Shopping Success - almost!

We had a great day of shopping and my mum got everything on her list and then some. Her favourite store now is definitely Dillards, where she always seems to have great success with clothes shopping.

I persuaded her into a much more up to date pair of jeans, slightly bootcut, rather than her preferred straight-leg style. I told her they slimmed her legs, hips and butt and she did buy them, but I don't think she was 100% convinced until she put them on again back home.

I bought two reduced t-shirt dresses in the nightwear department that had 'patio' on them, but I thought nightwear seeing as that's what the sign said. Well when I got home and put them on I thought 'wow they are really very nice for nightwear'!? When I came into the lounge wearing them both the Hubster and mum thought they were dresses and lovely. So I guess I unexpectedly actually bought two dresses I will wear for work and out!

My mum bought me my Christmas present, a lovely Dooney & Burke handbag, like I need another! But it's being wrapped up until Christmas, so you'll have to be patient to see it ;-)

Then we went to Old Navy and I got clothes for my god-daughters as birthday gifts, as my mum can deliver them for me. However I had what can only be described as a 'brain fart' on sizing! After calling my bestfriend back in the UK for the eldest's size, I changed everything from S to XS and off we happily went on our way. We stopped and ate a delicious meal at Applebee's and then headed home.

Ten minutes down the road I suddenly realised I had converted wrong and so we turned around and drove back. I got into Old Navy changed everything back to a size S again, got to the checkout and thought, hang on that's wrong still. So I went back to the US size chart and my very weary brain somehow decided I actually needed size M. So I changed them yet again and off we went home.

60 miles down the road I suddenly started laughing slightly hysterically and said to my mum "They're still the wrong size, I converted up instead of down!" We then discussed it for 5 minutes before we both realised I had converted the wrong way, they were all too big and the correct size was indeed S all the time!!!!!! So we will be making a trip into Old Navy in OKC before she flies next Saturday to change them for the correct size :-) Mum was extremely delighted that she wasn't the one who made the mistake that required us to turn around!

Apart from this though, which I can only put down to tiredness, we had a great day and found some real bargains.

We're off to shop!

Well today we are off to the nearest shopping metropolis of any note, 100 miles away! Yep I'm really that far away from 'mall civilisation'.

My mum wants to get a few things here that she finds better quality and value than at home, like jeans and bedding. So we will hit a few of the big department stores and then Wal-Mart, Lowes and save Hobby Lobby for last.

It's going to be a hot day here, so we will get an early start and hope the 'good shopping fairy' is along for the ride ;-)

Ladies you NEED this product!

Well you do if you ever wear eyeshadow or any kind of eyeliner on your upper eyelid! I first discovered this amazing little bottle of magic about 7 months ago at Sephora the 'grown-up girls candy store' in OKC.

I was already a huge fan of another product by Urban Decay called Midnight Cowboy. An amazingly flattering pale pink and sparkly eyeshadow, that for years all my girlfriends and I turned up wearing to the same evenings out, again and again! So I thought I would try their eyeshadow primer and it is truly remarkable.

I use it without fail daily! Even when I am only wearing mascara I will put it on just to even out the skintone on my eyelids and wake my eyes up with it's pale skintone colour. But if you use it under any kind of eye makeup, in all seriousness it will look just as perfect 14 hours later, even in 100 degree heat! Nothing creases, fades, smears or just wears off over the day and I now stockpile this to make sure I never run out. Even my terribly cheap and cheerful eyeshadows will last uncreased all day long, so it's worth every penny and more!

I am not the only fan, my good friend Karla also blogged about this, but I can't link to her rave about it as she has since moved sites. But Karla if you see this and can link, please go ahead or add your comments too.

So here's my drift - "Wear eye makeup? BUY THIS PRODUCT NOW!"

How to guarantee NO SALE!

If you're an Okie, then the picture above is probably synonimous with one thing immediately - ridiculously pushy salesmen! If you're not I am still certain you will know a furniture store just like this one where you live.

The first time we went furniture shopping, which was within a month of me immigrating, I soon found out why I will never buy anything from Mathis Brothers. As you walk through the doors the salesmen are hovering in groups ready to pounce. The first to reach you and hand you their card, then apparently takes temporary ownership of your person and wallet until you escape!

Despite the fact that you tell them you are "just browsing" and "will call" if you need help, they will then stalk your every step from a discreet but still annoyingly visible distance and will 'wander over' with an encouraging comment if you stop to look at anything for more than 20 seconds! And these are not small stores we are talking about, they are usually on 2 floors and about the size of 4 football fields. So being hunted around something that big, when they have no guarantee you'll even buy, is pretty desperate. I quite enjoy splitting up and trying to 'lose them' for a bit of sport ;-)

It really is quite unbelievable how pushy these 'commission only' salesmen are and for me it's one way to guarantee I won't buy, even if I really like something there (which is rare in that store!).

