Laura’s Big Trip To East Aurora Yields 1,500 New Pets [PICTURES]

My mom came to visit from Rochester yesterday, and all she wanted to do was go to Vidler's 5 & 10.  I've never been, and am a sucker for all things kitsch, so off to East Aurora we went.

It was a beautiful day, so the drive was very pretty. Never having been to East Aurora, I was pleasantly surprised with how absolutely beautiful this town was! Such a New England-type feel to it -- picturesque little shops, brick roads, sweet little cafes...really, really pretty town.

And then there was what I can only imagine is like entering the mother ship of joy for kids...the walk into Vidler's.  If you've been there, you know one half of the building is dedicated to cool, retro relics that most of us haven't seen in years. And of course, there's also a section of the more silly, contemporary pieces, one of which my mother insisted in putting on my head for a flattering picture.

More importantly, I bought myself a gift -- in honor of my dog-ter DJ's 2nd birthday -- that almost all of us had as kids (and that almost all of our older brothers ruined by reminding us that they weren't really monkeys but rather brine shrimp...)

Brine shrimp or REAL SEA MONKEYS! If I succeed in not killing them off like I do all plants, I will document my new little family via these posts. I know, you can hardly contain yourself. ;)