Why you should always carry a camera in your purse

You can document those rare moments, like running into Rachel & Stephen in Costco Friday night. Don't our husbands look thrilled? I'm sure they're thinking, "I can't believe you are having the Costco clerk take our picture!"And I just have to explain my Costco Date Night because it has made my life so much easier. I used to go to Costco 2-3 times a month. I never had a set schedule and there are several things I feel like I have to buy there and nowhere else. When I would run out of a certain something, I would just dread finding the time to drag my kids to Costco. Or find a Saturday to sneak away and go - but who wants to go on Saturday?

Not to mention when I take kids, I can never fit everything in my cart, so I can never really buy everything I need at one time. And then there's the unloading factor. By the time I went to Costco at 11 a.m., shopped, came home, fed my boys lunch, unloaded the car and put everything away it was almost time for the kids to come home from school - my entire day spent at Costco. I was going crazy. Oh, I almost forgot the kicker. I spent so much more money going more often.

Now it's a monthly date night for us. I have help pushing the 2, yes 2, carts up and down the isles that are generally empty because it's at night. I have my shopping list printed on the computer with just about everything I buy at Costco, so I can just circle what I need and it's listed in "order of appearance" in the store so it's really fast. Then I have help unloading and putting the groceries away, and it's not during the hot day. I also spend a lot less, and I know when I'm going next, so I just make do with what I have until then. It's really fun to figure out what to make with what I have on hand and how to make things stretch and plan a little better. Plus, I get to spend some quality time with my husband.

It's especially fun to be there when they are closing. They have "bouncers" that walk from the back of the store to the front, as they clear everyone out and turn off the lights. They never talk to you or rush you, but you know they're right behind you, watching your every move. They're kind of like the guards at Buckingham Palace. We try to make them laugh or talk, but they are pretty serious. It makes it a bit tricky to go back to an isle if you forgot something. They let you, but it feels so very very wrong.