a basket case...

so, if you recall--i found the lined baskets i wanted last weekend... and i'm still so excited with how the colors match and the playful swirls--without it being TOO PRISSY...bleck.

but little did i know that last sunday, i'd end up getting this EXACT, fantastic bookshelf that started the whole idea in the first place! so, i was going to need to take some of the smaller "odd ball sizes" back and find 4 more of the large square baskets

the problem was the 6 large square baskets... you see, the ones that i bought were part of an "assorted collection" that was sent to each michael's store... so i couldn't just order more of those baskets... or get them online. because they came in a bundle... with different shapes, sizes, and colored liners...

and i later found out (from a rather lengthy conversation with a manager) that in this assorted package, there was exactly one of these...

and one of these...

uh oh.

i'd already been to 2 michael's... the first one i got the pair (the pink one of the pair was actually on a display i had to empty)... and the 2nd one didn't have ANY.

mom offered to check some other local stores, since david was out of town. hey, what a great excuse for a girl to SHOP!?! haha... but before she went to hither, thither and yon, i told her i'd call them to see what was available.

knightdale? went there myself... none left.

raleigh? wiped 'em out of the two they got.

cary? none left.

garner? none left.

brier creek? ...do you remember the old lady from the titanic that found the "heart of the ocean"?...i'm pretty sure that's who i was talkin' to--and since doing my "homework" on these baskets, there were only four colors. green. blue. pink. purple... well, according to this lady--let's call her gladys. the baskets they had with the swirl lining had a pinkish-purple lining. but it wasn't pink. and it wasn't purple.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? i'm 45 minutes away and gladys thinks their baskets are "one of a kind" and not a part of the assorted collection that each michael's got... idontthinkso.

..ugh, "thanks for checking, gladys...i really appreciate your time... buh-bye"

[as i hang the phone up, i leave a star beside the brier creek number thinking i could call back at another time if necessary, and hopefully speak to someone who wasn't born more than a century ago, who likely isn't colorblind]

wilmington? 1 pink and 1 green IN STOCK... hold 'em for 24 hours* and my mom will be in there before you close.

*the max amount of time they'll let you hold 'em

rocky mount? 1 pink and 1 green IN STOCK... hold 'em for the afternoon, my mother/father-in-law will be there before 5:00 today!

...you counting? THAT'S SIX!! I GOT IT!!!!

that night, the best in-laws ever came over for dinner... with baskets in tow! ...hmm... the only problem was that one of the baskets they pulled at the rocky mount michael's was the pink gingham... not swirl :(

...back down to five... there's a missing pink. not to panic. i had a few more michael's that i could call... and maybe even the one in rocky mount still had the swirl one...maybe.

called rocky mount uhhh-gain later that night... no swirl.

greenville? none left.

ugh... do i dare? to call brier creek again... surely gladys is in bed by now?!

well, after leaving me on hold for 15 minutes... she picked up and said they had ONE. PINK ONE. LEFT! omg!!!

so i called jasmine and had her swing by on her way to the baby shower meeting...

YAY!!

...however, since michael's will only hold stuff for 24 hours, i had to call back and let the nice lady know in wilmington that mom wouldn't be back within the "window of time" and she told me that i could call back again to put them back on hold... YES MA'AM! :)

meantime, the thought occured to me... what if one of the wilmington baskets was the wrong pattern, too?? i was OFFICIALLY out of michael's to call... ugh.

so, when i called back to the wilmington store, the manager confirmed that she could hold them one more day for me and they were, in fact, BOTH swirls... one pink. one green!

...and just when you thought it couldn't get any better...

mom called today when she got the two wilmington baskets... and she filled me in on the latest michael's coupons that the guy rang her up with... 60% off one item... in addition to another 40% off coupon promo running...

HOOOORAYYYY! ...i'm nearly exhausted just blogging about the basket saga--in fact, i think if i had to call one. more. michael's...i'd be a BASKET CASE! heh, yeh, i said it!... but never the less... they're all in hand*

*2 sets of hands... 4 in mine, 2 in mom's hands.

so, even though my bookshelf has a delayed delivery--due to weather, i'm glad to know that whenever it DOES show up, i've got the perfect baskets to go with it. even though it would've been nice to put it together while we're all snowed in :)