Where the Deer and the Antelope Play - Living in the USA (visitors welcome)

[SuperBunny]

East Coast
MaNanny - Boston
Twinmommytobe - Boston
MuminCT - CT
Greatgooglymoogly - NY State
Yesthereare4ofthem - NY State
Brooklynmom - NYC
alarkaspree - NYC
MKG - New Jersey
Mummimamma - PA
Poetmum - PA
Twirl - MD

South
Earlybird - TN
jabberwocky - AR
Sunchowder - Florida
Marls001 - Bentonville, AR
Tinpot - NC
MadameDeathStare- AL

Midwest
SuperBunny- Chicago
Dodgykeeper - Dayton, OH
Chocchipcookie - Ohio
MonkeyLover
KickAssAngel - Ann Arbor, MI

Rockies
Alipiggie - Boulder, CO
Ribena

Northwest
AnnieLaurie - Seattle, WA
Dooneygirl - Oregon City, OR

California
SittingBull - nr San Francisco
Califrau - Milpitas
loopsngeorge - Brentwood, LA
Syd - Manhattan Beach, LA
SofiaAmes - LA
LATyke - Redondo Beach

Texas
Texan - Dallas
Tiggyhop - Houston
Vixie78 - Houston
BananaPudding - Austin
Cosmicdust - East Texas

Canada
Hellish - Ottawa
Shouldlistenedtomymum - Hamilton
Nooka - BC
Jacksmama - Langley

Exotic Islands
Anorak - Bermuda
cp - Trinidad
Barefeete - BVI

Brazil
Albert

Oh yes, you could find name brands at places like:

Dick's Sporting Goods
Cabela (they sometimes have good sales online)
Sports Authority
Bass Pro

as well as:

REI
Erehwon
North Face
Patagonia ($$$)
Lands' End/ Sears
Spyder/ Cloudveil

And possibly:

Kohls
Nordstrom Rack
Milene's Basement (never go in mine)

thanks, we have a big outlet mall about an hour north of us. we went after thanksgiving & bought dh & dd coats, then i panicked that we'd spent too much money when we were about to buy a new house, and thought that my normal winter coat would do the trick. it doesn't unles i wear a bout 5 layers underneath, so i stand at the bus stop with my arms sticking out, cos i'm so padded i can't move. like michelin man. just paint me white & stick me on a yellow van

have just googled some of those suggestions.

i heart
now just need to find somewhere selling it at $200.

Oh yes, that's a good un. I'd never manage to get away with white - it'd be grubby before I so much as looked at it. And I'd look like a marshmallow. But it is a good coat. Have you tried Ebay? I'm not good at it but lots of people seem to get bargains.

really need to go to bed, tis 11.30 here & the baby sitter didn't feed dd very well, so i suspect we'll have an early start tomorrow.

will do some serious searching tomorrow, would buy the coat in brown, not white, or whatever colour is cheapest! problem is, it's been a bad winter, and there isn't much stock left, and i would like to try it on before i buy, but i have thur morning free if there's somewhere close to me, so may go shopping, winter isn't over yet, as everyone keeps telling me.

night night

This link says if you follow the link you can get it for $209 + free shipping. Best I can do. I don't know if you noticed, but the reviews seem to indicate it runs small for size.

Never mind, I tried it and it didn't work. Otherwise the cheapest I found it was $224.

thanks everyone, i'll google those shops cali.

oh, bother. my laptop is one week old today & i have just spilt jam on it!! i should not try to mn & breakfast at the same time

Kickassangel, there is a Recreational Equipment Inc. store in Ann Arbor, it's in the Cranbrook Village strip mall on Eisenhower (next to Whole Foods) They sell North Face etc. Hope that helps you.

After reading the thread I noticed that you live nearby. I live south of Ann Arbor, I have been on Mumsnet a while, I just don't post very much.

hi, yeah i've been there & they had sold out of everything except a jacket in white & bright green, which they had hundreds of. they'd also sold out of mittens & boots. i think i just left it too late for this year, and will need to just tough it out until next fall, when i willbe first in line to buy.

i have found it online, but only in size L. i think i'm somewhere between L & XL, so would really need to try it on first. I will talk dh into heading up to birch run once there's less snow around.

are you an american who found mn by mistake, or another of the (quite large) british group i keep coming across in RL?

ooh, mumof5, have just looked at your profile. where is good to get things for cardmaking? dd loves messing about with paper, scissors & glue, although the results are VERY 'homemade' looking.
i have got some stuff from meijer, but is there a big hobbycraft type place anywhere? i have googled craft stores & found either places that do bulk buys, like wholesale, or very specialist places in kerrytown!

You need to go to Jo-anns or Michaels. There is a small Jo-anns by Target on Ann Arbor/Saline Road or there is a very large Jo-anns on Carpenter Road (by Target again) opposite Lowes.(my daughter works there :-) )

Michaels is in Arborland on Washtenaw Avenue, by Toys R Us.

