How vain are you?

Ariom

Oh girls, I miss your Outlets, all the time! I had a ball at a huge one in Atlanta when we were there, and Vegas had a good Saks off 5th where I bought many hand bags on super sale. Everywhere we stayed, I would go outlet hunting. We have a couple here in Aus, but they are nothing compared to yours. 

Those stories are so gross about returns. I worked for Clarins for a while and we used to get women buying our oils, and then returning the bottle filled with Olive Oil for a refund! Some of the more outrageous ones were a woman who had her whole house carpeted in a pale pastel pink plush carpet, 3 months later she decides she hates it, and the store I worked for actually ripped it up and replaced it for her! Another woman left her husband and returned all the clothes she had bought for him at the store, for a refund too. More fool the store for allowing that kind of blatant rorting, but it used to make our jobs difficult when we knew these people were extorting and we had to smile and hand them the cash!

Headeast

Re: returns, awful how they take advantage of the system!

Re: outlets. Here in South Florida we have one large one called Sawgrass. It is heaven! A section is an outlet for high end designers. Lots of fun checking it out every once in a while!

Ariom

Headest, I could never understand how those people could front up for a refund knowing that they were ripping off the store, and knowing we knew it, too!

I went to a great outlet in Florida too, can't remember the name of it, but I had to buy another suitcase to get home after going crazy there!

Headeast

Ariom, I know! 

Spookiesmom

Is Sawgrass around Naples, Ft Meyers? Or your side?

TB90

I have been laughing at all this wonderful advice.  You left me at hair loss.  I am definitely in menopause at 54, but still have the same hair growth on legs and now new hair growth on my chin and upper lip ugh!  My grandmother looked like she had a beard and I am terrified of increasing hair growth as I age (but unlike her, I remove mine).  I already made DS promise that if I am lucky enough to get old and forgetful, he is to ensure that I do not let my facial hair grow!  Any suggestions as how to best have this facial hair removed permanently (just in case DS forgets).  The no no did not receive good reviews by you ladies.  Help, it is sprouting up everywhere!!

TB90

And we were recently in Florida near Disney and the outlet malls were amazing.  And wouldn't you just know it, but they had suitcases on sale too, so like you Ariom, that definitely came in handy.

Ariom

Hi TB! another intrepid shopper! I will go anywhere for a bargain!

I used to find myself going down little alley ways, up rickety stairs and off the beaten track for a bargain when I used to go to Asia regularly for work. I never once considered it might be dangerous! LOL My gf's used to give me shopping lists when they heard I had training in Hong Kong. When I was between Husbands, I was going out with a Qantas Flight attendant, he knew all the places to go for a bargain and he had huge baggage and freight allowance we could use. Those were the days! LOL

SelenaWolf

Ariom... I am SO glad that I'm not the only one who has had to purchase more luggage to accommodate all the bargain shopping I do.  I don't do it often, but - when I do - egads!  I, shamefully, didn't want to admit that I have done so, but you have made me brave.  Yes, on two occasions, I have had to buy a duffle bag to handle the clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. that I have bought at designer discount sales and end-of-season sales.  I love-love-love wearing high-quality, well-tailored clothing, and well-made shoes and accessories, but I hate-hate-hate paying full price.

My husband works in the fashion industry (men's clothing and silk ties) although - when I met him - he was working in women's lingerie and hosiery .  (That's when I learned all about cuban-heeled stockings.)  He gets a clothing allowance every year because the company encourages their employees to wear "company" brands.  I have to admit that I have no idea what size he wears in anything because he's always bought his clothes at cost.  His wardrobe is bigger than mine!  He's a coat-fiend though; he has every size, shape, style, colour imaginable.    Together, we fill a double-closet in our bedroom, and the two closets in the other bedrooms (not counting the seasonal stuff packed away in the attic, in which we put down a sub-floor so we could store things up there ).

And we're awful when we shop together!  We aid- and abet each other's weaknesses.  When I start to feel like, okay, I should stop, he says oh, this is cute!  I really like this this.  You should get it.  And vice versa.  So, we made a pact to never deliberately shop together... but when we're on holiday, that pact gets thrown out the window.

Blessings2011

Oh, barbe - I was thinking there was a typo in your post..... then I got it!!! 

SelenaWolf

I know, Blessings, I thought so too ... then I howled.  Too funny.  Well, too gross funny.  Still grinning.

barbe1958

 TMI?

barbe1958

I'm sure all you ladies have learned to just take an extra piece of luggage and split your weight between both of them when flying to your destination (used to be free! no weight restrictions as I remember). It's cheaper to pay for extra luggage (I've done it for scuba gear and golf clubs) than to buy another piece of luggage....unless things have radically changed lately. Ariom??

Ariom

Hahah Selena! I too, love beautiful things, but don't like to pay full price. It is the canny Scot in me!

