I recently visited Gig Harbor's Main and Vine grocery store (it's a Kroger concept store that focuses on fresh, local foods). If you, like me, rely heavily on grocery stores for your Christmas shopping, this is an extremely reasonably-priced resource for gourmet chocolate, fancy tea or coffee, and luxe all-natural beauty products. Plus, if you spend $50 and have to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to get to Gig Harbor, Main and Vine will reimburse you the $6 bridge toll fee.

This isn't a one-time bargain; it's more of an ongoing thing. I strongly recommend going to the beach in the off-season. I usually head out to the Long Beach Peninsula at least twice in the autumn/winter, accompanied by a load of friends and relatives. We stay in one of these rental houses, which offer a "Buy two nights, get two nights free" deal between October and mid-March. Our usual rental house comfortably sleeps eight (one king bed, two queens, two twins), which brings the price down to a ridiculous $15 per person per night. And sure, it's frequently pretty rainy (plus there's the occasional shark attack and/or tornado, but those are rare!), but who cares? During our most recent visit, we hung out in Astoria, Oregon, checked out the cranberry harvest, ate lots of delicious food, and watched crappy movies. And when the weather was nice, we walked on the beach, which was gorgeous. It was an amazingly relaxing and fun experience, as well as being super affordable.

I recently saw this Oh Joy! Rose Gold Swan wall... statue...? ...thing at Target, and I wanted it. So pink! So shiny! I don't know where I'd put it, but it's $10 cheaper online (putting it at $29.99), and I'm tempted to buy it and hang onto it until I find it the perfect home.

I've written about cheap artwork already, but, hey: there's a LOT of cheap artwork out there.  My beloved spouse has expressed his dream of transforming our garage (which is currently pretty utilitarian) into a fully organized and decorated space with a "Vintage Horror/Beach Party" theme, which is... irritatingly specific, but I'll do my best.  Thankfully, I can hit up Amazon for inexpensive reprints of old movie posters, so our garage is about to boast some full-sized (27"x40") reproductions of these two beauties, both of which cost well under $20 apiece, including shipping:

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If you, like me, are anticipating tonight's presidential debates with a mixture of dread and can't-look-away curiosity, the Seattle Times has created these free, downloadable bingo sheets. Nothing is going to fully deaden the pain, of course, but these might help.

If you're looking for inexpensive Halloween decorations, I strongly suggest visiting a Paper Source. I'm not into scrapbooking, but their Cavallini gift-wrapping papers ($3.95 to $4.95 per sheet) make for pretty great wall art. I like this skull image enough to leave it up year-round, but I might eventually swap it out with this map of Seattle.

The eastside Olympia co-op has Pok Pok Som drinking vinegar soda on sale for $5.19 for a four-pack right now. I've seen them elsewhere for $5.99 to $6.99, so this isn't a bad discount, and they're absolutely delicious (in a kick-your-face-in kind of way).

If you're in the market for a delicious yet inexpensive lunch option, may I recommend Arirang Market's pickled vegetable rolls? They're not the most elegant-looking option (and they're packaged without wasabi, pickled ginger, or soy sauce, but hopefully you already have those on hand), but you get 18 rolls for a mere $3.99.

And if you're a fan of Japanese Kit-kat bars, Arirang occasionally has them for $4.99 per bag. That might sound like a lot, but they'll run you $7.99 to $12.99 elsewhere. Which probably explains why they're only occasionally in stock...

Okay, this is less a post about a cool item for sale in Olympia, and more a post about a cool item I want to be on sale in Olympia.

Apparently, there is an Oregon Trail board game ($12.99), and I need it. I haven't checked Captain Little yet, but neither local Target has it in stock, despite the fact that a game this amazing should be available EVERYWHERE.

The westside Grocery Outlet currently has Odwalla's Original Superfood in a 59 oz container for $2.99 (My bottle is good through August 5th.) Sure, I suspect it's more sugar water than actual superfood, but at least it's delicious sugar water.

The clearance/sale room at the downtown Olympia location of Compass Rose has these very cute, summery beaded bracelets for $2.99 apiece. They're adjustable, so any and all wrist sizes may apply.

