What a long day we had! Shopping in an outlet mall is very time consuming and very dangerous to my bank account! Jas and KD think I have a huge shopping problem (ahem!! Trishashopholic?) as I am the one whom made the most purchases. I know a great deal when I see one and I for one, will not pass up a great deal! Before heading off to the outlet mall, I joined the VIP club on the premium outlet website and printed off a bunch of awesome coupons to make my shopping experience even better!
It was a long drive to Tulalip's Seattle Premium Outlet (about 2 ½ hours from the border) but the we spent the longest time waiting at the border, we were in line for an hour. Lots of people had the same idea as we, going to the States for a day of shopping! Finally we reached the check out point and they let us through with no problems. Our first stop was at Bellis Fair to have lunch and pick up a couple of items. I wanted to buy some socks and stockings at Target because I love the below ankle sockets Target carries. I remember discovering them a few years ago during a weekend trip to Seattle to visit friends. I hadn't been able to find anything in Vancouver and when I did find something similar, they weren'’t as nice as the ones I got from Target. The ones from Target are thin and comfy and the Hanes socks are thick and sporty. Now it isn't like the Target socks were super inexpensive and they are about the same price as the Hanes socks, I just figured if I'’m already in Bellis Fair, I might as well pick up the comfy wearable socks! Yip, I'’m crazy.
As we headed back onto the road, our drive was long and boring. Kay and I fell asleep in the car, we took a mini nap, I hate car rides esp. long ones. We made it to Seattle Premium Outlet at around 3.00ish and I could not wait to get started. First stop, the Gap store but I didn'’t really look for anything as I have already been to the Gap store in Camarillo while I was in LA last month. KD picked up a couple of cotton long sleeve shirts for about $7.00USD, that's a pretty good price but the line up to the cashier was 20 minutes!! Banana Republic was next, I had printed off a 25% discount coupon and I spent the most money at BR but I can justify it because these are my fall items for work. My best buy was a knee length black wool dress for $49.99 (marked down) and additional 25% off! We also hit Kenneth Cole which I ended up buying a really nice pair of dark denim blue jeans for going out (all my jeans are not suitable for going out for drinks or dinner, only for running errands and stuff). Had to go to Calvin Klein to pick up some more dress shirts for work, I bought one when I was in LA last month at the Camarillo Outlet and it's a beautiful shirt. A lovely fit and everyone at work thought it was stunning! I ended up buying a black and a beige one. Also hit the Polo Ralph Lauren because I wanted to pick up a v neck sweater that Jas got while we were in LA and it's so beautifully tailored. Normally I don't like to wear sweaters (cuz of the bulkiness) but this one is very slimming and is a classic sweater that will go nicely with my new CK beige shirt. Of course we could not forget about Kay, we ended up at the store she was waiting to go to and I bought her a pair of Converse sneakers because she has been bugging me for months and months for a pair! She got a really cool pair for only $19.99 USD! That is a great price!! I was a little bit disappointed in the Burberry Store as I was hoping to find a pair of rubber rainboots and a wool hat but no luck. Jas is going to London, England next month so she will pick up a wool hat for me. I had seen one at Holt Renfrew for $260.00CDN and that is a ridiculous price for a HAT!! Last stop, Sony store for a pair of headphones because the one that came with my mp3 player is dying, giving off crackling sounds and it bugs me! We spent about 5 hours there and we were ready to head home. We stopped off at Applebee's for dinner and it was disgusting but hey, when you are hungry, you will eat anything. The weather started to turn as we left the outlet, started to rain on us!! Lucky us getting out of there just in time before it started to pour.
Heading back to the border, we were trying to figure out what we were going to say to customs. Canadian customs can be a pain. The duties on US shopping is ridiculous! 30% duty and 13% provincial and federal taxes which would make our shopping deals out the window. But KD decided to take a chance and lowered our number on our purchases but the custom lady didn't buy it. She made us pop the trunk and caught all our shopping bags. KD stated we had bought $170.00 worth of goods but there were a bunch of shopping bags in the trunk def. not worth $170.00. We pulled over and had to pay the fines, duties and taxes before they would let us head home. We ended up paying 60% (duty + penalty) and 13% taxes. ARGH!! We had $600.00 undeclared goods so we ended up paying quite a bit in taxes/penalties. They also decided to take their sweet time holding us there at the office, we were there for almost 2 hours!! By the time we got home it was past midnight and poor little Kay, she was tired but played little actress, quite well too if I may add. We had her pretending to sleep in the back, hoping customs would let us go, you know not wanting to wake a child up but nope, that didn't work. So when we ended up at the customs office, she had to pretend she was drowsy and drunk with sleep. I should put her into acting classes and see if she could do something with this talent of hers ;)
What a long night and day.... photos to be posted soon......
