Days 3-5: Beach Bummin' and Venturing Out

The third day here at Ocean City was mostly made up of beach time. Predictably, there were considerably less people. The water was a little chillier and it was a little choppier, but over all a good experience. After the beach I ventured to the Food Lion again to pick up some items to make spaghetti. Once again, I found the customers and employees to be extremely rude and obnoxious. Most of the night was spent in my room, but I did venture out to get sone ice cream at a place on Coastal Highway. I forget the name of it (sorry, it's been a couple days). The ice cream was very good, though. I wound up getting peanut butter ripple.

The fourth day was cloudy and an over all bad day to go to the beach. I wound up heading out to Berlin, Maryland since the tourist books hyped it up so much. All I have to say is when you get there, don't blink or else you've probably driven through it already. Not seeing a point to getting out and walking around to look in the windows of all the antique shops (which is all they seem to have), I decided to cut my losses and just head back to my room to regroup. Afterwards I decided it might be a good idea to check out what Delaware had to offer instead. Destination? Rehoboth Beach. It's only about a half hour or so from Ocean City. When I got there, I was extremely impressed with the beach's quaint feel. I strolled up and down Rehoboth Ave, dodging in and out of shops that contained spa products, beach crafts, wind chimes, clothes, and other cute things. I did wind up purchasing from a shop called "Scentchips", which sells soy based potpourri that you can either melt in a burner or have sitting around to liven up a bathroom or bedroom. I will warn you, though, that your olfactory senses will be over stimulated by the time you walk out if there.

For dinner I went to the Purple Parrot, which is also on Rehoboth Ave. They serve things like wraps, quesadillas, sliders, burgers, etc. Basically, your typical bar food. I thought the food was really good. I ordered the Grilled Beef Quesadilla, which had bits of steak in it. I thought it was delicious! I loved the salsa that they served with it too. The food was still a bit overpriced to me, but not as overpriced as Ocean City. The staff was also very friendly and seemed more lively than those who work in OC. Over all, a great place to eat.

Rehoboth was a great adventure, and probably the shining beacon in this trip thus far. The people were nicer, the shopping was good, and I was able to relax a little bit more. Great destination.

Today (day 5) turned out, unexpectedly, to be a great beach day. The weather was beautiful and there was hardly anyone there. It provided me with some very welcome relaxation.

All caught up! Until tomorrow...

King of Prussia

Last weekend my boyfriend and I decided to take a first time venture to K.O.P. My first take? It is HUGE. Any mall that has its own parking garage absolutely has to be a big deal. Parking wasn't too hard, although there were tons of people there (no surprise). We parked by the Lord and Taylor.

I was absolutely amazed when I got in. It was so not disappointing. I must confess, though, that I did get tired of walking. I loved how the different cafeterias had themes (Asian, Italian, etc.) and the places were actually set up like restaurants. I thought it was really cool. I loved the Coach store (surprise, surprise). I do have to warn you- be prepared to spend A LOT of money there, and not necessarily because you want to buy a lot, but because the stuff there is pretty pricey, but then again it is high-end, high-quality items, so you get good stuff for what you pay for.

I did have one bad experience while I was there. At the Lord and Taylor I saw these fab boots on our way out. I decided I wanted to try them on. Unfortunately, the only size 6 they had in that shoe was the display and one shoe was missing. The sales rep who was helping me had me and everyone else hunting around the shoe department searching for the shoe. She had a bit of an attitude while doing it, and while helping me in general, which I didn't particularly appreciate. When it was to no avail, she went to get me 6.5 size shoes after the original 6.5's she brought out were the wrong type of shoe all together. Then, she wound up not even serving me and instead gave the shoes to another sales rep to give to me while she just stood at the counter and watched. I thought it was really rude.

Other than that, my experience at the mall was great and I would DEFINITELY go again!

I went shopping in New York....&co.

I know, I know, long time no write. I apologize. However, I have plenty of things to update on, including my venture to New York and Company a couple of weeks ago which is in fact the topic of this post.

First of all, I LOVE New York and Company. I love the clothes like nobody's business, and since I was in need of some office clothes and NY&Co has some good business casual items I decided to venture on over and see what they had to offer.

My impression? WTF?!

Pros: The displays were phenomenal (as always), giving me some great ideas, and the clothes were trendy and classy (as always).

Cons: This is where this particular shopping experience differs from all of the others. I went to try on some (ok, a lot) of clothes. The one thing I hate about this store is that the sizes are in even numbers and sometimes if I pick my size, the clothes still don't fit right, so it's always good to try the things on first (but then again, that's clothes shopping 101). One of the sales reps asked if she could hold a fitting room for me. I let her take my clothes while I shopped around. No problems. I went back in the fitting room when I was done and was asked if I would be interested in opening a NY&Co charge card (I'd save 20%, yadda, yadda, yadda). I respectfully declined. I did my thing, tried on my clothes, and filtered out the good ones and the bad. When I came out I was asked (again) if I would like to open a charge card. Once again, I respectfully declined. As I was walking out I noticed there was a sale on dress pants (buy one get one free). I decided to look some more, found a couple and went back to try them on. I was cringing the entire way there hoping I wouldn't be asked about the stupid charge card...AGAIN. I had a fitting room opened for me, charge card mention-free, and did my thing. When I came out, the same sales rep who had already asked me twice asked me a THIRD time. This is where I really started to get peeved. First of all, if I said no the first two times, I'm not gonna say yes the third. I don't believe in spending more than I have, which takes away my need for a charge card. Quite simply, if I couldn't afford the clothes, I wouldn't be buying them. I found it insulting because I had to wonder if it looked like I just couldn't afford the clothes. I find that extremely offensive. Then, after declining for a third time I went up to the register to pay, where I was pitched to for a FOURTH time. I told the woman, "No" and that I had already been asked three times. She continued to pitch me the same "you'll save 20%!" offer. I told her again "No" but much much much more sternly. Finally, it was dropped.

This experience really discouraged me. I am not interested in being harassed to sign up for a charge card that I don't want. I find it offensive when I'm asked several times because it makes me feel like they are implying I can't pay for the merch. As I said before- if I can't pay for it, I don't buy it. Simple. I don't want the stupid charge card. All I wanted was the clothes. Hassle-free. After that experience I will be staying out of that store for awhile.