Shopping in NYC

Morning folks....thanks for all your lovely kind comments yesterday and a special thank you to Polly who doesn't have a blog (yet) but e-mailed me this beautiful card to cheer me up....life has a habit of kicking us in the teeth from time to time and hey we just have to pick ourselves up....dust ourselves off and get on with it...so it's time to share some of my crazy shopping experiences in NYC...a serial shopper's paradise if ever there was but as any of you know who have visited New York there is a distinct lack of crafty shops so I was over the moon to discover that Michaels had recently opened up on Columbus Avenue and planned to pay them a visit on Black Friday....a day of mega money off sales and frantic bargain hunting.
Got the local paper as advised by my lovely mate Enfys and spent early Thursday evening back at the hotel cutting out all the door buster and money off coupons ready for their 4.30am opening.....I think not....I am not that keen to get my mitts on some crafty bargains.   But little Sis noticed that they were open that evening from 5pm to 9pm with some extra special bargains and I did consider going but after a sidewalk pounding day decided against it so imagine our surprise later that night when Michaels featured on an NBC News Black Friday Special...the manager had opened the doors at 5pm on the dot probably expecting to be knocked over in the rush....there was one lonely crafter standing in line who was pounced upon by the news crew for an interview.....and wait for the punch line she was their one and only customer all evening....by this time we were in hysterics and it was real knicker wetting stuff when we realised if I had gone along having travelled all the way from Scotland they would have thought me a much bigger news story than the lone lady from up the block....crikey Buddy's Mum appearing on NBC prime time news all over the US.....I think I had a narrow escape don't you.
So in true bargain hunter style and hoping that the news crew had got fed up waiting for the stampede and gone off to pastures new I set off the following morning at 7.00am and after a long cab ride with me giving directions to a cab driver who didn't have a clue where I wanted to go I walked through the hallowed doors and to be honest was mega disappointed.  They had advertised all Cricut cartridges reduced to $27.99....just a few left and none that I wanted.....loads of other advertised bargains....all gone apparently....so where had all these phantom purchasers come from because at that ungodly crafty shopping time of the day there were only 3 shoppers in the store including me.   But not to be deterred I did manage to hunt down some stuff reduced by 50% and then another 30% off with my coupon.....but I couldn't fill my boots as they only had 1 or 2 or 3 of each item but at these prices they were almost paying me to take the stuff away.....back to the hotel by 9.00am and time to hit Macy's mob handed this time with Little Sis...

the largest store in the world and that was an entirely different shopping experience....more like 3 million customers all intent on getting some Black Friday goodies....I was pushed squashed and almost trampled underfoot but always accompanied by a polite smile I hasten to add....complete and utter bedlam and I take my hat off to the sales staff who kept their sanity and sense of humour whilst all round them everyone else was losing theirs.  After grabbing a few great bargains it was time to admit defeat and retreat to a quiet spot for some chill out time New York Style......a latte and delicious Apple & Cinnamon Crepe at Bryant Park.

The funny thing was we spent the whole day Monday in Macy's filling in time until our late night flight...enjoying leisurely crowd free shopping and still with the same great sale discounts.....isn't hindsight a wonderful thing.

His Nibs will be back soon to announce the winner of his Splash The Stash Give-Away and I will see you all tomorrow over at Penny Black Saturday for another cracking challenge.

Hugs Kath xxx