Friday, March 13, 2009

Blogging powers, activate!

Okay, internet friends. I've hit a low point in the planning process, of the "these costs make me want to die and why don't we elope and be responsible instead" persuasion. But moving on to happier thoughts - and with my mother's assurances that we will do some hard negotiating during the planning trip in a few days - I'm wondering which genius among you can provide tips on the following:
  • Where to buy bulk sunscreen. I need about a gallon to fill up our little personalized bottles. I've seen a couple of prices online that still seem high. Where do pools and spas get their stuff? There's gotta be a better deal out there somewhere... And don't think I'm beyond casually stealing the huge pump bottles at the Four Seasons pool in Austin, where I happen to be heading in a few weeks.

  • Where to buy bulk insect repellent. Again, looking for a lot of product here - 2 or 3 quarts. We're doing personalized bottles of bug spray to get out ahead of the "there sure are lots of mosquitoes on these here Outer Banks" complaints. This one's tougher than sunscreen, and also brings up this conversation I had with my brother, who I asked to help me with this one last week:
    Me: "Oh, and as environmentally-friendly as possible, preferably DEET-free."
    Bro: "All sounds good, although I would request that you re-consider the DEET thing if we are actually going to be using it."
    Me: "But DEET is soooo bad for you!"
    Bro: "But works soooo well."
    Me: "Well, find me a hot price for the poison and you win."
  • Red and white polka dot pocket square. To ease your search, they're sometimes just listed as 'handkerchiefs,' especially in the UK. Preferably cotton or linen rather than silk. I feel like if I had any useful skills whatsoever, I'd be able to just find the perfect material and make these. Hmmm.... (We're still liking the gingham, btw, we just want options.)

3 comments:

Abbie said...

How about this for sunscreen? I've used them before.
http://www.rmsunscreen.com/128OunceGallonSPF15MoisturizingSunscreenwithConvenientPump.aspx

I found this for repellent.
http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/product/insect-repellent-100-box.html

For the pocket square-- I would do an Alchemy request on Etsy! You will probably get a few different options.

Anonymous said...

Actually we got the travel sized sunscreen at Target, it was 79 cents (I think), which was the best price I found. I went every day or so and grabbed what they had. Now I feel weird going to Target and not getting sunscreen!

Kate said...

Have you asked REI or Whole Earth about the bug spray / sunscreen?

Also, I don't know how pricey it would be to buy in bulk, but we bought the bugspray wipes for our trip to Thailand (w/ DEET... it was either poison or malaria) - one pack lasted both Evan and I two weeks (we could split one wipe each day). Again, not sure about the logistics or the pricing, but its a thought!