Jesus is Lord at Bargain Shoes

One of my favorite places to shop is the store my friends call "The Jesus Shoe Store." Its located in Gaffney, SC near the giant peach water tower.

Necessary background information: The store was originally located in downtown Gaffney, SC. Its been there....well....for as long as I can remember. So at least 5 years. I've got bad long-term memory, sue me. Anyways, the building had a a giant fresco of Jesus on the outside of the whole 40-foot side of the building...long-flowing hair and out-stretched arms included. And it said "Jesus is Lord" right under his picture and then a smaller "Bargain Shoes" logo off to the right corner. A couple of years ago, the store moved to I-85 to a little strip mall. I wondered if the Jesus painting would be going with them. Sadly, He didn't make it. Now its just another building in a western-themed stripmall.

Back to the main story--->I stopped by the Jesus Shoe Store on Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to see a new display of designer shoes. See, most of the shoes at the Jesus Shoe Store are either generic, used or the occasional designer shoe in a size 5. None of which meet my standards or giant shoe size. (Some of my friends think that the owners of the store steal and re-sell the shoes from dead people---hey, everyone gets to have their own theory.) I was immediately drawn to the shiny Michael Kors and Gucci display in the corner. Several pairs of shoes fit my giant size 8.5 feet, but I couldn't swing the $175 price tag past Josh.
Utterly dismayed I walked over to the homegoods section. I have no idea why on Earth there's a "homegoods" section at a shoe store....but since the entire store is pretty much an oddity in itself, I decided to check it out. And then, amongst the quesadilla maker, rice-maker and knife set, I saw it:

A DeLonghi pump espresso maker!

I've been looking for months for a espresso maker. Let me correct that: I've been looking for an awesome but oh-so-inexpensive espresso maker. What seemed as elusive as Bigfoot, black holes or a truly seam-less pair of underwear was staring up at me with $89.99 staring back up at me. $89.99?!?! This particular espresso machine sells for upwards of $150. I couldn't believe my luck! And it gets better....as I was examining the box for all necessary parts and manuals, I saw something else...a sticker that says $49.99. Could it be true?! I asked the sales-lady on the next department over (clothing, but that's a whole other story) if the pricetag was in fact correct. She said, "Yeah, that thing's only $49. What exactly is 'expresso,' anyways?" After a short, but certainly awkward, conversation I proudly walked up to the counter with my 'expresso' machine in tow. The cashier rings up my DeLonghi and the display reads "$32.09." WHAT?! It turns out that there was a sale in the "homegoods" section and my $150 DeLonghi was only $32!

What could be better than a $32 espresso machine? A husband that used to work as a barista! So come on over to my house, where the lattes and cappucinnos are free!