My Love/Hate relationship with REI

I love/hate REI. I go back and forth between loving them and hating them pretty much constantly. Let me explain.

When I shop at REI, I buy good things. Useful, important things. Before traveling to Peru a few years ago, I bought a pair of Columbia brand zip-off pants that have been LIFE SAVERS in multiple situations. I wear them at home and abroad, in situations including mountainsides, hiking trails and temple ruins. I have worn them in front of friends, boyfriends and wild monkeys. Sometimes they are just the right thing. 

Before heading to Singapore, I stopped by my local REI (the flagship store in South Lake Union in Seattle) to pick up a few odds and ends. I needed a new Nalgene bottle, some packing cubes and a mini-messenger bag for toting guidebooks and water bottles through temples and city tours. I found everything I was looking for (granted, I had to get a purple water bottle, instead of hot pink like I wanted), used a gift card to help pay for it and went home happy. While touring around SE Asia, I've LOVED the bag I bought. It's a Keen bag, perfect size and shape: easily slings across the shoulder, holds a LOT of stuff without being too huge and has lots of internal compartments for organizing things. The inside liner is water/spill resistant and the outside fabric is water-resistant. This comes in handy when you end up on an accidental hike through Cambodia and get caught in the rain. 

The bag and me in Malaysia

The bag and me in Bangkok

The bag LOVED temples
in Cambodia.

But I hate going into the store.

I roll up into the REI wearing whatever I wore to the office that day - some variation on polo shirt with a khaki skirt and pearl earrings - or what I wore to walk Greenlake - Nike workout pants and a sorority t-shirt and pearl earrings - and I get dirty looks. All the granola-eating, bicycle-riding, mountain climbing Pacific Northwest nuts look at me like I dont belong in the REI cuz I'm wearing Sperrys and not flannel. The sales staff don't help me, the other shoppers get in my way and the whole experience just kinda sucks. By the time I leave the store, I am generally stressed out and upset and sweaty. It's just not that fun. I feel judged and want to walk around the store yelling, "I'm outdoorsy! I'm legit! I hike in South America AND Asia AND Snohomish County."
  
But they sell good stuff. That's quality, useful stuff.

For Christmas, my mom gave me an awesome jacket that she bought at REI in her town. But when I unwrapped the gift, we realized it still had the security tag on it, so we headed back to the store to get the tag removed. I was pleasantly surprised at how different my mom's REI was from the one in Seattle. The sales staff were super helpful, the customers chatted with each other, I got the security tag removed from my jacket and I ended up spending another $150 on some awesome stuff that was on sale. Thus, restoring my love of REI.

Maybe it's the PNW-ers who bug me (rain that makes people cranky)...or maybe Southerners are just nicer in general.....probably because of the access to Duke's Mayonnaise and Bojangle's fried chicken.

Maybe next time I go into the Seattle store, I'll just roll in wearing my "I survived Dead Woman's Pass" t-shirt and smear some mud on my zip-off pants to try to fit in. (I will, of course, refrain from telling them about the time I went camping and got there with my rain fly and tent stakes, but no tent.....) 

Asian Adventure: Day 1

So you know how I told you The BF moved to Singapore?  Well, he did. He’s still there. And now I’m going to visit! I’ve been planning this visit pretty much since before he left, so I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. We’ve planned side trips to Indonesia (awesome little beach resort on an Indonesian island) and Cambodia (touring around Siem Reap and the temple ruins at Angkor Wat) and Malaysia (Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. KL has some REALLY tall buildings. Like the hotel double tower thing that used to be the tallest building in the world until they built the Burj Dubai…or whatever they’re calling it these days.  But yeah, that’s pretty much why I want to go there. I like tall things. Eiffel Tower, Space Needle, window seats on airplanes: I like looking down on things from up high. It’s fun!)

I’m literally en route, writing this from the Tokyo Airport (which is lovely).  With the time difference, it’s just about midnight in Seattle, so as a first post of my Asian adventure, I’ll start by giving you the highlights of today. To make it easier, I’ll break it up into things I did and things I didn’t do.

Things I did today:

