Yaletown Summer Shopathon

Yaletown was the place to be last Friday night as fashionable chicas descended on this hip neighbourhood for the Yaletown Summer Shopathon. Hosted by The Style Spy, participating retailers offered exclusive discounts for one night only. Organizers handed out swag bags to the first 250 shoppers in line at the registration table and all attendants were treated to complimentary drinks at Charm Modern Thai. After greeting The Style Spy's editor-in-chief Erica Lam, I crossed the street and bumped into lovely Twitterers erin_gee and smash11 at Eden.

The Style Spy's editor-in-chief Erica Lam with a fellow organizer

Although Eden had some lovely things, nothing in particular caught our fancy. We kept walking and bumped into Melissa of Five Corners and local stylist Paulo Vallejo (ISTYLEU), among many others. By the time we made it to Charm Modern Thai for our free sangria and appies--with pit stops at Boudoir, Beauty Mark, Noir Lash Lounge, and Blo along the way--we were quite the merry little band of marauders. Other pedestrians were probably mildly irritated with how we clogged up the narrow sidewalks.

Spirits were almost as high as the soaring summer temperatures while we shopped our way through Yaletown!

Erin models the hammered gold cuff she bought at Boudoir while we wait for our sangria. Boudoir was also where I found a polished silver bracelet.

Charm served delicious complimentary appies with our free drinks. Yum!

The Shopathon wasn't the only event happening in the neighbourhood, though. A block away from the registration table, a beer garden and gourmet hot dog stand kept summer revelers refreshed and fed as they enjoyed the sunshine. Rumours swirled about a hot DJ act happening nearby as well, but we never made it. Instead, we stopped at Goldfish for some delicious drinks and a snack.

I leaned over the beer garden fence to say hi to some coworkers but never ventured beyond that.

What a fine group of chicas! Lounging with drinks at Goldfish.

I ordered a blackcurrant spritzer.

The pale blue enamel flower ring I bought at the Babe Belangere boutique

MizzJ joined us for the last leg of shopping. An impulsive pit stop at Fine Finds proved to be too much temptation: As we browsed the novelty goods, jewelry, clothes, and accessories, MizzJ found a gray eel skin purse she'd been drooling over since her last visit (now 40% off!), and I found a to-die-for tight brown satin and jersey dress with ruching all down the front. Initially I was skeptical the dress would even fit because it looked so tiny on the hanger, but when I pulled it on--wow. Just wow. I promise I'll take a picture for the blog when I wear it.

The evening wound down with dinner and more drinks at Glowbal. Erin, MizzJ, and I laughed and talked our way through dinner. We were joined by Bev and smash11 later, who ordered a delicious-looking satay platter and recounted their towed-car misadventures to us. By the time MizzJ and I left we were dead tired and ready for sleep, while smash11 and Bev were tossing around clubbing plans.

Kudos to The Style Spy for a great job!