outlet shopping in orlando

The work trip to Orlando was planned in such a way that I had a day before the conference to rest after the 24 hours journey to the other side of the globe and to do the necessary event setup. Not wanting to sleep through the day and hence worsening the already bad jetlag, the guys and I decided to go outlet shopping. After consulting my two comprehensive travel guides bought in Kinokuniya and the hotel concierge, we took the i-Ride Trolley at the stop conveniently located right in front of our hotel to Orlando Premium Outlets just a 20min ride up north along International Drive. Second stop was to Florida Mall as one of the guys had a whole list of comestics he had to get for a sister.

Here is showcasing a bit of what I got that required some muscle help from the guys to lug back to the hotel. I shudder at the thought of compiling the stack of receipts to calculate the total spending on this trip although the fantastic exchange rate (1AUD:1.1USD) and 60% discount deals made a lot of the purchases extremely worthwhile to the extent I would have kicked myself if I gave them a pass.

A quick trip to Victoria's Secret where I almost didn't survive the throngs of people and only managed to grab a handful of cotton bras.



I finally got myself the Clarisonic set I wanted so badly at Sephora, saving myself the shipping cost if I had purchased online.



I was pleasantly shocked to find that the Dermalogical products cost only 60% of what I usually pay for in Australia so I decided to stock up on the cleansers as they tend to use up very quickly. The Very Sexy body mist was a $10 impulse grab at Victoria's Secret when I was queueing to make payment.






















One of the items on my planned shopping list was a big Samsonite hard case with four wheels (they call them the 'spinners') as my own suitcase that had served me faithfully for six years was damaged enroute. But I got distracted by this baby pink Tumi carry on case at their shopfront display. At close to USD300 with no special discount, I only convinced myself to get it after returning to the store three times to gaze longingly at it by reminding myself that 20% of the sales proceeds from that case went to some breast cancer support foundation. Thankfully I got a great deal at Samsonite subsequently where this particular case that met all my requirements was going at 50% of its usual retail price of $600. These two purchases assisted greatly in getting all my shopping loot around while I shopped some more.























I bought lots of clothes too but I soon tired of photographing them so here's a sneak peak at just two of my favourite buys. I love the tops for their retro stripes, colours and fit and because I have never owned a fur coat in my life and this XXS sized snow leopard faux fur coat fitted me so well and it was a steal at only USD40, I got it despite not knowing when the weather will get cold enough for me to ever have a chance to wear it out in Sydney. Other great clothing bargains were a pair of black velvet jeans with sparkly diamantes on the back pockets that made my legs look 50% longer and slimmer, a petite work jacket and some Calvin Klein underwear.






















I went into Kenneth Cole hoping to get a wallet as a gift but was distracted by their timepieces instead. I spent the better part of an hour staring at the many men's watches on display and convincing myself not to get anything as I have stopped wearing watches altogether since 2006. Then I spent another better part of an hour repeatedly trying on a cream coloured slightly above knee length trench coat and finally deciding not to get it as it was missing a belt. Well I did try to negotiate the price down and would have gotten it if they agreed to drop the price by 60% but the furthest they were willing to consider was a 40% discount. Too bad. A consolation was this pair of black sandals to replace the current pair that had its soles flapping open after a day of hard walking at the outlets. And as you can see from the series of handbag pictures below that I am a Kate Spade fan, just like the young Tin Pei Ling who's running for MP in SG now.






















All these handbags were going at 60% discount - how not to get them???






















There was no need for yet another toiletry bag or purse so I'm not sure how these came to be added to my shopping bag too. ;p






















Here's all the Kate Spade stuff I ended up with at the check out. I would have gotten at least a couple more if I had the means to carry them back to Sydney and if I haven't already owned a hundred other bags sitting idly in my wardrobe without ever getting to see daylight. I think I need to somehow either sell most of them or start using them!



I also got a Juicy Couture bag, not for myself, but as a belated present to a dear friend who was recently saddened she had to throw hers into the bin after it got ripped a big tear at the side.



And of course I had to get some Disney souvenirs for the girls at work. I also got a nice little Mickey with the American flag badge to add on to my flag collection of countries I've visited displayed on my camera bag.






















Next, I need to check my bank account to see how many days of air and water I have to survive on before the next pay check comes in.