Old School Movie Night

 So I came back from Minnesota with a VCR! YAY! I know, I know, it's old technology, but I have TAPES! Look Beauty & The Beast....

 The Little Mermaid.....Bob was watching the movies with me too! And lookie here, I won a $10 gift card from the Public Library Winter Reading Program!

Yay for the oldest technology-Books!

Almost Time to Go Home...

So we got off to a great start on Sunday morning-even with the spring forward time ! Junior's Grill & Cafe was perfect!

 

Mmmm, maybe the BEST patty Melt I've ever had!

 Fish and Chips for the tour guide, and

 DD has salad and chicken strips. Boy you can't go wrong with this little diner's food!

 We'll stop in here again next time we come up! Thanks Junior's!

 

So just a couple more stops, I wanted to visit the Whole Foods Store to stock up on Alba lip balm-hey, it's kind of hard to find and it's the best!

And on the way I spotted Treadle.

And there was a parking place right in front ...it was like it was meant to be!

 What a nice little fabric shop! Nice variety of fabrics for garments and quilts and look at the nice assortment of laminates.

 Worth the stop! Back to Robin's to tie up loose ends and then we're on the road again!  This photographer statue is the "mascot" for Robin's apartment building. See he's all decked out in his St. Patrick day finery!  We'll be back to see you in the summer Photographer!

Retail Therapy

So there's a really nice outlet mall  called Twin Cities Premium Outlet mall in Eagen, Minnesota. 

They have all the usual store, all of them are really nice! And it's an outdoor kind of plaza so you are outdoors in the nice weather...I think it might be a painful trip at Christmas time, but we had a great time and scored dresses galore for DD. 

 A Fossil store, have I mentioned how much we all really love the Fossil brand? We love it even more when it's on sale, but none of these cute bags came home with us....

 On to the next place! Here's what the exterior of the mall looks like. Very Pretty, kind of like an old fashioned courtyard feeling.

 OOOHH, the Coach store is having a sale! Let's go look. Here's my favorite bargain of the whole trip...snort! NOT! This cute Coach purse is regularly $495.00 but LOOK It's on SALE for .....$491.99!! Oh boy $3.01 off!!! I'll take TWO!!!

 I guess the neon look is back too, at least Coach thinks so, I think these babies will need to get down to about $15.00 before anyone buys one!

 

On to Dresses! DD found the jackpot of dresses at the Dress Barn Outlet! Cute cute cute!!!

 SO we also popped over to the Mall of America for supper at The Cadillac Ranch. Nice decor and it's a pretty good sized restaurant inside the mall.

 

I thought it was cool they had roll up garage doors to close the outside seating area, and license plates on the ceiling over the bar. 

 

 I had the flatbread pizza

 We shared some kettle chips

 And there were steaks for my partners in retail therapy.

Then it was on to the MALL. Here's the Nickelodeon World amusement park inside the mall.

 Look the TMNT are here...

 And Peeps!

 and Rugrats,

 And a huge zipline that goes up to the roof!

 Now to do some window shopping....on the way to Maurice's

 Macy's.......

 Nike store.....

 Oh and Nordstrom RACK...they move all the clearance past season stuff here...we got sucked into the shoe aisles......

 And I do mean Aisles plural...they go on forever! And luckily they are sorted by size! One shoe is on the shelf and you take it to the window and an employee goes and gets the mate for you to buy.

 OOOH, look at these little flats...Kate Spade...I don't think you're worth the marked down price of $109. Guess you're staying here.

 Look at all of these shoes!!!!

 And purses, not just cheapo purses either...designer, expensive purses and they are just flung around, not stuffed and displayed or anything! I just wanted to cry for these poor purses hanging so sadly.

 Look this little number is a Salvatore Ferragamo
 bag. It's really a nice purse...all leather, and just dangleing here with no stuffing, and no hope, poor Ferragamo!!! This purse sells for $1750.00!! on sale here for $519.97. But who treats their five hundred dollar purses like this!

 Sorry Ferragamo, you have to stay..sniff, sniff. Look a flip flop store!

I'm telling you, they have everything at Mall of America!

Target Is WAY OFF Target in a BIG Way

So while we were in Minneapolis it would be silly not to stop at Target-Target's Home is Minnesota after all. DD has been anxious to see the new line if Ava & Viv plus size clothing too. Ava & Viv has been getting a lot of press recently and so off we went to check it out at the Richfield store.

 Sooo, to be clear Ava & Viv is plus size clothing, NOT maternity. Why would any store manager allow this new line of clothing to be merchandised under the store directory maternity sign? I can't believe it! I am just astounded at the poor product placement and the awful signage. It is actually an insult to the designer, the shoppers and a disgrace to Target. Is that banner sign backwards too? Maybe.

 Look, in this photo you can see where the store directory signage is for Maternity and Women's and along the back wall are product photos for Misses sizes product. What a cluster. I don't know how to tell if the merchandise is nice or not because I can't find it in the horrible mess racks and tables with all brands and sizes mixed in.

 A photo from the interior aisle shows that the Maternity items on tables on the left are facing the Ava & Viv items on the right hand table. OMG, how can anyone shop this way! AGGGGHHH! Even the pictures on the back wall are aggravating Maternity alongside Misses with Plus sizes merchandised beneath it all.

I am positive that plus size shoppers (Target calls them guests) are not at all interested in shopping the Maternity section and Pregnant women are not interested in shopping for plus sizes (who wants to be reminded, right?) Please Target, respect your guests, make your store more organized, correctly signed,and user friendly for your maternity guests AND your Plus Size guests.

Juicy Adventures continue!

So we went over to the 5 8 Club. Home of the Juicy Lucy, which is a hamburger with cheese inside the beef patty. 

 This is a landmark in Minneapolis and dates back to the era of prohibition. It's also a really delicious place to eat.

 I had the Sloppy Sally, hamburger plus it has secret sauce and lettuce & tomato. It was wonderful!

 DD had the juicy Lucy and said it was really good too! Burgers on toasted buns really can't be beat!

 So then we buzzed over to IKEA! Oh My Goodness. I took a zillion photos, and there was so much to see!

 Three floors of awesomeness!

 Places to dine, places to sleep,

 places to store stuff

places to drool

 oh the shelving option at IKEA,!! They are endless!!

 and not too pricey either!

 They provide maps of the store and you write down the stuff you want and when you chekc out they go get it for you!

 And those arrows on the floor that point you in the correct direction? Those are lights that shine down on the floor...cool huh!

 OK, so we finally lest the awesomeness that is IKEA, only because it was almost closing time and we wanted to pop over to Macy's and have some gelato to finish the night! What a great evening!