Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

What Did I Buy Today?

What did you buy today? Week Five for Welcome to My Reality.

So far today I have not bought anything but I did buy things on Thursday when I took my client out to go shopping at Stone Road Mall in Guelph. We had a little extra time so we went over there for a few hours.

Stone Road Mall have been through many renovations over the years. It has changed a lot since I was a kid - I did live in Guelph during my tween to early twenties. It is not a bad town, but it is not overly exciting.

Anyway, the mall.

Stone Road Mall is really quite grand in the changes it has made. I was amazed to see a beautiful H & M. I always wondered why my cousins and aunt love the shop. (Yes, they live in Guelph). H & M in Cambridge and Waterloo suck! They are trashy, loose steps up from Value Village. But the Guelph shop is nothing like those. The stuff is well laid out and organized in a way that makes you think someone actually cares about this shop. I actually used my gift card, that I have been holding on to since the Christmas before the last one, and bought two pair of soft socks. Nothing extravagant but they are so nice.

I took my client into the Northern Reflections and was pleased to see their shop was also filled with lovely things, unlike the shops closer to home. I did not buy anything, though because I am not crazy about trying on clothes and leaving my client, a boy or 26, to wait. It is his time not mine. Anyway, I promised I would go back.

The ladies in the shop were very nice. When I walked in they were up on step ladders vacuuming the ceiling - as business was slow and the ceiling needed a cleaning. One lady held the hose and vacuumed the ceiling, the other held the upright vacuum up off the floor - at chest level while she stood on a ladder - so the hose would reach. It looked kind of comical.

We also went to The Body Shop and I did buy some moisturizers to take advantage of my birthday month discount. Gotta use that discount and I love the stuff in that shop. My client and I had fun smelling lots of different things.

I also took him in to Lush. It is a small shop with bath and body bars that are made without animal testing. The store is glorious and the product, though a little expensive for my tastes smell delightful. We explored the aroma. I did buy a few things I felt my students would enjoy. One is a body bar that is to massage into sore muscles and it has a warming effect. The other was a soap that can be rolled out and molded into shapes or cut into shapes. It is the consistency of playdoh and would be great fun for my students.

The last shop we went to was Chapters. Stone Road Mall has a serious bookstore! Of course, I had to buy a few things. I got a writing magazine - because those are always good reading. I bought a new romance. Kristin Higgins's The Perfect Match - which, even with report cards I have still managed to finish before doing this blog. Then I bought a few more things I could use in my classroom for February's Valentine themed month. Old fashioned Valentines with the velvet accents - a great tactile experience and heart shaped candies that are red, pink and white - next month's colour theme.

As you can see from this shopping trip I tend to make shopping a sensory experience for my client - He loves it. I also make the items I get work their way into my classroom environment. This tends to happen whether I have my own class or whether I am merely supplying. All I really need is my own teaching contract and I would be all set.

After we had made the rounds of the whole mall, it was time to go. Dinner was calling us and we usually go to Wendy's. I drove my client back to Cambridge before we got anything to eat. By the time we did that, picked up his dessert of donuts for Tim Hortons and then went back to my school to pick up my laptop I refused to lug around all night, it was time to get my client home.

Overall, another successful, fun evening.

Just a fun fact to add - as of today - January 25 - I have been working with my client and his family for exactly 19 years. Crazy Wow.





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