I've been here in snowy Michigan for nearly 3 years now.Came over from Oxfordshire. Whereabouts in Ann Arbor are you? N,S,E, or West? I'm about 20 minutes south.

i'm just the other side of dexter. i know AA/saline rd area, we stayed in the marriott residence for 6 weeks when we first arrived, so are very familiar with briarwood mall! since we moved into our house, it's felt too cold to go out & about shopping, plus dd gets home from school about 12.15, so there's a limited number of shops i can get to before having to rush back home again, or i can take her with me ...
target on AA/Saline is sort of opposite meijer, isn't it? the realtor took me there once, but it didn't appear when i tried my satnav.

the weather is miserable today, it def felt sub zero this am, and now it's just piddling down as if we were in britain. not fair

It's not raining here in Saline, and my boys came home without coats on AGAIN! They have definately acclimatised (sp) to the Michigan weather.

Target on AA/Saline is opposite Meijers, on the Oak Valley strip mall.

Dexter's nice, I know someone who lives there (she's a Brit too)and my youngest son has played soccer there. How are you settling in?

Oh, I spoke too soon....the rain has started.

thankfully, dd has the message loud & clear about wrapping up warm, just me that's the numpty.

there's a group in dexter called 'the girlfriends' who meet once a week for coffee, and once a fortnight (yeah, i can use that word) for a night out, so i have a guarantee of some social interaction. it's dd who's really struggling. iv'e just had a really crappy conversation with her teacher (AGAIN) about how she hasn't integrated the same as other kids, doesn't make eye contact etc. (about to go on SN boards to see if anyone has any ideas) she just seems to be in a world of her own. thing is, when i see her on one-to-one with other kids, she seems to be fine, in fact, the one play date she had, it was the other girl who didn't focus, didn't answer questions etc.
the teacher's right though, dd can be totally locked in her own world, she just seems to be doing it LOADS more at school than she ever has.
i'm sure once she has more proper friends, she'll be fine, we've only been here a few months.
just a bit of a grey & miserable day all round really

There does seem to be a large-ish group of Expats in Michigan.

Poor DD, Kickass. When I firts moved over here, I taught 1st/ 2nd Grade and we had a girl from Sweden jion us for about 3 months. She spoke NO English so really struggled. The other children were really good with her for a while but the teacher never did anything to make her transition easier. I don't think she'd even taught anyone who didn't speak English well but it was very sad. Then the teacher bitched about how the girl isolated herself and didn't join in etc. But, in that case, I honestly think it was the teacher's fault. Culture shock is not easy for any of us, much less when you are a little one trying to come to grips with a new education system, new teachers, books, vocabulary etc. I wonder how much your DD's teacher has done to help her.

Freezing here this morning but hot this afternoon - lots of people out with no coats. It wasn't that warm but it was nice.

that's sad to hear. It's hard to know that they are struggling so much. I was fairly lucky, my lot seemed to settle down quickly. I think moving here in May had something to do with it, with being able to go outside to play.
Although DS3 was the slowest with the curriculum change, partly because he was in year 2 in th UK but went into first grade here. He was bored, they were doing things that he did in reception. It must have taken him at least 8 months to settle.Luckily he is really social so didn't struggle in that respect. My DD1 really struggled with the move, she was 17 when we left the UK, had finished school and had a full time job. When we came here she had to go back to school....that did not go down wellas you can imagine. The first year was hell with her.

There are alot of Expats in the area around Ann Arbor. Especially in the city where I live.

Oh, your poor DD, that must have been awful for her. And therefore the rest of you too!

My Dad just sent me a fab parcel containing Earl Grey and a rabbit jelly mold

kickass, there are lots of behavior/developmental optometrists in Michigan. Why don't you get an evaluation for your dd from one of them? They do lots more than a typical eye doctor and you could rule out other issues for the teacher.

Just a thought

It wasn't a pleasant time for anyone. I often wondered if we should have made her stay in the UK. We said to her that if she refused to come that we would stay with her but she never did. Thankfully, the second year she settled, graduated from high school and is now at the local community college, working part time and the most important (well, to her anyway) is in luuuurrrrve!

Lucky you on your parcel. My Mum sent me two chocolate parcels last week. I've hidden them from everyone.

Lucky DD, being in lurve. Life was so good in those days! lol @ hiding chocolate. My Dad sent Green and Blacks and DS doesn't recognise that as chocolate (because it doesn't come in Cadbury's purple) so I am ok.

I had no idea there was such a thing as a behavioural optomotrist.

Kickass, is your DD's kindergarten teacher helping her to adjust? Does her school have a counsellor to help. I know that when my DS3 started, his school had special group sessions with all the new children to the area, to help them settle in.