When I heard that ChickAdvisor was organizing another shop crawl, I immediately convinced myself that I had to go. I met up with Reslie and Emily this past Friday, November 2nd, at Eaton Centre in Downtown Toronto right before the event. We all split a pitcher of Steamwhistle and some hot wings (good, even though the hot wings weren’t actually hot barbecue wings… more like hot sauce to dip in on the side), and a linguini and fajita which cleverly had the same ingredients… hello, tacky! There were julienned carrots, green peppers, lemon slice, orange slice. I have not seen two entirely different entrees have the same insides, ever. And I’m hoping that would be the last.
We started shopping around 7 pm, and the Crawl ends at 9 pm. We were rushing a little bit but we knew that we’re up for the challenge. My absolute favourite store from the Shop Crawl, FRAICHE, is so adorable. We actually walked by this store twice without even noticing because it has such a narrow display outside. I got myself a top / cover-up from here, which looked kinda retarded over my purple button down shirt dress, but very cute over a fitted top. I am so pleased with the purchase, which was originally $52, but came down to $39 before taxes. Still sounds expensive, but I don’t think I’ll find a cover-up this cute anywhere else. Besides, I’m indulging! FRAICHE will be on my regular list of stores to hit every time I’m on Queen Street for sure.
After FRAICHE, we were totally running out of time. We still had two stores to hit and 30 minutes to do it. We basically rushed ourselves in CHANGE, a really pretty lingerie store. We found bras and panties we were ready to get with our $25 gift cards, but the ladies at CHANGE refused to sell them to us without trying them on, which is a good thing. It shows that they care about their customers getting a proper fitting. We will definitely go back and get ourselves a proper fitting. Maybe get an ego boost as well, as they said I might actually be a 30C or 30D, and wear extra small panties. Oh my! We can’t wait to go back to CHANGE. Lastly, we hit Scarpino for shoes! I tried on some high boots, but of course, they wouldn’t fit my “athletic” calves. Reslie got a pair of Emu boots here (haha, ugly cousins of Uggs), but she was so pleased with them, so friends let friends slide with that. Haha!
The after party at Milestones was a lot of fun! It meant swag bags, fashion show, raffles, and bellinis! We didn’t stay for very long though, so after I exchanged my Chick tee and not winning the raffles, we decided to hit Chapters next door. Emily got a scrapbook and a photo album, while we blocked an aisle, goofing off on the floor taking pictures.
My first social shopping experience was definitely fun, and I’m sure it will not be my last!