Brian Hale-Yeah!'s blog

Early Christmas Presents

Monday night, Jacinda went out for some dinner and a movie. We went to the real theater too because we had gift cards! It was great, but one of the highlights was definitely the quick trip to REI before the movie started.

I love REI. I could walk around that place for hours, look at every little thing, dreaming that if I were to hike Mt. Whitney again what I would take as my gear. Taking tally of weight, food, luxuries vs. necesseties and so on. I've been somewhat obsessed with wanting to go backpacking and camping lately. We haven't gone anywhere except for our day trip to Yosemite, but still...

Back to the point of the post, early Christmas. Jacinda's granny gives us money that we are supposed to buy ourselve a present with each year and wrap it for Christmas day. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, actually, I don't even know if she has a computer...

Well, I already spent my $25. I got this cool wool hat from REI. It's got a cool style to it and when you get really cold, the inside flips out and it covers your ears. It says, "I'm stylish, grown up, and it's from REI, so I'm an outdoorsmen."

Oh, and also, Matt Heinricy, who leads worship at RVC, got me some new guitar strings. He said they were an early Christmas present.

It's funny how much I value little things like this since I've been pinching pennies. I think I'll save them to put them on next month when we help lead again.

New Place to Shop

Libertine Laundry- This is cool new place for guys to shop here in Fresno. They are located on Champlain & Perrin and are on the North East corner on the inside of the complex.

Turns out, a guy I went to high school with's (Robby Pauline) 2 little brothers opened it. It's what they call "Do-it-Yourself" fashion. Mostly based around the jeans, which range in price all the way up to the $300 mark. With brands like JetLag, True Religion, Earnest Sewn, Antik Denim and Stiches, they have a pretty sweet selection. I personally loved the True Religion selection which was much more extensive from even Urban Outfitter's one style (Joey's) and our local Macy's.

They also carry a very fashionable collection of all the other stuff you would need: print tee's, glasses, belts, cargos, button downs, and even hats. RVCA was another brand they seemed to carry quite a bit of. It's not just the clothes that make it so appealing, the decor is actually really cool with old barn sides as a roof, low to the floor mod style leather couches, lots of hip rags on the tables, and even the jeans are displayed on meathooks rather than the simple hanger. Behind the register was a wall of old game tables that reminded me of my grandparent's house or something, but they turned it into this "wallpaper" of sorts.

So, final score: I liked the store a lot. Great fashion. pretty good selection. Had my size (now a 36 by the way!). Only drawback: It's not everyday I feel like shelling out $250 for some jeans, but maybe once in awhile, so, go check it out. Support the local guys!