A Lot About Nothing

When I orignally heard about this news about the IKEA having a store at the corner of King and Church I was wondering how they were going to establish an IKEA store in the middle of Toronto’s design district.  I mean, treking to any IKEA location in the GTA, such as the one in Vaughan or on Leslie Street is a circus in itself… finding a good parking spot and manouvering through the aisles can be quite the experience.

Turns out it’s not going to be a full IKEA store, but only a showroom that will feature a selection of new products from their 2009 catalogue.

In celebration of the launch of the 2009 Catalogue we are opening a showroom at 143 King Street East. The showroom will feature a selection of our new products that will be found in the new Catalogue. The showroom will be open July 31 – August 3, 2008.

That seems like an awful lot of work for only four days.  Then again, it IS IKEA.  Oh, well… looks like $2 breakfasts and $1 pasta will have to stay in the boonies.

I loooove kitchen gadgets.  That’s why I make it a mission to visit Kitchen Stuff Plus’ sidewalk sales at least once a year.  If you’re looking for new dinnerware, glassware, bathroom accessories, kitchen utensils, candles, photo frames, or any other houseware, make sure to stop by the Orfus Rd. outlet location of Kitchen Stuff Plus.  You’re guaranteed to get a great deal on something (even if you don’t need it ).  The sale starts today at 10am and finishes at 3pm.  Here’s the link with more info.

Don’t you just hate it when the bank raises your credit card limit and you’re like, “that’s cool… but it’s not like I’m actually going to spend that much”, but you end up shopping like crazy with it anyway? Yeah, well that’s the predicament I’m in, but at least I’m trying to pay off a good amount of the balance monthly.

My Achilles Heel is sales… esp. 50% off the lowest price sales, like the one the majority of Athletes World locations in Canada are having. I was at the Eaton Centre location last month and got some really good deals. This week I heard that the Athletes World store in Yorkdale mall was having a similar sale. I was worried that I wouldn’t have much of a selection since the sale started earlier this week, but I did manage to pick up some great bargains.

I got a nice Adidas hoddie, a tube top, a pair of black Nike Shox EL’s, New Balance 550’s, Antidote leather casual sneakers, and a pair of black Baby Phat high tops for my sister. The grand total? Only $150 including tax! Damn, I’m glad I got off work early today and headed to the mall!

You’d think that since I’ve just came back from a week’s vacation I’d be more cautious with money… but sometimes you just gotta jump on these sales (who knows when they’ll happen again!)

On a side note: yes, I’m back from my week-long Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Valor. I had sooo much fun, and I urge anyone who hasn’t been on a cruise before to save some money and go. It’s soooo worth it. I carried my journal along to jot down all my ‘happenings’, so when I finally decide to unpack completely I’ll back post them here on my blog (this weekend for sure!)

I knew activating my credit card was going to get me into trouble. I ended up spending $150 at Athletes World today in downtown Toronto. To some people it may not seem like much, especially since most athletic shoes are around that price range. I got 8 articles of clothing for that price and I’m glad that I stopped by the shopping mall on the way home from work.

The Athletes World location in Eaton Centre is having a 50% off the lowest ticketed price promotion, due to a lease expiry. If you’re going to head down there for bargains, make sure you go to the location at the Queen subway stop (near the food court with the Druxy’s, Harvey’s and KFC), because the other Athletes World location on the north end of the mall isn’t having the same sale.

As for my purchases, I picked up two pairs of New Balance shoes (one for me and one for my sis). The regular price of these shoes were $139.99 each… They were marked for $79.99 and I got them for $39.99 after the discount! Also picked up a nice pair of green Adidas cuffed cargo pants (reg. price was $69.99) for $20, which was actually cheaper than the lowest ticketed price of $49.99 after the 50% off. I got some cool gold-stripe Reebok sweat pants for $20 (reg. $54.99), three sport tanks and a T-shirt for $5 each (reg. 14.99), and a small bottle of sport cleaner for $4 to keep my shoes and gym bag fresh-looking! According to my receipt I saved a whopping $335!

I also picked up a pair of sandals, but when I got home I noticed that they weren’t in the bag. I would’ve been pissed had I not looked at the receipt–the cashier forgot to add it to my purchase. I don’t blame her though… the place was a mess and crowded with people (the line-up at the cash wasn’t bad though). But the counters near the cash were full of merchandise, so it could’ve easily got misplaced. I guess that’s the good thing about having big feet sometimes: not a lot of people wear your size. I’ll probably head back there tomorrow, since there was quite a few number of those particular sandals left. I might also pick up a hoodie.

Note that all purchases are final sale, so no exchanges or refunds. Great deals if you look for them, but try to get there early to avoid the mess and the crowds. I heard that locations in Scarborough Town Centre and Markville might be having similar sales, so call your local to verify.

I’m not sure how many of you have already seen this wacky infomercial, but this is the first time I’ve checked it out after hearing about it on a forum a couple months ago. I honestly thought there couldn’t be a worse infomercial than Ron Popeil’s Ronco GHL Hair-in-a-Can. It seems I was horibbly mistaken. The Hawaii Chair has taken the throne for Most Stupid Product Seen in an Informercial. For only $293.96 you can have your hips gyrating and ‘lose weight’ while in the comfort of your own home, or while working at the office (I can only imagine the stares from across the cubicle).

In just 20 minutes a day, you can hula yourself to a healthier-looking you!

Here’s a clip from the informercial (lol@the lame jingle!):

What cracked me up was talk show host Ellen Degeneres testing out the contraption on her show:

Wow… the Hawaii Chair seems like it could really take the work out of my workday! Seriously… who thinks these things up?!