What We Do Best

When Sydney was here, we did what we do best- we went shopping. Nearly two years ago, a new outlet mall opened nearby. It's about 20 minutes away if you go the back way. If you take the interstate, it's just the next exit down. I haven't been there yet. When it first opened, it was so busy for months that you couldn't get near the place. Then I wanted to wait until Mom was here to go.

We went last Tuesday. Tuesday is a great day to go. There were hardly any other shoppers, which might have also been due to the rain has plagued our area for weeks. Tuesday is also the day they offer a 50+ discount. If you are over 50, some stores have an extra discount on Tuesdays. This is a very handy discount if you are shopping with your parents, who are over 50 but not yet old enough for the traditional senior discount (which is age 62). The outlets are really well thought out-many of the kids stores were in the same area. Parts of the walkways are covered, so you didn't get completely drenched if you were outside.

Our first stop was Gymboree. Sydney walked in the door, spotted a dress, and fell in love with it. After ooing and ahing over this dress, she moved to the next rack, and fell just as hard for that dress. She fell in love all through the store. Then she found a play area, and she lost interest in the dresses. Mom picked out a lot of cute things for Drew and for Syd, but she needed a little more for Syd. She asked if there was something Sydney had liked, so I showed her the dresses she loved. I didn't really see anything that grabbed my attention, and I was waiting for bigger sales. When Mom started to check out, the clerk told us if we went to the mall office, we could get a coupon book just by showing our AAA cards. So we left the pile of clothes on the counter, walked to the offices, and mom and I each got a coupon book. With this coupon book, each store had a special. Carters, for instance, was save $5 if you spend $35. Easy to do at Carters! Gymoboree's was 15% off an order of $75 or more. We love to shop, and we love it more when we get terrific deals!

After Gymboree, we handed Dad our bags, and we went next door to Carter's. We shopped for Sydney first, and then for Drew. Sydney was a good helper. The hangers have a color coded tab that tells you the size. We told her what color to look for, and she went through racks picking out sweet little outfits for her brother. Tuesdays are double stamp days at Carter, and Mom spent enough to fill up a few stamp cards. She gave the full cards to me to use, and between all the savings and her cards, my purchase went from $100 to $50. WOO!!!

Our next stop was Osh Kosh B'Gosh. We still needed to find spring/fall coats for both kids. We really hit the jackpot in Osh Kosh. We found two little fleece lined windbreakers for Drew. We bought one for spring, and a size bigger for the fall. We found Sydney the cutest little navy trenchcoat, a rain coat, and I think a windbreaker type jacket.

After hitting these three stores, we figured we had done a great deal of damage. I went into a couple stores for me, and then we decided to grab some lunch. There's a little food court at the outlets, it had a pizza place (which satisfied Sydney) and a Subway. There was also a chicken place and I forget the other one.

After lunch, we were headed to the Lane Bryant outlet for mom. She needed to find a dress because she has a family friend's wedding in July, and my cousin is getting married in October. On the way to Lane Bryant, I spied a Yankee Candle store. We went in, and Mom started telling Sydney 'DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!' We agreed it was probably best that they go on, and I'd catch up. Yankee Candle had a great sale- two large jar candles for $25. These same candles are $26.99 each in retail stores. I also was able to find some scents I love, but have trouble finding in the regular stores or online. I found Garden Cucumber, Granny Smith, and Cider Doughnut- which was a very yummy apple and spice scent. It smells like fresh apple cider doughnuts (imagine that!). I bought six candles! I was very happy.

Mom found a very pretty dress. Sydney told her 'you look beautiful, MeMe'. Yeah, she knows who to butter up! When we made it back to the car, we were a little surprised to see the cargo/trunk area filled with bags!

The next day, Wednesday, we went to Kohls. They were having a one day sale, and mom had a coupon for an extra 15% off with her Kohls card. I don't have a Kohls card, because I think I would be in so much trouble. We each grabbed a cart, or a little buggy. They aren't the traditional carts like you find at Target or Walmart. Keep that in mind. We went straight to the kids' section. We started with Drew. I picked out four outfits for him, Mom started filling the cart. Dad got into it too, finding him a couple of cute outfits. Then we went to Syd's sizes. She was picking out all kinds of things. She was very excited. She picked out tops and shorts, and our carts were filling up. Then we found dresses. All the dresses were 50% off that day. She once again fell in love with every dress. I went through the racks, and picked out all that were a size 6. I held them up for her and told her to choose which one she liked. I told her I would buy one. Mom and Dad had come along by then, and Mom said 'we'll buy you one also'. She picked out the two she liked, and the rest went back onto the rack. Then we spotted all these red, white, & blue dresses. Mom and I both love red, white, & blue. We went to look at those, and Sydney said she wanted all of them. Mom told her to pick one, so Sydney pointed to one dress and said to Mom 'You can buy me that one', and then she looked at me with those big blue eyes and said 'And Aunt Amy can buy me that one' and pointed at another dress. She knows how to work us! By this point, the clothes were piled so high in mom's buggy that you couldn't find the handlebar. Sydney looked at Mom and said 'now what are we shopping for, MeMe?' When it came time to check out, the clerk gave mom an extra 30% off instead of the 15% she had the coupon for, because Mom had such a big order.

Yeah, we can't deny that she's one of us. She is very good at shopping. She doesn't complain like some children might. She could truly shop all day. As long as you feed her, she's good. In fact, she doesn't consider it a real shopping trip unless you've had lunch out.

She and Drew are now outfitted for the summer. I put up some of the outfits for their birthdays (the ones they could wear in the fall). Mom kept raiding my garage for empty boxes. I know Syd and Drew each had a large box that was stuffed full of clothes. It's a big help to my sister, they don't have to worry about clothes for the kids. And it was a fun day for all of us! After all, we love to shop!