k*spot: Shopping

Bests: REI (again)

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 03:32:00 GMT

T and I went to get some last minute trip stuff at REI last night and we had another fantastic shopping experience. I really can't get over how nice and helpful the people that work there are - seriously they know their stuff and they actually want to help you find what you need or recommend things without being pushy or overbearing. If only every shopping experience could be so great.

one more best - REI

Thu, 24 May 2007 23:07:58 GMT

REI customer service - best

T and I went to the downtown REI during their ridiculous anniversary sale when it was super crowded. Why we did that, I don't know, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, we were looking for bikes and the guy that helped us was SO helpful and great - I was amazed at how friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and straight up honest about not trying to sell us something more expensive. He spent probably 45 minutes with us explaining to us what the differences were between the different bikes and even helping to do sizing in case we wanted to check out other stores we know what to ask for.

After bikes, we went upstairs to the shoe section where a dude there was also super helpful and knowlegdeable about both mens and womens shoes. I ended up buying a pair of trail running shoes on sale - best shoes for a great price.

They sure hire some great people at REI - I mean all the people that have ever helped us there really know their stuff - not just learning the product line, but actually being an active outdoor user of products, which I think is pretty cool. Good job, REI!

Things I love (right now at least)

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 01:59:03 GMT

1. Geren Ford Spring 07 Collection, especially:

2. Davines NouNou conditioner - best conditioner ever for really dry hair like mine. (Lu, this is what I got you before stupid airport security nearly confiscated it). It's waiting for you whenever you come to visit Seattle or when I come back to Toronto.

3. Colgate 360. Yes, a toothbrush. It's like the best toothbrush ever - it makes your mouth feel so clean. I bought a nine-million pack from Costco.

i hate you safeway home delivery service, you blow.

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 20:29:46 GMT

Do not EVER use Safeway home delivery. This past week, I decided to take advantage of the Safeway home delivery service that my company touts as being a 'benefit' to its employees to make their lives easier. The 'benefit' is that we get free home delivery ($50 min purchase) instead of paying $9.95 per delivery. Really, my primary goal was to get some frickin Tide because I ran out and I've been so busy I haven't had time to go get some. I thought, tomorrow when I wake up, someone will bring Tide to my door. Brilliant!

Anyway, I've had two safeway experinces since Friday. Why two in one weekend? Because I believe in giving people second chances, of course. But now, Safeway.com is dead to me.

The first order, half the things I ordered didn't come in because I asked for no-substitutions - I dont know, when I see something on the website and I can pick it, I dont know, I kinda expect them to have it. Silly me. Of the things that did come, I received two peaches. Which were rotten. Thanks Safeway, I'm glad you filled my order on rotting peaches at the minimum.

Out went stern letter number one about their ability to give their customers fresh produce, in came my refund of $2.51 for the rotting produce. However, I still didn't have any tide.

SO, I put in order number 2, along with another bunch of cleaning supplies that I needed and other random things. This morning, order number 2 arrived, except that ... there was no Tide AND another $15 dollars worth of things were missing. AND they charged me for it!!!! MuthaF*ers!

So I made one angry phone call to get a refund - the woman I spoke to told me that it happens all the time where a bag gets left when they check out or the bag gets put into the wrong crate. Like WTF where is the quality control here?! She also had the balls to ask me if I wanted to wait another day for my delivery or get an instant refund - AS IF I would wait another day for them to f* up my order again! Gimme my money, woman!

Out went stern letter number two about how craptastic their service is and how poor their quality control is and how flip they are that they know it happens but they're not even doing anything about it. I'll be also filling a complaint w/ my company when I get to work on monday to let them know how crappy a service it is.

From now on, no more safeway.com. WORST SERVICE EVER!

$200 jeans

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 03:36:00 GMT

With the 'girls bonding session' last thursday + maya asking about perfumes + daniel implying I had a problem + traffic being absolutely horrible right now, I've been surfing around the net on shopping sites to kill some time before heading home.

i just noticed one of my fave shopping sites added a pretty complete online jeans buying guide. I like it because it rates a bunch of jeans across a bunch of body types (that they give real measurements for) and tells you what works and what doesnt.

Expensive jeans vs. cheap jeans has been a topic of discussion amongst a number of my friends lately. Do they really make a difference? Why pay 200+ dollars for a pair when you can get some for 40 or 50 bucks?

I've been told a million different reasons on both sides why its worth it, vs. why its all a waste of money. I guess it all depends on what you're looking for. I actually do believe you CAN find a great pair of jeans for less than $50 if you look really really really really hard - somewhere out there is a jeans maker that used a body that is exactly like yours as their base model for their design/cut.

I don't really have that kind of patience to search for the perfect cheap pair of jeans so I admit, I swing towards the expensive jeans. There are a couple things I consider:

fit: if you've got an average body (and by average, I mean the size that the original pattern of the jeans were designed for) then you could probably buy a $20 pair of jeans and look fantastic. If you've got a proportional body then you'll also look great in any pair of jeans. if you're neither, then chances are you won't look so great (or maybe you don't care how you look, in which case go buy the cheap ones). More expensive jeans tend to carry jeans designed for different body types and for each style cut them to more than one size - Cheaper jeans are calculated ratios based on that generic size. If you're proportional, the mathematics of scaling will work for you. If you're not, you'll end up with too much or too little in the wrong places. That being said, some expensive jeans will look like absolute crap on you anyways because they're not designed for your body type.