It was a long drive to Tulalip's Seattle Premium Outlet (about 2 ½ hours from the border) but the we spent the longest time waiting at the border, we were in line for an hour. Lots of people had the same idea as we, going to the States for a day of shopping! Finally we reached the check out point and they let us through with no problems. Our first stop was at Bellis Fair to have lunch and pick up a couple of items. I wanted to buy some socks and stockings at Target because I love the below ankle sockets Target carries. I remember discovering them a few years ago during a weekend trip to Seattle to visit friends. I hadn't been able to find anything in Vancouver and when I did find something similar, they weren'’t as nice as the ones I got from Target. The ones from Target are thin and comfy and the Hanes socks are thick and sporty. Now it isn't like the Target socks were super inexpensive and they are about the same price as the Hanes socks, I just figured if I'’m already in Bellis Fair, I might as well pick up the comfy wearable socks! Yip, I'’m crazy.
As we headed back onto the road, our drive was long and boring. Kay and I fell asleep in the car, we took a mini nap, I hate car rides esp. long ones. We made it to Seattle Premium Outlet at around 3.00ish and I could not wait to get started. First stop, the Gap store but I didn'’t really look for anything as I have already been to the Gap store in Camarillo while I was in LA last month. KD picked up a couple of cotton long sleeve shirts for about $7.00USD, that's a pretty good price but the line up to the cashier was 20 minutes!! Banana Republic was next, I had printed off a 25% discount coupon and I spent the most money at BR but I can justify it because these are my fall items for work. My best buy was a knee length black wool dress for $49.99 (marked down) and additional 25% off! We also hit Kenneth Cole which I ended up buying a really nice pair of dark denim blue jeans for going out (all my jeans are not suitable for going out for drinks or dinner, only for running errands and stuff). Had to go to Calvin Klein to pick up some more dress shirts for work, I bought one when I was in LA last month at the Camarillo Outlet and it's a beautiful shirt. A lovely fit and everyone at work thought it was stunning! I ended up buying a black and a beige one. Also hit the Polo Ralph Lauren because I wanted to pick up a v neck sweater that Jas got while we were in LA and it's so beautifully tailored. Normally I don't like to wear sweaters (cuz of the bulkiness) but this one is very slimming and is a classic sweater that will go nicely with my new CK beige shirt. Of course we could not forget about Kay, we ended up at the store she was waiting to go to and I bought her a pair of Converse sneakers because she has been bugging me for months and months for a pair! She got a really cool pair for only $19.99 USD! That is a great price!! I was a little bit disappointed in the Burberry Store as I was hoping to find a pair of rubber rainboots and a wool hat but no luck. Jas is going to London, England next month so she will pick up a wool hat for me. I had seen one at Holt Renfrew for $260.00CDN and that is a ridiculous price for a HAT!! Last stop, Sony store for a pair of headphones because the one that came with my mp3 player is dying, giving off crackling sounds and it bugs me! We spent about 5 hours there and we were ready to head home. We stopped off at Applebee's for dinner and it was disgusting but hey, when you are hungry, you will eat anything. The weather started to turn as we left the outlet, started to rain on us!! Lucky us getting out of there just in time before it started to pour.
Heading back to the border, we were trying to figure out what we were going to say to customs. Canadian customs can be a pain. The duties on US shopping is ridiculous! 30% duty and 13% provincial and federal taxes which would make our shopping deals out the window. But KD decided to take a chance and lowered our number on our purchases but the custom lady didn't buy it. She made us pop the trunk and caught all our shopping bags. KD stated we had bought $170.00 worth of goods but there were a bunch of shopping bags in the trunk def. not worth $170.00. We pulled over and had to pay the fines, duties and taxes before they would let us head home. We ended up paying 60% (duty + penalty) and 13% taxes. ARGH!! We had $600.00 undeclared goods so we ended up paying quite a bit in taxes/penalties. They also decided to take their sweet time holding us there at the office, we were there for almost 2 hours!! By the time we got home it was past midnight and poor little Kay, she was tired but played little actress, quite well too if I may add. We had her pretending to sleep in the back, hoping customs would let us go, you know not wanting to wake a child up but nope, that didn't work. So when we ended up at the customs office, she had to pretend she was drowsy and drunk with sleep. I should put her into acting classes and see if she could do something with this talent of hers ;)
What a long night and day.... photos to be posted soon......
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