The Chicago Blogger Shopping Crawl: Fashion, Fun and Fellowship

(l-r) Andrea, Gabriel, me, Raijean, Dee Dee, Hallie, Patrice, Tabitha, Jen, Elise, Mariposa, Lisa

The Chicago Blogger Shopping Crawl has come and gone.  Yet, I'm still recovering from all the shopping, in-store scavenger hunt missions, Twitter challenges and fun times!

I put my tagline - "the enabler of fashion consumption" - to the test last weekend and passed with flying colors. Everyone left the crawl with tons of bags and lighter wallets. SCORE!

Here's a recap of the day.

Stop #1:  

Marshalls South Gate

1101 South Canal St

Chicago, IL 

At the first stop, our guests were given 30 minutes to find an item with the largest "compare at" vs. retail price difference. Everyone was confident that they would be the winner. Gabriel certainly would've won with his item. The suit he found was $300 less than retail! But since the missions were only for our guests, he didn't qualify. After calculating the price differences on the items submitted, Dee Dee emerged as our first winner! She found Calvin Klein boots priced at $170 less than retail.

Then it was time to do a little more shopping...

On our way to the next stop, it was time to kick off the first Twitter Challenge:

Do you think you can figure out the Marshalls price?

Stop #2: 

TJ Maxx Home Goods - Downers Grove (@tjmaxxdownersgr)

7349 Lemont Road

Downers Grove, IL

After a 30 minute ride, with sounds provided by DJ HasH and snacks supplied by Special K, we were at our second stop. Guests were given 40 minutes to put together a head-to-toe holiday outfit for under $100. Everyone did such an amazing job, that the employee judges were beyond impressed. Of course I had to tell them, "that's what happens when you're dealing with fashion and style bloggers".  With so many great outfits, it was hard to select a winner.

After much contemplation and deliberation, we figured it out!

Andrea won, with the help of our very own Gabriel. The look was a great mix of fur and animal print.


And then there was more shopping...

Steve Madden

Cynthia Rowley

TJ Maxx Home Goods in Downers Grove turned out to be a crawl favorite. The store is massive and the staff was so accommodating. Needless to say, we stayed there a little bit longer than we planned.

On our way to the third and final stop, it was time for the second Twitter Challenge:

Do you think you can figure out the TJ Maxx price?

Stop #3: 

TJ Maxx - Oak Brook (@tjmaxxoakbrook)

2155 W22nd St.

Oak Brook, IL

We engaged in more good vibes, snacks and shopping chatter on our way to our third stop. Although this location was smaller than the previous one, there were lots of goodies to be had. The RUNWAY section was filled with luxury designers at unbelievable discounts. This is the reason I picked this store for our last scavenger hunt mission. Guests had to find the most expensive item in the store. Many stuck to the RUNWAY section but surprisingly the winning item was found in the jewelry section.

Mariposa spotted this gold and diamond bangle bracelet for a whopping $2500! In. Sane.


Here are a few items I discovered during the last round of shopping...

Tibi

Perlina

daniblack

After all the gift cards were gone and all the money was spent, it was time to head home.

That also meant it was time for our last Twitter Challenge of the day:

Do you think you can figure out the TJ Maxx price?

The first Chicago Blogger Shopping Crawl was certainly an event to remember. Based on the positive feedback from the attendees and our Twitter followers, I think it's safe to say that another crawl is in order. So stay tuned.

At the end of the day, Gabriel tweeted that #CHIBloggerCrawl was "the perfect combination of fashion, fun and fellowship".

Indeed it was, Gabriel. Indeed it was.

Click HERE to view all of the photos.

*Twitter challenge answers: (1) $69, (2) $179, (3) $349 
**Special thanks to the following:
1. TJ Maxx/Marshalls for sponsoring gift cards for the Chicago Blogger Shopping Crawl crew and Twitter challenges.
2. Special K for supplying the snacks for the much needed refueling along the way.
3. DJ HasH for being the Chicago Blogger Shopping Crawl chauffeur and resident DJ.
***Transportation and scavenger hunt gift cards provided by ChiTown Fashionista