So, I did it. It was on a whim, and it was crazy, but it happened! Outlet shopping at its finest. With all three of my boys.

I am pretty sure that most of the country currently live within driving distance of an outlet mall. I mean, they are EVERYWHERE! Outlet shopping used to be an excursion, a real day event. You would plan where you were going, how long you would stay, where to lunch and take pit stops. It was an event! Growing up, we didn’t have outlets near us in the Twin Cities and my outlet shopping began with visits to the Tanger outlets in Rehoboth Beach, DE. It was an annual event, a day spent trolling the Ralph Lauren, Gap and Coach Factory stores… Nowadays outlets are a dime a dozen and generally located in near-enough second or third ring suburbs. There is no need for a day trip.

Outlet malls may be more common, but that doesn’t  mean that the shops are less worthy of at least one trip… And on Sunday I got the itch to get the kids out of the house and check out the newest member of the suburban outlet family in the Twin Cities area: The Twin Cities Premium Outlets located on Eagan Outlets Parkway in Eagan, MN – a good 40 minutes from my house.

About 5 minutes into the drive Aiden asked if we were almost there. I should have turned around.

Even though the ride started out questionably, I ventured on as I was sure to find something neat at the stores of the Eagan center which are not in the Albertville outlet closest to my home (less than 20 minutes). True Religion, Saks Off 5th, Armani, J.Crew Factory Store… Oh, and I needed to stop in Sunglass Hut to get a couple new rubber arms for my Ray-Bans. Okay, this was totally going to be worth it.

Not so much.

We arrived. We got a decent parking spot in the lot located outside Saks Off 5th, so that was a good sign. It was cold, but we were ready to walk the mall. Our first stop was one of our most lucrative, although a bit disturbing. Saks was filled to the brim with racks and racks of last season’s designer fashions – most of which still held ridiculous price tags, plus all that scrounging for a deal or a really hot find – ick and overwhelming. It was the same in Men’s Women’s and even the tiny racks of kids clothes. Our only luck was in the shoes where I did find a pair of booties I’d been coveting and stalking on Nordstrom.com for a sale price. YAY, on sale PLUS 40% off.

Super cute Sam Edelman booties from Saks Off 5th. Get yours here.

After Saks we ventured into the belly of the mall. This is what I have to say about almost every store we visited – the procurement and distribution for these retailers to the MN area is so far off base – it became almost silly. They all need to get together and take note of the fact that a good number of us women are a size 4-12 in the chilly Twin Cities. ALL I was able to find were XXS and XXL (J.Crew Factory Store, I’m talking to you) and size 25 or size 31 denim (you are sadly out of stock in almost all sizes, True Religion, and you are cheaper at Nordstrom Rack). Boo. And these were not the only guilty retailers. I’ve never had an experience like it. Every store. No sizes.

Then the kicker. I had a reason to be there – the Sunglass Hut. I needed replacement rubber nubs for the arms on my sunglasses. We strolled in – everything over priced and then marked down to regular retail to look like it was on sale…

“I’m looking for these, please” I held my glasses out to the teenage gal working there, “They gave me replacements once at the Sunglass Hut in Ridgedale,” I explained. “Oh, we don’t have the kits for replacements here yet. We are too new, I guess,” she said. Too new? Listen, chick, are you new? Wouldn’t one expect the newest stores to have the most stocked repair and replacement kits? “Well, okay, what do you suggest,” I offered her the opportunity to provide excellent customer service and redeem herself. “Well, the Mall has three locations. It’s up the freeway from here. You could try there.” And she walked away to help other customers. Um, ye-aaa-ha.

The children’s stores were crowded and I probably could find better items and better deals at Macy’s or Nordstrom’s, or online, really. Almost all stores gave me tons of trouble trying to manuever with a stroller – isn’t there an OSHA law about three-foot aisleways in retail shopping locations? I smell about a million violations! It’s kind of giving me anxiety writing about it…

Honestly, unless you live down the street and this is the closest thing to a mall near you, I would plan to avoid the hassle, the crowds, the over-priced “discounted” items and the lack of sizes at the Twin Cities Premium Outlets in Eagan. I think I will stick to what I know in outlet shopping, should I catch the fever again, and find what I need always stocked in plenty of “middle” sizes at the Albertville Premium Outlets. For now, Eagan, you are the evil step-sister in outlet malls.

