Category Archives: retail therapy

papelería ferrer

11 Wednesday Dec 2024

Posted by in architecture, art, history, retail therapy, sevilla, shopping, welcome

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

p ferrer

The oldest independent shop in Sevilla (founded in 1856) this gorgeous stationers is a wondrous Aladdin’s cave full of any possible thing you can imagine in paper form. I just popped in for a pedestrian order of a refill for my old agenda and was taken back to not-so-long-ago times when there were several such shops in the city, selling all manner of things. From books to toys, houseware and hardware items, fabrics, art prints and posters, jewellery, fans and shawls, hats and gloves, specialty foods and wines… each small shop brimming with charm and personality and often one-of-a-kind items. Sadly all but gone now as chains take over and push the independents out. Sigh…

papeleria ferrer

new printer 2024

21 Thursday Nov 2024

Posted by in gadgets, internet, retail therapy, sevilla, work

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

printer 2024

I guess I got off easy as my previous printer lasted more than 11 years (!) and apparently the usual lifespan for a home desktop printer is 3-5 years (which clocks with others I’ve had before). Well okay, I say it lasted 11 years, but truth is it’s been printing like crap for ages.  What pushed me to look for a new one was that I needed to buy ink again and I saw that, for just 5 euros more, I could get a whole new printer! Not kidding. Also this model takes ink cartridges that cost half of what I used to pay AND it’s Black Friday Week (don’t ask) so it was 30% off. Truth is, I don’t use a printer a lot anymore, but when I need it then I really need it so it’s not a frivolous purchase. Unlike pepper mills, but that’s a whole other story. Stay tuned…

new kipling

26 Thursday Sep 2024

Posted by in retail therapy, sevilla

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

kipling 24

Still in “back to school” mode… my every-day Kipling bag (the dark purple one) is about 8 years old now, possibly older, and is looking a bit worse for wear. Then while I was laptop shopping at El Corte Inglés last week I spotted this one and decided the ol’ credit card was already taking a beating so what the heck. The colour doesn’t show up well in this pic, it’s more of a deep raspberry red and it’s perfect. Aside from being cute, Kiplings are also lightweight, full of clever pockets and compartments and – my favourite thing – are machine washable. It wasn’t until I got it home that I realised it’s the same model as Peter’s (!!!) but his is two-toned (moss green with a black strap and contrast zippers) so we won’t totally look like bag twins when we’re out and about together. And now I am putting that card away! Lean times ahead…

third time lucky

02 Thursday May 2024

Posted by in retail therapy, shoes, shopping

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

skechers 24

This is the third time I’ve bought these exact same Skechers “go walk” sandals. I think in general they last me two “sandal seasons” (which here is from March-October) so I get a lot of wear outta them. Anyhow, I was looking around for a new comfy pair as my old Skechers are looking not quite good enough to wear on tapas tours anymore and I finally decided, what the heck, I’d just get these again because they are super comfortable (and machine washable!). And as a bonus, when I picked them up on my way home today, I was told they were 20% off this week. Yay. At this point it looks like I’m going to end up wearing the same Skecher sandals and Camper shoes for the rest of my life.

ikea delivers!

14 Monday Aug 2023

Posted by in retail therapy, sevilla, shopping

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,

ikea delivers

Who knew? I mean, of course I knew you could get things delivered, both if you shopped online or in person, but I didn’t know IKEA would deliver small items to your home FOR JUST 3 EUROS. Anyhow, I have used these cotton throws as chair and sofa covers for years but they can only be found at IKEA and, since I haven’t been to IKEA since 2017 (and have no plans to go again if I can help it), it was no surprise to realise that the throws I got six years ago were in a pretty sad state thanks to the you-know-whats.

So I had a look online just to see if they still stocked them (they do) and decided to see what they would charge to deliver and I was (pleasantly) shocked. I don’t know how long this has been going on but the last time I bought anything there it was a minimum 30 euro delivery charge. And so I have a couple of these guys arriving this week and I can finally put the old shredded ones to rest. This could be dangerous.