Dufferin Mall Shop Crawl | Part 1

On Thursday night I had the opportunity to attend the #DufferinMallShopCrawl put on by the lovely ladies at Chick Advisor.  Because talking about their (amazing) swag bag and my (amazing) haul would be way too much for one post I have decided to split it up.  Today I am talking about my experience and next week I am going to follow up with a review of my swag bag.

I will admit that I went into this experience with a tiny bit of trepidation.  For context, I live in the far east end of Toronto, and this event was taking place in the mid west end.  After a long day at work I started my commute in the opposite direction from home and then walked 5 minutes in the drizzling rain to arrive at the Dufferin Mall.  I checked in and plotted my route to maximize time in the stores I really wanted to shop in.  In short, I could spend an eternity at Winners, so I decided to end my trip there.

At check in I was given a passport which included discounts at select stores (such as 25% off at Trade Secrets, 20% off at Dynamite and 15% off a purchase of $50 or more at H&M), a $10 Winners/Marshalls gift card, and a coupon for a free David's Tea/  Looking through the list I knew I had no interest in going to The Children's Place (no offence to them, but I don't have kids and don't plan on it for at least 5 more years!...more like 10.) and I have never had much luck at The Gap.  I decided to focus my time at H&M, Dynamite, Winners and Trade Secrets.

I started my shopping evening at David's Tea.  I had a coupon for a free tea beverage, but was told that if I made any purchase they would include a free tea.  I had been thinking of picking up another tea infuser, so I grabbed one for $12 and set my David's Tea coupon aside for later.  With my tea (Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine Green Tea in case you are curious!) in hand I made my way to H&M.

I tend to find H&M a bit of a stressful place to shop between all of the colours and textures and items and piles and people.  I also find most of their clothes don't really fit my curvy shape.  However, I found three things I wanted to try on. 

I fell in love with this $14.99 pink swan shirt.  The green tank top fit kind of strangely, in that it felt too tight on my back but too loose everywhere else.  As for the dress, well it just fit in all of the wrong places.  I did not spend enough to use the discount here, but there just wasn't anything else I was interested in enough to drop another $35.

My next stop was Dynamite where I found this dress for $39.99 ($31.99+tax).  They also had it in a pretty forest green, but none left in my size.  I considered the black dress, but I've got so many.  I fell in love with this cranberry dress-- perfect for work and for fall and for holiday parties.  My only complaint as how wrinkly it was.  The nice sales lady was able to steam it while I poked around a bit more.

Many of the stores had "Chick Advisor Picks" on display.  I really loved this outfit from Dynamite.  Perfect for fall!  I'm not much of a vest person on me, but I can admire them on others.  I loved that navy dress but the fabric was not flattering on me.  

I fell in love with this perfect for fall necklace from Call It Spring (and it appears Danielle from Darling Magpie did too!).  I actually have this necklace in a different colour from this summer, but rather than maroon and black it is neon orange and turquoise.  I tried on some boots but after texting my mom I was reminded of the three other pairs I already have at home.  This necklace came to about $13 after a 20% off discount.  I think the ladies working here were a bit overwhelmed because it was hard to get somebody to bring me shoes to buy (part of why I did not buy any) and as I was in line to buy something the cashier took my passport to stamp but then tried to charge me full price for the necklace.  When I asked about the discount she said I didn't give her a card to stamp.  I told her she literally just stamped it and showed her.  She was kind of cold for the rest of the transaction, so I won't be in a rush to go back.  I think they would have benefited from a few more staff on duty.  Annnyways buy this point it was 7 pm and I was hungry!

So I grabbed a Greek salad and pita from Jimmy the Greek, and of course a Diet Coke, totalling about $12.  Next I popped into Trade Secrets.  I was super tempted by their 25% off coupon since they carried the whole Moroccan Oil line, but I just could not justify it.  I did grab a new OPI nail polish and two nail buffers though totalling about $13.  By this point it was 7:20 and I could not let Winners wait a moment longer for me. 

First thing I saw when I walked into Winners?  A stand full of Toronto Blue Jays shirts.  Love the team spirit!  I've been following their post season closely, and I love how it has really brought Canadians together.  Here's hoping we have a World Series game to watch!  Ps.  This has totally been my song of the week.

Not sure why I found this so funny, but I have nowhere to put it so it got left behind. I ended up purchasing a 3/4 sleeve cranberry coloured shirt and a few mugs and bowls.  I think I put my $10 gift card to good use. You can see these purchases in my final photo.

I gave into temptation and grabbed a mini Cinnabon.  So worth it.

I did not end up going to every store, but in order to get the sag bag you had to prove that you actually did go around the mall.  To get a stamp you did not have to make a purchase so I guess you could have collected stamp and than sat at the food court, but that's not really the spirit of the event. 

The bag was full of sweet products that I can't wait to share with you next week!

Each of the mugs I bought at Winners was $4.99.  I bought the "K" mug for my mom as a part of her Christmas gift.  The "A" mug is for me- it just looks like a hot chocolate mug.  As for the white and gold mug I mean how could I not?  Literally perfect to add to my vanity.  I totally adore this set of two ceramic lunch bowls.  I have two at home that I got this summer and I literally use them every day.  Perfect for packing leftovers, a salad, berries, soup, you name it!

Here is my total haul.  My budget was $150 and I stuck to it spending just shy of $140 including my dinner.  I'm really glad I was able to pick up a few fall pieces to add to my wardrobe!

Conclusions

Chick Advisor: They did a great job putting this event on!  They had a good selection of stores to shop at with discounts, and put together one heck of a swag bag.  They communicated clearly in advance of the event so I knew what to expect.  Bonus points for the tea coupon.

Dufferin Mall: This was my first time at the mall.  While it was fine I don't really see myself rushing back.  All of the stores I like there can be found on Bloor or at the Eaton's Centre or even the Scarborough Town Centre.  I like that it was easy to get to on the subway, but the walk from the station to the mall in the drizzle was not so nice.  It was a bit out of the way for me, and not a destination mall like Yorkdale.  In the past this event has been hosted on Bloor or at Yorkdale so this mall is a bit of a different playing field.  Hopefully next year it will be a bit more central or even in the eat end for us Scarborough ladies.  Over all I found the mall was easy to navigate, clean and easy to get to.  Probably a great place to stop in if you live in the west end and don't want to go all of the way down town.  If I lived closer I would def stop there to go to Winners or Walmart. 

Overall (commute included) I had a great time and am really happy with my purchases.  I can't wait for next year, and I can't wait to share my thoughts on my swag bag with you!  Did you attend this event?  What were your thoughts?