If you decide to venture out there, if you have already, or if you really agree/disagree with my assessment, offer your thoughts in the comments. I promise, no judgement! Maybe you had a better experience and your outlet shopping at it’s finest really was, well, fine!

XOXO

Courtney

Snowball Holiday Gala 2014, A fundraiser for Stages Theatre Company

I can’t tell you how EXCITED I am to tell you all about an awesome opportunity to support local youth theatre in the Twin Cities. It’s going to be an amazing family event, and I want as many of you as possible to attend. And for those of you wanting to know more about the Giveaway, read on or just head to the bottom of the post!

So, in full disclosure, I am on the Board of Directors at Stages Theatre Company (STC) in Hopkins, MN. I’d don’t benefit personally in any way from this post, but I hope that Stages will…

It’s the 50th Anniversary year of Rudolph, the 1964 claymation cartoon we all remember from childhood, and Stages winter show and Snowball fundraiser is The Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical! Everyone is going to be there, Sam, Santa, Hermey, Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius and all the toys!

Stages is the second largest children’s theatre in the state of Minnesota. STC is located in the Hopkins Center for the Arts right on Mainstreet in downtown Hopkins MN. Every year, in the middle of their show season, STC puts on a winter show and fundraiser. Being a non-profit, it’s important that STC actively seek donations to maintain their ability to bring youth theatre to their patrons, to offer free and reduced fee performances and to make scholarships available to underprivileged youth who wish to participate in their workshops and camps. I think this escapes a lot of people who attend local theatre in general. Until I became involved I was pretty unaware of how theatres, like STC, were funded and all the GOOD they do with the funding they have.

I value youth theatre. I think it’s incredibly important for children to be involved in the arts of all kinds including live theatre, visual and musical/instrumental arts. Involvement in the arts is correlated to better educational outcomes, higher test scores and contributes to the general well-roundedness of an individual.

My children and I enjoy attending performance at STC. The theatre always has youth players involved in every performance – I think it’s pretty cool for kids to see other kids on stage participating in their craft. I know when I was a young I enjoyed both watching and acting in performance. Acting in live theatre provides a creative outlet, it offers commandery and helps to boost self-esteem.

Snowball, the STC winter performance fundraiser, has typically been held in January. But times are changing! With the upcoming Rudolph performances perfectly placed around the holidays, Snowball has been revamped and will be held the afternoon of December 6th, 2014 at 2pm.

Emcee, Emily Engberg from TCL will be in site!

Attendees are promised a great time! The event includes a performance of Rudolph, crafts provided by The Home Depot, delicious treats, the opportunity to have your family’s holiday photo taken on the set (up on stage and everything!), baby reindeer on the Hopkins’ plaza, an awesome raffle for a change to “fly” over the stage like the actors, and more! Emily Engberg of Twin Cities Live will be the event Emcee – she’s so fun! There are a variety of levels of support for STC when registering for the event all the way from an individual ticket to a full sponsorship. Take a look at the Stages Snowball webpage for more info and to purchase tickets.

And to keep you enticed, take a look at the following snippets of the super ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way) puppets created for Stages, for the show, by the local artisans of the Ridiculous Puppet Company out of Minneapolis.

Do you know which buckaroo and his animal are pictured here?

Cutest puppet foot! Which toy does it belong to?

Cheek complete with rosey-ness!

As for a giveaway…. Eveyone who likes my new Everyday Fabulous MN page on facebook (sorry for the lack of photos on the page, but I’ll ge them up as soon as I can) and shares the link to this blog post, will be entered to win a set of two tickets to Snowball, courtesy of ME!! My treat and your good time!

Thanks to the Snowball corporate sponsors, Great Clips, Loffler, Matreks Printing, Best Buy and Faegre, Benson, Daniels law firm. STC couldn’t continue their mission driven work without the generous support of these corporate Snowball sponsors, it’s individual sponsors and you!

I hope to see many of you on December 6th! I mean, how could you say no to baby reindeer?!

XOXO

Courtney