I used to take a small roller bag, when I traveled for work, that I could take on board as hand luggage. A Flight Attendant taught me how to roll everything so you could get maximum use of a small bag for travel! I had a big nylon duffel that folded up into nothing that I packed for the trip home. I didn't mind having to claim luggage when I got home, but hated having to wait when I arrived somewhere.

Barbe, I don't know the US weight restrictions these days, but when I was working it was 32kg per person and up to 7kg hand luggage in Economy. You could have more than one bag and split that weight, but there was a definite international restriction. We had different weight rules for Business and First Class. Paying for an extra bag on an International flight could be very pricey. Working at check in, we could waive some weight restrictions depending on how full the flight was and how many passengers you had checked in with small underweight bags.

With all the low cost airlines flying to Australia now, the baggage allowances are very restricted, some even make you pay a premium for any luggage you take because they don't allow any, with your ticket.  It isn't my idea of flying at all, and once you tally up all the add ons like luggage, food, beverages etc, you could have flown with a carrier who supplied it all, for less!

My problem when traveling for our business, or pleasure with Colin, is that I have to be careful what I pack for the destination, because I have to manage all the baggage, tickets, passports etc, for the whole trip, as well as making sure when they transfer Colin into an Airport or aisle chair that his wheelchair is properly taken care of. If that gets damaged in any way, it can be catastrophic for us, because it is a carbon fiber custom built chair that is impossible to replace with an old "Hospital Rattler" while we are away. It is terribly stressful and I have done "The dance of the Humpy Back Spider" more than once when things don't go right with the chair. Airline staff just aren't properly trained in handling the disabled passengers or their equipment these days. It is a real shame because carelessness can outright ruin a trip if a $5000.00+ custom chair is out of action, it effectively takes away someones legs.

In saying all of that, and a rant wasn't intended, if I have a direct flight home from our final port on the trip, I reward myself for all the angst I have suffered, for the rest of the trip, with shopping with abandon and an extra bag to home port! LOL

momoschki

TB90, 

Re the unwanted hair growing in untoward places:  there is a home laser hair removal device called the Tria that I have had good luck with.  I managed to get it thru Gilt at a good discount-- it's pricey (I think I paid about $300 with the discount), but still a bargain if you compare it to going to getting it done professionally.  Takes a while to get the full effect, but it has really gotten the problem under control.  Only hitch is that it will only work on dark hair against fair skin, so if the hair has already gone grey/white,  or if you are dark complexioned, it won't work.  

TB90

Thank you Mom:  I was just about to get the ladies back to my issue.  Why all the appeal with shopping?!  But truly, shopping is the most delightful past-time.  I knew that I was really in trouble when just after my dx I did not even feel like completing my Xmas shopping.  Glad to be back to my old self.

I am going to the mirror to check out the state of my facial hair.  I never let it grow long enough to tell what color it actually is.  I have a four day Easter weekend and will just have to let it grow out.  I am very fair skinned so that will help, but worried the hair may have turned grey? Thanks for the recommendation.  I will definitely check into this.

Ariom:  I had a girlfriend who flew for Air Canada and she shopped in the most exotic places.  My DH and I are just about to embark on a number of wonderful trips and I am researching what to buy at each destination while he picks accommodations, etc.  

Barbe:  You have no idea just how cheap those bags were going for in Florida.  Makes me almost suspicious that they do that just so all the tourists can pack all their purchases.  Smart when you think about it.

exbrnxgrl

Shopping during my layovers (Pan Am) was what motivated me to quit smoking. I added up what I spent each month on cigarettes and translated that in to what I could buy in Rio, Paris, Nairobi, Mumbai etc. We used to buy these nylon tote bags, that folded in to themselves when empty, in Tokyo. We called them Tokyo bags. They came in various sizes and were the exact shade of navy blue as our handbags, so they were allowable with our uniforms. I always had one tucked away in my suitcase for those unexpected purchases.

Caryn

TB90

Caryn:  You too!  I wonder how many flight attendants there are here?

TB90

Caryn:  So glad to be able to talk to you.  I have very much appreciated your other thread, but could not contribute or tell you there.  Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to NOT be able to talk??!!  I feel so connected to some of the women in the stage IV forums, but have to keep arms length.  

Where would you love to return to in your travels?  Did you work for Pan Am when it was luxury travel?  Perhaps it always was.  Air travel just is not the same any more. I remember my parents flying with Air Canada years ago and stealing the cutlery as a keepsake.  Now it would be a plastic fork if they even have that due to security.  So sad.  

barbe1958

TB90, it's not plastic now for security...it's because of everyone stealing the cutlery as a keepsake!! ehehhhehehehee

Where in Canada are you? I'm in Ontario with Selena....

DeliriumPie

you crack me up barbe. 

