Unpack your Adjectives! Updated 6/2

[oybolshoi]

Briarmom ... why didn't you tell me you were writing a DIS-er-tation???

I had to peer all squinty-eyed at my laptop in my gloomy cubicle at work (the soulless dominions of finance won't give me a window ... they won't even give me a lightbulb) to see your signature and thus learn of your scribedness.

May I say you are off to a faaaaaaaabulous start and I've even subscribed to your scribedness, which is sayin' something cause I usually don't do that. I like to start reading promising TRs and then lose them while I take years to finish my own.

But this one is going to be different! I'm already cackling enough over here that my manager has inquired into the state of my mental health (it's poor ... why is he suddenly concerned? Oh yeah, he's going on vacation later this week and I have to fill in for him).

Keep the laughs coming!

PS. did you order the basket???

 

[Briarmom]

Love the TR so far.

Thank you!

Count me in on this trip report. Your sense of humor is right up my alley. I can't wait to read more!

Welcome.

Great word! I love almost any conjugation of suck. Which, as you know, is a violent word.

I hate people who live on the east coast and can wake up early in the morning and be in Disney World by lunch time. I hate people who can drive there in under 8 hours. But I still have nothing to gripe about compared with you. NOSineadO'Connor. You've got to SERIOUSLY love you some Disney to put up with that kind of travel day.

You're a very witty writer. I'm looking forward to reading more of your TR.

ZZUB! Did you know that every time I see your user name, I read it ZuZuBee? And then I think of the little girl in It's A Wonderful Life? And then I wonder why no one names their child ZuZu? True story.

Golden Girls? Really?!

It was ahead of it's time. We wouldn't have Sex and the City without it.

Briarmom ... why didn't you tell me you were writing a DIS-er-tation???

I had to peer all squinty-eyed at my laptop in my gloomy cubicle at work (the soulless dominions of finance won't give me a window ... they won't even give me a lightbulb) to see your signature and thus learn of your scribedness.

May I say you are off to a faaaaaaaabulous start and I've even subscribed to your scribedness, which is sayin' something cause I usually don't do that. I like to start reading promising TRs and then lose them while I take years to finish my own.

But this one is going to be different! I'm already cackling enough over here that my manager has inquired into the state of my mental health (it's poor ... why is he suddenly concerned? Oh yeah, he's going on vacation later this week and I have to fill in for him).

Keep the laughs coming!

PS. did you order the basket???

Thanks for your words Bendy!
I am sorry about your crapjob. You should quit and become a food writer, but you already know that.

I am going to start working on the next installment soon. All the people who avoid doing their last day on the trip because it's so hard to write about, that's the way I feel about the mall.

*sigh* I miss you Mall at Millenia! I miss your high-end stores mixed with middle-end (??middle-end??) stores with prices in US Dollars.

But now it's time for coffee and to wake up the kiddos. We still have more than 3 weeks of school left.

Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[SandraVB79]

Briarmom, what is wrong with you??? You were up at 6 am to post on the DIS??? And it wasn't even a next installment?!?

You crazy woman!

(by the time it was 6 am, my alarm clock had already gone off for at least 4 times, and I was still in my bed... until 7.15, no wonder I was way too late at work, but who cares because I HAVE NOTHING TO DO except reasing trip reports. And maybe starting my own about my last WDW trip.)

 

[Briarmom]

Part 5: Shopping. Please take a moment and give this word the reverence it deserves. Thank you.

We woke up bright and early in our Pop beds. Bright and early. Like before 6. Which is right around noon for our bodies. I should ammend that. DS did not wake up early. He continued to sleep, even while we all got ready to shop, which may or may not have included me jumping up and down shouting ‘SHOPPING!!!’ ad nauseum.

I took a shower to wash that 747 smell out of my hair. Dh got in next while I got DD dressed.

A word about the preparation (H) for this shopping trip. I was worried about what to wear. Like for weeks before. I know it sounds crazy, but what if I wanted to stroll into Chanel for a look-see? They have a Jimmy Choo at this mall. You cannot go in there with your jean shorts and your ‘North Dakota: It’s Better on Top’ t-shirt. I mean, you could, but you probably would not be taken seriously. And this is a serious shopping trip. DD was attired in fresh, never worn, Gymboree, and I put on an Anthropologie top with my jean shorts. Yeah, yeah. They aren’t cutoffs and they weren't cheap, ‘kay? I wore Steve Madden sandals instead of my Reef flip-flops that have the beer opener feature on the bottom. I classed it up, is what I’m saying.

