If I had been at the mall... I wouldn't have known how much fun pretend shopping is!

Yesterday was my first visit to K-Days in years.  Like, possibly since it was called Klondike Days.  Jimmy and I went for a few hours to check out stuff for kids and let me tell you, it was pretty terrific.  There is a whole section of the midway with rides for kids and less-creepy carnies than I remember from my childhood.  The midway was pricey but I figure that's to be expected.  For $20 we were able to do the bumper cars together and Jimmy did three other rides on his own.  I really do love me some bumper cars.  Not only do I get to be behind the wheel of a car again but it's a cute little bug-like car that I am allowed, nay encouraged,  to smash into anything I want!  As my parents will attest to, this was kind of my speciality back when I was allowed to drive grown-up cars.  I wonder if the wall of the Barrhead Video Update has any remnants of our infamous encounter....

Post-rides we went for a wander through the Expo Centre (is this what it's called??  I'm basing this strictly on my FB check-in so if it's called something else, please correct me!) There was an entire play area set up for kids like a small town with activities at each business.  There was a farm, a post office, an art gallery, a medical centre, a construction site, a library, a recycling centre, etc.  Each one was run by the sweetest Grandmas and Grandpas (and a few young adults) who helped the kids do things like plant potatoes, mail letters and drive tiny tractors.  My favourite part, obviously, was playing shopping at the Save-On Foods where we had a little grocery list, a basket and twenty fake dollars to spend.  We were required to find mustard and croutons (I guess we were picking up the ingredients for the world's tiniest toasted sandwiches) and then check out and pay.  So cute!  If I had been a fake Sephora, I probably wouldn't have left.  I probably would've moved onto the fake farm and spent my days "buying" make up and my nights squatting in the horse barn.  Oh my gosh, maybe I could've even gotten a job at fake Sephora!   It doesn't matter if you can't see what you're doing when your products are invisible!  I bet I'd make an awesome imaginary make up artist!

All of this pretending had both of us pretty exhausted so we very quickly cruised through the rest of the halls.  The sports exhibit had lots for kids to do, too, but less of interest to me because, well, I'd rather do pretend sports than real sports.  I did like that this area was separated from the casino by an awesome two-foot plastic picket fence that could easily have been borrowed from the kid town, which I found a little odd.  Is that even legal??  

It was on my way home that I discovered a new local fashion love.  I popped into Koutouki to get a Greek salad for supper since I was pretty sure blue cotton candy and pizza was not meeting my nutritional requirements for the day.  When I realized it was Thursday, market day, I thought I could do a little more pretend shopping while waiting for the bus.  I didn't have any cash on me so I figured I could browse a little and head home without spending any more money.  I was wrong.  Within seconds my radar had zeroed in on Cloud + Lolly.  Handmade, locally created and really fun jewellery and accessories.  Oooooooh.       Where were all those fake twenties when I needed them??  Fortunately, my ability to justify the purchase of pretty things is lot better than my driving skills.  I decided that since I had spent all day pretend shopping, it was ok to spend some money on real shopping! After a good 10 minutes of chatting, browsing and basically blocking up the entire table for other customers, I narrowed down my "wants" to two pairs of earrings (hey, one is a gift!).   Cheryl, the designer, who was lovely to chat with, by the way, offered me a deal on three pairs so obviously I had to spend another five minutes debating.  I finally settled on these three little friends:

My not-so-pretend purchase of the day!

They're all made from a bag of buttons from the antique mall, which I love.  If you're looking for something funky and unique, while still being wearable, check out Cloud + Lolly!!

Pretend shopping definitely wouldn't have happened if I had been at the mall!!

If I had been at the mall... I wouldn't have met RICK MERCER!!!

I started the "mall fast" last Monday, apparently with some underlying anxiety.  On Sunday night I dreamed I was in the mall and I couldn't get out and I wasn't supposed to be shopping and I didn't know what to do with myself.  Apparently my psyche was nervous about this endeavour...

On Thursday, I had to visit the Rogers store in WEM... and then the Rogers store in Kingsway as part of the ongoing saga of "water-damage-gate" (clever, no??).  As I cut through The Bay in Kingsway I found myself eyeing the fur trader blankets and Canada sweatshirts and thinking maybe I needed them.  Really??  Three days without the mall and I've suddenly lost all sense of fashion and home decor??  I think I need to spend some time reflecting on how I've trained my brain to sort out wants, needs, and NOBODY needs.  

