Before moving to San Diego, I don’t think I knew what the real definition of a mall was. Sure I’d been to the small mall near my house to pick up my back-to-school essentials, sit in the massage chair at Brookstone and flirt with the good looking surfers at Pacific Sunwear, but if there was ever anything out-of-the-ordinary I needed like a prom dress or a laptop I’d have to head off to another destination. Not the case with San Diego’s Fashion Valley mall.
A 2-story outdoor mall, Fashion Valley is the most all-encompassing shopping Mecca I’ve ever visited. Head to Sephora for a makeover, pick up a new iPhone at the Apple store, a purse at Burberry, home goods at Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn, clothes for the kids at Abercrombie Kids and a meal before you head out at the food court, and you could head out of there with a completely new look for yourself and your home. Every clothing style has a home base: A Lilly Pulitzer for the preppies, an H&M for the hipster crowd, a Bebe for the club-hoppers, a Tommy Bahama for my dad, a Tiffany’s if you forgot your wedding anniversary and need to make up for it, and a Banana Republic and Neiman Marcus for workwear.
I think my personal record for mall-wandering is probably around 5 hours. Of course, to see everything at Fashion Valley it would most likely take at least a weekend. More if you visit all of the kiosks.
Besides the diversity of retail, another great feature about the mall is that you can enjoy the sunshine while you shop (with sunblock on, of course). And if you left yours at home, you can always pick some up while you’re there.