 It is time to upgrade our wardrobe for fall and I looked for an inspiration from Nordstrom Canada. This beautiful GUCCI cinch waist tweed jacket is available for only CA$6,102.36. Here is the link shop.nordstrom.com/s/gucci-cinch-waist-tweed-jacket/4967027?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FAll%20Results&color=royal%20blue%2F%20red Details & CareStriped grosgrain trim and buttons in the shape of snarling tigers add signature Gucci charm to a vintage-inspired tweed jacket that nips in at the waist to define the silhouette.
Drums! Here is what I found on Ali Express:  It looks exactly as the original for the fraction of the price US$135. I am inserting the link, so you can see for yourself: www.aliexpress.com/item/New-arrival-plaid-tweed-coats-Fashion-2018-autumn-winter-women-jackets-coat-Chic-single-breasted-O/32890408400.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.14.34b4291fNLydgD&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10065_10068_5910015_10130_10547_5890015_10548_10696_10084_5724015_10083_5970015_10618_10139_5724315_10307_5724215_5724115_10059_100031_5725015_10103_5980015_5725115_5724915_5990015,searchweb201603_56,ppcSwitch_3&algo_expid=aa522354-8ef3-472b-8bc7-16f04b373da9-2&algo_pvid=aa522354-8ef3-472b-8bc7-16f04b373da9&transAbTest=ae803_1&priceBeautifyAB=0 
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There is an unique place in West Kelowna that offers beauty services in anti spa beauty bar manner. Their mission is to make everyone to feel like a ten all the time (confident). "A confident woman can do anything: nail her work projects, be a domestic goddess, and look fabulous doing it." Does that sound interesting? Well, it gets even better - you can get a wine served with your pedicure. Or if you have significant other with you, beer. Services include manis (quicky $29), pedis (quicky pedi $43), brow and lash tinting ($18-25), waxing, facials(quicky facial $60), laser.  The other feature- you can watch Friends during waxing procedure, which takes the mind off the pain.
The place looks clean, girls are super friendly and professional. Got me coming back over and over again!  This time we wanted to try something new and picked KRAFTY kitchen based on their own statement "Farm to table eatery focusing on high quality local and sustainable food", "All of our ingredients are of the highest quality, minimally processed and handled with care." We ordered Pulled Duck Poutine and Crispy Chicken Drum, both are shareable dishes. Pulled Duck Poutine had three cheese curds in total, super dry fries (the kind that spent long time in the freezer). The gravy from the package did not save the dish, just added high sodium content. The duck confit itself was alright, but nothing to write home about. Crispy Chicken Drum (please see the picture) was strangely thin drumsticks that tasted days old. Drumsticks were not cooked the day they were served to us, I am absolutely positive about that. The spicy sauce did not save the situation. As a result, we both had stomach problems about an hour after we tried Krafty's kitchen.  The atmosphere of a school cafeteria, cold metal chairs, music rather loud than pleasant. We are not going back. The only good thing about that kitchen was water served in glass bottles. 
 We ordered: Korean fried chicken appetizer to share, PROSCIUTTO EGGS BENEDICT (english muffin, house made hollandaise, aged parmesan, breakfast potatoes), 2 HICKORY burgers (smoked bacon, bbq sauce, cheddar cheese). Korean fried chicken is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, covered in spicy sauce, comes with cucumber and green onion slices, sprinkled with sesame seeds. We all liked it! Sorry, no picture-we all were a little bit hungry. Prosciutto eggs Benedict turned out very good, poached eggs done just right. The only thing personally for me-potatoes were a little overdone. Hickory burgers came with fries and extra gravy. Delicious!  The fries are fresh, pickle crunchy, gravy makes everything groovy.
We are very much satisfied with our recent trip to Browns Social House Kelowna!  To continue with shopping in Kelowna topic, I wanted to feature several retailers from Orchard Park Mall that deserve more attention.
