Your link to Northwest Indiana. tm
Your link to Northwest Indiana. tm |
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Power Shopping Pierogis! You know what they are; that deliciously filled folded pasta dish, a specialty of Poland. Well, Thomas had a major craving for them last week, so he decided to go shopping in Chicago to find the best Pierogis in the Midwest. As I headed towards the city, a thought came into my head, “Why bother with Chicago, why not just fly to Poland?” So I did! Yes, Thomas kept on driving to O’Hare Airport and hopped a flight to Warsaw, Poland. I was positive that I could find a good pierogi in Warsaw! OK, truth be told… Thomas was actually headed to Poland to attend the wedding of two dear friends (in past articles their ‘stage’ name is Boris and Natasha or Ken & Barbie, I can’t remember …Pierogi deficiency remember?) Anyway, I was on a quick 6 day trip to attend the wedding, visit with their families, eat Pierogis and stuffed cabbage, drink vodka, drink wine, eat more pierogis…and maybe get in a little shopping. Did I mention drink vodka? [I swear that what NOT Thomas dancing on the tabletop in the dining room of the Radisson SAS hotel in Warsaw. Those digital photos were obviously ‘doctored’!] I arrived before 10:00am on Wednesday, and headed to the hotel. My room, at the Radisson, wasn’t ready so I put my luggage in storage and headed out the door to start savoring the sights and smells of Poland. Ok, after a 9 hour flight and a 6-hour time change, you would think I would be tired…wrong, Power Shopping fans…remember one of my rules on shopping…you must make a purchase within 1-hour of landing in order for the trip to count! So I ‘hit the ground running’ and started my search for a place to shop. I didn’t have to look far; there was a combination ‘open air’ market and ‘in-door’ mini-strip mall 2 blocks from the hotel. I purchased a bouquet of flowers for my hotel room. Fast forward a few days and you find Thomas at Arkadia, the largest shopping mall in Poland. Poland was under communistic rule for so long, that having a mall of this magnitude (100’s of stores) was probably unthinkable until now. Thomas got a printed directory of the mall and headed out in search of a bargain. The mall had some interesting shops but they carried the same items that I could get at home…much cheaper! But that didn’t stop me from trying to find a bargain. Sadly, I left Arkadia empty handed. However, life continued the next day! The morning of the wedding, I walked to the center of Warsaw and found a department store called Galaries Centrum. Next to it was an H & M (we now have in Chicago), C & A, and a store called RESERVED. H & M had a 50% off rack and I found a crewneck sweater that I ‘had to have’. As I was checking out (thank goodness the universal language is MasterCard!) I noticed a terrific black and white checked scarf…it came home with me. I strolled in RESERVED and found another sweater ‘calling out’ to me. The problem was what size to get. The tags on the sweaters had EUR{stands for European} (S-XXL), UK {stands for United Kingdom…aka, British} (34-60), FR {stands for France (a UK 41 is FR 52). France IS in Europe, England IS in Europe…those two countries must have had a ‘hissy fit’ with each other and they came up with their own size system. Thomas totally confused. In a sweater, Thomas normally wears a size Medium or Large (American sizes). The equivalents, the EUR (L) looked liked it would fit a Barbie Doll, the UK 38 could be used for a potholder, and the FR 50 looked like it was made for a newborn baby. What to do? Thomas decided to find the dressing room and try on everything he was considering. 6 sweaters and 20 minutes later, I determined that I wore a EUR (XL), UK (41), and FR (52). I was now hot and sweaty with ‘static electric hair’. Thank goodness the scarves are all ‘one-size-fits-all’! I returned to the hotel and prepared myself for the wedding. The next day, while waiting at the airport for my flights, I hit the Duty Free and found cologne that was a good price, an amber & gold ring that was screaming my name, and another piece of jewelry that I couldn’t resist. Yes, my trip to Poland was a shopping success! OH, yeah…the wedding was a success, too!! And now… DON’T DOUBT THOMAS! THINK PICTURE FRAMES! Michaels The Arts and Crafts Store [nationwide] has all of their ‘open back’ frames at 50% off. In the custom-framing department, they are offering 50% off one custom framed piece, 60% off two custom frames pieces, and 70% off three or more custom framed pieces. THINK DISHWASHER SAFE APPLIANCES! Target [nationwide] has a $39.99 temporary price cut on 3 different appliances by Rival. Choose from a removable-plate griddle, a 3-liter restaurant style deep fryer, or a skillet with removable nonstick pan. ALL are dishwasher-safe. THINK KITCHEN SPECIALS! Also at Target, for $39 you can choose a .9 cu. ft. 900-watt microwave, by Emerson, OR a 12-cup coffeemaker, by Mr. Coffee, OR a 20-qt programmable roaster oven, by Rival, OR a 12-pc Scenic Cookware set, by Bialetti from Italy, which features DuPont Teflon nonstick interiors, OR a 5-qt Versaware Crock-Pot slow cooker. I saw red, black, or stainless steel. THINK MEN’S DRESS SHIRTS! TJ Maxx [worldwide] just received a shipment of men’s dress shirts by Geoffrey Beene. The 65% cotton-45% polyester shirts are Wrinkle Fee and Quick Dry and are priced at $16.99 (they normally are $30.00). I found a solid red {just perfect for the holidays}, but I saw numerous solids and stripes. THINK MEN’S SWEATERS! LS Ayres (soon to be part of the Macy’s chain) has a variety of sweaters, by John Ashford, normally $34, on sale for $19.99. I settled for a red crewneck ribbed sweater, but they had a variety of solid colors, including black, blue, gray, green, ecru, gold, and tan. THINK MEN’S SWEATERS…PART II! Stein Mart [nationwide] has a selection of gold sweaters, by Pebble Beach, at great savings. I purchased a black crewneck with red and beige lines, for $34.99, compared at $65.00. THINK SWEATERS FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY! Kohl’s [nationwide] has 40% off entire of stock of sweaters, jeans, and corduroy pants for misses, boys, men, juniors, young men, and girls. THINK OFFICE FURNITURE! Office Depot [nationwide] is offering $75 off any furniture purchase of $499 OR MORE. Many designs are by famed designer, Christopher Lowell. Hmmm, back to my ‘pierogi hunt’! Thomas |
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