Penny to the Rescue...Again

I had really been looking forward to my day out in Edinburgh, so was really deflated when James phoned on Sunday evening to say Anne had been suffering from a migraine all day and was cancelling on me.

I decided to see if Jean wanted to come. Sandy answered the phone. Jean was out climbing munros with her walking group but he would get her to phone me back when she got in, which she duly did. She was exhausted - four munros climbed sounded far too much like hard work to me (and to her)... Anyway, she was too busy this week to come.

I then tried Penny with little hope, as I know she is very busy trying to get her shop ready for opening. She was not sure - needed to sort out the painter the next day so I was to phone her back in the morning.

So, at just gone 9 a.m. I phoned. She still needed to phone the painter, so would phone me back... and the trip was on. I just needed to ensure I got her back in time for her bridge match this evening.

We drove over the Lammermuirs to the A1. The oranges, yellows and golds of the trees were shown at their best in the bright autumn sunshine we had today. Penny then directed me into Edinburgh city centre and to the car park at St. James Centre, where we arrived at around 11.30 a.m.

I had a sort of plan, time allowing. I knew there were three Whistles outlets in Edinburgh - one in Jenners, one in Harvey Nicholls and its own store on George Street, which was the first destination on my list. But as we were heading there I spotted HN, so we diverted in there. We found the Whistles section, and I saw a very nice dress that was a definite possibility but I decided to wait until we got to the true store. So we headed back towards George Street.

East had the magic sign in the window - Sale.
A few shops further on and Ronit Zilkha clearance/closing down sale - store was in administration.
Waterstones next - had some vouchers.
Then Whistles, and the dress I had previously seen - but if I got a store card I would get 20% off. That was worth spending 10 minutes filling in the form.

It was time for a break - coffee/cake in one of the ubiquitous Starbucks.

2.30 p.m., back to the car and on to destination number 2 - Meadowbank Retail Park for TK Maxx. I had never been to this store before, but when I told Penny I wanted jeans and a handbag this was her suggestion. It came up trumps.

3.25 p.m. back to the car. We still had enough time to go to Fort Kinnaird. I dropped Penny off at Borders Books and I headed for M&S, where she would catch me up. I had been given all of Paul's vouchers (£85) that he had won at various bridge tournaments...

East
Olive Green light cotton dress
Red patterned dress

Ronit Zilkha
Black/print chiffon dress - an absolute bargain at £300 under the RRP!

Whistles
Yellow/print silk dress

TK Maxx
Cream leather handbag - also a real bargain at £135 under the RRP
Four pairs of jeans - saved me having to make decisions :)

M&S
Black Coat

All in all an excellent day out and I judged my spending almost perfectly. On a budget of £400 I spent £403.47. Indeed, I could even argue that the M&S vouchers were not part of my budget, as I did not have free will on where I could spend them...