A Complete Novice In New York - Day 5 Woodbury Common, Macy's And Just A Little Bit Of Shopping!

[ally1966]

Today we were off to the Premium Outlet Mall at Woodbury Common. I had booked the tickets for this bus trip ages ago through Groupon for the bargain price of $22 each (the bus fare is normally double that!).

None of the others had been interested in joining us for this one, so it was just me and the kids today. We had our usual brekkie in the hotel and headed out to the Row NYC hotel just up the road on 8th St, where we were to meet our bus.

We were half an hour early but there was already a rapidly growing queue at the bus stop. Some people had large suitcases which they were obviously intending to fill with their bargains - they made me feel like quite an amateur!

Whilst standing waiting for the bus we witnessed a fight worthy of Jerry Springer break out between 2 of the ticket touts - these people are everywhere, trying to sell tickets for the various bus tours - one of them accused the other of poaching 2 of his customers and stealing the $2 commission. They were really going for it, pushing, kicking and screaming abuse at each other. At one point, the woman was pushed into the road and fell over in front of the oncoming traffic. Really could have been very nasty, and all over $2. It kind of put things into perspective that people can be so desperate when most of us in the queue were planning on spending 100s if not 1000s of dollars that day.

Drama over, the bus pulled up. The driver exchanged our voucher for tickets and we were soon on our way. The drive out of the city was really quite pleasant and provided some different views across the Hudson. It took just over an hour.

Once we arrived, the driver explained the procedure for our pick up. We were booked on the 3pm return and if we wanted to change this we would still have to meet our drive at the allotted time to see if there were any available seats on later shuttles.

Now, I have been to the Premium Outlets in Orlando on several occasions and also to the likes of Cheshire Oaks back in the UK but nothing had prepared me for the scale of this place - it is huge! So the pressure to shop was now on.

We went to the visitor centre to pick up a map and collect our VIP book of discount vouchers. I had already printed a lot of coupons off the website, so hoped that this would lead to even bigger bargains.

We started at the Vans store where both Nic and Dan were interested in buying a pair of classics. They tried on several pairs but couldn't find the required size / style / colour. Chloe however fell in love with the "colour your own" Vans (above left). Priced at $24, all kids Vans were on buy one get a another half price - so it would've been silly not to get a 2nd pair😉. I paid $36 for both.

We then spotted the Bare Minerals shop where Nic found a starter kit of travel sized foundation, warmth and mineral veil with brushes for $19.50.

Next stop was G Star where Dan tried on several pairs of jeans without success. Followed by Nike, where he failed to find either Air 90s or Huaraches in pure white.

Ralph Lauren was more successful. Here Dan purchased 2 tops. A white polo shirt and a long sleeved white top. The long sleeved top was in the sale for $39. The polos were only on offer if you bought more than one so he took it to the till expecting to pay the RRP of $64.99. However, much to Dan's delight the other top counted towards the discount so he paid $38.99 for the polo - making his total bill $82.24 (including sales tax).

Next we ventured into Levi's where I had instructions to pick up 2 pairs of 501s for DH. They are the only jeans that he will wear so he always takes the chance to stock up when we are in America. They were priced at $49.99 but dropped to $39.99 if you bought 3 pairs of jeans or more. Dan also bought some jeans here so we got the discount and were able to use a voucher for 15% off if you spend over $100.

Up til now, we had been wandering around and just popping into stores that we liked the look of as we came to them. But after queueing for ages to pay in Levi's, it was almost 12pm and time was rapidly passing us by.

We decided that a change of strategy was called for. We stopped at the food court for a bite to eat and over dinner consulted the map and made a plan of which shops were our priority.

We chose McDonalds for our lunch. This was a big mistake as it was complete chaos and cost us more valuable shopping time. The food was actually OK and we all managed to find options not currently available in the UK.

Dan and I had the Double Quarter Pounder Meal which was discontinued some time ago back home.

Nicola had the new crispy buttermilk chicken sandwich, which comes in a glazed bun. She said this was really nice.

Chloe had her usual chicken nugget Happy Meal but over here it comes with a fruit bag or yoghurt (she chose fruit) and either milk or apple juice to drink, so at least it has some nutritional value!

Dinner quickly demolished, we continued our trip round the shops. Stopping next at the Disney Outlet where they had an assortment of cups, bowls, plates etc on a 3 for $12 offer. Chloe chose the Frozen cup (which has a cute little Olaf on the straw that you can't see in this pic), a new Frozen drink bottle for school and the Mickey Mouse bowl to eat her cereal from back at the hotel.

This offer must have been driving the staff to distraction! Nearly every customer who approached the till had picked up 1 or 2 items off the display and had to have it explained to them that they needed to choose 3 if they didn't want to pay full price.

Next stop was Adidas so that Dan could continue the hunt for trainers. He wanted Superstars in either white or white with black stripes (yes, he does have a slight obsession with white at the moment!). Unfortunately, yet again they didn't have his size.

The Lacoste shop is virtually next door so we nipped in here for another item off DH's shopping list. He wanted a polo shirt in either green or burgundy. As with Ralph Lauren, these are discounted if you buy more than one ($69.99 each for 2, $49.99 each for 3 or more). However, DH only needs a size 3 and I don't think that America makes people that small as we always really struggle to find them over here! I managed to find the green but couldn't get the burgundy in any fit or style so settled for just the one. At $89 this was still a saving on what he'd have paid in the UK.

