You wouldn’t think that buying a new pillow would be a difficult endeavor, would you? Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s next to impossible!

I’ve noticed lately that my neck has been killing me when I get up in the morning, and upon closer inspection, discovered that my pillow is both flat and lumpy, (???), so I figured it was time to purchase a new one. Thus began a tour of every discount and department store in the area.

• Wal-Mart–The pillows at Wal-Mart felt no firmer than the sad, old one I had waiting at home. Obviously, this was not going to work.
• Target–This is where my sad, old pillow originated. To be fair, I probably shouldn’t have even bothered looking there–the current pillow is less than a year old, so obviously, it doesn’t hold up all that well. But I do know from experience that the Target pillows are inexpensive, (you get what you pay for, right?), and that they at least start out firm.
• Kohls–I found a great pillow at Kohls. Firm, nice soft cover, just right. The problem? It’s not available in a king size, (although I did later find out that it can be ordered from their website in king size), and we have a king size bed. So, the pillowcases we have wouldn’t fit it, and the standard/queen size would just look funny, anyway. I did give some brief thought to buying three of the smaller size, hotel style, but then I’d have to get new pillowcases, and then tend to be sold in pairs, so…
• Macys–Found another great pillow at Macys. Not quite as good as the Kohls one, but close. But, again, no king size available.
• Bed Bath and Beyond–Plenty of pillows, and in all sizes. The catch? (You knew there had to be one!) All of the good firm pillows cost upwards of $100. There’s just no way I would ever, in any universe, part with that kind of money for a pillow. My neck just isn’t worth it.

I gave up for the day after all those stores, and decided to do a little research on the internet to see where I might find an extra-firm, king-size pillow. I checked Amazon–nothing really noteworthy. I checked Kohls, and I felt slightly encouraged, because, as I mentioned before, the pillow I liked was available in the right firmness and size. I also discovered, however, that it had pretty terrible reviews.

I finally found success at JCPenney’s website. There, I found a pillow that wasn’t too expensive, was available in king-size, and claimed to be the right firmness. The reviews of it were even favorable, and the website claimed that it was also available in stores. So, I printed the $10 off coupon on the website, and planned to head in there in the morning, just in time for the early bird sale.

I wasn’t terribly impressed with the pillow I had found online, but I found another pillow, for the same price, that’s amazing. It claims that it won’t go flat, and has a three-year warranty, (although I’m not really sure what that entails). But it is firm, the cover is soft, and it’s the right size. So, after all that searching, I did finally find a new pillow. I just hope that I don’t have to go through the whole process again any time soon!