• -          Got up at 5am to finish packing and getting my apartment ready to leave.
• -          Washed some dishes that have been sitting in my sink/on my counter for LITERALLY weeks, waiting to be washed. (Go ahead, judge away. I judge myself for that.)
• -          Went to The BF’s storage unit to get his flip flops and bathing suits (for said island beach resort trip). Somehow, despite talking about it several times –and visiting the storage unit several times (ahem, tent) I managed to not remember to do that until TODAY.
• -          Got a tetanus shot. Technically, I got the full DTAP booster, for tetanus and diphtheria and pertussis. Been meaning to do that for a while. Figure I should really make it happen before leaving the country.
• -          Took a shower. (This may sound unworthy of mention, but when looking at the rest of these lists, I think you’ll understand the feat this was.)
• -          Packed a ridiculous amount of stuff into 2 suitcases and a carry-on tote. Managed to keep one of the suitcases under the 50 lb weight limit. Speaking of, when did they change the international baggage weight limit to 50 lbs?!
• -          Watched the cab I called to go to the airport drive off without me. I was wrestling the aforementioned heavy suitcases out my apartment door and the cab driver apparently got tired of waiting and drove away. I watched him drive away.
• -          Talked to my mom, The BF, Queenie and texted with Julie Vegas, Fritha and KJ.
• -          Drove to my office and picked up two large boxes of Christmas china. Took them home.
• -          Interacted with co-workers assisting me in this endeavor without earrings, make-up or combed hair. I also had not showered or brushed my teeth. They helped me anyway.
• -          Bought vitamins. Fit them into the aforementioned suitcases.
• -          Attended a conference call for work.
• -          Met a Gamecocks fan in the Tokyo airport. He’s from SC and his brother is a linebacker on the football team at Carolina. He was impressed to meet an alumni from SC in the Tokyo airport. Or maybe he was just scared cuz I’m so old. Either way.
• -          Read a whole book.
• -          Watched The Avengers. It was good….kinda wish I’d seen it in the theater though.
• -          Watched The Hunger Games. Twice. Even though I have seen it. In the theater. At IMAX.
• Made it onto my 1pm PT flight, with bags checked and carry-on stowed and even had time to get an iced coffee at the airport SBUX.

Things I didn’t do today:

• -          Watch tv or use the internet. Cuz I canceled cable while I’m gone and it shut off at midnight.
• -     Remember that I had no tv or internet. Until I tried several times to access both of those things , including Netflix via XBOX 360, several times.
• -          Brush my teeth. I know. Gross. I felt gross all day. I was basically naked when my cab driver called to tell me he’d arrived, so in the rush to throw clothes on and wrestle my suitcases out the door, tooth-brushing didn’t happen. Of course, if I had known that my cab driver was leaving me and I’d have to wait 10 mins for another one, I could have brushed my teeth. And put on face cream. And maybe even make-up. Because those are things I also did not do.
• -          Sleep on my first flight like I’d planned.
• -          Work out. (ha!)
• -          Wash my hair. I meant to do that, but….well……you know.
• -          Remember to put deodorant on BEFORE I packed it. Fortunately I was able to quickly pull out some deodorant from my travel toiletries bag and did wear deodorant today.

So that’s the first day of my Asian adventure. More to come. 

Piles of Laundry

I just realized I havent purchased laundry detergent in almost 3 years. I bought 2 large things of Gain liquid detergent 3 years ago at the QFC on Rainier Ave S. (it was BOGO with the Q card) and that was the last time I purchased laundry detergent.

I understand how odd that sounds. A) that it's been that long since I bought detergent and b) that I remember the details of my last laundry detergent purchasing experience. But, really, it makes sense when you explain it.

The Tad and my BoyFriend At The Time (BFATT) were roommates who had just moved from Renton to the CD, near Rainier Ave S. and I was helping them unpack and get settled in. (I didnt actually help them MOVE because I was in France on moving day, but I wanted to contribute in some way). I was running errands, picking up stuff for their new place (paper towels, towel racks, cleaning products, etc.) and thought I'd pick up a few things for myself while I was at it. Such as laundry detergent.

So I take the 2 jugs of detergent home. I use them as needed over the next few months. Then I move to a new apartment and take the 2 jugs of detergent with me. I've not purchased laundry detergent the entire time I've been living in my current apartment.

I hate doing laundry. I really do. It's bad enough on its own, but the fact that I have to use a shared laundry room (in my apt building) really makes it worse. So I avoid doing laundry.

Generally underwear is a limiting factor in the length of time one can go without doing laundry. I have overcome this challenge. I have 72 pairs of underwear. Socks are another common limiting factor; I dont really wear socks. My limiting factor is probably sports bras. But if I just don't work out often, I dont have to wash those as often.

Since I frequently head to a friend/neighbor/acquaintance's home to take care of their pets, I use such opportunities to use their laundry facilities. I figure, if I have to schlep my laundry down the hall to the shared laundry room, I might as well schlep it to my car and drive it to a friend's house where I can drink vodka tonics and watch everything in their DVR while my clothes get clean and the cat eats its food. Or whatever. But I don't always schlep my laundry detergent. I wouldnt want to contaminate their machine with my detergent, should my friend have a skin sensitivity. Also, laundry detergent is heavy and a pain to schlep.

Let's recap: I rarely do laundry and when I do, I often do it somewhere else, using someone else's laundry detergent.

But wait! There's more!

I recently discovered that SO many Web sites offer coupons and free samples of their products. Sometimes I troll these sites just to sign up for the free samples. Dove shampoo and conditioner is a good one....so is Tampax....and Tide detergent. I get and use free samples of detergent.

Also, I really do have friends with skin sensitivities, many of whom learn this the hard way after purchasing the wrong kind of detergent (Rosie and KJ). Because I have no such issues, I have inherited a few bottles of detergent from friends.

And then there are the friends who move and don't want to move liquids (like detergent....or tequila for that matter), from whom I've inherited additional bottles of detergent. (Thanks, Conan!)

So......I havent purchased laundry detergent in a few years. And dont see myself purchasing any anytime soon either.