I don’t remember what dh wore, but I think it was entirely purchased from LuckyBrand Jeans. Shopping day really isn’t about him, though.

We finally got ds to wake up and get a move on. He was THRILLED to get up to go shopping when Disney World was right outside, thank you for asking.

After a quick call to the luggage peeps to move our luggage over to the Beach Club, we went over to the food court for some ‘eats.’

The first words out of dh’s mouth when we entered the food court were: ‘Dang, I wouldn’t want to see this place in about an hour.’ True dat. Between trying to find our room the night before and walking over to the chow hall, we’d really gotten a feel for how big Pop is. It’s big. Probably the same size as Liechtenstein. Just sayin.

For breakfast, dh and I ordered some sort of sandwich and some sort of wrap to share. Dh wanted coffee, but I reminded him that we were in Disney. Where everything, including a trip to ‘Everest’ and pyrotechnics set to music, is possible. With the teeny exception of a good cup of coffee.

‘Oh yeah. I forgot.’

That’s why I’m here, honey. Here, have a STAR energy drink.

The kids got Mickey waffles or pancakes, I can’t remember which. Shopping day really isn’t about them, though.

The food was unremarkable. The only remarks I had were ‘I don’t really like this.’ Does that make it remarkable?

Whist eating our stuff, dh and I discussed whether or not we were going to rent a car or get a cab. I told him it was his call, because I really had no dog in this fight. Or something.

He decided since it was so early, we’d go over to the Dolphin and check out the rates on a rental for the day. That way, we could get to the Mall, Target, and Shades of Green, where we’d be buying dh and the kids their hoppers.

Dh called the toilet the ‘hopper’ until we started going to Disney. Coincidence? (POP UP Trip Report!)

Ahem. So after our ‘food’ we caught the bus to MGM (yes, yes, the Studios or whatever. PICK A NAME ALREADY!) and then walked over to the Swolphin. Let me tell you, it was torture for me to get so close to a Park and then not go in! Probably was torture for the kids as well, but shopping day and all.

The walk to the Boardwalk area is so nice! We really enjoyed the weather and the trees and the SUN! Not a ton of Sun in Belgium in April. Or the other 11 months of the year, either. It’s mostly a ‘gray’ kind of country. So seeing sun was a big big thrill for us.
We’re easy to please.

Before we went to the car rental place (which I’m sure has a name, but I really want to get to the fun shopping) we stopped off at the Boardwalk hotel to meet up with a DISer friend of mine. I’ve been ‘friends’ with her for almost as long as I’ve been here. She’s a defunct DISer now, and I don’t want to cause any trouble in the midst of my trip report, so I’ll just say that it was fabu to finally meet her. A better person you will not meet.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

We found the car rental desk at the Dolphin and walked right up. We were hooked up with a GREAT one day deal of less than $50 and we also got there just before an enormous line formed. Woot! We got some sort of small SUV car thingy. It was clean and they gave us a carseat. I’m a girl and I don’t remember anything about the car. Except I think it was goldish.

At the car rental place, they also had directions to various locations pre-printed on little cards. We got one that had Shades of Green on it as well as one to Mall at Millenia. The MaM one also had directions to Wal Mart, which did not fill me with joy. Chanel and Wal-Mart on the same card? I think not!

We ran over to SoG to get military priced tickets and then we were off to shop!

The mall had opened just a bit before we got there (remember, we were up EARLY) so we had great parking. The first stop was Gymboree. We needed to get this out of the way before the kids had spent several hours in the mall. I told dh to go to the boys’ side and pick up everything they had in a size 10.

Just kidding. Sort of.

They didn’t really have a lot in size 10, nor did they have jeans at all! We asked one of the cashiers, and she went in back and got us the only size 10 pair of jeans in the place. Oh well. At least he’d have one non-highwater pair. For dd, swimwear was the most important item. They’d been pretty picked over since it was Gymbucks time and all, but I found two suits in her size with cover ups. Whew! Stormalong Bay here we come!

We spent quite a bit of time in Gymbo, and dh told me to get on to Anthropologie while he paid. I handed him the Gymbucks and was off like a prom dress.

Anthropologie is my absolute favorite store. Everything is so cute. I wish I were taller and thinner, then their clothes would really be great for me. I’m pretty sure I can’t get taller though, so I might as well not get thinner, either.