Le Château Inc. is a fashion company founded in 1959 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that designs, imports and retails a wide range of women's and men's apparel, accessories and footwear. The reason this Canadian company deserves my attention, is that it manufactures some of the items in Canada. I am a huge believer in supporting our own economy, my first choice is to give my dollar vote to Canadian economy. If you are with me, I can prove that doing so comes with perks. I personally like to shop online, as you get to access Le Chateau Outlet with discounted merchandise up to 70%. However I suggest to visit the store in the mall to get accurate Le Chateau brand sizing for yourself. Just try on various items to validate your size. Perk#1 Flat shipping fee CA$5 for orders over CA$100 Perk#2 Outlet : Weekend flash sale with dresses start at CA$15, mules start at CA$39.99, sweaters and cardigans start at CA$9.99, coats and jackets start at CA$39.99, cotton pants start at CA$9.99, blazers and vest start at CA$29.99. Le Chateau clothing fits very well. Perk#3 Sale: sweaters two for CA$50, sweater tanks 2 for CA$40 Perk#4 Your order will arrive within a week in Canada. It is important when you got invited to a wedding (planned to wear that cute dress hanging in the closet for the last 2 years, but realized one week before the wedding it doesn't fit you anymore) and need a dress shortly. Perk#5 Customer support is in Canada, speaks Canadian English! In case you need to return an item, that helps. Perk#6 No duties!  ASOS is a London, UK based fashion web store whose motto is "Fashion Democracy". They sell trendy clothes in 30 sizes and keep prices affordable. They are big on all inclusiveness. The fun part - free delivery to Canada and free returns! There is a new collection available on their website featuring leopard prints, clashing prints, Gucci inspired cardigans, Balmain inspired tuxedo dress and skirt. The heart of the collection ASOS Design garments which are the trendiest pieces carefully selected by ASOS designers. There are designer edits such as Ted Baker, Anna Sui, BCBG, DKNY, just to name a few.  The ASOS Outlet has reduced items to 70%, a pretty sweet deal if you can find your size! Filter options allow you to sort merchandise by price range, product type, brand, color, size, etc. making your browsing time-efficient.
If you are looking for a new addition to your fall wardrobe or love super discounted summer items, give it a try! Online shopping is a multi-dimensional cyber space, covering various market segments and styles. Today I wanted to review two similar big online shopping websites offering crazy low prices and pretty much the same content. From my personal experience this isn't shopping destination of my choice, as 40% of my order ended up in Value Village donation bin. The reason for that was it's sizing (too small). However if you want to try something new for low price I would give them a try, as they do have some decent quality garments.  Here are some tips on how to avoid disappointment: 1) Delivery to Canada takes about 4 weeks. Here is comparison: delivery to Canada from ROMWE.com is free for orders over CA$79 SHEIN.com offers free delivery to Canada for orders over CA$126 Please bear in mind that imported goods from China are subject to duties and taxes. 2) Measure yourself accurately and match to the size grid provided under the garment description. Avoid purchasing garments made from polyester when it says "Free size". Sizing on the website S, M, L doesn't quite match North American S, M, L. 3) Read description to find out what material it is made with. For example, polyester 95% and spandex 5% would mean fabric has some stretch and if it lists only polyester that means no stretch whatsoever. There used to be a filter option on fabric, but not anymore. I would recommend purchasing garments from cotton or cotton blends. 4) Be realistic - there is no gold accessories for $5 and silk pajamas for $15. 5) SHEIN allows customers to leave a feedback under the garment they purchased. This is a very useful feature, as you can see how it actually looks on real people and what people have to say.  6) The bonus is that both sites offer very cute items that don't look alike. Both these sites are not mainstream in North America, so if you want to stand out of the crowd this is your chance. I want to finish this post with afterwords: "It is worth to try, but don't have high expectations".   I like to shop and with Ali Express it becomes much more affordable and enjoyable. This summer I made two purchases: sandals for everyday errands for $10 with delivery and home slippers for $3.  Sandals are very comfortable to wear. Upper part with a bow is made from soft suede like material. The shoe bow trend is going to be big this fall. I like to wear slippers and home and take them with me when travelling. Feet get sore after a day spend walking/discovering city wonders and light slippers in the hotel room become very handy. Especially these cute kiss face slippers will brighten up any place/day.  