durability: you probably wont get this in expensive jeans, IMO, because they're treated so much and pre-softened and worn in that its like you've had them for like years. Chances are you'll spring a hole faster. for better or worse, I have enough clothes to put into rotation that wearing things too often is rare for me, but friends i know do wear out their expensive jeans faster (and brands like rogan and paper denim actually warn you about wearing them out)

fabric: I probably know the least about this part. Nice jeans feel better but (related to durability) it could just be that they've been treated so who knows? I've been told its like sheets - not that you measure jeans by thread count - but the feeling of 900 tc sheets is very different than 200 tc sheets. Different kinds of cotton, different kinds of ways of spinning the cotton? I have very little insight into this.

wash: ok, maybe you don't care about this but i swear, cheap jeans just look cheap. i'm pretty particular about the color of my jeans and any old blue won't do. I can't stand overly faded (or strategically placed fades) because they tend to not do much for my body (though some good ones will make your thighs look smaller)

pocket placement and type: again, maybe you dont care about this one either, but pocket placement and size can do a lot for your body. Smaller pockets can make a smaller butt look bigger or a person with a big butt look huge. Wide pockets can make your butt look flat. Pocket flaps can make your butt look bigger. No pockets at all can tone down a big butt. Slit pockets can make your hips look big if they not placed right. I have a pair of juicy jeans that I swear, the pocket are only one inch deep in front to prevent excess fabric in front in an effort to keep your tummy as flat as possible

details: hems, stitching, embellishments. The third isn't very important to me (like the design on the pocket, whiskering or studs/jewels or strategically placed holes) but the little details like what the hems look like or what color the stitching are can make or break a pair of jeans for me. Never ever forget to get your original hems if you get your jeans shortened (your tailor should know what to do if you tell them you want the original hems).

phew - that's a lot of talk. when it comes down to it, you should buy what fits and what you think looks good on your body (and really try them on before you buy them - dont get them just cuz everyone else is wearing them). I'm still on the hunt for a great pair of cheaper jeans. I've been told the GAP has recently revamped their jeans line and I want to go test them out.

time to go home now! traffic is gone

30% off at Club Monaco - dec 2-5

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 01:33:10 GMT

yay for more shopping. 30% off at Club Monaco

(canada only - sorry j&j!)

25% off at Kenneth Cole this week

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:23:46 GMT

Friends and Family 25% discount at Kenneth Cole, Dec 1-5.

Go shop! Plus, my most favoritest retail person Luke is now the manager at the seattle store.

a treat for me

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:47:33 GMT

ok - so with the condo and my million plane tickets this year to go back to toronto, i'm a bit on the poor side. that being said, I think I deserve some treats some time. Here's the purse I got the other day when shopping with Paul. Ain't it cute?

ps. lu - you'd be so proud - its brown!

shopping with paul + luke

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 05:01:46 GMT

Paul and I decided to go shopping on Saturday afternoon - as it turns out, Paul's bum is particularly caustic and causes his pants to rip. Okay, his bum isn't actually caustic, but two of his new pairs of jeans (rogan and paper denim) got HORRIBLY large rips in them only shortly after he bought them. Normally I would say shoddy workmanship, but both are good labels and the tears are mysteriously in the exact same place which makes me believe that Paul's bum really is the culprit.

My theory is that its the action of the way he sits + the strain it puts on his jeans when he drives (pressing the clutch) that pulls on his jeans and causes them to tear. His porshe seats themselves are like butter, so it can't possibly be wearing out his jeans.

Anyway, we went off to Mario's where we were helped by the greatest salesman ever, Luke - he's the jeans expert at Mario's and the man knows his stuff! Super attentive and fun to shop with, he even taught me a trick for that pesky problem of your jeans stretching in undesirable places (ie, your butt): just spritz some water on the butt, throw 'em into the dryer, and voila! no more saggy butt pants! The man is a genius, I tell you.

He's also great because although I didn't buy any jeans there (he didn't think there would be any that I'd like in the woman's section), he recommended we go to Ian - he even called ahead so that by the time we got there they were already expecting us! Tres convenient.

Anyway, I walked out with new pair of juicy's and the cutest purse ever and paul with a pair of 575's. An overall satisfying AND educational shopping day if you ask me.

exhibit a: paper denim and cloth jeans with a massive rip in the upper left leg.

shop bop's lookbook

Thu, 19 May 2005 05:37:35 GMT

i love shop bop's lookbook. pretty clothes, pretty women and pretty photography (and for some reason I really like how they laid out the page - kind of crazy nav, but beautiful viewing pane)

shoe blues

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:15:52 GMT

well my ankle is significantly better - I can actually walk *mostly* normal, though I still have to wear an ankle brace and sometimes when I walk too much my ankle/foot gets really tired and sore.

now that i'm past the extremely frustrating part of needing to rely on others to drive me to and from work, help me get lunch, and being incapable of cleaning my super messy apartment, i've hit another frustration....I'VE BEEN WEARING THE SAME SHOES FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!

(ok, that's not entirely true, I wore my nike shox last friday because I had physio that morning)

Seriously though, I love my miss sixty sneakers, but really, I wish I had more options. I have a cute pair of prada flats but unfortunately my brace makes my foot so fat I can't squeeze into them. The other unfortunate side effect of having to wear flat shoes, is that I can't wear most of my pants, since they're all hemmed for a 34' inseam so that I can wear them with 3+ inch heels without looking like I'm wearing floods. Now, with my flat shoes, my pants mop the floor. Not cool. I can't wait to wear heels again! That or I need to break my shopping hiatus and get more flats.