Lululemon Warehouse Sale Haul

I never knew the cult following that Lululemon had before we moved to Montreal. Sure I had purchased a pair of the cropped workout pants when we first moved to Ohio and at the time thought I was crazy for spending the $50 or so on them, but after wearing them to workout in a few times, I realized how great they were. They washed well, held their shape, looked great on, didn't fade and even made it through me being pregnant with Arabella and then afterwards. And to this day, almost 6 years after purchasing them and wearing the heck out of them - they still look pretty darn good!

I remember being excited when we moved her to find out that our mall had a store in it. But then reality set in, how could I justify the $98 for a pair of yoga pants when I wasn't working. Or even the $50 for a sports bra...they are the best I have worn and when you are endowed like I am, you need something to keep them in place while running or working out...but still. So I would resort to buying items here and there when they would be on sale. At one point, Jay even looked into purchasing their stock since it seems like everyone here has their regular wardrobe and then their Lulu wardrobe! Literally, there is a Lululemon fashion show each day at our pool in the summer - I swear there is more Lulu on the pool deck than in the store at our mall, seriously! When Jay saw that he missed the IPO and what the stock is sitting at now, roughly $61 vs. the $10 IPO in 2007, http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/lulu - he knew he missed the boat!

But in all honesty, as much as Jay can't believe that I would spend that much money on workout clothes, I have to say they are worth every penny. So when I saw that Lulu was having their once yearly warehouse sale in Ottawa, I knew I had to go. And when I heard that the prices were amazing and that they would be restocking throughout the weekend, it made my decision to go even easier. So instead of getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, I left at 8 am with Emily, Arabella's babysitter, and we made the less than 2 hour drive to Ottawa. (A whole bunch of my friends were going to go, but we just couldn't all coordinate our schedules...some went Friday and stood in line for 3-4 hours just to get into the sale....and others went on Sunday when the selection wasn't as great but the prices were the lowest.) Emily and I wait about 2 hours to get into the sale - which was very well organized, they only let a few people in at a time and the clothes were all hung on rolling racks in size order - and then we spent about 1 1/2 hours browsing the selection. It was nice as they kept bringing out new stock throughout the time we were in the sale. We had to wait again to check out, but I think it was totally worth it. I was able to get some new pants and tops and a special edition hoodie that I have been drooling over for the longest time (it retailed for $148 but I get it for less than half price) and I also picked up a few cute things for Arabella from the girls line that Lulu just recently came out with - Ivivva - for her gymnastics. Needless to say, she loved them all and was super excited. (Jay on the other hand, rolled his eyes - like mother like daughter - but was happy with the price I paid for each piece - $9 for the pants, $24 for the hoodie!)

So here is my haul...

Arabella's haul!
She got right to monkeying around and loved doing a fashion show for Jay of everything I scored for her!
A also scored a new Sigg water bottle for $9, a free scarf, a hat for running and a great tote bag!
My special edition Scuba hoodie! I love it!
The rest of my haul!

I actually can't wait for the sale next January, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they hold it here in Montreal. For those of you in the US, they are having the only US warehouse sale this weekend in Chicago! Now all I have to do is go through my old workout clothes to make room for the new...

Taking Auntie to Ikea

In the midst of re-doing Arabella's playroom, I decided that we needed one more piece of the storage shelving that we purchased at Ikea. We had not thought about where we would put some books and some of her art supplies. So I decided that we needed to make a return trip to Ikea. And it was perfect since Auntie had never been before. Another bonus was that it was early in the week so it wouldn't be too busy, which is always a bonus when you go to Ikea. I don't know about you and if you have an Ikea near you, but if you go on the weekend, it is like suicide with how crazy and busy it gets. Sometimes you can't even find a parking space in the lot!
Arabella had fun showing Auntie all the furniture and they had fun trying things out. Arabella would run from "room to room" saying "Check this out, check this out", it was so cute. I was also surprised with how great she did in the store. We had to be there for at least 2 1/2 hours and we even had lunch in the restaurant. I was able to get the additional storage piece and shelving for her playroom, a few photo frames, a new floor lamp for my office (which is one of the next rooms that I am re-doing), a huge (and I mean huge) glass vase for the foyer. (This is one of things that I have been looking for forever and I love it!) For the most part, I love Ikea, sure there are things that I won't buy there and for basics like picture frames and storage and decorating items, it is great. Now, we couldn't buy a sofa or chair there since most of the furniture makes Jay look like a giant since the scale is so small, but otherwise it is nice having an Ikea just a few kilometers away. We had a great time and now Auntie Lori is hooked and will be making a trip to the Ikea in New Haven when she gets home.

You Wouldn't See This In The States

Tonight, Jay and I went to IKEA to pick up some new storage for Arabella's playroom. It was just us since Arabella was at home with a sitter so it was almost like a date, funny right, a shopping date at IKEA! If you know anything about Jay, you know that he hates to shop and he will avoid it at all costs. So when we got into the store, he decided that he was hungry and needed to get something to eat. I rolled my eyes since I saw his needing to eat as a way of avoiding the shopping that we needed to do. Besides, it wasn't like we were going to browse the whole store, we went for a specific item and we knew what we wanted. He decided to get spinach and cheese crepes, which were very good, but as we were waiting in line to pay, I noticed this...

Yup, that is what you think it is...WINE!! At the IKEA restaurant! How awesome is that? Next time I need a good, cheap meal and a glass of wine, I am heading to IKEA and after I can do some shopping. I knew I liked IKEA for a reason....wine and shopping together, there is not much more that I need!