Shop till you drop!

A few weekends ago my husband and I took a weekend away and went to Grove City PA to do some shopping. The only thing in Grove city is outdoor outlets and a handful of motels.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon. Checked into our room at the Motel 6 which was not as nice I hoped it would be. The first thing I do anytime I get into a hotel, is tear the bed apart and go on bedbug patrol. I check the seams on the mattress and box spring, I check the headboard and under the bed. The second thing I do is Lysol wipe down every surface we will touch, the remote, door knobs and the entire bathroom top to bottom. It’s funny when you think about it, every time you stay in a hotel, you are essentially sharing a bed and bathroom with thousands of strangers. When I think of it that way, it grosses me out completely. Ha ha ha!

Then we got bundled up and headed to the outlets. There are many stores there and not all of them interest us, so we power walk through the outlet and only stop where we want to shop. The ones I never miss though are Kirklands, Old Navy, New York & Co, The black & white store, Columbia, Bath & Body works, Jockey, the kitchen store and Oakley ( for John not really me, although this year I did get a great sweatshirt there for a measly $25). I am constantly amazed at the deals in the states. John got a fantastic deal at Columbia, a winter coat for $29 that would normally sell for close to $200…….such a good deal he bought two! Ha! But seriously why not? for that price you can buy one for now, and save one for later.

We stayed at the mall for about three hours. That was long enough, it was freezing. The wind was so cold our ears were aching even with our hats on. We missed the last 2 rows of stores because we were sooo cold. So we headed back to our hotel room to warm up and decide what we wanted to eat for dinner.

We thought we would go for a ride downtown Grove City and see what we could find. Its one of those towns that you shouldn’t blink in, or else its gone by. There is small area called “old town” and we found a quant Italian restaurant right on the corner called “Nonnis”. We got a table just in time, as soon as we got our salads the place had filled right up. And those salads? Well as soon as we took our first bite, we knew dinner would be great ! the salad was salty and made with homemade wine vinegar……….just like my Nonna’s! and true enough dinner was fabulous ! there was a young man playing the guitar in the corner and it was lovely to listen to. After dinner Nonni came out of the kitchen and walked to each table to say “hello” and it was a nice touch. We left dinner and headed back for round two of the outlets. We had those last 2 rows to finish up and the wind had died down so it was a perfect night to walk off our big Italian meal.

Sunday morning we got up early and went back for round 3 of the outlets. John bought 2 t-shirts that he didn’t feel like trying on at the store, ( cant say I blame him, trying on clothes in the winter is so hard, since you have on a winter coat, hat, scarf – too many thing to take off , and then put back on) so when he tried them on in the motel room they were too small. So we exchanged them, got breakfast to go and hit the highway to head back towards home to Erie PA for day 2 of shopping and fun.

We got to our much nicer hotel in Erie and settled all of our stuff in. This hotel had an indoor pool , fluffy pillows, clean bedding, a big corner Jacuzzi tub and a huge breakfast all you can eat -buffet for just $8.99.

We hit up walmart and target. Nothing beats the american walmarts. How is it that they can be so differnet from ours? They have stuff there that we dont and deals like no other! Then came back to the hotel and debated on what to do for lunch. The Daytona 500 was on and we were both anxious to watch the race. So we walked across the parking lot to an Applebees and got take out. I won’t ever eat at that restaurant ever again. I didn’t enjoy my orange/vinegary chicken wings, or my beef sandwich that was dry as a bone that came with jalapeno coleslaw. Who puts jalapenos in their coleslaw? Not this girl! Hot hot hot !

We watched the race then hit up the indoor mall called “Millcreek mall”. It’s quite big and that is where I found my best deal of the weekend. We were in Macys shoe department and I saw a pair of black riding boots that caught my eye. The price tag said $79 with a 50% off sticker above it. Boots for $40? Sold! I tried them on and they fit, so I went to the cash register and the girl told me “oh they are on sale even more, they are $27 with taxes”. Wow what a great deal! Then she rang them in and the grand total, get this! Was $22 including taxes! I was so excited! I felt like I was stealing them for that price! And to be honest I thought $40 was a deal! Who doesn’t love to get a good deal? So I paid for them and smiled all the way out of the store.

Talk about pooped out! too much walking for two days. So we headed back to the hotel and lazed around. My legs were actually aching. We were so tired we decided to order room service and ate it in our big comfy bed! I had a moment of feeling like a spoiled Kardashian sister. Fancy hotel room. Big comfy bed! Room service! Oh yea I could live that life no problemo!So nice!

The next morning we hit the breakfast buffet and then decided to hit the road and head home. What a great weekend trip away from home. Only three hours away, and so much shopping. If you are interested in going, check out their website.


Tips for shopping:

1. Wear runners
2. Brings snacks in your purse & water to drink.
3. When you park your car, look around to see where exactly you are so you can find your car after a long tiring day of walking around.
4.Wear a small purse or a cross the chest purse.
5. If you see something you like, buy it , we lost out on a nice piece of art. There are loads of people there and if you hmm or haww it could be gone by the time you go back.
6. Most outlets have a coupon book that they charge for, but if you are crafty there are ways to get it FREE, so ask around.
7. Pace yourself and your credit card! Ha ha!
8. Have fun ! and enjoy your shopping trip !