Did you think I forgot about you? Naay

Last night I killed some time at Forever 21 with a friend prior to heading over to Happy Hour. It has probably been about 10 years since the last time I stepped in a Forever 21, the store has always just rubbed me the wrong way. Between the decor and the clothes that fall apart, I just didn't get it. Now, I (kinda) do.

Everything I browsed through was under $10. Shirts, skirts, and jewelry, you name it! Bras! There, I named something else, they were $6.50.

As I walked around trying my best to stay away from temptation, I then wandered in the accessories section. Most people know I have a soft spot for owls (see Owls are so in!) but in all reality, I love most animal inspired jewelry. When I saw this horse ring, I had to snag it. The ring was only $3.80! How do you say no to that???

For just a brief second, I had buyers remorse. Who needs such a 3-dimensional horse ring? Then I remembered, I do. Even though it is a little on the big side, I am very pleased and opted to incorporate it into my look today.

Commitment Bag

After kickball today, I decided to stop at my favorite store, Hootenanny, to look for some funky accessories for both kickball, and life. After looking at the wall of tights and socks - I chose some black and white striped knee-high tights for weekday kickball - I wandered over to the sales section. That is where I happened upon the best bag ever:

How could I say no to this one. It was only $9.99 and now it is mine. The fabric feels water repellent and I decided it could be my library bag. Between the books and cds that I take out of the local public library, and movies from my college library, I need a designated bag to courier the items back and forth. I couldn't be happier with this splurge.

Words to Live by

Since no one sees the tags, who cares where it's from
- Big girl in a skinny world, Marie Clare

This one sentence reminds me that the easiest way to participate in a trend is to go for imitation. As long as the clothes appear nice, who cares what they are necessarily made of or by. After all, most trends only last a season, so why not go for the budget friendly clothing?

Headed home for Memorial Day weekend, thinking I will hit up Kohl's and Marshall's!

Perfect for me

Club Monaco's fall collection has the dress I never knew I always wanted. For the last two summers, I have been on the look out for a whimsical white summer dress. But I never realized how delicate a dress I truly wanted/needed. I now know exactly what I am looking for:

Sadly, I have a feeling this dress will be beyond my price range. And furthermore, most of the classier events that I have in the summers are weddings. As of right now, it is still considered tacky and taboo to show up in white. Can't justify splurging a dress that is limited in functionality. Sigh.

Still vacation until I go to work pt. 2

As if the day couldn't get better, I did eventually make it to the mall, after a brief pop into H&M to find yet another jem. I like to enter through the Weston Hotel so that I can start my shopping by gazing into the Jimmy Choo store. Just as I was about to step off the escalator and into the mall, I had the sudden urge to blink a few times just to make sure I was actually seeing a Michael Kors store straight ahead of me. Where did this magical place come from??? And for the life of me, I can't remember what used to be in that exact spot.

Of course, I had to go in and see what it was like inside. The space was very white, bright and inviting. A saleswoman saw me enter in, wearing my typical shopping uniform- which consists of old jeans, motorcycle boots, and a t-shirt - not the most fashion forward look, and welcomed me with a large smile and warm hello. (I don't always get such a warm welcome when I look so disheveled) She continued to escort me around the shop pointing out various products that were on sale.

When I asked to try on a pair of pants, she brought in a top just so I could get a feel of what a potential work outfit would look like. She did check in on me a little excessively, but found it cute that when I let her know the look wasn't for me, she continued to let me know about future stock and whatnot that was coming into the store. As she fed me this information, she interrupted herself, saying that she should probably let me change in peace but would be waiting for me to exit to give me any final information. I found this interaction charming and not at all pushy. Thanks!

In the end, she sold me on a pair of earmuffs. They are actually lighter in person than in the picture to the left. I was drawn to the stud detailing and the oh so soft fur muffs. Again, I scored myself a 50% off deal, woohoo!

Both stores left me very satisfied and extremely happy with the service provided to me. I hope to be able to return sometime when I have cash to burn through.

The one upside of returning to work tomorrow is that I will officially work on staying on a budget as cash will probably get a little tighter in the coming year. Shaky fist to you, school books. No more splurging for me. :)

Still vacation until I go to work pt. 1

For the last few years, I have taken advantage of the fantastic sales at the beginning of the new year by wandering around Newbury St and the Copley Mall here in Boston. Previously, I have scored finds such as Lucky Jeans, silver pendants, and blazers from Lord & Taylor. 2011 might have been my best year yet.