The highlight of the mall fast for the week happened today when I dragged Jimmy to the Downtown Farmer's Market.  It was cool and rainy today and there is no doubt in my mind that had I not imposed this challenge on myself, we would have ended up at a mall for the afternoon.  The first challenge was to find me a new card holder for my CNIB card/bus pass.  I lost the old one in the old card holder on Monday and I have been super paranoid all week about losing the new card.  Not that having a cardholder prevented me from losing the first card (twice) but it does make it a lot easier to dig out of my purse.  After some mini donuts and a discussion with the flax seed guy (Random tip for the blind: Don't assume that the flax seed guy is the honey guy and start telling him about how you forgot to check if you needed honey.  You'll feel awkward and weird and end up buying flax seed that you didn't need).  Jimmy picked out this beauty for me and I have to say, I couldn't have done a better job myself! Purple sparkles and tear drop/leafy shapes....

After the market we headed to the library so Jimmy could play for a bit.  We got there just in time to watch a librarian setting up mats for the 2:00 story time.  Great!  I love pre-arranged activities that I don't have to think up!  So the librarian set up the mats and a big chair and then the camera crews started setting up.  Wait... cameras??  That seemed weird to me but whatever.  Then I started hearing library staff buzzing about how awesome this was going to be and "Rick this" and "Rick that."  Maybe a local celebrity was here to read today's story?  Whatever... At 2:00 a regular, run of the mill Edmonton Public Library guy started singing a song about going to the moon and I settled back to cruise Facebook.  Turns out this guy was just the opening act.  He asked all the kids to welcome his friend Rick!  I didn't recognize the guy and went back to my phone.  As I was listening to him read, I was trying to place his voice..it was so familiar.  I kept trying to think of local CBC radio guys whose names were Rick and coming up with nothing.  Then all of the sudden I went, "HOLY SHIT!  That's RICK MERCER!!"  Thankfully it was in my head.  I didn't know what to do next.  Start taking pictures??  Post it on FB??  Try to find a better place to stand since he had his back to me and I was never going to get a decent picture to put on FB if I didn't move!  Then I realized I needed a picture of Jimmy, listening to a story being read by RICK MERCER!!!  By then it was too late and the story was over.  Fortunately for me, the event wasn't over!  Rick and the kids needed to wish the EPL a happy birthday for the cameras.  So I wormed my way to a prime photo/video taking spot, which wasn't hard to do because I'm pretty sure there were a total of 4 of us there who even had a hot clue who this guy was.  So I got a great video of Jimmy and Rick Mercer (and some other random kids but who cares about them!).  The opening act came back out to read another story and I took this as my opportunity to stalk RICK MERCER!!!  I kind of hung around like a fool waiting for an opportunity to say something when he was dragged away for a photo op.  "Should we find some kids?" "Yeah..."  Did that sound as creepy in real life as it did in your head just now?? Yep.  It sure did!  So I hovered closer and closer to the toy sailboat that RICK MERCER was sitting in and then I did it.  I said, "Hi Rick.  I'm a big fan and I was wondering if you would take a picture with me?"  And he said yes!  He didn't look up from his phone as he said it but he did say yes.  So I asked a lady to take the picture and I crouched down next to the boat and RICK MERCER stopped texting long enough to smile for the broken iPhone and then I said thank you and I ... RAN AWAY.  Always the epitome of grace and class, I am!  Oh I also may have said, "Sorry, I know you're busy texting!"  Ugh.  Better planning ahead of time might've saved me from this.  Although ahead of time all I could think of was that I really was more of a fan of his when he was on 22 minutes...in the 90s...when I was a child.  After I posted the pic to FB, I realized story time with the opening act was over and I had to find Jimmy.  Wouldn't that have been a story to tell??  I lost Jimmy downtown today but I had my picture taken with RICK MERCER!! It's ok, we found him at a bus stop with some hobos but I have a picture of him standing very close to RICK MERCER!!

Me & Rick Mercer & a child-sized sailboat

It never would've happened if I'd been at the mall....