ahhhh, tired after a long day of shopping :-)

at the crack of 5 a.m. this morning, my alarm went off. this was the day we'd been waiting for.....priscilla, vanessa and i were heading down to the states for a day of shopping enjoyment (or shopping hell). i stopped at starbies for my dopio espresso, tossed it back, and then we were on our sleepy way. after a 15 minutes wait to cross the border, we found ourselves at tulalip promptly at 8 a.m. (just as i had predicted). within 2 minutes, priscilla bumped into a co-worker. within 5 minutes, we had recognized yvonne (geoff & sunny's co-MC at their wedding) but since we don't personally know her, didn't say hi, and then we all recognized another guy, danny, from ubc commerce (but again, didn't know him well enough to say hi). and then a little later at banana, pris and i ran into chris & sylvia, sandra's brother and sis-in-law! i guess the only ppl we didn't see were vic and rita. such a small little world we live in :-)

the 3 of us all managed to buy some items.....i was very jealous when vanessa found the kenneth cole sandals i had bought in september, for approx. $50 US, which were now on sale for $20 US! (regular price was $65 US - sweet deal!) banana had 40% off the entire store. i had dressed for the occasion.....long black skirt, slide on sandals, and a tank top with a long-sleeve top to cover up - this outfit eliminated my need for a change room.....smart, eh?! i therefore saved myself at least 20-30 minutes at banana, however, it was almost for nothing, because i always forget that fall/winter aren't my seasons, so i never buy much. i'm more spring/summer. oh well, i still managed to get 2 tops for $18 each :-) i was also looking for a deal for my hubby.....so i hit nike. i made it just in time for the additional 20% savings so i actually bought him a short-sleeve dri-fit top for $8.29 pre-tax! whoo-hoo! i think van and pris fared a bit better at tulalip than me....both of them walked out with great deals on purses/workbags.

anyhoo, the warnings we were provided with turned out to be false alarms.....the outlet wasn't as busy as we were told it would be, and we were actually done by 11 a.m. it's all about the team-work. before heading out we had all highlighted the stores we wanted to shop at, plotted our route by quandrants, assisted each other by lining up to pay while the other shopped, and split up as necessary. this clever tactic gave us lots of time to hit bellevue square for MORE shopping.

we discovered that the mall didn't have quite the thanksgiving sale we were expecting. in fact, pris and i didn't buy anything. van bought a few items, but they weren't exactly on sale. i think we spent about 1/2 hour at the lego store counting flower petals, stems and bushes for roger's lego collection. the development of this garden is now being dedicated to pris and me :-) macy's and nordstrom's did have some decent sales, but nothing we were in the market for. van tried really hard to find some work clothes, to no avail :(

by 4 p.m. we were leaving bellevue square, and en route to burlington to hit the coach outlet and nine west. i perked up at coach when i found a great deal on a suede handbag :-) then it got even better when i found a pair of sling-backs at nine west for only $30! they look exactly like the black shoes i bought in september at tulalip, except they have a sling-back heel, instead of just a regular heel. why mess around with something that works, right?

and of course, then we hit cascade mall, for bath & body works - their anti-bacterial collection was 3 for $10 (good deal!), instead of $5 for $25 (or whatever the deal is). and van checked out another toy store for roger's collection....such a good wife! then it was over to target for some other stuff - i'm not sure what - but van bought yet more lego for roger, it was a sweet deal again - regular price $99 US, on sale for $49 US, and at home it actually costs $150 CDN! so i think roger's the real winner of this trip!

after 11 hours, we were finally on our way home. yikes! we were just about at the last exit before the border, when all we saw were red tail-lights. i quickly changed the radio to the news and we heard that it was a 2.5 hour wait northbound at the peace arch! crazyness! we were fortunate enough to be able to get onto the exit, turned around, and headed to the truck crossing. ironically, when we got there, the wait was only 10 minutes. we were pretty honest about declaring our purchases, and i was more than a little shocked when the border guard waved us through, without even looking at our passports. i guess 3 asian girls look pretty honest :-) since we didn't have to pay tax on our purchases, it turned out to be a great day in the states. well done, girls!

next year, we're heading to portland for tax-free shopping! whoo-hoo!

and now, chris is home and he needs to eat dinner. so my sleep will have to wait a little bit longer, but that's ok, cuz tomorrow i plan on sleeping in!