Once again, I found myself in Rosemont, Illinois, but this time at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and I wasn’t with the folks of Pine Valley. For the first time ever, Lululemon, the store and high-end workout wear brand, hosted an outlet sale like none before. It was massive. It was huge. It was extreme.

To be honest, I haven’t worn the brand because it’s too expensive for my budget, coupled with the fact that I rarely work out. I will tell you, however, that the clothing is incredibly well made with terrific durability and quality. It’s a mainstay in the yoga and pilate’s world and attracts both women and men who workout. Even kids and teens who are into fashion and trends are branding themselves in Lululemon clothing.

After the New Year, I made plans with a friend for lunch on Jan. 27 to catch up and reconnect. However, she later canceled once she heard that the Lululemon outlet sale conflicted with our date. We turned (lulu)lemons into lemonade and I chose to join her on this adventure, thinking that for a good deal, I’m in, and maybe I’d be able to own some of this workout gold, too.

With a 7:45 a.m. departure, we got to the convention center by 9 a.m. and it was literally a Disney line on steroids. Hundreds, no thousands of people stood in line to enter the room where the clothes were actually organized, on hangers and ready to be purchased. Strict rules applied: no purses, no jackets, no strollers, no bags, no bathroom breaks once you entered. This was some serious combat shopping about to happen.

The line also happened to be a live social networkers dream. People you knew from work, from the gym, from playgroups, from high school were all mixed together. Right away I spotted Long Grove mom Diana Kesner who was sent as a guinea pig from her TruCore Pilates group in Kildeer. She was elected, yet also somewhat volunteered, to go early and give feedback to the rest of her group. Many people looked familiar, but were out of their everyday element so it wasn’t until later that I recalled how I knew them. Yep, I saw my pharmacist, the receptionist from my doctor’s office and my son’s student teacher from elementary school, but I couldn’t place them while out of context. 

Jess Reese, a pilates instructor at Life Time Fitness and Buffalo Grove resident, was there as well. She said, “Friday was overwhelming and I thought the deals were so-so. I waited in line for almost two hours. I went back on Sunday and there were no lines! They had great deals but the merchandise was very picked over.”

Everyone asked me per my Facebook post, “Was it worth it?” For me, yes it was. I bought a few pair of pants that I would never have bought at retail and they were about 50 percent off. I was in such tunnel vision and on a mission to grab correct sizes for my daughter and myself that I didn’t even think about buying gifts for anyone. That’s probably my biggest regret! 

As always, email me with any news, topics or ideas that you want to read about. Remember, I’d like to be the first to know! I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.