Sal's

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Monday, November 10, 2014

To the Dark Side

It all began with the knowledge that a trip to Portland, Oregon was coming up. November in Portland, at least our experience there at that time of year, is rain. The daily high temperature hovers around 48. The rain might be a sprinkle or downpour, the sun shines about 2 hours a day... maybe. Sunshine in Portland can be taken with a grain of salt, it's more of a ray of light through a series of clouds. It's no wonder a coffee shop can be found every two blocks, all that caffeine is necessary to stay awake during the misty months.
Armed with this information I knew a rain coat for Jan and myself was in order. As a result it was me, anti-in-person shopper, online Christmas specialist, who suggested we trek to an Outlet Mall. Jan was shocked and hesitant, having suffered through my curmudgenous attitude in shopping centers for too many years when the kids were young.
The only recourse was to take the Weinpress's along for the ride to enjoy our outing and my potential poutiness. They are world-renowned Outlet Mall shoppers, I was actually surprised that a parking spot wasn't reserved for us. I think Mike has a rolodex with a credit card from all 75 stores in the outlet center. He is listed in the book, "Who's Who in Outlet Shopping" and regularly answers questions from bewildered shoppers on his website, www.goneshopping.com.

First stop - Under Armour, no purchase made. Second - Corningware, there must have been 60 people in line to check out, we didn't dare venture in. Third store - paradise - Columbia. I found the perfect jacket, as did Jan. The coats were marked down special just for the weekend (sure), they took my AAA card for an extra $10 off! Now I was a happy man. I was hooked.
We continued around the mall, buying clothes left and right. Our credit card started to melt from overuse. We had to stop at the truck and drop off packages that became too heavy. As any shopaholic knows, when you are on a roll just keep going. We went back to Columbia where Jan bought another coat! At least we weren't like the woman from Ottawa we met, who came down on a bus for $300 to shop for the weekend. She brought a rolling suitcase just to help carry her goods.
But we kept going, back to Corningware, which had calmed down, and bought new cooking dishes. (what do you mean our wedding present cookware from 36 years ago might be worn out?) Jan won that discussion.
Oh yeah, this is a running blog. Well, we all had run in the morning, Jan did buy a few running shirts, and we outpaced everyone else looking for bargains that day due to our fantastic physical condition. :)
I wouldn't say I'm permanently hooked to the Dark Side of Shopping. But maybe once every five years or so it's okay to get store crazy, just ask MW.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the dark side Obi McWon. A good deal shopping can brighten your whole day. Not to mention Jan was happy and as we all know, that is what you live for. Shop on...Shop on.