I'm flying at the end of the month and starting to get nervous about it. Wondering how much it would cost to upgrade to first class. It's a loooong flight and I'm starting to picture either my lung collapsing or LE becoming so bad that my chest explodes. Maybe both at the same time. Lol. I've never liked getting up and moving around during a flight but it's obviously going to be a necessity. Just the thought of all the normal travel hassles makes me tired already too. I know that surely it will be fine though. And I already have my "extra" empty bag ready to pack along. 

barbe1958

I hear you DP!!! I am SO glad we did the travelling we wanted to years ago!!! There is just no joy now when you have to spend an entire day both going AND coming!! When we were in Greece back in 1998 and I saw a Wendys and then in Turkey we saw a McDonalds, that just killed about any curiosity I had about the world in general. Now I get my thrills through documentaries that show me the best of the best.

MelissaDallas

What are y'all doing for the holiday weekend? I've been having fun with all the exotic grocers in my new work neighborhood. I am going to cook a very eclectic mix of Ethiopian & Greek food and sew on my quilt. Guess I should finish my post-Winter clean-up in the yard. Get those last straggler leaves up & trim some drought and cold damage on my spirea. 

I have a massive American Elm that is going to have to come down before it takes out my house or the next door neighbor's.  Trying to scrape together the $3000 (ouch!) to get it done. Can't believe I will spend that much money to literally have nothing left to show for it.

DeliriumPie

I've never had any real desire to travel outside the country. I thought about Ireland a bit but even then maybe just too much hassle. And your right barbe, the travel and history channels are decent substitutes for me. I would love to take a road trip across the US though. I love driving and love all the small town and old school vacation destinations. It makes me sad though sometimes, seeing things that used to be grand and swanky, now depressed and desolate, as we have moved in from simple things as a society.  For example Carlsbad, NM. You can just imagine how it used to be when seeing all the old road signs and motels and shops. But now it's just empty and sad. I still love going there though and the nostalgia feel. I'm a sucker for nostalgia. I guess that's evident since I keep telling BF how exciting it is that we are going to the same place in Hawaii as the Brady bunch did. Hehe. I keep trying to convince him that we should go off looking for that cave that Vincent Price is in. I was clearly born in the wrong era. 

Melissa that sounds like a full weekend!  What area is your new work neighborhood?  

MelissaDallas

Sheila, it's right off old Main St. in Richardson at Beltline & Central. There's a Chinatown strip right behind us, terrific Middle Eastern market with their own pita bakery a couple of blocks away, an Indian/Pakistani grocery, a shopping center that has Korean, Vietnamese & Ethiopian restaurants & shops. Tons of every variety of Asian & Middle Eastern restaurants. Lots of fun.

MelissaDallas

Sheila, where in Dallas are you?

exbrnxgrl

TB90,

Thanks! The stage IV issue is a bit dicey and I'll leave it at that. I flew for Pan Am before they had any domestic routes and my first uniform had a hat. We offered three choices of meals, even in economy and first class was caviar, lobster and a roast cooked from scratch! Despite globalization of brands and chains, I still love traveling more than anything (check out different things served in McDonalds in countries around the world). There are many, many places I'd love to return to. India would be at the top of my list . It is fascinating beyond words and I'd love to see how the boon in high tech has effected the country. Clearly, I've been very lucky to have traveled so much, but despite changes to air travel and the world in general, it never grows old to me. I think that when I get to the point where I can't travel, I'll be sad. I rarely mourn how things used to be, because you can never go back, so I just hop on a plane or a cruise ship and enjoy!

Delirium pie,

Walking around during a long flight is the best thing you can do! It helps with circulation and keeps the lymph fluid flowing. If you're worried about LE, look into getting a sleeve or consider light compression garments like Under Armour t shirts. I recently flew from CA to New Zealand. I wore my sleeve, move about when I could, and had no problems. As a former flight attendant, I never saw anyone's chest explode for any reason  Enjoy your trip!

Caryn

DeliriumPie

Melissa that's funny because I was going to say that combo sounded like either lower Greenville or south Richardson. I used to work in the middle of the High Five, when it was just becoming the high five. There are a lot of neat little shops in that old Richardson area. Even all the way  over into garland side along walnut hill. I used to spend my lunch hour just driving all over seeing everything.  I moved to Richland Hills, near ft worth, about a year ago but will always consider myself a Dallas girl. It's very different here. I work in  Carrollton now and all of the construction between here and there is insane! 

Xbmx, I am finally getting into the LE clinic next week. Hopefully they can help me find the right garments. Sometimes I get a baseball size swelling in my chest that feels like it may explode on land, so my mind is dramatizing things in the air. Lol. 

MelissaDallas

I live in Far East Dallas. End of my block is Mesquite & two blocks or so North is Garland. I've worked in Downtown/Uptown/Deep Ellum most of my life, so this is all new. I come & go Plano Rd. so am exploring, Spring Valley, Forest, W. Walnut & Walnut Hill. There are lots of neat things around the office but I never seem to manage to get out at lunch. My new boss is nice and tries to turn us loose on Friday afternoon early, sometime between 2:00 & 4:00, so I play then before the traffic gets awful.

barbe1958

Okay, now I'm confused....Melissa are you in New York or Dallas??