Christmas in July

There is one benefit to my family being in Cedar City while I am home in Branson....Christmas in July! Yep, that's right folks. When everyone is out of town I tend to get bored. What do I do when I'm bored? I shop! It's hard not to when you are surrounded by 3 outlet malls and another mall on the lake. Throw in the fact that there are a ton of sales going on right now because of the holiday weekend......

Now I know what you are thinking....but you're wrong. I actually went shopping for other people today. I am one of those people that has her Christmas shopping finished before the holidays arrive. What I don't pick up during the year from online sales or from today, I'll finish up at the Thanksgiving sales.

Today was pretty crazy at Tanger Outlet. For those of you that aren't familiar with that little slice of heaven, it is an outlet mall with decent shops. Granted, I don't think the prices are really "outlet" prices anymore but that's ok. At Tanger you will find shops like Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Tommy, Gap, Old Navy, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Liz Claiborne, Polo, Children's Place, Osh Kosh, Carter's, Black & Decker, Skechers, Bath & Body, and much much more. People drive hours to go to the major sales. It's madness at the Thanksgiving sales when they open at midnight.

Today I spent the majority of my time at Banana Republic and Ann Taylor, taking care of all the female gifts, including Christmas gifts for this year and birthday gifts for next year. who knew you can get an extra discount by opening an Ann Taylor card? Ok, a few of you already knew that....BUT....did you know that you can pay it off right away at the counter thus avoiding any finance charges? How cool is that? You can pay with your debit card, which I was planning on doing anyway. WOOT!

The only down side of today was the fact that I had enough time to try clothes on and finally decided to at Ann Taylor. I always avoided their pants and shorts by not knowing what size I am. For those ladies out there, you know what I mean. It's a pain sometimes to try the bottoms on so that you can figure out your exact size. Once you do though....all you have to do is grab it off the rack because you know what fits you, thus making it easier to spend. I found out today that I am a OOP and they fit perfectly. *sigh* Now I need to avoid the sale racks in order to save my already dwindling closet and drawer space.

Oh..and yes, I did break down and get a couple things for myself...I'm not completely unselfish!