There are times when nothing else will do, and then it's better not to fight it. Put on something newish, something that goes with your favorite shoes, and a little flair. Check to make sure you have your credit card. And head out to Bellevue Square for some serious shopping.

We hear it's Vibrant, Urban, Sophisticated and Adventurous. I tend to agree. Not only is there Everything, but there is room and time to enjoy it. The mix works. The levels and the spaces are up down and sideways, like an amusement park for adults. Every conceivable fashion choice is available in it's 180 stores, anchored by Macy's and Nordstroms, and including Mercer, Tiffany and Co, the Apple Store, LEGO, Armani Exchange, Williams-Sonoma, Lascoste, to name only a few. Restaurants like P.F. Chang's China Bistro, The Cheesecake Facotry, Red Robin, and Ruth's Cris Steak House are scattered throughout. Bellevue Square also has concierge services, valet parking, a local shuttle bus, children's play areas, and miles of tiled indoor shopping streets, staircases, elevators, and shiny shiny artlike plate glass windows into your future...if you buy and bring home some of the goodies.

Don't let me forget to mention the huge covered parking garage...yes, it's free...which will get you in and out without getting wet, even on the wetest of Northwest days. And if you get tired of blatent materialism, there's always the Bellevue Art Museum just across the street which invites you into the eternal world of images and smoky memories found only in the museum experience.

Once you have begun to wish you'd worn your other favorite shoes, the ones that are good for walking, it may be time to cross the bridge to Lincoln Square and settle down in the three story atrium in front of one of the gigantic fireplaces with a cup of some coffee beverage from one of the nearby venues, open up your laptop, and zone for a while. Or at least check your email before you take your first load of packages to the car and head back for another round, passing under the wiggly fun humungous glass sculpture that is the crown jewel of the vaulted space at the east end of the bridge. Some may say it's not quirky enough to be as fun as the Seattle shopping, but for those days when you know what you want, it's nice to know where to get it.

Labels: Belleve Square, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue Shopping, Lincoln Square