Day 271: Edmonton
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday May 6th
The day Amanda and I had been waiting for was here …. West Edmonton Mall day! After weeks (months!) of no shopping and living out of the crappy winter clothes in our bag, it was time to buy new summer wardrobes! We had been refining our shopping lists for weeks whilst on the road, and today was the day to shop, shop, shop!
We wanted to be there for opening (10am – nothing opens early anywhere in the world except Australia!) and we arrived promptly at 9:58am, thanks to some good driving from Luke and good navigating from me (I had become designated navigator).
Walking through the foul smelling Chinese supermarket near where we had parked the car (lot 55C – there are 20,000 car parks at the mall, easy to lose the car!) we arrived in ‘Bourbon Street’, one of the three themed streets in the mall. Knowing Luke wouldn’t be keen on coming clothes shopping with us, we arranged to meet him at 12:30 for lunch, and off Amanda and I went to our first stop – Forever 21! The store was so massive it was almost too intimidating to shop in. We both did a lap of the store first, checking out the scene, and then started again. I had a system to ensure I didn’t miss a rack of clothes, and I knew I had a lot when one of the sales assistants came over with a big shopping bag, saying, “I think you need this!”
Once I’d exhausted the store (or rather, couldn’t hold any more clothes in the bag), I headed for the change room. I needed Amanda’s opinion on one dress – a very figure hugging black dress, which would be great for Vegas but I wasn’t sure if I could pull off. I ultimately ended up with 4 pieces after a solid hour and a half in the store, and Amanda bought a few pieces as well.
With less than an hour until we had to meet Luke, we headed to our next most important stops – Zara and H and M. Zara was extremely disappointing, but we purchased a few more pieces at H and M, ultimately meeting up with Luke 10 minutes late.
With our stomachs full, we were ready for take 2. This consisted of systematically walking every inch of the mall, heading into any stores that took our fancy. I bought some perfume ($15!!) and we both purchased make-up at Clinique, as it was ‘gift time’. A US guidebook for me, a bag for Amanda … before we knew it, it was 4pm and time to meet Luke!
It was 5pm by the time we finally left the mall, all exhausted. We had a fashion show in our room, showing the others what we’d bought; and then had dinner at a nearby pizza place.
The day Amanda and I had been waiting for was here …. West Edmonton Mall day! After weeks (months!) of no shopping and living out of the crappy winter clothes in our bag, it was time to buy new summer wardrobes! We had been refining our shopping lists for weeks whilst on the road, and today was the day to shop, shop, shop!
We wanted to be there for opening (10am – nothing opens early anywhere in the world except Australia!) and we arrived promptly at 9:58am, thanks to some good driving from Luke and good navigating from me (I had become designated navigator).
Walking through the foul smelling Chinese supermarket near where we had parked the car (lot 55C – there are 20,000 car parks at the mall, easy to lose the car!) we arrived in ‘Bourbon Street’, one of the three themed streets in the mall. Knowing Luke wouldn’t be keen on coming clothes shopping with us, we arranged to meet him at 12:30 for lunch, and off Amanda and I went to our first stop – Forever 21! The store was so massive it was almost too intimidating to shop in. We both did a lap of the store first, checking out the scene, and then started again. I had a system to ensure I didn’t miss a rack of clothes, and I knew I had a lot when one of the sales assistants came over with a big shopping bag, saying, “I think you need this!”
Once I’d exhausted the store (or rather, couldn’t hold any more clothes in the bag), I headed for the change room. I needed Amanda’s opinion on one dress – a very figure hugging black dress, which would be great for Vegas but I wasn’t sure if I could pull off. I ultimately ended up with 4 pieces after a solid hour and a half in the store, and Amanda bought a few pieces as well.
With less than an hour until we had to meet Luke, we headed to our next most important stops – Zara and H and M. Zara was extremely disappointing, but we purchased a few more pieces at H and M, ultimately meeting up with Luke 10 minutes late.
With our stomachs full, we were ready for take 2. This consisted of systematically walking every inch of the mall, heading into any stores that took our fancy. I bought some perfume ($15!!) and we both purchased make-up at Clinique, as it was ‘gift time’. A US guidebook for me, a bag for Amanda … before we knew it, it was 4pm and time to meet Luke!
It was 5pm by the time we finally left the mall, all exhausted. We had a fashion show in our room, showing the others what we’d bought; and then had dinner at a nearby pizza place.
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