I whipped through anthropologie like a tornado, picking up skirts, dresses, cropped pants, cute shirts...basically doing what I’m best at. While I was there, dh had taken the kids to Lucky and was getting helped by some cute little Moroccan girl when I walked in. How come there weren’t any cute boys working at anthropologie?

The girl and I exchanged pleasantries in Arabic and French (but mostly French because my Arabic is limited to about 20 words, and 'the boy is under the table' is not appropriate shopping gab) and then dh and I commenced to filling up a couple of big bags of clothes.

I'd like to take this moment to point out that the only things I bought at Lucky were a pair of white jeans and a top. That's it. Shower admiration upon me for using such restraint. You know I deserve it.

Dh and I went on to shop at Coach, Neiman Marcus, and I ran in and got him a pair of cufflinks at Tiffany for his birthday. This had been part of my plan, and it worked swimmingly. We gluttonously purchased jeans, tops, handbags, nail polish, lipgloss, and hoodies. If my Grandmother had been in the mall with us, she would have run to the nearest Catholic Church and prayed 56 rosaries for our souls.

We don’t shop often, but when we do, we shop seriously.

After all this shoppin’, we were STARVED! Dh and I really wanted P.F. Changs, but we knew the kids would not be into that. They’re picky eaters. I know a lot of your kids aren’t picky eaters, but a lot of your kids have not been inside the Pyramids. So neener neener.

Ooops. That was rude. I didn’t mean that. The eating issue is a bit of a hotspot for me. *sigh*

So we ditched Changs for The Cheesecake Factory.

We were about to be slapped in the face by culture shock. In our own country.

 

[Hedy]

Great shopping description!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Hurray an update! I wish I could shop with such wild abandon! I wish I could get my DS9 to wear Gymbo. If it doesn't say GAP on the but he ain't wearing it! .


I love your writing- could we have another update soon - please!!!

 

[PrincessV]

Part 5: Shopping. Please take a moment and give this word the reverence it deserves.

Thank you.

My pleasure!

I wore Steve Madden sandals instead of my Reef flip-flops that have the beer opener feature on the bottom. I classed it up, is what I’m saying.

Chanel and Wal-Mart on the same card? I think not!

Uh.... NO. Not right at all. Violates some sort of universal law, doesn't it?

Anthropologie is my absolute favorite store. Everything is so cute. I wish I were taller and thinner, then their clothes would really be great for me. I’m pretty sure I can’t get taller though, so I might as well not get thinner, either.

Thank you for this! I have the same thought in so many stores - "If only I were taller and thinner!", but I love your follow-up argument!

Dh and I went on to shop at Coach, Neiman Marcus, and I ran in and got him a pair of cufflinks at Tiffany for his birthday.

What about Jimmy Choo??????????

I know a lot of your kids aren’t picky eaters, but a lot of your kids have not been inside the Pyramids. So neener neener.

Ooops. That was rude. I didn’t mean that. The eating issue is a bit of a hotspot for me. *sigh*

Me too, me too. No pyramids yet, either. But. Mine lives an hour and a half away from WDW. Can that be MY neener-neener?

We were about to be slapped in the face by culture shock. In our own country.

At teh CHEESECAKE FACTORY?? DO tell....

 

[sunnyday123]

 

[winkers]

I know a lot of your kids aren’t picky eaters, but a lot of your kids have not been inside the Pyramids. So neener neener.

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

You had me at all the shopping talk (with one minor moment to pull up Anthropologie just to browse) but you're keeping me with the "neener neener" in the last post.

I know it's a TR and all, but please, let me live vicariously just a smigden longer. I'd like shoe and bag labels and item numbers please. Swoon.

 

[kathymc]

this is great - loving the report - keep it coming!

 

[Briarmom]

Posting on Mondays seems to be a good thing! Is it a dreary Monday with torrential downpours that flood your basement in every part of the world?
Torrential. As in when I opened the door to see something and stepped out, saw it and stepped back in, DD4 laughed and pointed and said 'Mommy! You look like you just went on Kali River Rapids!;

Great shopping description!

Ah thank you. I do heart shopping.

Hurray an update! I wish I could shop with such wild abandon! I wish I could get my DS9 to wear Gymbo. If it doesn't say GAP on the but he ain't wearing it! .


I love your writing- could we have another update soon - please!!!

