New York!

My little family and I went to Niagara Falls, ON / Buffalo, NY / Hamilton, ON over this past weekend. While my boyfriend went to go watch a Buffalo Bills game on Sunday (his favourite NFL team - he's a die hard), Big B and I ventured out and shopped the shops of Buffalo Area. We had a great day together! I managed to get two coats - a short Tommy Hillfiger Peacoat and a long style Calvin Klein down/feather winter jacket for just over $200. I found a bunch of clothes for Cal's nieces for Christmas and for one of their birthdays this January. The 3 little boys and 1 little girl of my cousins were bought for as well. I was a little surprised WHERE I found the deals - I didn't expect to find much there and where I expected to find deals, I walked out without purchasing anything.

Burlington Coat Factory - why this store chain does not exist in Canada is beyond me. It is basically like the best Winners in the world. It is messy - you have to dig to find what you're looking for, but the selection is the best I've ever seen! It is about the size of one of our Superstores. 1/4 of the store is dedicated to baby gear; cribs, bedding, strollers - basically a well priced Babies R Us. 1/4 is for housewares. And the other half is just for clothes. All different brand names, styles, ages. Like I said, it was messy. I had a hard time getting the stroller through the aisles of coats without running over at least a dozen along the line. But it feels like a treasure hunt.

Target - walked in, expected to find some nice clothes for the kids, was shocked there was nothing really, walked through the rest of the store, walked out. I hope this is not a sign of things to come when they take over the Zellers up here.

Walmart - tried and true, found tons of great things, great clothes, great everything. Perhaps I'm partial, but an American Walmart and I get along well generally.

The surprise store - K-Mart. I found the best deals here for kids clothes. Shirt/pant sets that were normally $25 on for $3.99. Lots of selection. And for the young ladies / adult clothes.... wow. They carried Bongo, my favorite brand of jeans! And Sophia Vergara (Gloria from Modern Family). Her line is gorgeous and afforable. If I would have had someone with me to watch Big B while I was in the change room, I would have done some serious damage there.

Marshall's - The American version of Winners. It was so so. Found one really cute jersey material overall set for Big B. Messy and hard to navigate.

Outlet Malls - either than Carters, who always has a sale when I've been to one; the rest, no deals. Just the lure that it is an 'outlet', when it really isn't anything special. I guess because it is so close to the Canadian border and because a lot of those stores are not in Canada or do not have the same stock as Canadian stores - that is the lure and good thing about it. I wasn't impressed.

I figured with all the money that I save with couponing, I'm due for a trip or two like this a year. Happy to be home! Glad I have most of my Christmas shopping done!