Costco, Costco - How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways

I love thee for thy True Religion jeans ($99.99) and those Montecristo Habana 2000 Xanadu cigars (20 for $92.99). And let's not forget the Chateau Mouton Rothschild Bordeaux Pauillac 2005 ($599.99 - per bottle). Seriously though, the poetic comparison to Elizabeth Barrett Browning's famed sonnet kept running through my brain as I shopped - in Plano.

Mary Suhm's recent plea for people to shop in Dallas might just work if they could get us a store like the TWO located in Plano. I even have the perfect location for those who are anti-big box developments - hell it's almost an empty big box now. All you have to do Mary, is make it WET - like for beer and wine retail sales.

Everyone shops there, if you haven't you've been missing out on some great deals. From the price of gas ($1.36 per gallon) to the ginormous rotisserie chickens ($4.99), the prices can't be beat. I've been known to like La Crema Chardonnay, Costco's case price is $8.04 lower than Goody Goody's. Last week in the mail was my 2% annual rebate, a $126 coupon that's been screaming my name, persuading me to return to spend, spend, spend.

So today I deposited in Costco's hands, $39 of sales tax revenue that will go to the State of Texas and the City of Plano. While I stocked up on the usual supply of dried blueberries, V-8 Blueberry/Pomegranite and Feta Olive Tapenade, I added a few "treats" paid for by my rebate. A bottle of Montes Folly 2005 Syrah (Chile - $66.99) and a skinny little bottle of Trentadue Chocolate Amore (Napa - $19.99), which the sign claimed was a "Merlot-based, port-styled chocolate flavored dessert wine, great over ice cream or as a stand alone dessert." I'll let you know what I think of it later.

Oh and after two trips, two holidays, and a few 50th birthday celebrations, I used part of the rebate to buy a Weight Watchers scale. IJS.