The biggest shopping destination for clothing, shoes, accessories, electronics is Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna. It has lot's of free parking around it, so you can definitely enjoy shopping. It also offers several dining/quick snack options (Milestones Bar and Grill, Cora, Tim Horton's, Food Court).  The mall itself has 172 stores, here is the link www.orchardparkshopping.com/stores There are also services like optometrist, alterations, hair salon, mobile phone services. Anything you are looking for, could be found here. However in today's technologically advanced world the best shopping is withing fingers reach- online shopping. If you are looking for bargains, that will be Ali Express. They ship worldwide and sell wide range of products. Everything manufactured in China. Here is the link to fashion forward neon-colored tee for fall (just in case you didn't know, neon colors are back in fashion this fall 2018) www.aliexpress.com/item/Fashion-Women-Summer-Vest-Top-Fluorescent-Beads-Patchwork-Sleeveless-Blouse-Casual-Tank-Tops-T-Shirt-RZ0524/32801002039.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dA2jFiP Here a few tips about shopping on Ali Express without regrets: 1. Order from supplier with order history and feedback information. Always check actual feedback messages-sometimes people select 5 stars, but actual message lists their disappointments. The feedback without the message doesn't weight a lot to me. Also if there are 20 orders and only 3 positive feedback without actual message, that could mean people are not raving about the quality/fit of the goods. 2. Always measure yourself before making an order, as Chinese size M doesn't correspond with North American M. Luckily every supplier has pretty accurate measurement grid usually in centimeters and inches that will help you to identify where you fit. And please, do not panic, if your measurements fall under 3 XL. It is OK, it happen to me and I survived! As long as garment perfectly fits you! 3. Bear in mind that manufacturing/delivering order might take up to 60 days. So if it is something time-sensitive like a gift for somebody's birthday, time your order right. 4. Some shops send little extra gifts with purchase and asking to leave glorious feedback. I am always writing honest feedback, so that people deciding to order know exactly what to expect. 5. Ordering shoes is a little tricky, as they list exactly the same sizes we use in North America (not always right). They also use actual centimeter measurements-those are correct. What I learned to be the best practice is to measure your foot and find corresponding match on the grid, if it matches your North American size- perfect, if it is bigger- than order bigger size than you normally wear. Overall I had mostly positive experience with Ali Express.  This article will cover the grocery shopping geography in Kelowna area. Leading positions are taken by big box stores like Superstore, Save on Food, Wall Mart. These three have competing prices and variety of necessary items.
Recently all giants added ethnic food isle realizing that there is a market for it. Ethnic isle offers products from Asia, Europe, Middle East- a little bit from everywhere. Canada is a country of immigrants and there is a large untapped grocery market potential in the Interior BC. Just for example, I had a friend who took regular trips to Lower Mainland and loaded up his Mercedes with goodies from T&T Supermarket. He loves his noodles, alright! Standing alone in a leading position is the monster Costco, a very popular warehouse. If Costco will open second store on the West side (West Kelowna) and a gas bar it might open even more opportunity for them, as Kelowna just keep growing every day. Two steps behind big box stores follow health food stores that gain momentum in the last 5 years: Nature's Fare and Choices supermarket. Nature's Fare is more popular due to more flexible pricing policy and juice bar/ hot food counter. The store is very attractive for many people with busy lifestyle, as it offers ready healthy/vegan meals and snacks that can be picked up on a fly. Choices Kelowna probably has the same pricing policy as Lower Mainland stores, not taking into account Kelowna "sunshine tax". That alone costing them lost opportunity. Specialized stores take a special place on the market: T Bones, Quality Greens, BC Tree fruit market, Oriental Supermarket, Sun Asia market, East Indian Spice land. T Bones specialize in meat products- from freshly cut steaks to ready to eat meat pies. Prices are reasonable. Quality Greens specialize on vegetables, fruit, dairy products and anything local. BC Tree fruit market is open year around and known for fruit (local and super fresh, without big store markup). Oriental Supermarket offers various products from different sides of Asia-prices are significantly higher than T&T supermarket. East Indian spice land has abundant variety of spices, basmati rice, hair care for reasonable price. There is also a Mediterranean Market and Illichman's that served community for a while and proved to be efficient addressing market trends/demands. Three steps behind are Safeway and Nester's market. They are not as popular due to rigid pricing policy and lack of market research. |
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