Well, Gymbo is on it's way out for us. Ds doesn't really care about fashion, but I mostly do their non-written on t-shirts and jeans for him. I did just get him 2 pair of jeans from Gap and one of their Junkfood StarWars T-shirts, which he loves.

Thanks for reading! I don't know when I'll get another update done, but I'll work on it.

What about Jimmy Choo??????????


Me too, me too. No pyramids yet, either. But. Mine lives an hour and a half away from WDW. Can that be MY neener-neener?

Two things:
That CAN be your neener-neener, and The Cheesecake Factory is located inside the Mall. We have not yet left. That's all I am saying about Choo.

You had me at all the shopping talk (with one minor moment to pull up Anthropologie just to browse) but you're keeping me with the "neener neener" in the last post.

I know it's a TR and all, but please, let me live vicariously just a smigden longer. I'd like shoe and bag labels and item numbers please. Swoon.

I'd love to post all of my booty, but I won't be able to find most of it online.
Thanks for reading! Tell Anthropologie I sent you.

this is great - loving the report - keep it coming!

Thank you!

 

[SandraVB79]

There is a Chanel at the Mall at Millenia?
You mean: I was twice in that mall and didn't know there is a Chanel??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Now how could that happen?????
I bought Chanel perfume at Macy's, but that's about it. And i'm a Chanel addict. Nevermind the fact that "addict" is more a Dior thing.

Hmmm, and there is a Krispy Kreme outside the mall. MMMMMM, Krispy Kreme.... (I look like Homer now!)

 

[Rebecuberduber]

I've been lured out of lurk-dome to ask you one thing: HOW do you get your husband on board with all this shopping??? I must know your secret.

 

[Briarmom]

There is a Chanel at the Mall at Millenia?
You mean: I was twice in that mall and didn't know there is a Chanel??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Now how could that happen?????
I bought Chanel perfume at Macy's, but that's about it. And i'm a Chanel addict. Nevermind the fact that "addict" is more a Dior thing.

Hmmm, and there is a Krispy Kreme outside the mall. MMMMMM, Krispy Kreme.... (I look like Homer now!)

We didn't see a Krispy Kreme, but we weren't looking for one.
There is, indeed a Chanel. If you go to the website, you can see it.
I didn't even go in. I'd bought some lipglosses and a nail polish at Neiman Marcus, but that's it. I wear their sunglasses, but I just felt too underdressed to go in.
I wouldn't have bought a suit or a sweater anyway, so it was just as well.

I've been lured out of lurk-dome to ask you one thing: HOW do you get your husband on board with all this shopping??? I must know your secret.

Hey there! Welcome!
Hmm...the dh is pretty cool about shopping in general. I don't know what the secret is. I didn't 'shop' as I would have if I'd gone with a friend. I didn't shop as I would have if I lived in Phoenix and shopping was something I did every day.
In other words, there was no 'lingering' or 'comparing' or 'waiting on tomorrow'. It was speed shopping.
You live in Alaska. You know how it is. When we lived there, shopping was a rare treat as well. Not as rare as it is here, but still. I mean, we had Starbucks in Fairbanks.

 

[reelmom]

Just found your trip report and loving every minute of it.

 

[froglover2]

lol I am lovin your TR!!!
You are too funny!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Briarmom, I can't believe you didn't work in that line from A Christmas Story to describe your shopping spree ...

Allow me:

We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with anticipation and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice.

Not that it's a bad thing ... it just sort of struck me while I was reading and snorting and giggling and wishing I could join you on a shop-a-thon of such magnitude.

Wonderful update ... am looking forward to more ... I really am!

 

[sunnyday123]

Hey there! Welcome!
Hmm...the dh is pretty cool about shopping in general. I don't know what the secret is. I didn't 'shop' as I would have if I'd gone with a friend. I didn't shop as I would have if I lived in Phoenix and shopping was something I did every day.
In other words, there was no 'lingering' or 'comparing' or 'waiting on tomorrow'. It was speed shopping.
You live in Alaska. You know how it is. When we lived there, shopping was a rare treat as well. Not as rare as it is here, but still. I mean, we had Starbucks in Fairbanks.

I cannot imagine not being able to pick up and go peruse the local mall.

 

[DISchick]

Subscribing ASAP!
..and can I just add that if you forget your pile cream in all your DisneyWorld Preparation (H), you'll pay as much for it at the store in the Swolphin as you would for a Belgium gallon of gas?
I'm just sayin'..........

Lovin' this TR!