Shopping: May 2005 Archives

It only takes one naive weekend jaunt to Century 21 in lower Manhattan to say "never again," at least not on a weekend. The savings at that store simply is not worth the loss of sanity. However, there is a Century 21 in Brooklyn, and in comparison, it is a pleasure. Though it's usually crowded, it's rarely packed, and the checkout lines move. If you catch a new shipment, you can score designer jeans for about about $50. While I always scan the dress section, the store seems to do better with casual street wear than super designer duds (although I did see a ridiculous Prada smock that was a couple hundred dollars on Saturday).  And you'll appreciate the speed at which everyone tries on clothing in the communal dressing room--something to do with one's ass being up for public display. As well, the women's shoe selection goes on for rows and rows and rows and makes DSW shoe stock look like the crap that it is. A big bonus: It's super close to the R at 86th Street.

On our last trip, we tried 86 Noodles at the corner of 4th and 86th Street.  It's way better than any Chinese food I've had in Carroll Gardens. For total post-shopping coma, order up a couple of dim sum favorites and think about sharing a main dish--the portions are generous. We tried the  steamed little juicy buns with pork, pan fried noodles with veggies and the beef chow fun, all very nice.