Mebane outlet mall madness!

This morning I went to the outlets in Mebane with one of the girls in my program.  I have been needing new running shoes for quite a while and I wanted to buy myself a "real" wallet.  For the past 6 months or so I've been toying with the idea of buying myself a Coach wallet.  I have wanted a nice high-quality wallet because I just seem to be buying cute wallets that fall apart and I decided it was time to invest in one that has a classic look and will last for years.  I know that the outlets have monster deals on stuff so I thought that would be a good place to start.  They also have a wider selection than the stores in the mall.

I don't have extensive outlet shopping experience (I have only been twice) but both times I've gotten great stuff on sale!  I don't buy myself clothing very often, but I think I may try to start shopping almost exclusively at outlets because I can get high quality brands for less money.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Target, but their stuff isn't always built to last.

Today I got myself a pair of running shoes, a wallet from Coach (which I can't find a picture of online but it looks similar to this one) that was very heavily discounted because the outlet price was already 1/2 of the retail price and I had a coupon for 30% off my purchase, a dress, a pair of jeans, a sleeveless shirt, and a winter sweater from Banana Republic, and then two necklaces from Anne Taylor Loft to wear with my new dress :)  I can't find pictures of the clothes online because the outlet inventory is last year's new stuff I think, but I'm really happy with all my purchases.  Everything I bought was on sale and several things were both on clearance and on sale, score!  I also had several more coupons outside of the one for Coach that I used in Banana Republic (to get 15% off my entire order) and in Anne Taylor Loft (to get 20% off a single item).  I wore one of the new shirts out tonight to Keegan's company summer outing, so that was a nice way to celebrate with the spoils of the day.  I also wore the running shoes for my afternoon run.  I'm really happy to have some new jeans, especially since they're high-quality and I seem to have a big problem with buying shirts and no corresponding pants...

Keegan wanted to take a picture of me in my "cute outfit" as he called it.  I was also happy to be wearing capris I haven't worn since we got married (wooo!):

Anyway, the damage today wasn't too bad, especially considering that I bought running shoes and a nice wallet (things that I won't buy again for months -- in the case of the shoes -- and years in the case of the wallet).  All in all I got $552.06 worth of merchandise for $246.47.  I shouldn't need to buy any clothes this winter although I may need to go down one more jean size, so we'll see.  In any event, I'd like to head back out there to make the most of all the savings!