Well, if you are visiting Arlington and want to go shopping, you are in luck! The Seattle Factory Outlets are just down the road, and they have a HUGE selection of stores to choose from… and some of them are big name, high end stores. We get lots of traffic from our friendly Canadian neighbors who jot down for their holiday weekends to take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar (or is it the weak US one?) so be sure to stay gracious while you are shopping!

There is something for just about everyone over there… below is the short list of shops that are currently in residence – the full list can be viewed here

The Children’s Place
Gymboree
Sketchers
Le Creuset
United Colors of Benetton
Chico’s
Coldwater Creek
Brooks Brothers
Dressbarn
Ecko Unitd
Eddie Bauer
BCBG Max Azria
Juicy Couture
Lucky Brand Jeans
PacSun
Polo Ralph Lauren
Quicksilver
Zumiez
Tommy Hilfiger
Converse
DC Shoes
Nine West
Stride Rite
Nautica & Kids
Wilson’s Leather
Kate Spade
Coach
Movado
Le Creuset
Claphalon
Restoration Hardware
Harry & David
L’Occitane
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Starbucks

As I said, this is the short list… there are LOTS of stores there.

Lakewood Crossing at Smokey Point is also a small shopping center… it has a few big box stores and some food, but nothing small & local. To get that you have to head into either downtown Arlington or downtown Marysville.

Olympic Ave is our main drag… there is a fabulous old movie theater with reclining seats at one end – one screen only, and discounts on Tuesdays. The post office is at the other end. In between there is a great little natural foods store, The School Box – a wonderful resource for homeschooling families, a jeweler that goes to Thailand every few months and sells some great Thai clothes, an Italian bistro that sells kitchen stuff, and a few antique stores. And we must not forget the fabric store! If you quilt, this is one to go to.

Down in Marysville there are a few other choices. Craft Mart is the big local craft store, and Cascade Music is the local guitar, keyboard, band instrument rental place… heavy on guitar though. Think Guitar Center, but smaller. There is a nice little shop that has a pharmacy, kitchen section, and a hallmark-like section inside. They have some really nice things, if you are looking for a gift. I don’t venture into Marysville much though.

If you head south again, like we did yesterday, you can go to either Alderwood Mall (Apple Store!!!) or Everett Mall… I personally recommend Alderwood. They added The Village a few years ago, and it is really nice. Outdoor shopping with high end stores (Apple Store!) like Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Jeans, Nordstroms, etc. Lots of goodies there.

However, my favorite shop in Arlington is Mimsi Bags… but they are available online only. If you are in the area, though, I’m sure we could convince the owner to let you look through available fabrics – she’s pretty good about that if you give her a day or so notice. Of course, I think it helps that it is located in my basement… lol. I can find myself a new bag any time I need one.

Yes, Mimsi Bags is my baby… my youngest baby. My girls love to help put together fabric combinations and sketching out new design ideas (many of which are impossible to make!) and someday I hope that they will be able to help with the actual sewing… but they have to get a little better at the sewing part first!

As part of this Blog Trip, I will be giving away an Alexandra Messenger Backpack to one lucky commenter. The design was inspired by my daughter… she is taking violin lessons and needed a bag to take her music in. As she already had a violin case to lug around, I wanted to make something that didn’t take any extra hands… thus the backpack was born!

Speaking of bags that need made, I should get back to it… it’s been fun shopping with you! I hope you found some good deals..

Wow, gas has sure gotten expensive this Summer! Thankfully it has gotten a bit cheaper than it was in June… and it has stayed cheaper than the surf town we drove through in California in June! Down there it was $5 PER GALLON!!!

Gas in Arlington, WA is getting back down around $4 per gallon, especially if you use Costco or Safeway (love the $0.10 cent discount!), but that is still a bit on the pricey side for my wallet. Especially since I got a new car payment in May. Good thing the new car gets more than 4 miles to the gallon! That is our biggest gas saver!

