Simon Archives - Rave & Review

Seattle: get your Santa pictures at Northgate Mall

Are you in the Seattle area? If so, you are definitely going to want to head to Northgate Mall, part of the Simon family of shopping centers, before the holiday season is over. While you’re there, find your way to their holiday display by Kay Jewelers to get your pictures taken with Santa. This year … Read more

Festive and fun last-minute shopping for everyone on your list at Seattle Premium Outlets

Can you believe Christmas is less than a week away? It seemed like I had things under control and then late last week I checked I still had a dozen of presents left to buy and the days were flying by. Instead of stressing out, I decided to take an afternoon off and head up to Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip, WA for a day of shopping, meeting up with friends, and ultimately, crossing off my list once and for all. Baby and I set off on an epic shopping trip that started with meeting up for coffee with a long-lost friend, and then ended with her falling asleep clutching an empty Coach shopping bag, a Tigger bracelet, a handful of stickers, and a notebook – all of which were given to her on our shopping trip for being such a delight. We stopped by guest services where we were greeted with beautiful holiday decorations on the fireplaces flanking the food court. This is where you can pick up mall gift cards as well as shop their huge selection of restaurant, store, and experience gift cards at the gift card kiosk.

Spring shopping at Northgate Mall in Seattle

So, Easter in Seattle was cold and rainy, like usual. But, we didn’t mind because our rain plan was actually our only plan: The Northgate Mall EGGcellent Easter Party for Kidgits members. But, that won’t be a surprise to anyone that knows us, since Northgate Mall is pretty much our holiday go-to plan if we aren’t seeing family.

This past weekend the mall was all done up for Easter for their EGGcellent Easter Party, and as usual, it did not disappoint. There was face painting, treats to snack on, robotics to marvel over, crafts to construct, and even live bunnies to hold. We checked in at the Kidgits Club desk and showed our membership cards to get little goodie bags for the kiddos, and then we headed over to take our annual pictures with the Easter Bunny before we visited the booths. Here’s one of my favorite shots from our Bunny Photo Experience:

New Years sales at Simon Malls

Did you think all the sales and deals ended with the holidays? If so, you’d be wrong, because the sales are in full swing at Simon Malls. This past week I took the family out for some post-holiday shopping at Northgate Mall in north Seattle and we found good deals everywhere we looked.

Gymboree is having their Red Balloon Sale, Victoria’s Secret has their Semi-Annual Sale, Nordstrom has their men’s sale, Lane Bryant has their Ring It Up, Ring It In sale event, Eddie Bauer has their Semi-Annual Sale, Old Navy has their Active Sale, Things Remembered has a New Years’ Sale, and even Starbucks has a year end sale going on. And the sales go on and on and on…

Summer vacation shopping tips {BlogHer shopping at Northgate Mall}

It is summer vacation time, and everyone knows what that means: shopping. Whether you are ditching the rain and heading somewhere tropical or you are beating the heat and heading for cooler weather, chances are you need some new clothing and gear for whatever climate you’re headed to.

I like to view this as an invitation to splurge a little bit on myself to make vacation packing easier. Since I love vacation shopping more than any other kind of mall trip, I tend to plan one a few weeks before any big trips to refresh my wardrobe before fully deciding on what I will be packing. So, amed with a complimentary gift card, my daughter and I headed to Northgate Mall in Seattle to prepare for my upcoming Chicago trip for BlogHer.

Packing for BlogHer is a bit different than any other vacation for me, because I need to be professional and put together in addition to staying cool and comfortable, so it’s not like I can pack a few shirts, a pair of jeans and some shorts and skirts and call it good. I need fancy dresses for at night, put-together outfits for day, and coordinating pieces that can do double-duty so I don’t end up with three suitcases.

Naturally, I was really excited to get my shopping started at Northgate Mall, but before I started shopping, I did a little pre-vacation prep. Having become a pro at shopping for trips in the past, this time I knew exactly what I was doing and I followed these guidelines: