Purchases of the Week - April 10 - 24, 2011

I've been so preoccupied with the living room that I haven't blogged about other purchases that happened during the week. So here's a summary.

Waste-less Bags Variety Pack (6) - I was dissatisfied with the recyclable bags that are being offered at stores and I needed something that could hold a lot and be stylish to boot. When these arrived at the house, I wanted to return them because they were plastic. I thought they were fabric. I gave them a try though and was surprised at the strength and capacity of these bags. One bag can hold four 2 litre sodas. So I changed my mind and kept the set. We get a lot of compliments and questions about the bags when people see them. 

 
Purse Size Deluxe Coupon Organizer - A better alternative to stuffing coupons in my purse. Nate and I use coupons but not to the extreme stupidity as seen in Extreme Couponing. Some of the shit those people buy don't make any practical sense at all. 

 
Knocked Up - All around funny movie. I know people can't stand Katherine Heigle but she was good in this one. Bill Hader's short appearance as Brent was awesome. "You look like Jabba the Hutt dying." 

40 Year Old Virgin - A lot of things we loved about the movie. Man O' Lantern, a bag of sand, it's all about passion and public colonoscopy. The whole movie is a lot of laughs and cringe worthy moments.

Collapsible Clothing Rack: Commercial Grade - This is what started the whole purchasing of the week idea. We had a messed up cheap-o rack that had missing wheels. It was also lopsided and was standing upright only because it was so twisted that gravity didn't know whether to pull it down or up. We like to hang dry our clothes this way to prevent shrinkage in the dryer. I can't tell you enough about how awesome this new one is. If you have one of those cheap, plastic ones, invest in a steel commercial grade clothing rack. This will last us forever.

 

Kickboxer - Jean Claude Van Damme dancing. Not as awesome as his dance sequence in Breakin' but the "dancing" alone is reason in enough to make this a must buy. 

 
Land of the Lost - I honestly haven't seen this movie at all. The only reason I bought it is because it dipped down to under $10 and it has Danny McBride and Will Ferrell. I know it's been widely panned but it can't be that bad right? 

The Relic - A surprisingly good monster movie with actors that are not so familiar. I enjoyed the premise of it and despite some predictable elements to the plot, it is still a great movie for those lazy weekends.

Amazon Basics High Speed HDMI Cables - Since we don't have a receiver yet we needed some cables for the TV set up. These work just as well as the ridiculously over-priced Monster Cables.

Hunter x Hunter DVD Vol. 01 - I know right? A DVD set. But this is one of a few series' that I loved. More than Naruto or Bleach. I really didn't realize that companies have to re-buy a license to upgrade anime from DVD to BD. Some series' may never get a chance to see a blu-ray upgrade. HxH may be one of them. Which is a shame since it is a great series. 

XBOX 12 Month Gold Membership - I actually didn't have to get one. As a new XBOX owner, there was a deal that they offered when I plugged in my new system. I got my membership online for $39.99. I didn't pay full price for this card either but my next year's renewal is taken care of since I just saved the card. 

 
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition - I wanted a game Nate and I can play together. I just had to get this version that had all the downloadable content. We play at night when we have a couple of hours to spare. 

Plants vs Zombies - Highly addictive plus the disc comes with two other games that are just as bad.
Viva Pinata - Cute strategy game. Reminds me of Harvest Moon and Pokemon combined. Very simplistic and aimed more at children. I still like it though.

Corpse Bride - I like stop motion animation. I love the gray and blue colors and it's by Tim Burton whose movies I have always liked. 

 
Sherlock Holmes - I remember when Robert Downey Jr.'s life was a circus of drugs and embarrassing arrests but this man has the talent to be an amazing actor as much as to be self-destructive and he has truly raised himself out of the gutter and prevailed. Which is why I think Lindsay Lohan who has had so many second chances will never have the respect and acknowledgement that Robert Downey Jr. has achieved. She'll be recognized for her notoriety only and not for her artistic talent because she has none. Anyways, Jude Law kicked ass in this movie too. Very enjoyable movie and finally dipped down to affordable. Still waiting on Iron Man to drop in price. 

Clash of the Titans - Yeah I know. General consensus of this movie is that it is caca BUT it has Mads Mikelsen who is not only a sexy fiend but a bad ass all around. Sam Worthington isn't hard on the eyes either, he makes a great action hero but I find myself hoping he'll be more than just an action hero. He's got a lot of intensity without the prima donna attitude. Here's hoping he picks better movies in the future. 

Austin Powers Collection - All three movies in slim pack packaging. I hate slim pack cases. They suck. But the set dipped down to under $18 and I swooped in to get it. I can't believe it's been 14 years since the first movie came out. How time flies. It feels dated but still a lot goofy fun!

That's the lot of it I think for April. I did try Amazon Prime for a month but it didn't seem worth it. Not everything will ship in two days and I like having the option of cancelling an order especially if the price dips down. I could not do it with Prime as stuff is set to ship ASAP. So back to the old, long wait for stuff to arrive at the house.

Purchases of the Week - April 23, 2011

It has been a hectic week of bargain hunting and purchasing. The living room project more or less is done for the year. Too bad I didn't have enough funds to completely re-do the living room. I wanted to get new couches, side tables and a coffee table. I'll have to set it aside and do that project in stages.

Our nice TV stand finally has a TV on it. It was quite an ordeal and an eye opener shopping for TV's nowadays. Our original plan was to get an LCD TV. But the particular model we wanted was sold out everywhere as it was last year's model. We looked again at LED TV and it only strengthened our dislike with the format. The LED TV that can handle our gaming and viewing needs is available but for around $3000 it was not an option.

Dejected and tired we were leaving Best Buy when we spotted a display TV near the entrance playing The Incredibles. It was the scene where the boy was running over water and it was seamless! No motion blurring and deep colors. Nate suspected it might be a plasma and when he checked out the back it confirmed his suspicions.

Went back to the store and found this was also an older model about to be discontinued. No in-store had it in stock so I took a risk and ordered it online with white glove delivery service. I wanted it to come to our house in the best condition possible. The neat part about this is, I actually paid less than what I had set aside for the TV including a three year warranty and delivery. Total was around $1400.

There is some glare from the window behind me but we usually watch at night which renders it moot. During the day it is tolerable. I have replaced the curtains behind me with black-out type and it's closed at all times.

Samsung PN58C550 58' Plasma HDTV
Sony 3D Blu-ray Player BDP-S580
XBOX 360 250 Gig HD

Future additions to this set up will be a receiver, center channel speaker and two floor speakers flanking the stand. That will have to wait as we will have to save up and purchase.

Of course this TV is not just free-standing on the stand. It is bolted on the back to the wall for security reasons. I would not want this to topple over and hurt a small child or our furkids.

I finally have my own XBOX and account. Gaming down here with a big screen is so awesome. Nate and I have been playing Borderlands when we have time.

Our small family is now enjoying hanging out downstairs and watching movies. The cats watch TV to from their cat tree. This is probably one of the best purchases I have made in a long time as it benefits everyone.

Purchases of the Week: March 13, 2011

Grant TV Stand 

Project Take-Back-The-Living-Room-From-The-Nekos! begins in earnest. Actually, it began with the cat tree but I digress. We've been looking for a TV stand that can fit a center channel. We discovered that this was no easy task. Most of the designs we liked were for large plasma TVs that came with a large price tag. So that was out of the question. Then I remembered that the last time we visited Macy's they had these pricey stands for sale. I remembered this particular model because of the space in the middle and lo and behold this was on sale and I snatched it up quickly. Granted it cost more than I would normally spend but it has all the features we want. Doors to keep the cats out, space for a center channel, a modern design, dark colored java wood, openings on the back for the cords and a nice elevation. It's also heavy and will be able to support the TV size we want.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - A small few remember our first SN in SB and it has something to do with this movie. One particular person likes to remind us occassionally to our chagrin. Nate and I love this movie. Our fondness for John C. Reilly also began here. So many lines that Nate and I quote to each other. My favorite is when Will Ferrell shouts for Tom Cruise to use his "witchcraft" to put the fire out. XD 

The Rock - Nicolas Cage at his finest. Actually, that would be Con Air. But nevertheless this whole movie is entertaining. Michael Biehn's brief appearance is a favorite of mine. I like action movies that make me laugh and this is one on the top of our list. 

Lost In Space - I'm not fond of remakes. Most of the time it fails miserably. As did this one as I felt it was a very shallow storyline and a special effects driven movie. Despite those shortcomings I still liked it. I am a sucker for science fiction especially space movies. 

Rush Hour - As a child, one of the movies I remembered watching was Drunken Master. Jackie Chan has had a presence in our family since the 70's. I think we've seen most of the badly dubbed HK movies he's been in. I enjoyed seeing him finally do an American movie. Chris Tucker and his badass impression of Michael Jackson is fun to watch. 

Eragon - A mish-mash of all the books I loved as a child and it shows. I think the reason why I picked this up is because it reminds me of my favorite books. 

 
Dragon Ball Z Kai - One of Nate's favorite shows as a kid. I liked it too but then the long-ass fights between characters that spanned episodes bored me to death. Kai is supposed to be truer to Akira Toriyama's manga storyline. I loved the manga. It flowed so much better than the anime. Nate and I are extremely curious to see how the DBZ storyline looks in Kai. 

Evangelion 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone - EVA EVA EVA....how many times must I have to buy you?! I am serious. This is the THIRD version I have had to purchase of this series. Like DBZ Kai, it is allegedly more faithful to Hideaki Anno's vision of how the series should have been. Considering how EVA ended, I hope I get a better perspective of how the series ends that's not Serial Experiments Lain-like, i,e, mind fuck.