For months now, I have coveted a pair of Hunter rain boots (and fleece liners) more than any pair of heels. The brand's reputation is fantastic, quality superb, and I have yet to hear of a bad review from a friend.

Normally these rain boots are priced at $120.00. Not the most expensive shoes in the world, but I do have a hard time justifying that price to a simple galosh. I have spent many hours searching the web for a sale on these boots and have yet to find a deal.

Fortunately for me, I decided to walk up Bolyston on the way to the Copley Mall today. A new branch of the Tannery has popped up near the gardens and I noticed a big 50% off sign. I figured there was no harm in taking a quick look-ee-loo. As soon as I walked in there was a pair of bright blue Hunter boots with a big ol' 50% orange dot on them. When I went to get a closer look, the sales guy let me know that he was sorry because they only had one size 7 (the ones in my hand) and some 11s. Well, that is perfect for me and my teeny feet. I quickly tried them, checked out some fleece liners and was out of the store $90 poorer by 100 times happier.

Black Friday

Thanksgiving was great. Per usual my family drove up to New York to spend time with my mom's clan. Things were a little different this year, as the main meal was held in a different relative's house. Fortunately it was just as loud and tasty as always.

Now normally, we stay Thursday -Saturday, but this year things were cut short. In and out Thursday and Friday. For a moment I thought that we were going to skip Black Friday shopping. It was quickly determined that we were going to stay up in Troy for dinner so nothing kept the women from heading to the malls.

The sales were great. I managed to get some gifts for the family, and, well, gifts for me. I need new clothes. Anyone crazy enough to pass up deals like this clearly doesn't live on a budget. As mentioned in my previous post, tights can really help stretch a wardrobe. New York & Co had a sale where everything was 60% off before noon. I got 3 pairs of new tights. Go me!



The tan tights actually are glitter tights. Sadly, couldn't capture the amazingness with my driod.

In addition to some new tights, I also managed to score some new underwear (always a plus), a dress, gifts for sister and dad, and a new Lady Gaga MAC lipstick as I have no clue where mine went. All and all, a very successful Friday.

....Oh, and this doesn't include the score I got from Ruelala.

November 23rd - Calendar Marked

Lavin announced they are releasing a limited addition line for H&M later this month. There have been a number of designers pairing with H&M and Target. Usually, I know the fashion house, but this was the first time I was at a loss. After checking out their website, I realized that I might have found my new favorite if-I-were-fithy-rich-I-would-own-it-all designer. This stuff is fun, funky, and kind of perfect for my body shape.

As much as I think I love the clothes they have for sale, it might also be that the mannequins have some serious sass. The red lip, black cat eye, and red fingernails are a trip. Honestly, i think it gives the clothing additional appeal, as the forms make me think more of real women than a plastic mold.


















On a price point perspective, purchasing from this fashion house is out of the question. The Fashion Night Out t-shirt is $450.00 and the Jersey-Silk Sequin T-Shirt Dress is $3,550.00. Which brings me back to H&M and November 23rd.

The look book for the H&M line is extremely exciting and wearable. While I would love a good party dress, the item that my eye immediately went to was a fabulous t-shirt dress/tunic piece.
I would love to wear a fishnet type patterned tights and heels just because I think it would be funny. But this would be awesome paired with some regular black leggings or skinny black pants. The clothes are released on a Tuesday. It would a crying shame I got a really bad one day cold that day...

If I buy an applaiance, it better be cute

As much as I love my pink giraffe print broom, I have been in need of a vacuum. The main reason that "purchase vacuum" jumped to the top of my to-do list is because there is sawdust all over one end of my bedroom from when my a/c was installed. My window is super big, so my dad made a wall to fill in the space so the unit would stay put in the sill. For the last month and a half I just opt to stay away from that spot. But today I was in a pretty angry mood so I decided I need a trip to Target and made some apartment purchases.

I can now say that I am now a proud owner of a purple vacuum. It is a Shark, which my sister assured me was a good brand. As soon as I saw it on display, I knew I wanted it for three reasons.

1. It is a stand up vacuum
2. The middle can be popped out to be a hand vac
3. It is cordless!

The one downside is that I have to wait 24 hours before I can take her for a spin around the apartment. I mean I probably won't actually get around to vacuuming until Tuesday, 20 minutes before some friends come over
for pizza and martinis...

As I was tooling around the store, I happened upon the Britta aisle. I have wanted a Britta forever. In the past, a roommate would have one to contribute to the communal kitchen, or I just abused my water cooler privileges at work. But with this heat, I would like to have access to filtered water at any moment, there is just something about the tap water here that I do not like. I have been waiting for Brittas to go on sale, and not only were they sale, but came with a $5 Target gift card and came in fun colors! I went with lime green. When I think kitchen I think green - typically avocado but lime works too - and I just had to have it.

Itsy Bitsy String Bikini!

I have been in a big need of a new bathing suit. Last summer was rather disappointing with all the cold weather and overcast weekends, so I never committed to a new suit. This year, I have a good feeling. My inbox constantly gets bombarded with sales emails from J-Crew and Victoria's Secret. I already tried the J-Crew angle and realized that their sale is still more than I am willing to pay so I figured I would go Vicky Secret.

The store had an amazing green/blue tie-dye bikini that I knew should be mine. It is a halter top (with a little push-up - there I said it) and a string bikini bottom. I have never gone string bikini but I figured, why not just go for it. Sadly, I realized that the suit was not on sale but I didn't want to risk trying to find the same suit online (or more truthfully I wanted a suit for the weekend).

This was the closest bikini that I could find online, which makes me very happy with my on the spot purchase.

I am excited to wear this on the shores of the Narragansett Bay this Memorial Day Weekend. If I could live in a bikini I think I would, oh office dress codes...

Bathing Suit Blues.....and greens and pinks

Bathing suits are already going on sale everywhere. In order for me to get a suit for this summer, I realized I should get a move on because sadly one cannot find anything decent if one waits until June or July, you know when swim suits are actually needed. But there is no need to get into that old tired issue.

Victoria Secret has been bombarding me with emails about their swim sales. I have never purchased a bathing suit from them, and since they don't have the best return policy (and there is shipping costs!), I decided if I was going to go for it, I better know exactly what I wanted. The Mall at Chestnut Hill has one of the stores so I trekked on over. Sadly, they carry no suits, so I was stuck.

As I walked back to my car, I remembered that the Atrium Mall (across the street) had a J-Crew and they were also sending me numerous emails. So off I went. There were a number styles available for me to try on. I loaded up my arms with bottoms and tops, and headed into an oddly lit changing room. If that lighting is suppose to help me look better, I don't ever want to see myself in a bathing suit in normal lighting.

Bathing suit shopping should never be done when

• a) you are still pasty from the winter
• b) just ate ice cream at your office's meet the new coworker's party or
• c) not 100% full of confidence.

I did not fulfill any of these requirements and eventually had to just put the suits away. I like one suit, and I am pretty sure it was flattering, but I just wasn't ready to put down the $57 dollars (that was after the 30% off). Hopefully things will look better when I try again in a week or two.

I am woman. Hear me whirrrrrrrrl

A few weeks ago I went to IKEA and bought a cart for my tiny kitchen. My neighbor bought the same one and said it was the hardest thing to put together. Being the overwhelmed and under-motivated individual that I recently became I opted to allow for mine to stay in its box...until today.

I quickly understood why the cart was considered so difficult. You have to screw all the pieces together. The first few spins - easy peasy, then BAM the freaking thing wouldn't move. I tried so hard to get the stupid hardware into the wood. After a blister formed on my thumb, I decided to think of a Plan B.

Electric Drill.

Perfect plan, just needed to acquire one. I figure why not hop over to SEARS in the CambridgeSide Galleria real fast. All I would need was something small , nothing to fancy, but with enough power to help finish the job.

When I got to the store, holding bags from J-Crew and H&M - can't go to the mall without checking out sales -and I tried to find the power tool myself. A few of the men who worked in the power tool section saw me walking around and asked if I needed help. I gave in and said, sure, might as well get this over fast. I just remembered that I had another belated birthday gift to find.

Major pet peeve about being an independent female shopping in "man stores", is the way the employees tend to treat me. I may not be completely sure of what I need at times, but honestly, don't look at me like I am completely helpless. Instead of just pointing me in the right direction the guy came over and read me the information off the placards that were next to the drills themselves. I could have done that myself.

When he asked me what I was looking for and I explained I was hoping for a small drill like the one my friend owned which was powered by a battery pack. He replied, "Where did she get it?" and I said "I wasn't sure where HE got it". I don't know why it irritated me, but honestly, why assume that my friend was female? If I said I wanted something smaller that super huge, plugs into the wall variety that my friend has, would he have used "he" instead? Ugh. I just hate being looked at as helpless, or cute that I am trying to do this kind of stuff on my own.

