Zebra Day (A.K.A. Ze Day I Ran Up, Down, All Around)

{April 1 is Swatch Zebra Day}

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I've always known that April Fool's Day is a day of fun and practical jokes. Last Friday, I went to Rockwell Power Plant Mall thinking that I'd finally be getting the picture frame-esque Jeremy Scott Swatch Opulence I've been drooling for. Little did I know that it wouldn't be your typical malling afternoon. But then again, I guess I should've known that the moment I saw human zebras zipping by...

Apparently, Swatch Watch is celebrating Zebra Day!

My friends and I were just curious onlookers when we first spotted the zebras at the parking lot, and then all over the mall. Ahhh, then we saw the "tourists"- ordinary mall goers rushing to have their pictures taken with the zebras. What's up with that? It was a race! The first 20 people who completes the challenge gets to win a spankin' new Swatch Zebra! How. Cool. Is. That?

Aside from the infectious excitement in the air, an impromptu foot race was just too hard to resist for this dormant runner. First rule, you had to be wearing either: a) A black & white outfit; b) Neon anything; c) Zebra print. Lo and behold, zebra printed me!

So, off I went in search of a zebra, with my very game, albeit slightly embarassed, posse in tow. The task was to get photographed with a zebra in all 5 color zones spread out in the mall. If you're fast enough, and your entries check out, you get a neon, stripe-y prize.

Sounds easy enough, eh? But those zebras can sure be frisky. They wouldn't stay still and kept frolicking around. You had to gently coax them to follow you to have their pictures taken. And to add more to the challenge, I had to make a few detours because some of my supposed zones were not the specific color zones. Sneaky, sneaky. That cost me a few precious minutes too. After rushing to complete the missing zones, I finally made it back to the marshals just in the nick of time.

Whew, snagging a Swatch spot was literally a photo finish! .

{A very colorful list.}

{First zebra sighting at the pink zone.}

{Orange you glad you spotted a zebra?}

{Sigh, April Fool's joke on me. No zebra zone had me do a detour.}

{Note: The zebra zone was just on the other side of this wall!}

{Aha! Caught a wild one!}

{Please don't run and make me go after you. I'm not in my running shoes today...}

{Hello, yellow!} {Blue Zebra Zone} {The elusive zebra zone. Haaay, you almost made me lose, green!} {My Amazing Z-Team! Thanks, guys!} {Ze sister, ze BFF, and ze BFF's BF} {My winning ticket to a cool zebra watch. Yay!} {Ze Ultimate Prize: A Swatch Zebra in Pink}

A day of wild, spontaneous fun with a fabulous souvenir to remember it by. Definitely no zzzz's on a Friday malling afternoon, that's for sure. ;) Thanks, Swatch, for an amazing experience!

P.S. I'll get my Jeremy Scott Swatch Opulence soon. But first, let me enjoy a little QT with my new Swatch Watch named, Z!

UPDATE: I got my kick-ass Jeremy Scott picture frame Swatch already. Love it! Now if only it matched my running outfits... ;)