Category Archives: retail therapy

summer saling

10 Monday Aug 2026

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I know I know… anyhow. Stopped in a Corte Inglés yesterday to look for towels for Peter (which seriously need replacing) but didn’t find any suitable ones on sale. Then I saw this for half price! I do have two duvet covers so I can swap them out but one of them is annoyingly slightly too small so the duvet buckles inside. My fault, I had cut down a larger one and (obvs) cut one side a bit too much. I don’t usually go for prints but this one is so soft and pretty… and now I can’t wait for it to be October!

new comfy chair! (maybe)

31 Friday Jul 2026

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A couple of weeks ago I got it into my head that I needed a new comfy chair. Why? I mean, my present comfy chair is still comfy enough, but it’s kind of a wreck now (mostly thanks to Morcilla) and it was second hand when I got it in 2011 (to replace my previous second hand comfy chair – inherited from Agustín – that had literally fallen apart). I started looking around online at the usual places (IKEA, Leroy Merlin, El Corte Inglés) and there was one possibility for a reasonable price at ECI so I went to check it out. And well, it was crap. Cheaply made and decidedly not comfy. And then this one caught my eye.

Unfortunately Bonnie (it’s the model name, I didn’t make it up) was way out of the ballpark and I asked the sales guy if it might be discounted during the summer sales. He said that particular model didn’t usually go on sale but I could check back. Well instead I checked on line every morning and then yesterday there it was… 15% off for four days only! Which was still too expensive but I had tried her out and was kind of hooked because Bonnie was indeed very comfy. And so I went back to ECI and the same sales guy was there. He remembered me and said he was hoping I’d see the sale. Anyhow… it turned out that there would be no new stock available until August 25th, with delivery in early September, so I decided to buy the chair to lock down the price and then decide later if I should actually keep it. As Peter pointed out, it’s the last chair I’m going to buy in my lifetime so why not? We’ll see.

elixir (again)

23 Thursday Apr 2026

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When Ralph Lauren discontinued the only scent I had ever loved (since my mid-20s) I found myself adrift in a world I don’t especially like and facing the dilemma of how the heck to choose a new signature scent for yourself (the RL had been a gift, a lucky fluke). I don’t like most perfumes, I hate walking through the perfume section at El Corte Inglés, it’s just not my world. But I loved Lauren, it felt like me, and I didn’t know if I’d ever find a replacement. Then years later I found myself back in Toronto for an extended stay (don’t ask, it wasn’t good) but I was staying with my lovely friend Carol and Clinique Elixir was her chosen scent. I remember I loved how it lingered when she passed through a room and so one day I tried it myself. SOLD. I’ve been using it ever since.

Anyhow, it’s not Chanel expensive or anything but ever since I discovered estuches (gift boxes) there was no going back to paying full price just for the eau de parfum when I could also get it much cheaper and with a couple of extras thrown in. So it became strategic buying, not just waiting until I was almost out. Which is what I did today. Because wtf, I’m worth it.

silence is… weird?

27 Friday Mar 2026

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For the last week or so my mouse has been sluggish and unresponsive and basically driving me nuts. I thought I could just get a new one but as I got it (ten years ago!) as part of a wireless package deal I was told today that I’d have to get a whole new package. So I saw this Logitech Silent Touch Wireless Combo on sale at El Corte Inglés and half an hour later it was home. I didn’t really pay much attention to the “silent” bit but now that I have it up and running… it really IS silent. No clicky sounds when I type or even when I “click” on the mouse. It just… works. And while that seemed a bit weird at first I gotta admit it feels very smooth, nice keyboard action. So an unexpected new work toy. And I suppose ten years was a good run for the old one, especially with the daily workout it gets.

I have a very old IKEA desk built for an old-style desktop PC so that the screen would be on top of the actual desk, the keyboard on a pull-out shelf underneath and the tower on a lower shelf. And I’ve kept this old thing even after changing to laptops because I CANNOT abide those little chiclet keys. So now I have my laptop sitting up on a decorative box (so it’s at eye level) and the keyboard and mouse on the lower sliding shelf, the perfect height for typing. And the lower tower shelf is a great place to rest my feet. Also saves on neck and wrist fatigue, plus my laptop keyboard never wears out.

new shoes 2025!

12 Wednesday Nov 2025

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Trying out these Fluchos, a Spanish brand that seem to be better quality (and better priced) than Camper. I realised that the last time I bought shoes was back in 2021 (actually bought in 2019 but I didn’t wear them for two years).  Last winter I actually got by on these refurbished favourites (from 2017) but sadly the time has come to retire them. And yes, okay, I did buy these ones a couple of years ago but turned out they were just too ugly after all so I returned them.

My point is… I needed new shoes and I am hoping these ones will work out. It’s always so stressful buying shoes because of my triple EEE wide “duck feet” (narrow heels), requiring a usually quite painful breaking in period, and I never know what’s going to break first, the shoes or me, until it happens. So I am wearing these guys around the house for awhile before trying them outside. Fingers crossed.