When I left the UK I had not experienced being stalked around a furniture store to quite this extent, but there were a few stores known for being a bit pushy there too. But it's a whole different ball game over here and extremely offputting for a Brit' who likes to be left alone to decide.

Being a blunt Brit' and finding it quite easy to be rude if necessary, I got to the point where as they locked on to us I would just tell them "If you stalk us I will not buy a thing in here, give me your card and if I find something I will ask for your help, now go away"....and it works! In other stores I would tell them "I hate Mathis Bros because of the stalking, so if you want me to buy anything you'd better leave me alone".....that also works as the other stores know how bad the reputation of MB is for doing this to customers.

In the end though we bought nearly all our furniture from smaller family owned stores, where there was minimal pressure and a good discount for buying a few things there.

I just find it hard to believe that they can't see themselves how offputting this is for the average customer. I mean personally a salesman's opinion is never going to make the difference as to whether I will buy a piece of furniture or not! That comes down to what I need and what I like, so all the sales chat in the world won't make something right if it's not.

Give me IKEA anyday of the week, at least there they leave you to it and you find a salesman when you're ready, and you don't end up feel like punching someone (risking arrest) or telling them to 'bog off' in no uncertain terms!

I know Americans are just as capable of making their own minds up as us Europeans? So why does everyone put up with this and not complain. Generally I find Americans much more polite than the Brit's, but sometimes Y'ALL are far too polite :-)

Knicker Update ;-)

I am happy to report despite all the stress involved in the buying process, I seem to have successfully bought correctly fitting, exceedingly comfortable, no ride-up or panty line knickers :-)

SUCCESS!

Talk about confusing and stressful!!

Okay so this is a slightly 'delicate' matter and it's more for the American ladies who I am hoping can help me?

I went shopping for new knickers (underwear) whilst in the city and decided Kohls would have a good selection. So off I trotted into the ladies underwear department, confident I could find what I needed in 10 minutes maximum.

Well first of all they had a sale on, so needless to say it was all jumbled up on the racks. But the real problems began when I started to look closely at the sizing! All I could see were sizes 2 through 9 and so there I was standing scratching my head thinking 'Is this the skinny womans underwear only and if so where's are the undies for the big butted girls'!?

Well I couldn't see any staff to help me, there didn't seem to be a plus size area and so I started holding some up for comparison. It really didn't help and just confused me more as a 9 looked pretty big to me. So finally I approached a lady and her daughter, explained I was British and asked her what the sizing mean't in relation to normal clothing sizes?

She did a fair job of explaining and so I just took 3 different sizes into the changing room and checked, until I found my size! By now 30 minutes have passed and the Hubster calls me to see where I am. I naturally being British and pretty stressed by now, tell him I am in the fitting room by the ladies pants (because that means knickers to us!), of course this means he goes to the wrong place!

So I come back out needing him to hold some other shopping for me, whilst I try to find the style and size I need in the completely mixed up sale racks. There I am balancing other things, trying to wade through racks and cussing the Hubster vehemently under my breath!

Finally he shows up, at which point we have a whispered heated exchange as to what 'pants' means to us both. He helps me find what I need and we are out of there...FINALLY after about 40 minutes!

So I have to ask....why is the sizing of knickers in stores like Victoria's Secret and other Mall stores the same as clothing (10/12, 14/16 etc) and what the heck is going on with brands like Warners, Vanity Fair and Jockey?!?

Does anyone know how you translate from one to the other?

I tell you ladies, I was wishing dearly for the sanity and organisation of Marks & Spencers knicker department....it was all way too stressful!

Countdown over...

We are off to OKC in the morning, we have a 2-page hit list of stores and shopping, so we don't forget anything and some kind of a plan! As long as the Hubster can keep me moving along in Garden Ridge, Victoria's Secret, Macy's and Sephora, we should make it all :-)

The highlight of the weekend though is getting to meet 3 of the friends I have made through this blog. We are meeting up with BRAD and KARLA (married to each other) and their girls for lunch tomorrow, and then PAM and her British husband John in the evening for dinner. I am very excited to meet them all and will take some pictures of our 'cultural exchanges' as Brad calls them!

I was really worried about sticking to my diet, but have just researched the healthiest options for the restaurants and am now relaxed about it. Plus Cracker Barrel (breakfast on Sunday) has a whole healthy menu I wasn't even aware you could get, because usually I would have been too busy shoveling down pancakes and syrup! Not this time :-)

So my next post late tomorrow afternoon will be from OKC and will probably include piccies from the 'Okie bloggers' lunch meetup.

Ok....off to iron, tidy around and pack a few things :-)

Countdown has begun!

Only 4 days until some decent Retail Therapy in OKC.....

We have a list, a very long one and kind of a plan, although the Hubster doesn't appreciate my plans much!

When you live 3 hours drive from any kind of decent Mall, there's good reason for some anticipation :-)