Day 35 - Outlet Shopping Day!!

Homemade pancakes for breakfast, with multiple varieties of maple syrup, then we headed out for some shopping. Jim made a last minute decision to join us ... not sure if that was because he'd noted all the major sporting stores represented at the outlet mall or because he thought he could act as a controlling influence on our spending.

Woodbury Common Premium Outlet Mall - the "2nd most visited attraction in New York State" after Niagara - is situated about an hour north of NY city. Jim knew he was in trouble when we arrived and our first stop was to get a map. The outlet has most of the chain store brands as well as the flasher labels represented. With over 220 stores we decided we'd better pick and choose some must-sees before we started so we could cover the ground more efficiently. Jim designated himself map holder to steer us round to the stores we picked ... amusing himself by yelling out "unsanctioned stop, unsanctioned stop" if we veered off course (don't know if he's noticed the locals here don't really yell stuff out much, unless they're at the baseball or driving)

Jim breathed a sigh of relief when I passed on buying a Kate Spade bag. I did buy a Diane von Furstenberg skirt ... with around 70% off it was a bargain ... would have brought one of her dresses too but they're cut quite narrow through the chest so unfortunately not for me. We spent around 6 hours shopping here and headed home with a boot chokka full of bags - I added a couple more pairs of shoes to the growing collection, Tiff stocked up on some work clothes and I believe Jim also made a few purchases ... the ever popular beanie purchase (a bit redundant here but no doubt will come in handy back home), more T-shirts and I may also have seen an Armani purchase in there.

A good day all round ... the US are a bit quick on their seasonal turn around so less summer gear than I thought there might be. Perhaps we'll have more luck in LA where the weather is warmer. Getting dangerously close to requiring another bag so we'll see what the luggage situation is like once we've packed these purchases.