Big Lots...

After a mostly quiet day at home with the kiddo, with a playdate interspersed with toddler drama (think baby rumble!) to break up the day, I decided to check out Big Lots. Nestled in the Westgate shopping center between Little Ceasars and Mardens, and just a hop skip and a jump away from Fashion Bug, I had no idea what politically incorrect gems awaited me inside.

First the good deals-- there was some pretty cheap toilet paper, although one could probably do better with sales + coupons. I spotted some organic Yogi tea for $2~ I'm pretty sure these go for about $6 a box at Whole Foods. And Earth's Best baby food (and some other brands as well) for $.30-- usually you're lucky if you can get these for $.80 a jar. There was a limited selection-- mostly just some banana/oatmeal mixture, but still! Other grocery highlights were Popeye Spinach cans that looked like they'd been rusting on the shelves since 1953 and Dora the Explorer corn niblets.

Also a decent selection of toys, although some strange stuff too. A squirrel in a raincoat? Really? A Fisher Price rotary phone toy? What strange time warp had I entered into?!? I also spotted a Handy Manny ice cream cart with what I swear was a Woody Allen action figure.

Next stop, diapertown. A brand of diapers that I couldn't even find through Google called Comfees that were "cloth-like." I'm not even sure what that means. The strangest part was that all the large and extra large sizes featured African American babies. Was Comfees trying to say that they make bootylicious diapers?

Around the next corner lay the Delta Burke underwear section. Who knew Delta had been busy since Designing Women? This was all almost too much to bear, and I was nearing the exit. But then I spotted the book section I'd missed on the way in-- $3 for all the obscure books you could want. I almost purchased an amazing little book called Emily's Good Nightmares, a colorful thing which seems to be about a gothic girl and a cat on an acid trip, but I decided to stick to my rule of no impulse purchases. Buried (hidden?) under other books was a book called Vagina Warriers by Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologue fame, which in a random twist boasts a picture of my auntie on the cover. In another corner was "How to Get Pregnant." Who knew such salaciousness could be found in Big Lots?

No manufacturer coupons at Big Lots from what I could tell. But they are accepting this pretty little thing for 20% off your entire purchase this Sunday. You have to sign up to become a member of their BuzzClub, but still!