The next thing on Nicola's wish list was a Michael Kors handbag. She had seen one that she liked earlier in the week in the 5th Ave store which was priced at $298, she could've got a $50 discount which the sales assistant told us was "for this day only" but decided to wait til we came here, so we were both hoping that she hadn't made a mistake.

They didn't have the bag that she'd seen previously - but they did have a 40% discount off the entire store! So she chose this one and paid just over $180 = one very happy girl 😀.

We also looked at the watches in here but felt that all the ones on display were very big and blingy. As both Nic and I have very skinny wrists we decided that they would be a bit much.

So we then headed for Watch Station to see if we could find anything more to our taste in there. Nicola quickly picked out a sliver Marc Jacobs watch which she'd seen on the Internet a long time ago.

All the Marc Jacobs range was discounted by 25%. On top of this, there was a 40% discount on the entire shop if you bought more than one watch. So I chose a gold coloured Michael Kors one and we paid $201 for both - bargain!

They were both too big but they alter the bracelets to fit for free. Unfortunately, since returning to the hotel, Nic has decided that hers is now too tight so we'll have to get a link put back in when we return to the UK.

We were now running out of time and Chloe had been really good and patient all day so we set off to find Toys R Us. She loves her Lego Friends and spends hours playing with them at home so she bought this Emma's House set for $72.

The Yankee Candle shop was right next door so I popped in for a quick look (and a sniff!). They has some fantastic offers - 6 large jar candles were $60 - but I really don't need any more and was worried about the weight allowance coming home.
Anyway, as my Mum always says, nothing's a bargain unless you needed it in the first place! So I resisted temptation.

It was now almost 3pm and time for our return journey. I could've spent so much longer here but we already had quite a lot to carry and had found all the main things that we came for (with the exception of Dan's trainers) so we decided to stick with our original time.

The journey back to NYC took a lot longer due to heavy traffic. We were back at the hotel just before 5pm.

We caught up briefly with Ian and Georgie who had been to collect their wedding certificate. They were going out for dinner with Amelia and Will tonight. We also called in on Fiona to see if she fancied joining us for dinner later but she'd decided to stay in and have an early night. Emily was still out as she'd taken the chance to meet up with a friend who lives in the U.S. today.

After a quick freshen up and examining our purchases, we headed out into Times Square to resume the hunt for trainers. Unfortunately Footlocker had neither the Nike or Adidas ones in the size and colour that Dan required.

Chloe had been waiting all week to go into the big Toys R Us on Times Square so, as we had none of the others with us, we decided to take the chance.

Chloe and I had to have a go on the ferris wheel. Although, at $5 per ticket, this turned out to be a bit of a waste of money as it is continually stopping to let people off.

This shop is great fun. Dan and Chloe met this fearsome creature.

We admired the Lego models - although they're not quite on the same scale as DTD.

And Chloe bought some sweets from the Wonka room.

I couldn't resist treating myself to this.

After finishing in Toys R Us, we set off to look for Macy's and, yes, you've guessed it - trainers!

We caught this glimpse of the Empire State as we walked up the road.

Nicola spotted the massive Victoria Secret opposite Macy's and had to go in. Dan refused to be seen in there and waited outside so we had a quick rush round and she parted with $42.50 for a flimsy piece of satin (otherwise known as a nightie). It is very pretty though.

Once inside Macy's Dan at last found some trainers that he wanted. At $69.99 they weren't much cheaper than in the UK but we were fed up of looking by now so he bought them anyway.

We had a bit of a browse around the other departments and I managed to find the other Lacoste polo that DH wanted so bought that.

By now I was starting to feel hungry so we set off to look for Ellen's Stardust Diner - again, this was something that we wanted to try but the others in the party weren't interested, so today was the perfect opportunity.

Nicola was tired and didn't want another meal. So she just ordered the Stardust Rainbow Milkshake - these are gorgeous and more like a dessert than a drink.

I had the Mud Slide Adult Shake, which has Baileys in it and tastes divine.

I also had the Bee Bop a Lula burger. Which had mushrooms, onions and cheese in it.

2 burgers in one day - naughty, and I'll no doubt suffer for it later but I'm on holiday!

Dan had the Mighty Mo burger and a glass of coke.

Chloe had the chicken dinosaurs and her usual glass of water with an added drop of black currant.

Unfortunately, the glass was rather full and at some point she must have flicked her straw, splattering Dan's brand new white top with black currant.

This brought the meal to a rather abrupt end. The entertainment at Ellens is excellent and I would have loved to have stayed longer and listened to the singers but we had to get the check and go. The bill, with tip, came to $90.

On our return to the Sanctuary I put Dan's top in soak immediately and finger crossed but it looks as though the stains have come out OK.

[debidee]

What a wonderful day! Love all your bargains and especially Nicola's MK hand - looked fabulous as she wore it so well in the photo! Thanks for showing us all your bargains! Xxx

[app]

New Photo Added by ally1966 - 29 Aug 15 2:28 PM.

[Dogwalker]

Ooh lots of great shopping - love it!

[OB1LukeLucas]

Those burgers look great. A successful shopping day, hope the stain came out his new top!

[mick]

A really good shopping day

Joan

[abiknox]

Wow, a great haul there! Shame we don't have time to get there on our trip!

Food at Ellens looks great, shame about the top/blackcurrant spill though.

[sheluk]

We visited in early December & got some great bargains - glad you did too

[Gill H]

Glad you got some bargains, hope the top was OK in the end!