Fortunately, we have most of the shops that we need close at hand, so I only have to fill up every 2 weeks… well, as long as I pay attention to how much gas I have left! If I do need to head down to the city to get something, I will make sure that I have a list of everything that I need to get while I am down there, and hit every store that I can in one trip! This way I only have to make the drive once every couple of weeks or so. Yes, I have to make the trip somewhat often, because I miss things like Trader Joe’s, Pacific Fabrics, a BIG Joann’s, and the Apple Store! Add in the Costco Business Center (a totally different store than a regular one) and you see why I have to make the trip occasionally. Around every 3 months we also hit Ranch 99 (a big Asian Market) to stock up on some of our essentials.

However, we are lucky to have some big box stores nearby… Smokey Point has a large shopping center called Lakewood Crossing with Costco, Target, Michaels, Office Depot, Linens-N-Things, Best Buy, Petco, etc. And I can’t forget The Plant Farm!

Lakewood Crossing also has a Boston’s Gourmet Pizza, Red Robin and Cold Stone…no, we aren’t THAT far out into the country! Even with all of this nearby I personally try to avoid the big box stores and shop at Indie websites… support your local, small business owners! And by local, I do mean those here in the good ol’ USA (and Canada… they are good neighbors!)

To save extra money, we also have a few ways to avoid the supermarket. We get our veggies fresh each Thursday from Garden Treasures, a local CSA farm. This has a two-fold benefit… cost… we paid only $475 for a Summer of produce – one box a week from May through October – AND I somehow feel obligated to use up that week’s worth (or more!) of produce before I pick up the next week’s installment. Yes, we eat LOTS of veggies around here!

We also have a small garden with sweet onions, garlic, blueberries, red currants, raspberries, salad greens, peppers, tomatillos, snow peas and long beans. The deck garden has carrots, strawberries, lettuce, broccoli and flowers. The apple tree and cherry tree should start producing next year *fingers crossed* and the herb garden is already doing quite well. We have rosemary, spicy oregano, pineapple sage, Summer savory, curry, chives, marjoram and lemon balm. Yep, we are pretty well set on spices! My cardamom hasn’t done much yet, but I hope to be able to add that to our pantry next year!

The other big way we cut down on expenses is by having our milk delivered each week. Yes, the milk itself costs a few dollars more, but I don’t have to step foot into a grocery store and face the inevitable impulse buy temptations! Smith Brothers Farms offers milk, cheese, eggs, FABULOUS cookie dough and more! We usually just get milk, but it is so handy to let our milkman know that we also need eggs, cream, cottage cheese, or cookie dough this week, and not have to drive to the store!

Smith Brothers is available for most of Western Washington, so if you live anywhere from Olympia to Camano Island, take a look at the website! The milk is as near to organic as they can be without growing their own feed… coincidentally, that is the only reason they don’t have the “organic” label on the cartons.  They do offer fully labeled organic milk now as well, but it, of course, costs more.

We buy in bulk when we can (I love Costco!) and I bake most of our bread. My sandwich bread recipe is located here. School lunches are packed each morning, and we either recycle plastic bags from the store (the girls school gets $5 for each BIG bag of them) or we use reusable fabric grocery bags like these.

Since I joined Mamas On The Compact, we aren’t shopping for new very often. We find things we need on Freecycle, Craig’s List or a second hand store. The girls each got ONE new outfit from the outlet stores down the road this year, and then they traded in some old clothes that were too small at Other Mothers down in Mill Creek… and got about 4 more outfits each! The only cost for those was the gas to get there (which we combined with a few other stops to make it worth it!)

That is how we are saving a few dollars here in Arlington, WA. What are you doing to save money with gas so high?

Welcome to my blog! This morning I walked around my yard and snapped some pictures of the flowers that grow well here in Washington… to show you some of MY favorite parts of where I live! I hope you enjoy…

Crocosmia (tall & red)

Nasturtiums

a little green frog…

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle… a late blooming variety

Oxalis – Iron Cross

Nightshade Berries

Welcome to my yard!