre a few miles away, in the same place as Target. I went to the movie theatre a few miles away because I knew I could shop at Target after the movie. Did I need anything? No. Did I want anything? No. Neither of these stopped me from going, spending 90 minutes browsing around, and leaving with a shopping cart full of stuff and $150 charge on the Visa.

This is just one reason I love Target today:

Vitamin Water Zero, 10 for $10. My husband likes this as an alternative to soda. I could argue with him about what else he could drink instead, but it's not worth it. Our grocery store is running a 5 for $5 special (so the same), but only had 3 flavors. Target had 6. AND they had 4 packs of two of the flavors for $3.84 so it was LESS than the 10 for $10 deal. Score.

Oh Target, I don't knew where I would be without you. Don't ever change. Except maybe to a Super Target...

As not seen on Bravo

I'm not a Bravo Housewife. Well, maybe like the New Jersey housewives if that psycho wasn't a part of their lives. (And frankly, if half of those women were in my life, I'd use this blog to seriously re-evaluate my friendships and my priorities. I'm sure I'll talk about the Bravo series in depth at some point.) My family is incredibly important to me and we're always there for each other. I'm sure Bravo would find me incredibly boring and drama free.

I am a housewife... but maybe not a traditional housewife. I don't wear aprons, I'm a pretty awful housekeeper, I don't have children to chase after, I make a lot of meals at Dream Dinners, and I rarely bake. However, I am married and I am home almost every day. I suppose I do most of the household tasks as well, when I bother, though my husband does his fair share.

I do work. I'm a doctoral student and I do research, but I work from my home. A home office (or spot on the couch) has its benefits, but since I'm new to Charlotte, I don't have much social interaction.

How did this happen? I'm a trailing spouse of an incredibly successful corporate accounting/finance guy. I love him with my whole heart. He is my partner in life and in life decisions, and I was happy to be able to make this move for him and for us. And though I might complain about it or seem resentful at times, moving to Charlotte really was the decision for our family of two. However, this relocation made me a housewife.

I think this transition would've been easier except throughout the last five or six years, I was barely at home. In addition to being a graduate student and a researcher, I also had other jobs working with students in a higher education setting. I loved my students and I miss them terribly. (I'm sure I'll talk about them at some point as well.) So being at home is a bit of a change.

I'm writing this blog to chronicle my adventures as a real housewife in Charlotte, and maybe hear from other real housewives in Charlotte or elsewhere. And hopefully, I'll make you laugh or sometimes cry, but more often think.