Tags
Boston, Boston common, coach, cold, jeans, Kate Spade, Mariott, premium outlet, shopping, snow, transport, winter
I woke up feeling refreshed and excited. And I woke up to this view. It snowed overnight in Boston. Though the snowing seemed to have stopped in the morning. It was nice to see this.
Since I hadn’t been to the US for such a long time and I’m such a shopaholic, I was very happy to know that there is a Premium outlet in Boston! Yay! With that, I had totally settled my itinerary in Boston 😛
Before I got too happy, I had to settle the issue of transportation. For now, we are very lucky to be living in the age of the Internet. From the Premium Outlet website, I found out that the Boston Common Coach offers return transport services! And Mariott is one of the listed hotels where they offer direct transport!! Yippee! The ride to and for was about USD 42, which I felt was decent after seeing that the ride was a van and not a huge bus. So it was actually quite a comfortable ride.
So my pick up time is 10am. So I had a nice breakfast and then headed downstairs to the lobby to wait for my ride *excited*
As I stepped out of the hotel, I was glad I was we’ll prepared for the weather. It was freezing cold! But I haven’t encountered such natural cold for a while, and I relished standing there enjoying the cold. And then snow came down!!
It didn’t snow heavily but it was my first snow sighting in donkey years and I was happy and excited. Did the usual silly things; putting my gloved hand out to catch the falling snow, trying to catch snow with my tongue and blowing air our just to get a kick of seeing the ‘white whispers’ of my breath. I was H.A.P.P.Y. All alone, miles away from home, and feeling very much in my elements.
So yeah, I think some passer-bys gave me a weird look but hey, I’m Asian and I’m happy, so I was fine with them giving whatever looks.
Then it got really cold. My body core was warm but my hands were really cold! The gloves I had were not doing a great job. Cos they are not leather gloves! So I made a mental note to get some leather gloves at the outlet.
So I took refuge indoors and my ride arrive like 5-10 mins late. Turns out there’s another lady from Mariott who is having the same ride.
There were 3 persons, excluding the driver, in the van. And they all had maps of the outlet. And then I remembered how important it is to strategise the shopping in the outlet – way too many shops, too little time. So I asked for a map and started to get down to business.
All I remembered was I definitely needed to go to Kate Spade, Nike, Ralph Lauren, Adidas, and 7forAllmankind.
So the ride was about 45 mins and when we reached, we paid the driver and he told us he would be back to pick us up at 5pm. See, there’s really not a lot of time left.
First thing first, since I’m alone and there’s a limit to how much shopping I can carry, I went to rent a locker first. This was my best decision as I frequently returned to the locker to put my purchases in them and continued shopping with no load. Thankfully I walk very fast so I had no problem covering the extra distance.
So I headed to Kate Spade and saw that Coach is just next to it. So Coach would be the next stop then! So many lovely things in Kate Spade. And I took the longest time to ponder over a pair of gloves. I’ve said I wanted leather gloves but the ones at Kate Spade are made of cloth. Couldn’t quite keep the cold out BUT you can wear the gloves and use your iPhone at the same time!!! That’s very important right??!! Needless to say, I convinced myself I should have at least a pair of gloves like that.
And then things went by in a blur. I remember the items in Coach being really cheap!!! Got some stuff there for family. Got jeans in 7ForAllMankind. Oh and I really wanted to go to Fossil. I rem in the outlet in New York, Fossil had Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Adidas and some brand name watches in the store. At fabulous prices. I was keen to update my watch so I had hoped to get some nice Marc Jacobs. Alas, Fossil doesn’t seem to carry non-Fossil watches anymore!!! Majorly upset that was for me!!!
And then I went into this kids store and got some really cute baby stuff for my too adorable niece. I got them for a maximum of USD 5 a piece! I was real proud of a pair of pink sunglasses for the little one that I got for only USD 2.99!!! And then somehow I went to Ralph Lauren for kids and I wanted to buy almost everything In that store. Too cute! But I bought only a pair of irresistible sandals for the niece.
Oh and then there was Gap and Polo Ralph. I always make it a point to go to Polo Ralph to check out shirts for the husband.
I remembered checking out Aldo and Timberland and Ugg. Was real tempted to get boots but I stayed cool- minded. No more luggage space for boots.
I got real hungry at 1 plus and headed get some food. Wow, the food was really awful!! The worst amongst all the Outlets I have been to.
But I didn’t waste time and continued and did buy a bottle of my fav perfume from Marc Jacobs. Daisy!
And I flitted in and out of stores. It got too cold outside and too warm and stuffy inside the stores. It’s horrible having to remove scarf and coat each time I entered a store. Although I could have just baked in the store in the coat. Which I did a few times. And it was really nice to feel the cold upon exiting the really warm stores. Until it got too cold. So it became a cycle.
I became really tired at 4plus, with all the walking and removal and putting on coats/scarf/gloves. So much work involved!
I was really proud of what I had bought! Almost got something for everyone back home! Just in time for Chinese New Year!
I thought I did well until I saw the lady who also stayed at Mariott. She had more bags than me. Although I have to say, I did combine several purchases into one bag. She bought like, I don’t know, 4-5 pairs of Ugg boots! I was like, how is that going to fit into 2 luggages!?!?! How crazy!!
Well, everyone in the van had at least 3 big bags and the van has limited space. So the ride back was not as comfortable as there were stashes of bags on the space beside me. I really blame the lady with the Ugg boots. 4 pairs?!?!?
I was happy to finally reach the Mariott. However, with every step that I take, the bags seemed to be getting heavier! My hands were all red from the weight! But of course, one must always strut proudly with all those shopping bags.
I remember a woman who entered the life with me and the Ugg lady and she was visibly impressed by our shopping. For some reason, she has a fascination with Ugg boots too! Annoying!! I mean nice boots but 4 pairs!?!?!? Totally insane!
And of course when I reached my room, it was time to report back to family and show my purchases. My family was impressed with me. Heck, I’m so proud of myself! And no, I didn’t mention about the Ugg lady.
Did I mentioned it was Superbowl night? Well, I’m not into this but I know this is big in USA.
And I was tired and decided to get room service. What I had was so delicious! To end the night, I just had to do this: