The COSTCO Thread

[falafel]

This is probably not cool to admit, but I've recently purchased 3 or 4 Kirkland brand wrinkle-free dress shirts and I seriously like them.

Button down collar? I have an old blue button down collar from Costco that doesn't seem to have normal proportions.

[Soccermom]

This is probably not cool to admit, but I've recently purchased 3 or 4 Kirkland brand wrinkle-free dress shirts and I seriously like them.

Lets just put it into perspective. Aristides, my husband, is a computer geek patent attorney who used to wear brown braided belts with black shoes before I married him. When left to his own devices, he buys the Kirkland brand wrinkle-free dress shirts, wears them, and likes them.

Actually, I like them too.

[TripletDaddy]

We went to Costco on Saturday to grab the usual sundries and noticed that they were selling a bunch of good stuff...

1. Black or gray wool Calvin Klein pea coats for around $70. That is a great price for a nice winter coat.
2. 6 pound bags of Muscle Milk whey powder for around $30. Amazingly cheap price for that stuff (putting aside for a sec the sugar content of muscle milk)
3. Adidas winter workout/exercise pants for around $15.
4. Lego activity books (the huge books, also come with minikits) for $14

I'm not a fan of button-down collars but if you like the shirt, get it and enjoy. Nothing wrong with saving a buck. Kirkland makes some good stuff...food, clothes, delish bottled water...etc.

[MarkGrace]

Button down collar? I have an old blue button down collar from Costco that doesn't seem to have normal proportions.

Yeah, button down. The Mrs. isn't a huge fan of the button down collar. I like no buttons w/ ties, but they always bug me w/o ties. And since I pretty much never wear ties anymore (not even to church these days), I'm buying more of the buttons.

[MarkGrace]

Lets just put it into perspective. Aristides, my husband, is a computer geek patent attorney who used to wear brown braided belts with black shoes before I married him. When left to his own devices, he buys the Kirkland brand wrinkle-free dress shirts, wears them, and likes them.

Actually, I like them too.

So where can I get a braided belt?

Honestly, I have become increasingly less concerned about my clothes over the years. There was a period in my life where I spent almost all my income on clothes or cologne, and almost nothing on food (I was content to eat a can of tune with mustard or something). These days, I'd just rather spend my money on things other than clothes (food, concerts, CDs, movies, etc.), and so I've resorted to buying stuff on the cheap (like Kirkland dress shirts!). Hell, I even have two sweaters I consistently wear that I purchased from Target. Besides, our household can only afford weekly spending exploits at J-Crew/Anthro and a pile of designer shoes a mile deep for one person, and the Mrs. has that ground covered.

[YOhio]

One thing I've been doing lately is buying the big pork loin at Sam's Club (closer than Costco) and slicing it to make my own pork roast and chops. One loin yields two roasts (rib and sirloin) and about 8 thick pork chops. The pork loin is usually around $2/lb, so you save a ton of money doing it this way and you can cut the chops how you like them. As Martha would say, it's a good thing.

One more thing about the Club. If you buy the big pack of fresh chicken breast it is usually cheaper per/lb than the big bag of Tyson frozen breasts. I like to buy it this way and then slice them into a variety of smaller pieces before freezing. It makes dinner pretty easy when all you're meat cutting is done before hand.

[Soccermom]

So where can I get a braided belt?

Honestly, I have become increasingly less concerned about my clothes over the years. There was a period in my life where I spent almost all my income on clothes or cologne, and almost nothing on food (I was content to eat a can of tune with mustard or something). These days, I'd just rather spend my money on things other than clothes (food, concerts, CDs, movies, etc.), and so I've resorted to buying stuff on the cheap (like Kirkland dress shirts!). Hell, I even have two sweaters I consistently wear that I purchased from Target. Besides, our household can only afford weekly spending exploits at J-Crew/Anthro and a pile of designer shoes a mile deep for one person, and the Mrs. has that ground covered.

I have never been super concerned either. Hope you know I was totally teasing you. I have this image in my head of DDD/nikuman/Mark Grace as the stylin' CUF'ers. It is actually great that you wear the Kirkland shirts. Makes the fact that Aristides and I like them feel even "cooler."

[TripletDaddy]

I have never been super concerned either. Hope you know I was totally teasing you. I have this image in my head of DDD/nikuman/Mark Grace as the stylin' CUF'ers. It is actually great that you wear the Kirkland shirts. Makes the fact that Aristides and I like them feel even "cooler."

don't let markgrace fool you into thinking he is some Oliver Twist ragamuffin.

when we went out to dinner in Seattle, he was rocking a purple Izod and I think he popped the collar. dude is a true recessionista.

[falafel]

I have never been super concerned either. Hope you know I was totally teasing you. I have this image in my head of DDD/nikuman/Mark Grace as the stylin' CUF'ers. It is actually great that you wear the Kirkland shirts. Makes the fact that Aristides and I like them feel even "cooler."

Uh, Nikuman wears big black biker boots to work. Just sayin'.

[YOhio]

I have never been super concerned either. Hope you know I was totally teasing you. I have this image in my head of DDD/nikuman/Mark Grace as the stylin' CUF'ers. It is actually great that you wear the Kirkland shirts. Makes the fact that Aristides and I like them feel even "cooler."

That's weird because you have interacted with Triple Father and nikuman in real life so you know differently. I guess we all create our own realities.

[falafel]

Two years ago, some time after December 8, 2008, we bought a new Christmas tree from Costco. It was a Kirkland 7.5 pre-lit tree with the PVC some-what realistic looking branches. It was nice, just what we wanted. And since it was at Costco, it was a really great deal compared to other places selling similar trees. At least half of what most of them wanted, if not more.

We put it up that year, but it didn't get more than 3 weeks of use (since we bought it only 3 weeks or so before Christmas). After Christmas I boxed it up and put it in storage. The next year (last year) I pulled it out and, again, it was great.

This year, I pull it out of storage and set it up. Within 30 minutes, a whole section of the lights go out. This is one of those trees where if one light goes out, the rest are supposed to stay on. I finally find out there is one bulb that is a bit loose, and if you push it back in, the rest of the strand lights up. So I fix that. But then it happens again. Now, the whole top half of the true goes out. The entire top half. I fiddle around for another hour trying to find a loose bulb, but I can't find anything.

You can tell where this is going. I boxed the tree back up and hauled it back to Costco. I don't have the receipt, but I know they can look it up by your membership number. When I get to the front of the line, with my reason for returning the tree well-rehearsed, the Costco employee smiles at me, scans the box, and a few seconds later refunds the price + tax in cash. I thought at least she'd ask if anything was wrong with it. Nothing.

Before I got to the front of the line, I remembered this thread. I began to feel a little ashamed for bringing this tree back, even though it hadn't seen more than 2 months of use total. Then I saw this, and my shame was washed away.



The only down side was that Costco was now sold out of artificial trees, so unless I want to spend 2x as much on a similar tree, I'll have to wait until next year. We're going to visit family over Christmas anyway, so we'll still have some Christmas tree interaction this holiday.

[Lost Student]

We're going to visit family over Christmas anyway, so we'll still have some Christmas tree interaction this holiday.

I'm trying to picture how one interacts with a Christmas tree, as I believe the definition includes some form of reciprocation.

[falafel]

I'm trying to picture how one interacts with a Christmas tree, as I believe the definition includes some form of reciprocation.

Sorry. "Christmas tree action." That should clear things up.

[Donuthole]

Sorry. "Christmas tree action." That should clear things up.

Do prefer the base or the tip of the tree for your action?

[falafel]

Do prefer the base or the tip of the tree for your action?

I've never been one to prefer the tip.