The next big shopping trip was out to Woodbury Commons, a discount shopping mall an hour outside New York. Think of it as a shopping Lourdes for the Irish. Now you really need to dress appropriately as it is a full day of competitive shopping. The bus goes from the Port Authority and is pretty handy to get to. You can get to Woodbury in an hour in the same way you can travel from Dundrum to the Airport in 25 minutes – at 3am. Be warned once you hit rush hour the journey takes up to 2 hours.
The journey is surprisingly scenic with lots of lovely mountains and trees, nestled among these is shopping mecca. The first stop when you arrive is the information centre where you pick up your discount booklet on production of your bus ticket. Now this may be a mortifying concept for the Irish as distant memories of butter vouchers float to the forefront, but the Americans are very upfront about discounts and most will remind you at the checkout that you can use the voucher e.g. 10%.
Have a clear plan of campaign before you start shopping. Identify what you want to buy and where, with hundreds of shops it is impossible to do everything. Get the really popular shops out of the way first like Gap and Ralph Lauren as the lines get pretty heavy in the afternoon. Don’t employ the usual I’ll browse first and buy later – you won’t have time. If you like it, buy it. The big designer stores like Armani and Saks take a lot of time, but if you are prepared to go through the rails you will find some serious bargains. Be careful. A bargain is only a bargain if you actually wear it – often.
I spent ages in Jimmy Choo trying on almost every pair of shoes, desperate to buy something. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that the green suede platform sandals were a bargain at 70% off I knew they would never make it past my shoe-rack. Instead I bought 3 pairs of 7’s which I know I will wear to death. Sensible me.
Not so sensible was my last half hour in the mall. I entered into a mad shopping orgy, desperate to buy all I could. Some serious errors were made. If you are there for a day; pace yourself, eat something and drink lots of water. Competitive shopping is hard work.
Assuming you are very drunk, in a dark room and squinting - a lot. Email me on Irishflirtysomething at hotmail.com
October 27th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Fekin torture! Why, in the name of the mother of the six sniffling infants, would anyone put themselves through such pain?
October 27th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Because shoes are fantastic ! They don’t hog the duvet or fart. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, shoes
October 28th, 2007 at 2:03 am
You dine out much? How’s the food? Are you going to the Apple shop at all? It’s just that I need …….
October 28th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Primal - I’m a girl that’s what we do !
Dis - bags……….
Man - food was expensive, very expensive.
October 28th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
The Canadian dollar is worth more than the U.S. one right now so everyone’s driving down to Buffalo to shop. The wait at the border is at least 2 hours which makes it not worth it to me.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
I’ve never made it to the outlets on my visits to New York. Are they really worth he hassle?
October 28th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Clearly that was meant to say ‘the’ hassle, or maybe it was something subliminal about dragging men to the outlets with you…
October 29th, 2007 at 10:16 am
That sounds WAY worse than Fatmammycat’s marathon… and you weren’t even in training. Well done you!
October 29th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Med - shopping is always worth it.
Red - less hassle than men at any rate
Caro - bugger forgot to wish her luck * quickly logs onto FMC *
October 30th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Us men are always subconsciously aware of the relationship between how good a woman looks and her passion for shopping. We just don’t want to admit it to ourselves….