In the end, I got what I wanted and was able to finish the cart when I got home. Interestingly enough I ended up using a screw driver to tighten the screws, as I have no skill at using power tools and couldn't get thing to screw past the original point of no return. At least I now have a drill if there is ever an event that calls for one.

Economic Crisis 101

This past weekend I went over to Newton for some light shopping with a few gal pals. While browsing through Anthropologie, I came across the lobster dress.

I love it. I think it is super cute. Personally, I don't care for the taste of lobster, but I have no problem wearing their image on my person. I wanted to show my co-worker the dress. She also grew up on the beach and loves all thing New England. When I went to search for it on google, one of the first images comes from the U.K.'s Anthropologie website. I did a double take, the dress is listed at £118.00! It is $138.00 here.

All I could think of was when I was in college and knew that the British pound was almost $3. I totally thought I stumbled upon the best plan ever, purchasing Anthropologie items and shipping to the UK for the fraction of the cost.

Then I googled the current conversion. £118.00 equals $173.89! When did that happen?? Apparently my knowledge of world economic changes comes from looking up dresses online. Eeep.

40 Pounds Lighter

No, I didn't join the Biggest Loser. But what I did do is bring two HUGE bags of clothing to Goodwill. After my last move, I knew I needed to downsize my wardrobe as I just don't want to continue to transport clothing I no longer wear. I still have a few shirts from college and some pants from high school(!). This, combined with my inability to get rid of clothing and my love of finding new deals, has caused my closet(s) to get a little out of control.

I recently tried to do some weeding out of my closet. Now I can proudly say it is no longer overflowing. I am well aware that come next fall/winter I will have to purchase some pants, but for now, I will simply ignore that need. In general, I tried to follow the rule of if you haven't worn the item in over a year, it is time to let it go.

Of course, with all this extra space, I just want to go shopping...

Stouffers for Lunch. Yum!

Considering I love their french bread pizzas, it is a no brainer that I found there frozen meals to be delish. When ever I go to the grocery I will cruise down the frozen food section to see if any of the frozen meals are on sale. The frugal fanny inside me will not pay more than 2 dollars for a sodium-filled, small-portioned, meal. I know that the dinners I prepare myself are not always huge, but I find the Lean Cuisine and Smart Balance dinners to leave me hungry.

For the first time, I saw that Stouffers had meals on sale for $1.99 so I decided to go for it. I always go for the fetachini alfredo (with chicken and broccoli) or thanksgiving dinners. Honestly, I bought about 7 different kinds (including the french bread pizza because it was on sale for $2.49! yay!)

Well, this morning I was far too exhausted to make a Dagwood style sandwich, so I grabbed one of these meals and went. It was honestly the best frozen meal I have had so far. I think I will now be on the look out for this brand from now on. Pass the word, they are actually relatively tasty!

LC, I like your stuff!

I think I saw one episode of Laguna Beach. If I recall correctly, one of the girls was rejected from BYU and extremely upset because that was the only school she applied to. I thought it was a strange school for a girl on the show to apply to based on what I knew about the cast, but that is neither here nor there. Since I never really got into Laguna Beach, I never bothered with The Hills, I thought I wouldn't know what is going on - I do realize that I would have been able to catch on pretty quickly, the cast is not that deep.

The reason I mention this, is because when I heard that Lauren Conrad, one of the cast members, came out with her own line of clothing, I figured I would never go near them. How could they be any good? They were from a fake reality show star. Well, I was wrong.

While home for Easter, I went to Kohl's with my mum and sister. I ended up trying on a pair of her skinny jeans. They were on sale for $29.99 and then we had 20% coupon on top of that, so of course I had to try them on. I am a recent convert to the skinny jean. These jeans fit fantastically! I will say that they aren't true skinny jeans in that they aren't tight around the ankle, but I also wouldn't call them matchstick. Regardless, the purchase was made and I am quite happy about it.

If you need a pair of cheap (but nice) skinny jeans, I would suggest taking a trip to your nearest Kohl's.

Snippy comments make for sad customers

Customer service makes or breaks an experience. When I bought shoes from Nordstrom's I thought the department store was amazing. They were attentive and helpful. The service woman told me that if I ever had a problem with the shoes to come back and anyone would be more than happy to help me either return them or exchange them for a new pair. I had never heard of something like this as she let me know that wearing them around the city was not a problem at all for them if I felt dissatisfied.

