Hi!  Just back from the "big city" known as Toronto for the weekend.   I admit it....I don't like it there!    I got to admit to being a country girl at heart and I don't like crowds or traffic or security guards roaming the stores I shop in.   I have never had to walk by a bunch of security guards while shopping at the dollar store....I'm just sayin'...... Anyway, a group of us went to Yorkdale for lunch and a little shopping .  No doubt its a beautiful mall.  Its just all too much for me...too big....too crowded....too upscale..too expensive!  But it got me wondering.   Is the economy really bad everywhere?   I read the news.... no, I literally do read the news...so I know the markets are collapsing and the Canadian dollar is in the basement and especially in the U.S.  people are losing jobs and homes right , left and centre.  But, boy , you sure wouldn't know it by watching the people shop at Yorkdale.  It was packed....the women are all decked out with their high heels and their coach purses ( I just learned these are the must have purses right now) and everyone is running around looking at their cellphones, blackberries with Ipod buds in their little ears. And people weren't just window shopping....they were buying.  I don't know why...but it made me a little sad....some people have nothing and then some people are dropping hundreds of dollars on fancy soaps and lotions, cafe latte's and biscotti ( which to me is just a really hard cookie).....it just looked like excess to me.  And it made me feel bad about myself because I could never afford this kind of lifestyle.   There's a report out today saying retailers are expecting a horrible Christmas season.....I dunno......it sure looked like it was gearing up pretty well in the jam packed parking lot that is Yorkdale.

Wendy