Stuff I Like: Nordstrom

Last night I ventured out to the mall as I do maybe once per Christmas shopping season and it was, thankfully, painless. I'm not one of those people against shopping per se, but during this crazed time of year, I stand against it as a personal protest. I find myself in less of a Christmas spirit when faced with all of the traffic, crowds, lack of parking and borderline obscene amounts of commercialism that malls have in spades.

But there is one place I never mind shopping: Nordstrom. There is something so completely different about walking through their stores that makes for a shopping experience that is wholly different from any other department store. Admittedly they are a more expensive store than Macy's, Dillard's and others, but they get one thing so very right, that I don't mind the more premium prices and why they earn a stuff I like designation: top-notch customer service.

I went in last night needing to pick up some lotion I use after shaving since my skin gets crazy dry and irritated using other products. The Nordstrom clerk was like every other one I have dealt with: pleasant, informative, helpful and just a breeze to conduct a transaction with. She also did something I have noticed all Nordstrom employees do which is subtle, but powerful. After running my credit card, she bagged my purchase and came out from behind the counter to stand next to me and hand me the slip to sign. In other words, they make an effort not to have something (in this case, the product counter) between them and their customers.

Is that alone enough to justify higher prices? You decide. I certainly don't go there just because they don't remain behind the counter, but in an age when your average person working a counter treats you like a leper, it matters. The amount of hassle I avoid by dealing with a Nordstrom salesperson who is polite, professional and knowledgeable enough to answer all my questions is worth paying a little more for. Plus, it's less of a hassle just getting around their store with the wide aisle and open sight lines.

Who said a little extra peace of mind doesn't have a price?

Stuff I Like: The Go Bag

If there is a Web site out there that I cannot recommend highly enough, it's Lifehacker. Spend a few minutes there and you will rapidly see a large piece of inspiration for my own site (although I happen to do a number of tweaks that they do not and have a slightly different focus). Regardless, it's a wonderful site and they come up with cool tips and nuggets of goodness daily.

A recent fave of mine is their concept of the "Go Bag" which you can see all sorts of examples of here. Essentially, a Go Bag is any kind of bag you would use to throw all of your daily essentials in before heading out to attack the day. The Lifehacker crew wanted to see what various members would use for bags and what life equipment they would put in it before venturing out into the adventure that is human life.

I just put my own Go Bag into action after picking up the REI Singular Sling Bag 2.0 (in Madrona... 'cause I guess calling it "maroon" was too tricky) and setting it up for daily use. And the results you can see here to the right.

So far I don't have everything in it I would like to, but off to a decent start thus far. Starting from the top and working my way down there is:
- my camera
- my Nintendo DS Lite
- my cool wallet my bro got me in Argentina
- my Moleskine notebook that I use to jot down random thoughts and, especially, blog ideas
- my 30gig iPod (ok, so the link is to the 80 gig one)
- my Motorola Q
- my Cabela's mini multi-tool (seriously handy little bugger)
- hand sanitizer
- a basic pen
- my current R.A. Salvatore book (I find these things addictive)
- my latest copy of Men's Health.

The one thing missing is a laptop, but I am working my way up to that slowly but surely. And please bear in mind... this is a sling bag... not a Seinfeld style "European carry all"/man purse. *shudder* But thus far, I am finding the Go Bag handy because everything I have in it is something I used to find myself thinking before, "Damn... I wish I had my..." The big thing is the camera and the notebook since with my seeking to get this blog moving, I need to be able to get ideas and snap up photos for content when the moment strikes.

Give the Go Bag a try and let me know how it works out.