One thing about the kids getting older, is that I get complacent with shopping for the holidays. I know I'll be contributing some $$ to this or that big endeavor or purchase, so the shopping urgency is not there. However, as the clock ticked away, I finally asked my husband what he would like for Christmss.
The fact that there were only six shopping days left did not have me a bit worried since we live 5 minutes from the largest shopping mall in the Northeast. However after Macy's and Lord & Taylor came up empty for a nice men's leather jacket, we tried The Cow's Outside in Norwark. They had a few possibilities but not much choice. With time running out, we agreed to continue our quest after Christmas.
So, 'twas the day after Christmas when we thought, why not try the Woodbury Commons Outlet? They MUST have a great selection. Since it was later in the day, we would likely arrive as people were getting tired and heading home for dinner. So without much more thought than that, we rounded up a full car (my older son and my mother joined in) and headed west. A car accident at the outlet exit did not seem like a big deal at the time, but the detour south and then north through Harriman State Park took us 45 minutes. When we were 1/2 mile from the outlet's entrance, we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 45 more minutes just to enter the parking lot.
We finally 'landed' at 5:00 pm and not only were people NOT clearning out for dinner, but they were actually cued up to enter some of the stores. With the absence of life-size characters I assured myself that I was indeed NOT at Disney but in the cold outside of a shopping outlet. Many people arrived with rolling suitcases to carry their purchases. This was beyond my realm of understanding; remember I usually just write checks out at this stage of my shopping responsibilities. How much could people really want to buy the day after Christmas (myself excluded of course). There were tour buses filled with people from NYC, Quebec, and everywhere in between. OK, so by now we realized that you do NOT go to the outlets the day after Christmas...
The first store we entered was Men's Coach. There was no line, but it's sister store, Coach, across the way, had people making four curves of a snake waiting to enter. I wondered what selection could possibly be left, but that thought must not have crossed their minds. Anyway, back to Men's Coach. There were exactly two styles of leather jackets: one brown and one black. If I could have imagined the perfect one for my husband, it was the black one right there on the rack in front of us. Of course, the price was close to my monthly mortgage, but once they factored in the 30% off, then the other 30%... carry the two... it was do-able. Five minutes on line, he wore it out of the store and we were done.
This didn't seem right however. It took us 2 1/2 hours to arrive and we finished our task in 20 minutes. So, to make the trip worthwhile, I went to Chico's to save more money with some grand deals. Another stop to a shoe store for my son (oh yes, I found something grand there too...) and it made the trip feel more worthwhile.
Thankfully the ride home was uneventful and only about an hour long. So the lessons learned were: A) Plan ahead for spouse shopping BEFORE Christmas B) Never, EVER go to a shopping outlet the day after Christmas, and C) If need be, buy something for yourself to make the trip worthwhile.
Happy Holidays!
Linda,
ReplyDeleteYou have done a nice job with your blog.
Michael Gelinne
I was not much better. I bought my husbands last gift on Dec.23! Costco parking was a zoo, so parked in the parking lot furtherest from the store and hiked in. Getting your cart through the asiles was the next adventure. Luckily the shoppers at this store are very friendly, so we all did our best to navigate. Like you I learned a few lessons:1.) Finish all shopping before Thanskgiving (I know I'm dreaming), 2.) Start writing XMAS cards in the summer so you won't be doing it on the 24th. 3.) The most important one: when sending your Mother-In-Law a package make sure the XMAS card is in there!
ReplyDeleteHave to admit I'm not as brave as you are to go shopping the day after XMAS!
Christine, I used to do New Year's cards; my attempt at being late but trying to make it seem like I was right on time with calling it a New Year's card. Maybe you are on to something here...cards in July, gifts in November, and relax in December?
ReplyDeleteDid you know that BLOG spelled backwards is GOLB? Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteGood job with the blog, Linda. Can we expect a "t'was the day after new years" entry?
Mike, thanks so much for that useful tidbit of information. Perhaps that could be the springboard for a future blog...just sayin'...
ReplyDeleteLinda, Linda, Linda, you are a brave soul! I must say, I've enjoyed that outlet center too ... especially Chicos! Happy New Year :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that Cathie...I just totally forgot that the day after Christmas was a zoo out there and I had no idea that the outlet was a Northeast DisneyWorld! And yes, I LOVE Chicos! Happy New Year to you too!
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