Tis’ the season to be shopping… fa-lala-la-la…lala-la-la….
Holiday time is prime time for my favorite sport– shopping!!!– but let’s be honest, it is also prime time for getting serious about our budgets. We want to get great gifts and super cute holiday outfits to saunter into our holiday soiree’s, of course!– but we also want to be smart with our dinero.
It’s times like this that hunting down deals at the outlets is key!
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting a fun family shopping event at my favorite indoor outlet mall, The Mills at Jersey Gardens– and even got to bring Delaina along!
Before the event, James and I calculated that I’ve been shopping the outlets at The Mills at Jersey Gardens for 17 years!! Since it opened its doors in 1999, this shopping hotspot has made a lot of changes. With the addition of more and more designer outlets–including its most recent additions of Alex & Ani and Kate Spade (swoon!)– the vibe is a lot more upscale than it was back in the day– but the deals and prices you find just keep getting better.
You can spend an entire day hoofing it around the 200+ outlet stores, without freezing in the cold or worrying about rain & literally find something for everyone on your list– Boom! One stop shopping–… Can you blame me for going back season after season, year after year?? (Check out more of my outlet shopping tips– they apply to all seasons!)
The event had 2 major goals in mind:
So we planned a little Holiday Fun Finds check list, chock filled with deals to find and challenges to complete.
Check us out rocking our Claire’s holiday accessories. Can you tell we were excited?
We started our day before the mall even opened, by Santa’s village (of course)– which for the record has the most gorgeous, sky-scraping tree/picture set up you’ve ever seen.
The kids worked on coloring sheets, parents got their caffeine fix, and everyone noshed on some light bites to fuel up for a full morning of racing around this massive mall. And then just as we were ready to begin, Santa arrived as jolly as you could imagine Santa to be, taking a few “#selfies” and leading a sing-a-long of Jingle Bells!
Shout out to Natalie of Twiniversity for what I’m calling Best Santa moment ever. Santa was the best sport!
Santa wasn’t the only one who showed off his vocal talents though, Mills employees got in on the fun too– and boy can some of them belt out a tune!!
Next to Santa, the Mannequin Challenge at Converse and Andy’s Coming Challenge at The Disney Store were probably the kids favorite part of the day.
Guests shared deals & gifts they found all over from the Swarovski to Claire’s and everything in between:
Everyone shopped til’ they dropped! ha!
Everyone who completed the tasks on the Holiday Fun Finds list were entered to win $500 shopping spree. 3 big hearted bloggers, Natalie, Melissa and Diane played as a team and split the prize– donating the remainder to Staten Island’s Louie’s Legacy.
The ultimate display of the holiday spirit!
This post was written in partnership with The Mills At Jersey Gardens.
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