Saw this Kate Spade vase on the clearance shelf at Marshalls for $28, and I had to WRESTLE with temptation. (I don't need another vase, but this is adorable.) So it's still there, calling my name.

If you're a fan of Pop Chart Lab's amazing, informative prints, you can currently get an additional 15% off their sale section (which is already marked down by 40%) with the code 15GAWKER. I already own the tea chart, but I'm interested in both the kitchenware and Great Gatsby charts, too. I'm kind of running out of wall space, though.

Urban Outfitters is currently offering free standard shipping on all orders, so I will soon be the proud owner of the Goonies soundtrack on vinyl (currently $14.99; marked down from $21.98). I was tempted by the Jaws soundtrack, too, but I managed to resist.

Important news: Muir Glen organic salsa is on sale at the Westside Grocery Outlet for 99 cents. It's like a gift from the long-weekend gods.

I just ordered this $11.98 (originally $24) Sounders knit hat from the Nordstrom Half-Yearly sale. Cute, huh? There are a number of MLS team options still available, and Nordstrom always offers free standard shipping, no minimum.

This one's totally random, but whatever: if you're near Ralph's Thriftway and baking something that involves sprinkles (like this Smitten Kitchen recipe), be sure to check the weird little alcove in the bakery section by the refrigerated cakes. That's where the bakers keep their store-packaged sprinkles, which are considerably cheaper (by weight) than the little jars in the baking aisle.

Follow up tip: That Smitten Kitchen recipe? Way more of a pain than the author makes it sound. My kitchen is COVERED in sprinkles.

While out on a walk yesterday, I stopped by one of the many local Little Free Libraries. (You can check the official LFL map here, but there are plenty of unregistered free libraries in the area, too.) I was happy to pick up a copy of Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera's All the Devils Are Here, and in return I dropped off a copy of a weepy-looking melodrama that I was never, ever going to actually read. Other people appear to enjoy that sort of thing, so I hope it finds a good home. Anyway, today I thought I'd do a quick post about Little Free Library etiquette, based mostly on my mother's experience with maintaining one.

1. If the Little Free Library you're using is overstuffed, it is totally okay to not drop off a book in return! They are rarely 100% watertight, and jam-packing them with books just means more books are likely to end up water damaged. Hang on to your donation, and make it at some later date when the pickings are more sparse.

2. Please don't drop off religious texts. It's okay to simply recycle that battered copy of The Watchtower or The Book of Mormon. If you feel really guilty, return it to the church in question. Either way, God will forgive you.

3. And speaking of religious texts, please don't drop off anything written by L. Ron Hubbard, even if it's not Dianetics. Scientologists work very hard to keep Hubbard's enormous body of work in constant circulation, and frequently pull stunts like donating huge crates of his extremely dated (at best) science fiction novels to local children's groups. Please do not encourage this behavior.

This Essie "Mint Candy Apple" nail polish + top coat combo is available at the Lacey Grocery Outlet for $4.99 (normally $15). My nails now look pleasantly springlike, even if the local weather is shifting back from unnaturally warm and sunny to our more typical late-May rain/chill/sun/thunderstorm variety pack.

This is a little further afield, but soccer fans should note that Living Social is currently offering a $9.99 ticket to Seattle Reign FC's upcoming game against the Boston Breakers on Saturday, July 2. (The upper grandstand tickets normally go for $18.) I'm not sure if this is a one-ticket-per-account deal, but Reign games are always fun, and—considering their current rash of injuries—they can probably use all the support they can get.

I spend a lot of time poking around Olympia-area stores (I have a pedometer, and you have to get your steps in somehow), so I decided to make an online home for the cool, cheap stuff I encounter, in case you are also in the market for cool, cheap, Olympia-area stuff. And in honor of the upper-middle-class-hipster lifestyle I mention in the header, I thought I'd start with this awesome art deco-y planter I just found at the Westside Homegoods:

It cost $12.99, and it's roughly 9 inches high and 10 inches wide. I filled it with a prayer plant from Ralph's and my mother's birthday gift is done. If you too keep wistfully eyeing Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters/West Elm promo images that look like the Platonic ideal of a plant-filled 1970s record shop, be sure to check out the Homegoods/Marshalls stores. They have loads of great planter options.