new york.

i have had the last week off from work. i really wanted to go somewhere during the off time! i was THISCLOSE to taking myself to a beach for a few days. my mom ended up having a day off from addison duty, so we decided, literally, on wednesday, to head out to a destination i have been wanting to go to for years now. the woodbury commons outlets in new york.

i found us a shop and stay package, booked it online, mapped it out and off we went on friday a.m., prepared for an 8 hour drive to central valley, ny. (an hour north of nyc, i am told).

i really enjoyed the drive, it was through the mountains! i became obsessed with them, and wish i had gotten photos on friday, b/c the sky was so blue! it made the drive enjoyable to see them!

mom and i setting off on our girly adventure!

we stopped for lunch along the way....we packed our lunch, in order to save money, which was a good thing, there are not many places to eat along the route!

i tried to have a healthier lunch, b/c i knew junk food would be happening the rest of the trip, and it did in a major way, so i am quite glad i packed this! ok, so maybe the diet coke isn't the best choice, but i can't not have one, sorry!

(chicken wrap, broccoli and hummus, diet coke, and fig newtons for dessert)

gotta have my daily fix of diet coke!

we have arrived.....we stayed at the hampton inn in middletown (about 15 minutes from outlets)

i really liked this place!

part of the lobby and kitchen area where the breakfast is daily, and evening snacks are located

our gift bag as part of our shop and stay package

included a bag, applebee's gift card, free appetizer, and gift card to use shopping!

also we recieved a coupon booklet over at the outlets.

we enjoyed our room a lot! it was a king room suite (for some reason, this room was the cheapest which is why we got it), with a separate living area with pullout couch, and kichenette.

the outlet center is huge! 200+ stores nestled in the mountains.

this center is very designer name heavy, with the gap, banana republic, and eddie bauer being the "normal" stores!

designer, designer, designer!

it was fun to browse thru the stores and see the outrageous prices!

i wanted to hit up north face (where i got some good deals!), lululemon (i never "got" the fascination with lulu lemon workout clothing, esp. prices, but once i tried them on, i finally "got" it. love that stuff! the outlet had some less expensive stuff than the regular store, which was nice! and you get a cute bag to tote your loot in!), and the ugg outlet. sadly, i didn't get any uggs, maybe next time! they had good deals, but not in what i wanted. i also wanted to go to jcrew/crewcuts outlet for myself and addy (my favorite), but didn't end up with anything, so maybe next time! gap outlet had some great deals too.

i loved walking around and looking up at mountains! i couldn't get enough of it and went camera happy! it was a hazy day though, i wish the sky had been blue like when we drove out, it was pretty!

me and our bags! mom got some great deals as well!

on the drive back home, we stopped at a "photo" stop, looking down over the delaware river valley. it was so cool to see, but hazy enough the pictures don't do it justice.

i'd love to see this in the fall, it would be so colorful and pretty!

it was a great trip, albeit a quick one! i enjoyed our mom/daughter time together! next time we'll go longer, so we are less tired upon our return! it was definitely a needed get away for both of us, and a much needed change of scenery, esp. for me! going on this trip makes me want to relocate! (often lately, i feel like i need a change, but not ready to make that leap!)