Shopping with Bridget

Saturday afternoon my cousin Bridget and I hopped across the border and did some shopping in Detroit. What fun we had! Bridget has 5 children 9 and under and her husband watched the kids so that we could go it alone. Woohoo! (I’m pretty sure today is Mackenzie’s 9th birthday. Happy Birthday Mack!!!) Bridget and I are the only 2 granddaughters in a sea of 10 grandsons so we are wonderful friends in spite of the 6 year age difference and distance we lived apart while growing up. The year Bridget was born my family moved 8 hours away and we never lived any closer than 4 hours apart. Ah family....they're the best! Distance means nothing!

Our shopping trip started out at Kohl’s where they had an amazing sale on ladies clothing. Let’s just say our American friends know how to have a sale! Everything I purchased was 50-75% off! I made off with pretty much my entire summer wardrobe (5 pairs of Capri’s and 6 tops) all for $200.00 CDN! (Thankful for the stronger CDN dollar too!)

Bridget is so excited about Hannah’s arrival next year that she bought this adorable little dress for her. Since we don’t know how old she’ll be when I get my referral we decided to play it safe and go with a size 3.

After Kohl’s we headed to Babies ‘R Us where I did something I’ve waited almost 40 years to do…I registered! Having missed the whole wedding thing and now preparing for Hannah, registering was a first and what fun it was! I figured Bridget is the resident expert when it comes to anything baby so she was the perfect person to bring along! I was also told that if it’s not used within a couple of months it will void itself so she is written down as a person who can go over and change it on my behalf. (If I suddenly see Tonka Trucks on the list I'll know Bridget was 'adjusting' it! :o) The girl setting up the registry said that I was the 4th adoption person in that day! Babies 'R Us is so organized that they even provided me with an 'essentials list' designed specifically for Mom’s adopting from China! Cool!

I enjoy shopping from gift registries for family and friend’s gifts so I tried to scan a variety of items. Everything from $1.98 plug covers (since I’ll have to baby proof before leaving for China) to bottles, a baby monitor and crib sheets. I haven’t decided on a stroller or car seat yet and as the styles and safety things change so often that those items can wait until closer to travel before purchasing.

Unfortunately the registry cannot be used here in Canada but that just means I get to do it all over again! More fun coming up! Originally I hadn’t planned on registering in the states but was reminded that with a number family members living right across the border in Windsor, there may be a chance they’ll be looking for something while over in the states. If not, it was fun to do regardless and I learned a lot from Bridget!

While scanning I picked up a few small items: an adorable bib I’d seen on a friend’s blog a couple of weeks ago, pacifiers that say, ‘I Love Mommy’ and a Baby Sign Language book.

From Babies ‘R Us we hit JoAnne’s, Meier’s (where I was able to mail away all my Wishes to my US March DTC friends) and ended up at Target. We had supper at Bob Evan’s who have great salads then headed home. I was stopped at the border and it cost me an additional $31.00 in duty but it was all worth it.

Thanks for such a great day Bridget! We’ll have to do it again after I get Hannah’s referral! Can you imagine the damage we’ll do then???