Shopping Trip to Natick Mall & Haul

Hi. My name is Linda Abballe and I am a shopaholic. Yes, yes, yes I know, I just recently posted a shopping haul not too long ago, but my fiance and I went shopping, again. This time we went to a different mall; one that neither of us has ever gone to. Natick Mall in Natick Massachusetts. It is an upscale shopping mall about 30 mins west of Boston. What made this mall so appealing to me was the fact that it had all types of store. High end and discount stores. For example, one end of the mall had American Eagle, Wetseal, Pink, Forever 21 and Delias while at the other was Coach, Gucci, Burberry, Micheal Kors and Louis Vuitton. It's range of store types also was amazing: clothing stores to jewelry, toy shops to kitchen supplies, tech stores to book shops. The restaurants here were also amazing.

On the drive there we were not expecting what we saw. Entering the full parking lot was a bummer until we found out that there was a free two level parking garage beneath the mall with an elevator up to the 2-story shopping center. An even more interesting twist was that you could get a hand car-wash in that garage while you shopped. How convenient! 

As we traveled up the elevator to our destination, it was almost like walking into heaven. Chris and I were both in shock on how clean and beautiful looking this mall was, as we both have never been to such a luxurious, upscale mall like this one before. The whole open, almost green peace atmosphere was very welcoming and encouraging for people to want to walk around and explore. We were caught by surprise when three birds flew by us while we were walking along a pathway to the other side; although there by accident it definitely adding to our feeling of being in a rain forest

Another great thing were how nice everybody working in the different stores or kiosks were to us. Greetings in abundance every time we entered a store while still giving you the space to shop. It was definitely a change of pace from the many snobby teenaged employees most shopping malls seem to have now a days. 

As I could go on and on about how awesome this mall is, here is what we bought during our shopping trip:

Claires - I had been needing clear elastics for doing braids for quite a while now so this was our first stop to pick some up. They were also having a very good sale, all clearance items were only $2. For the first time ever I couldn't find any items that I liked.

Newbury Comics - Chris has started himself a Spider-man comic book collection, so every time we see a comic book store we need to go. Right as we entered there was a table with a ton of Fifa World Cup memorabilia: t-shirts, scarfs, mugs, flags and much more. With both of us being Italian and loving soccer, we could not let this deal pass up. Lucky for Chris, I found him a t-shirt in his size, but I wasn't so lucky. I was extremely upset when I couldn't find my size in an awesome looking Italia jacket. At the back of the store there were so many comic books and books about comics (yes they are two different things). This time around no comics were bought since we already have the ones that were being sold.

Brookstone - I have always found this store very interesting because of the range of different products they sell. The employees are also very kind and encouraging for you to get in there and try out the products. Chris has had his eye on remote control helicopters for a long time now, and on this trip he seemed to fall in love. He needed very little encouraging to buy his new favorite toy. He spent the whole rest of the day between charging the battery stick and flying it outside our apartment. I couldn't help but laugh every time the wind took it and he started freaking out. Each battery charge only lasts about 10 mins so the same night he went onto Amazon.com and bought five more batteries so he can switch them in and out instead of him running in and out of the apartment every 10 minutes to charge it back up.

Love Culture - This is only the second time I have ever been into this store but I absolutely love it. It carries alot of clothes that definitely fit into my type of style. I found this great maxi skirt on sale and it fits perfectly, a great length and very good quality. If I would have stayed there any longer I can guarantee I would have bought the whole store. One thing that did bother me though was the fact that quite a few shirts that I would have normally picked up had some sort of California or LA text written all over it. It is just me or do other people feel weird wearing shirts with other state or city names on it when your from a different major city?

Delias - This is the best store for graphic t-shirts and tank tops. This particular muscle tank was in the clearance section and had an additional 40% off the sale price. Most Mickey Mouse Disney shirts that I have seen have always been too cartoon-y or kiddish for me but this particular one I thought was very subtle and I could layer it with leggings and a big baggy cardigan as well as some long necklaces that almost cover the picture so you don't straight up see what the picture is. When I got to the cashier I learned that the whole store was B1G1 50% off so I picked up one of the EOS lip balms in a new flavor - summer fruit.

Forever 21 - I was extremely excited for this store, since I had seen online that it was two levels. The bottom level was all clearance items that were an additional 50% off. That is where I picked up these two pieces. The white lace shorts were an item I had been searching for the longest time for the perfect pair. The loose fit of them gives them a look of almost being a skirt and its a piece that I will be able to match with alot of tops I already own. The pink skirt was an exciting find since I have never owned such a bright colored skirt like this and Chris seemed to really like it on me. It was definitely an enjoyably time because my fiance seemed to be in a fashionably mood and was helping me pick out clothes while giving me his opinion on what he think would go well with what. I always love it when he gives me his opinion on fashion and what he thinks would look good on me. Once we got upstairs, the store opened up and it was the biggest Forever 21 I had even been into. I could spend an hour or more in that particular  store .

Coach - This next store is one of my favorite's but I was not expecting to walk out with anything. I just suggested to go in to see what new purses and wallets they had come out with. As we were browsing Chris asked me why I wasn't using the cross body Coach purse he got me for my birthday. The reason being that my current wallet did not fit in it so I was waiting to find a wallet that would. He then started pointing out wallets and asking me if any of those would fit in it. There was a pink style that I liked and was small enough to fit in so he asked if I wanted it. It was a total surprise that he was going to buy it for me since I know how expensive Coach products are. Even though I kept telling him not to worry about it, he insisted and just asked what color I wanted. Knowing my favorite color is purple, he pointed out the same style in that color. With that I walked out of the store with a new Coach wallet and Chris walked out with a very happy girlfriend. (Btw my old wallet did not make it home, I switched to the new one on the drive home)

Some other stores that we stopped into but didn't make any purchases were: Anthropologie, Oakley, Wetseal, Sur La Table, Game Stop, Free People, Zara, and Urban Outfitters.

Wasabi Sushi - With an afternoon of shopping complete, we were definitely ready for some food. During our journey through the mall we saw this very interesting Japanese sushi place that we said we were going to try out. What made this restaurant so cool was that all the food was on a conveyor belt that passed you while you ate. Every plate color was a certain price, so when you saw something you wanted to eat you just picked it up.It was something we both have never seen before but was awesome at the same time. We both love sushi and being able to actually see the rolls before we "ordered" them was so convenient. They gave you a menu so if there was a certain item you wanted that wasn't passing you, a waitress would go search for it or get the chefs to make it. It is also an open concept kitchen, so you can see the people making the food. Besides the interesting way of serving, the food was delicious. We were able to try many different kinds of sushi and even tried a new Japanese dessert that I am now in love with. Oishi cake. The only disappointing fact is that there are only a few of these restaurants in the whole country. Natick Mall being the only location in Massachusetts.

We left the mall that day extremely happy with our purchases and in agreement that this was our place to go when we want to go shopping. If you are ever in the area, I would highly suggest checking out this shopping mall.