i can’t stop eating donuts.
seriously. i can’t.
my friends went to Buffalo yesterday for the day. How jealous am i?? With the dollar the way it is, and a cheesecake factory so close to the border, it’s a wonder that i don’t go as often as i do – – – which is never.
and when i came home last night, sitting on the hood of my civic was a BOX of dunkin donuts…chocolate kreme filled. my favorite. i haven’t had one of those since i was in high school.
so, even though i had just been out, had a full dinner AND dessert, i chowed down on half a donut. i didn’t see that i really had any choice. so, i poppped a zantac and enjoed my donut. mmmm….
and then i had one this morning. and then i had one when i came home.
somebody stop me.
(anyone get that reference? anyone?)
i was talking to someone today and she was saying that she only shops in the states. better selection. better sales. better stores.
what about you? do you shop in the states at all? what do you buy when you are there? does it make a difference that you might have to pay tax to bring it over? here’s a personal question….do you declare?
the husband and i declare everything. we can’t see that there’s any point in NOT. we’ve had our fair share of problems in customs whether or not we declared our not. but now, to make it easier, we keep receipts. we declare everything new. sure, we take some shortcuts. we wear a lot of stuff that we buy. we scuff up the shoes so they don’t look new. but for the most part, we are pretty honest, and we are ALWAYS over our limit. and 9 times out of 10, even if we declare over, they let us go. without paying. you see, they like when people are honest. so, we’ve pretty much figured that it’s not worth it.
we buy a lot in the states, actually. lots of stuff for the kids. lots of stuff for ourselves.
i wish i bought more, though. i wish i could clean out carters and buy gifts for people who have babies. it’s unbelievable what you can get there. last month, at the carters outlet in Atlanta, i bought 3 pairs of pants, one hoodie and four shirts for isabella and it was, like, $29. you’d NEVER find that in Toronto. anywhere.
so, i’d love to make a trip to Buffalo. If nothing else than to buy and stock up on some gifts. the only problem is that i might be tempted to eat some more donuts.
and THAT would be bad…
i think.
if you haven’t heard already, Miss Haley-O (of Cheaty’s Celebrity Gossip fame) and her lovely Husband Josh-O welcomed a little baby boy into their family last night. Go on over and give her some love!
ROAD TRIP!!!
I love going to Buffalo.
Like you I declare everything that I’m not wearing or using. And, you’re right – they don’t pull you over that often. Once they did pull us over, went through our car (which was incredibly scarily filled with crap) and then just let us go.
And, I love Cheesecake Factory. I will totally go over just for dinner. Thanks for making me think of that.
The selection and prices are definitely, for the most part, better in the States. But of course they are…there are 10 times as many people to support their economy!
I just wish we could buy cars and electronics there and get them across the border. Or, that we had those prices here! Now that the dollar is so close I am going to start buying all my books and everything in the States too…what’s with the $14.95U.S. and $22.95CAN?????? For real! I just bought a book and that is the difference.
Love shopping in the states, yes, selection, sizes and price!!! I was in the GAP yesterday and balked at the prices as I could to so much better in GROVE CITY, which is where we were on the weekend – no tax 🙂
We go every 2-3 mths…and stay 2 days, for the kids it’s a mini vacation. Declaration – no problem. But I will say that this was the 1st time we were asked to show receipts, to which I frowned to the Customs person and said, oh they are all in the bags, during which I was slowly lowering the back windows in the van so that she could see the sad and tired faces on the kids (priceless, we taught them well) to which she said, oh, ok go on then, with a twinge of guilt 😉
Ah shopping, my fave topic!!
I buy clothes for myself here in Oz but virtually ALL my children’s clothes come from the U.S. (inc pj’s, socks, underwear, etc.) exception being shoes of course :(( Why? Because the clothes are either a) expensive and CRAPPY or b) cheap and CRAPPY here! So Gymboree, Old Navy, Gap, Children’s Place all get a good workout on the ca-ching plus ebay is my lifesaver. I have an on-shipper via Houston which I use for stuff which is not shipped direct.
That is the one thing I miss about home – the decent and affordable shopping — well that and the DONUTS ROFLMAO!
LOVE shopping in the US, whether dollar is good or bad. I used to go to Florida a lot (have family there) & would save up all my money for months before so I could shop like crazy there – the selection is awesome!!! Do the yearly Buffalo trip with a couple of friends, it’s actually coming up next month…last year I bought my son’s entire winter wardrobe for $70.00. The outlet mall’s a little cheesy there, except for Coach, so I prefer the mall – Walden Galleria, it’s o.k. I always declare but am usually within or close to my limit.
re: Reference… isn’t that from Cameron Diaz’s first big movie?
re: US shopping… when I was a kid I used to go to the US often since I lived in a border town. Now, well I broke MTM’s US shopping cherry this summer, so every weekend it’s “Can we go to Buffalo honey” (Not really, but close.)
When Dad! is in Ontario I always send him over the border with a list of stuff to get for us all. Right now, I am buying online a lot (as long as they do not ship UPS to Canada – damn shipping mafia crazy broker charges they have) and sometimes even shipping to family in the states and having it shipped here afterwards (when they don’t ship to canada).
The selection in the states is amazing, it makes me hurt to shop in Canada sometimes. And with the dollar now? Duh. Of course I am a cross border shopper.
all i had to see was that delicious picture and the salivation begins. it makes me want to get myself in a car and drive nine hours for a scrumptious bavarian cream. yum!
as for the shopping, any self-respecting american living north of the border knows where all of the good deals are. century 21. filene’s. macy’s. lord and taylor. bed bath and beyond. and coupons, all of those coupons. like the ones from bbandb which never expire and you can use as many as you want in one purchase. where are all of the coupons in this country. where else but in the u. s. of a can you have a piece of clothing that is 40% off, get another 15% off with a coupon and then use your department-store issued credit card to get another 15% off? carters. love it! pjs. can’t get enought of them. problem is daniella is just about grown out of their sizes. at least there’s still yitzy!oh, did i mention the thanksgiving day, columbus day, christmas…sales?