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!
 

July pleasure reading, part 2

I have finished another book this month, the first John Grisham book I’ve ever read (that I remember…) and it was called The Confession.

The story was really good and very intriguing – it only took me 2 days to read the whole thing and I’ll certainly look in to checking out other books by him.  The whole premise of the story was also thought-provoking because it was about a criminal who got away with a murder that a man on death row is about to be executed for committing.  The minister who this murderer confides in tries to convince him to turn himself in to save the innocent man.  The story is about racing the clock to the execution time as well as getting authorities to believe the criminal when he says he is the murderer.

This book was heavily tilted against the death penalty, given as how it was told from the perspective of a minister and just the fact that it was about trying to get an innocent man off of death row.  As someone in favor of the death penalty I am a bit confused by the attitude that a lot of more liberal people take, saying that the death penalty is “cruel and unusual”.  I’d say it’s infinitely crueler for someone to torture, rape, murder, imprison, etc another person than it is to be heavily sedated to the point that your heart stops and you just don’t wake up.  I like to think that the possibility of the death penalty causes people who are willing to commit such crimes to perhaps think twice about their actions. 

I also find people who are against the death penalty but favor abortion, especially late-term abortion, to be pretty hypocritical.  This is especially annoying to me in people who are liberal and religious and use religion as their basis for objection to the death penalty but feel that abortion is somehow not included in the blanket “thou shalt not kill” statement (and yes, I’m aware how people define “life” and argue that it does not apply to a fetus that could not live outside the womb).  For my own personal reasons I disagree with abortion but I also don’t agree with the government trying to dictate what a woman can do with her own body (also ironic that most people who are pro-choice only disagree with that particular infringement into personal rights made by large and over-reaching governments), so I’m not saying that I think abortion should be illegal just that people who are pro-abortion and anti-death penalty need to figure out what they actually think and how they can be okay with one and not the other.  Basically what motivates my feelings is the presence of guilt in one case and not the other; executing a criminal who committed heinous crimes against another individual is not the same as abortion.

I also just finished the book Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs.  I decided to check out this author because her books are the ones that the show Bones on Fox is loosely based on.

I enjoyed this book a lot too -- the story was good even if the characters are not really at all similar to the tv show.  I'm sure I'll end up reading more of her books because as you can see, she has many!  This was not nearly as controversial as The Confession, and was pretty much the standard murder mystery.

July pleasure reading

I've been making more use of the Duke library to check out books that have nothing to do with surfactants, emulsions, and polymers which is nice to save some money and also because I just choose books at random from the "New and noteworthy" collection and would read books that I wouldn't normally read.

I've read two books so far this month, both from the Duke library, one called Finny by Justin Kramon and one called If I Loved You I Would Tell You This by Robin Black.  Both were good, but I enjoyed Finny more.  The second one was a collection of short stories, which was cool, but I generally like to read books that are more cohesive.  Anyway, I'm not much for critiquing books really, I just want a way to keep track of what I've read so that when I reach December 31 and look back at the year I'll remember having read these books and maybe a little bit about them.

Right now I also have The Hobbit, a John Grisham book called The Confession, and a third book that I can't remember the name of but appeared to be some sort of thriller-type book checked out for pleasure reading.  I also have about 20 books on polymers, but I try not to think too much about those :-P  I now know where the Surfactant Science Series can be found without having to double check and a few weeks ago someone actually recalled two of my books that I've had for about two years and I was irrationally annoyed (the nerve!!).  How can more than one person want to read about nonionic surfactants?  I just photocopied the important sections of the books before I returned them but I was still contemplating recalling the books as soon as I turned them back in, just to be spiteful.  I wouldn't really do that, I was just so shocked that someone wanted these books!  They recalled two of them!  I think I was more annoyed because this was the week I was leaving and swamped with work I was trying to wrap up before we left and finishing the presentation and data analysis and the last thing I wanted to do was photocopy a book chapter!

June pleasure reading

Well so many things have been going on that I need to post (such as a 12 day trip to England and Wales!) but for now I'm going to give brief posts on the books I've read so that by the end of the year I don't forget that I did read books for pleasure throughout the year.  I actually read a lot more than I mention on here, but I don't count books that I'm re-reading or reading for work.

Anyway, in June during our trip I read a book called I Totally Meant to Do That by Jane Borden.  I borrowed this from my friend Caitlin who was reading it on the way back from New Orleans; she was giggling most of the time she was reading it and she pointed out excerpts for me to read when there were particularly funny moments.  Jane Borden is from North Carolina and went to UNC (but we mustn't hold that against her... too much :-P) and this book was all collections of things that have happened to her in her life but she had a funny way of spinning them all.  Many of her stories are only funny (or primarily funny) to those who are from NC and can actually appreciate what she's talking about.  What do you mean not everyone gives sausage and fruitcakes to people for Christmas?  Northerners just wouldn't see the humor there :)

She's pretty much like a female David Sedaris, so NC is producing some pretty awesome writers, that's for sure.