All the items we feature in Purchases of the Week are all on sale. Bought with coupons and assorted savings if we can squeeze it. We love free shipping. No blu-ray I ever buy is over $13.99.

Nate and I strive to never purchase at full price. A good example is anime on blu-ray. They are ridiculously expensive and that's why I never buy it. But DBZ Kai dipped below $19 which rarely happens and that's a good time to buy it. We also re-sell our DVDs once we purchase the replacement. Any old furniture we are replacing we contact family first if they want it. We also donate heavily to our local charities which includes clothes, shoes, books etc etc. Nothing goes to waste.

Nate and I work hard to earn a living but we are also mindful that we need to enjoy the fruits of our labor. In moderation of course.

Purchases of the Week: February 26, 2011

Closet Maid Pantry Cabinet 

Nate actually has been buying a few blu-ray but this is a house purchase for him. We have a small kitchen and space is a premium. We didn't like how we were storing goods on the counter or on the table. There's just too much stuff out and we want things neat. Our pots and pans tend to take a lot of space. I have a Harry Potter style closet under the stairs and I store our cooking appliances there. Hopefully, this will help organize our kitchen to be more efficient.

Someone asked me, "Why are there no toys featured on Purchases of the Week?" Well... we buy toys all the time. It's a norm and I like to highlight non-toy purchasing. This year, Nate and I agreed we need to cut down on toy buying and concentrate on the house and make it into a home.

I have been thinking about posting more toy stuff, food and other things too. Whatever comes to mind really. I just need to set aside time to do it and it looks like late night is the only time I have.

Cat Tree

It arrived today! Yay! Nate assembled it all by himself. Thanks Babe! While Nate was putting it together, Pickles was already sitting on top of one of the condos. Dhani was on the couch sleeping, Marley was under a chair watching and Nodame was upstairs in the hallway, sleeping on one of the cat beds.

When it was completed, Pickles went crazy with the two puff balls attached to the cat tree. Seeing Pickles going nuts attracted the other cats and they slowly started climbing and sniffing the tree. We had to coax Nodame. He is always cautious with new things but once he gets comfortable he enjoys it completely.

I got the Armarkat Cat Tree Model B7701 in Ivory. I wanted the one with the stairs for Marley so she can easily hop up. Now they have a place to chill other than the couches. I've also seen them playing on the tree.

It's not as huge as I thought and it fits the area I have been thinking of storing it well. I plan to add a cave like bed at the bottom. The Santa hat is a crinkle toy that none of them really took to.

I'm glad our cats are enjoying their tree. It's money well spent.

Purchases of the Week: February 13, 2011

Amarkat Cat Tree - Model B7701

A place for our beloved cats to hang out and play. I know the boys will appreciate the height since they often sit at the top of the banister. I plan to rub a bit of catnip in the condos. Marley would love that. This will re-direct their coach potato habits.

I've been researching cat trees for quite a bit. I've seen super complicated ones, modern style ones, too simple ones and the pricing is ridiculous with most.

I know my cats. I know what they love to do. Those sisal posts would be scratcher heaven. Marley loves batting toys and Dhani likes to lounge and sleep all day on one of those pedestals. I can't wait to get this!

Purchases of the Week: February 6, 2011

Unexpected cash came and I was able to purchase something this week. Something for the house and something for laughs.

Anchor Hocking 10 Piece TrueSeal Storage Set 

I've been looking at ways to have less waste around the house. We never liked the plastic storage containers for storing leftovers and I was looking for alternatives for food storage. I found this set and it has generally good reviews. It's microwavable, oven safe (not the lid), and dishwasher safe. No more wrapping our bowls with cling wrap or foil. There are other sizes but I'll give this a try before I get more. They look promising though.

Beerfest - First few minutes of Beerfest and my first thoughts were, This movie is gonna be dumb." But then I started laughing. Cloris Leachman, bless her, was hilarious. I haven't seen Super Troopers. I should. It's the same crew. It's a great, silly movie and we enjoyed it. That's enough reason to get it on Blu-ray. Now if only they would release Kung Pow - Enter the Fist and Grandma's Boy on blu-ray I'll be a happy camper.

Purchases of the Week: January 28, 2011

Mesh Pop Up Laundry Basket - Random Color - I have an old red pop up mesh basket that the cats have been in, scratched, poked holes and generally messed with but so far it is still in one piece and usable. I have a laundry sorter upstairs but it helps to have this as I separate clothes and the mesh ones make it easy to go up and down the stairs with loads.

Wire Can Dispenser for Cat Food - Bought 2! Currently, I have the cans just sitting on top of a ramen box. Nate and I are looking for a pantry cabinet we can add to the kitchen. We need more space. I can at least put the cat food on the counter so it'll be neater instead of on top of a box on the floor.

That's all for this week!

EDIT: 03/03/2011

I did not get the mesh bag. Something happened with the original shipping and the package became undeliverable. Amazon had to re-send my order but with the wire can dispenser only.