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| Nikki and I at last year's race. |
This year, I thought if we were even going to try to get to the store we had to be there early. So we were on the road by 6:00am and arrived outside the Vancouver Convention Center just after 7:00am. When we first came up from the parking garage, there was a huge line and it didn't seem like the right place as a lot of people were in costume. Suddenly we realized it was the lineup for the Pokémon World Championship also happening the same weekend in Vancouver. We couldn't pass up a photo op like that:
When we arrived at the right wing of the convention center, there was already a line up half way around the building. We got in line and waited for them to open (at 8:00am) we chatted with people in line and even got some sneak peek photos and insider information from a volunteer inside!
It was a beautiful day and because it was early it wasn't too warm out. I was a little disappointed when I heard they had more entertainment for people in line later in the day but I suppose because we lined up before they were officially open, I can't complain.
Once the doors were open, it moved pretty quickly inside and package pickup was in sight!
I had only planned on buying one thing, but that soon went out the window. I loved all the colors and most of the product was really nice. As a die-hard Lululemon CRB (cool racer back) fan I was a little disappointed that they were all made of a different material than the usual CRB (a thinner "luon" that feels nothing like the original). But there were definitely multiple styles of shirts to choose from.
When I finally took a moment to gather the things I wanted and review how much I was going to spend this is what I came out with (including some gifts for other people):
We hung around the store for quite a while so that we could get what we wanted in the right sizes as they were restocking stuff on a regular basis but just as fast as it went on the shelf it was gone. I was shocked by how much stuff people were grabbing. Last year there was a 15% discount for runners and this year a couple of the volunteers mentioned the same thing but when we went to check out, that certainly wasn't the case. As we left I noticed there were people everywhere with massive piles of clothing on the floor, easily thousands of $ each. I love Lululemon but I guess not that much! We heard later that by 9:30/10:00 AM it was quite picked over so I'm glad we went when we did but I feel bad for those that missed out like I did last year.
Once we had all our goodies we headed back towards home as I had to get ready to attend a friends wedding later that evening. They had nooner yoga, mani/pedi's, and other various activities throughout the day but alas I had other places to be.
I was excited but nervous about staying up late and having a few drinks before a hot and sweaty half marathon the next morning. We hardly ever dress up anymore so that was fun even though it was REALLY hot outside!
My plan was to only have a couple of drinks... I (mostly) stuck to that plan including pre-race hydration with these delicious twisted iced-teas!
The wedding was fabulous and went off without a hitch, well except for the bride and groom getting hitched of course (pardon my horrible joke ha ha). So happy for this gorgeous couple who jetted off to Paris for their honeymoon a couple days later!
To find out what happens when you hydrate for a half marathon with alcohol you'll have to tune in tomorrow for the rest of my race recap!
You can read Nikki's very poetic recap of the expo here
You were smart to go so early- it was definitely picked over by the time we got into the showcase store at 11am. The wide striped tank in your picture wasn't available, at least in my size.
ReplyDeleteI still managed to spend a bit of money so it wasn't too bad! The line ups were just insane though. A 15% discount would have been awesome- I had a hard time paying the extra tax!
I love your dress for the wedding! Very pretty!