I’m doing the same....looking but not buying. Nordstrom is having their big sale. A friend knows how much I like Eileen Fisher clothes for travel so she made sure I knew about the sale. I looked but didn’t buy. I don’t see us traveling any time soon.

Now, wine...that’s a totally different matter. The liquor store didn’t have my favorite or my second favorite, so I ordered a mixed case and let them pick within a given price range. The first bottle started off meh but got better with a little breathing.

No clothes here, although I did buy a new pair of athletic shoes that are getting used on daily walks.

As a former chronic drinker, I've had to be especially mindful not to slip into past habits. And I have done well in avoiding that, but my sister yesterday mentioned she's enjoying a finger or two of good bourbon in the evenings. With our weather taking a cruddy turn, I may splurge on something warm and soothing like that.

I have been eyeing the new Seedlip n/a spirits. The flavor combos are interesting. Has anyone tried them?

@Feathers11, I’m intrigued by Seedlip! I like the flavor of many spirits, but I do not care for the effects. Plllog, Soho House in West Hollywood serves Seedlip based cocktails. When the world re-opens for business, I think you should do a little recon and report back! (I don’t know if West Hollywood is close to you, but it is in California, which automatically makes it closer to you than to many of us.)

Bbstx, I'm pondering buying their trio sampler. Still on the fence, and hope maybe someone here has some feedback. If I do, though, I'll report back.

LOL! Yes, Bbstx, certainly closer to me than to you. :) IIRC, close to Compumom.

Seedip is an interesting idea, especially for people who like gin. I don't have any alcohol issues. Just no cravings and I can do without the sugars of cocktails. A really good, homemade fresh margarita is delicious, but I'd rather have a diet Coke and a cookie or chocolate for my sugar. :) Good for you, Feathers, for keeping to intention.

I lost a skirmish in the shopping war today and ordered a bowl on sale. But it's a double walled stainless bowl which goes with my smaller outdoor serving bowls. And it was 40% off.

In the middle of my trying to effect this purchase, there was a thud on the front door. It was the wine. It may take forever to get a carton of eggs, but only a couple of days to get a few bottles of wine across 100 miles. Beautifully packed, btw. Good thing I opened the old bottle. It was getting a little too old. and the top of the cork (luckily not the bottom!) was drying out. It's so good!

Wow! If it is a gin type liquor, my curiosity really is piqued. I like gin, says the woman who has a French 75 in her hand now. I may have to spring for the sampler. On second thought, I think my niece lives in or near West Hollywood. Maybe I’ll just treat her and her beau to a couple of drinks and let them report back to me.

plllog, LOL re the wine getting there faster than eggs!

I don't know if it's specifically like gin, but all those botanicals reminded me of gin.

I hope the speed of the wine delivery doesn't mean that the place is hurting for business. I'm glad to have done my small part to keep them going. :)

sorry, I'm not far away from WH , but I'm allergic to gin! LOL I just received my first Instacart order from Costco. Of course they were out of paper towels, but I received all of the other items. Lots of glitches signing up on their site, but chatting with Customer service made it all better.

Pillog, where did you score that bowl? I've bought from Nordstrom and a couple of tops from JJill, but all were on sale. My big purchase has been my new washer and dryer after we rebuilt from the flood. Actually I got the top of the line models for the price of the one below. They wanted to sell during the showroom being shut. They were out of the model I requested, so they subbed these! I'm thrilled!

The bowl was from Horchow. Flash sale. The whole site has a 25% sale, which I think is ongoing. Notice, I bought a serving bowl. :) A hopeful kind of purchase.

Congratulations on the W&D! And on the Costco order.

I've used Instacart in the past, but it went through a time of not so greatness. It's gotten better again. I do like that when the delivery date is in the future, you can just keep adding items. :) Amazon doesn't let you do that. Also that you can watch your shopper adding items and approve of decisions and/or chat in real time. I got 4/5ths of my order if you include substitutions (which I chose ahead of time), and got everything important--the vegetables and the meat. I started it for multivitamins I can tolerate, and those were out of stock, but I found some lurking in the back of the cabinet, so no rush. The thing I didn't like was the separate service fee and delivery fee, but it's worth it not to go out.

I have food to cook and I have wine. :) And I've done so well provisioning the household, I've decided that in addition to what I've already been sending, I should donate as much as I'm spending on groceries to the food pantries. A lot of people around here are grateful to have anything decent to eat at all.

And I've done so well provisioning the household ...

SNAP. Did your arm just break patting yourself on your back? *grin*

I thot I was doing well today when I found a frozen bag [8 pieces] of boneless skinless chicken thighs for 2.99 ...

Dave, I know you're teasing, which is fair, but I don't get it. I was explaining my motivation, not congratulating myself. Better to tease me about the retail therapy of buying a serving bowl when it's likely to be at least a year before I'll be serving anybody.

Since I last ventured out, I've had three grocery deliveries from different sources, and one shipment of household cleaning supplies (not disinfecting) from a fourth grocery chain. There are things no one can get, but I've been able to get butter and eggs, meat and vegetables. I don't use a lot of milk, but I think the stores here all have it. I worked at it, and ordered ahead, but I'm still very lucky. Within 10 miles of here are so many people who don't have the resources, knowledge of how to play the game, or just plain don't have any money, and spend their days waiting in lines for handouts. The food banks have buying power and can get groceries, but they'll run out of money before they run out of need. Adding the grocery money to my donations is another way to count my blessings and help my neighbors.

Sure it counts!

And someone has to eat the ice cream before it goes weird...

I gave in to TEMPTATION and bought ice cream too. In a pitiful attempt at portion control, I bought the individual serving cups. Then I made brownies. So far, DH and I have managed to limit ourselves to one small cup of ice cream per day. Wish I could say the same about the brownies.

I lost a skirmish in the shopping war today and ordered a bowl on sale. But it's a double walled stainless bowl which goes with my smaller outdoor serving bowls. And it was 40% off.

I have a double walled stainless I love. I wish it could be filled halfway with water and frozen. It does keep cold things cold longer as it is. I can fill it with ice and place another smaller bowl in/on top. I kind of wish I could find an identical one a bit smaller.

Instacart is back up and running here. I can get a delivery date just a few days away but no needs now. They seem to be shifting the supply chain for many things like fish and meat from bulk for restaurants to packaging for groceries. Finally.

I don't think any treats or unnecessary goods should be denied. Especially if it helps companies bring in some much needed cash. We tried to support our local markets at first. The family run Italian market with a real butcher but they were a bit late to the mask wearing.

I would not hesitate to add any cooking tools to my shopping list but can't think of anything. I treated myself to Zwilling-on-line the past 5-6 years that filled the kitchen up-dates. (cyber Mondays) once a year.

Why can't you freeze your bowl with water? The one I just bought was recommended for frozen desserts. I hope that wasn't just ad copy blather. I chill my small bowls and the contents stay cool for a couple of hours even when it's hot out. If you look around, you might be able to find the size bowl you're looking for.

Since the beginning of the year, I've bought a few things for the kitchen, mostly frivolous. Before things got tight, I ordered a covered square aluminum baking pan from Amazon, for making heated pan cornbread. My cast iron frying pan was too hot. It's called "natural". So many pans nowadays have some kind of surfacing (which I hate! I have a few specialty pans with it and I don't like the outcomes of dark or treated).

I was checking on my "saved for later" while ordering and saw a cake safe I'd been looking at for a long time. It's a green that matches a lot of my kitchen decor, and tall enough (many pretty cake safes are too short), though small in general. Perfect because my big Wilton plastic one is huge. I loved that it was all enamelled. There was a notice that it was half off. I bought it! It was poorly packaged and the rim is a little bent, but the enamel is intact and at half off I didn't want to make a fuss. I'm choosing to think that the bent edge makes it easier to open, and gives it character. It's just a pressure seal, but has a silicone band to make it airtight. That was before Amazon was slammed, and they came from third party listers. Doing that brought an offer for the matching biscuit tin, and I got that too. :) I have a couple of cookie jars that aren't really practical. The tin is perfect.

So, I also have the bowl and the $100 Staub cocotte on the way. I think the little bit of retail therapy is good for the isolation blues, and we do have to keep the country working. Austerity from those of us who can afford to participate in commerce isn't a good thing no matter how guilty we feel about giving in to temptation, but I'm still not ready to buy clothes when I could be buying meals for those who need them. :)

I usually don't believe in the charity myth that says that no one should have anything but the basics so long as others are living in chronic need. Commerce creates wealth. Subsistence economies don't eliminate the poor, they just have less for everybody. But that's not what we have right now. We have a cessation of commerce which is temporary but preventing many from earning their keep. Here in Southern California, the cost of living is high and even for those who are getting the maximum amount of government assistance, it's not enough, and many don't qualify for that much help. So I'm happy with my small gifties to myself, and my luxury groceries like the wine but I'm happiest with putting most of my discretionary towards making sure others get fed.

psst, JC .... it's my first fake news ... ever

I could get used to this ... NOT

BW, which color did you get? It was tough to choose b/w the white and the turquoise...

LOL. You mean the pot? I have a lot of Le Creuset, mostly cherry and flame (orange). The kitchen is polychrome. I like the turquoise but it would clash terribly. So would their red. So I got the black. :) Neutral. And a resting place for the eye. I don't have a pot that size, so it'll be useful, in general, and I want to try the drip lid.

I was doing so well, not justifying any unnecessary purchases. I've spent quite a lot stocking up on food... sometimes overpriced. Even denied myself the Staub mentioned in another thread... Until a bit ago. Ordered some Lee Valley drawer dividers already planned in remodel budget and clicked on Kitchen items. Found a compost pail that will fit under my prep sink. Have been looking, but it could've waited. Free shipping did me in. I do not need to read about double walled ss bowls in my weakened state of mind! Lol!

I rarely order anything on-line (let me tell you about my ultimate f***ing chopper!)

I have been able to buy pretty much everything I need at Safeway and Food Max. We have had a search for TP (found the big packs were delivered at Big Lots on Mon and Wed here) We bought our 2 allowed (should have been per person, but didn't argue!), and haven't even touched those yet!

We're lucky enough to have moved into a house with a bidet, which helps with the TP issue!

We also have a freezer (wish it was bigger!) that we have stocked (before pandemic!) and a full pantry!

Be well, all! Nancy