Fabric Negotiating and Pillow Cases

Today, on our daily trip to the grocery store across the street from our house, we took the long way home to peek at a fabric shop.

I am trying to walk past this shop a few times a week. Each time I walk past I make sure that the owner notices me. I wave and give him a "Ni Hao!" (Hello!) I want him to know that I live here. I'm not a tourist. I'm comfortable here, not intimidated, confident, friendly and shop (DAILY). "You want me as a customer, you want me as a customer."

China business is run with the term Guanxi (pronounced guan-she) which means: relationships. And this is very real. You need to establish relationships for good deals. Because nobody pays the same price.

Grocery and big chains...not so much. Little businesses...for sure. Except for a Chinese Airline (I'll have to ask John the name, it has slipped my mind), if you have to read the website in English you pay 3x the amount. If you can read it in Chinese characters...a third of the price.

Okay, so back to the fabric. In Shanghai, they are so used to foreigners, negotiations are "game on" for all. No matter what color your skin is! Of course, you can never negotiate as low as a local. They will let you walk away if you try to pay that little. BUT here in Nanjing, they are trying to charge ridiculous prices!!! I can't stand it. I got pretty good at navigating the Shanghai markets but am way out of practice since I've have the little man in tow. Nanjing is a whole new ballgame.

I am trying to get some table linens made from this man. I want him to be my "fabric guy" because he is SOOO close and this all takes so much time. So a few weeks ago I went into his shop, picked everything out and started the negotiations. He was at $180 for table cloth, 2 runners, napkins, chair pillows and place mats.

I'm so used to Chinese prices now that I don't even know if that is good at home or not. But not good here. Nice joke guy!!

Usually, they throw a price, you throw half (or a third of the price), and you meet near half of the starting price. You have to have a mean face, act all serious, business like and fake walk away a few times. Gather your purse, calculator, pen and paper, huff and puff, etc. They usually say "okay, okay, okay."

Well, Mr. Nanjing Fabric Guy....didn't budge. At ALL!!!

So today, he was selling some extra pillow cases he made. I collected this hodge-podge of extras for $15! Not too shabby!!

One of these.

Three of these. Okay, maybe if we have a girl someday? Who knows, but I thought the fabric was cool.

Three of these. I can always use a little blue and brown!

2 of these gray. My least favorite, but could look neat with black.

One of the bottom right. I liked the two on the bottom even though they didn't have any matching, they look pretty neat together.

I'm sure I'll find a home for all of them!

How do you like me now, Mr. Nanjing Fabric Guy!? I see how low you can go!! Because your mama (seriously) sold me 10 pillow cases at $1.50 each. I'll be back for my table cloth later! Get your game face on!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

I know we don't talk about this much, but the truth is, John and I have a daughter too!

And our sweet Lucy-Lu has turned 5 today! She is a Valentine's Pup!

Lucy at Shi Mao (our compound/high-rise complex) in Shanghai. It had a dog park and lake! Right in the center of the city!

Lucy was in Heaven!

Pooped after a hard day of playing at the park! Of course, the ball is never too far. (Again in Shanghai) I can't believe we let her on the beds back then. I kind of feel bad about that now.

Carter and Lucy are really becoming friends! It is the sweetest thing. Carter LOVES to "throw" the ball for her! She always tries to bring it back to me. I'm not sure if the 2 feet throw is up to her standards for fun. Ha ha.

We had this bed of Chinese silk made for her at the fabric market in Shanghai. Can you tell, she was our first child? Poor girl really took the back seat when Carter came along. :(

Lucy, we found this picture under your bed!!! This must have been taken while Daddy and I were out of town and the Sexton's were watching you!!! We are very disappointed in your decisions!! (Those Sextons are very irresponsible!) Your grounded! ;)

Lucy, we love you and had no clue we could love a dog this much!!

Fabric Market & Other Updates

We picked up our clothes! Much to our surprise....they turned out great.

Except for the shirts John ordered. They were a bit too snug. A sudden need to grab a dropped pen or to reach out to take something from a co-worker, actually, moving his arms within 6 inches of his body and he would be wearing a ripped shirt. That is not even considering if he tried to move or slouch his body. They looked great and would be perfect for a robot though.

So we will pick up his NEW shirts later this week.

Here are my two new coats and John's pants:


Coat #1: Heavy...very heavy but short and can be worn dressy or casual. It also has a belt which is tied behind my back in the picture. This coat is already being used every day. (Please excuse the closet.) LOVE IT!

John's pants: Candid Shot! Pants fit nicely and look really nice! I can't believe they only cost 20$.

Coat #2: Not-So-Candid-Shot. The coat is light weight and great for spring or fall! I can't wait to wear this coat!

Pants From Behind: (Honestly...not-so-candid-shot either. We crack ourselves up.) He got three new pair of these dress pants in different colors. This is the light cocoa (my favorite), charcoal gray, black with a shimmery white thread.

And in Lucy News:

Lucy is doing well! She is finally making new friends at our twice-a-day doggie group.

This is Anna and Lucy. These two have been playing chase alot lately.

This is Sweetie, Lucy crept out of the picture, but you can see her tail.

Don't get me wrong though...

...her tennis ball is still #1. BFF.

As I'm typing this, I just went into the living room to check on Lucy, and there she is, curled up with her ball again. This is a very common pose.

DVD's of the Week:

Revolutionary Road, My Best Friend's Girl, Into the Wild, New in Town

Weekend Adventures

As John and I are still trying to "figure out" Shanghai we thought it would be best to use an off weekend for exploring.

And exploring we did!

We began our adventure by taking a ferry across the river to Puxi (the west side). Oh, the ferry cost was a whoppin' 40US cents. Love it!

First stop: South Bund Fabric Market


Here you can have clothes made to fit perfectly. You pick your fabric and styles from samples or magazines. They measure you, take your orders, barter an agreed price then give you a pick up time.

We will return on Saturday to pick up 2 coats, 3 pairs of dress pants, 4 button-down dress shirts! All for about $190 total!

Next, we headed to the Fake & Pearl Market. Here they sell just what it says...fakes & pearls.

They have everything from clothes, purses, luggage, jewelry, accessories, even golf clubs. AND they have every type of brand you can imagine. Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Abercrombie, Polo, you get the idea. Once again, we shopped!

SUNDAY we walked around the Bund (the river walk),



took the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel under the river (Super Cheesy "laser light" show tunnel)


then had some dinner on the river!


We followed up the weekend by relaxing and watching some of our newest DVD purchases: Twilight and Yes Man.