The first night I wore out the shoes, I noticed that there was a small tear in the leather. Nothing too terrible, but it bothered me. Those shoes cost bank. Then I remembered what I was told and so I figured when I drove home for Easter I would stop by the new Nordstrom's and try out this spectacular service.

Ok, so the experience not so spectacular. The first shoe saleswoman, super nice. Complemented me on the shoes and went to find the manager. The manager took one quick look at the shoes and told me that the tear was my fault and that it would not have happened if I didn't trip or something. If she had said it only once, or maybe after, "sure let me help you" than maybe I would have felt more comfortable. But I honestly think she drove it home by telling me at least 4 times that it was my fault my shoes were torn. Then after making me feel terrible that I even brought them in to begin with, she scanned the barcode, let the receipt run, tore it off, and then slapped it to the counter announcing that they are completely sold out at all stores. It was a mortifying experience.

I had thought about shopping around for another pair of shoes since I was returning the ones I bought from piperlime (they were sadly defective) but this saleswoman made me feel beyond uncomfortable. I just needed to leave, immediately.

Basically, I think it will be a while before I attempt another trip to Nordstrom's. I don't like feeling like an inconvenience when I go shopping. Afterall, I am about to give the place my hard earned money, please be nice to me. Case in point, earlier that day I had walked into the GAP because I saw a huge sale sign, but then remembered that last time I asked if a pair of pants came in tall, the saleswoman looked at me with a "hell no" expression and told me I could buy them online (which meant I would be penalized with shipping costs because tall sizes can't be bothered to be kept in stock at that store...). With this in mind, I don't want to find something I love only to find out that it doesn't come in my size, so I just walked right out.

Ugh. I will get over this, eventually. In the mean time I will keep looking online for new shoes.

JCrew, I am now a Fan

A little customer services goes a long way. I was thinking about my recent pants shopping experiences that I had at the mall. The last time I bought new work pants it was when I started my last job in February 2007. So yeah, I am due. My pants are all worn out and, honestly, a few sizes too big as I have lost weight and now, thanks to Clinton and Stacie, understand what "fit" means.

I figured I would go to JCrew and the GAP. My tall friends have said that they have been successful at both locations which made me feel better. I may have no problem finding and purchasing short sundress after short sundress, but pants simply make me nervous. I assume Lady Gaga feels the same way. So, I simply avoid the process as much as possible.

I think it is important to refer to the experts when shopping for something new. All I knew was that I wanted slim fit pants, but wasn't sure what would look good on my frame given that I do have a decent sized ba-dunka-dunk. Therefore, I hunted down a saleswoman at JCrew immediately. She was a little startled when I first asked her point blank to help me find pants, but became extremely patient. Turns out that my instincts were correct with what I had found.

I ended up with a pair of Stretch Twill Minnie pants that fit marvelously everywhere but in the length. They were about 3 inches shorter than I would have liked, and all of the saleswomen agreed. (I might have had a following at this point as I was wearing the Harajuku Lovers shoes) Since the store doesn't stock the tall versions, the saleswoman let me know they would ship me a pair FOR FREE directly TO MY HOUSE. How wonderful is that?!?!

I figured there was no reason to say no at this point. So, she brought me over a phone (with no dial) that was sitting in the middle of the store. All she did was say that she was calling from store number _____ and had an order for a customer she wanted to place. After talking for a few minutes, she handed it over to me so I could give my billing and mailing information.

The pants showed up at my house a few days later and I am just so happy. I love that the store was willing to go out of its way to get their product into my wardrobe. Later that afternoon I went into the GAP and had a similiar experience where the pants fit but were too short. This time, however, the sales woman told me to just go online and order them. When I got home I went to gap.com and found out that I would get charged $7 for shipping. I am sorry GAP, I am now a JCrew fan. That store knows how to treat a customer right and doesn't punish me for being tall. Service like that really does wonders for creating customer loyalty.

Loving Harajuku Lovers

Last weekend I feel in love with a pair of shoes at Nordstrom. My friend is getting married this June and we were looking for her wedding shoes at the Natick Mall. While scoping out the displays in Nordstrom's shoe department my eye got stuck on a yellow shoe display. But I had to keep my own fashion on hold and keep looking for shoes for her. Even though a pair of yellow cage Harajuku Lovers shoes were calling my name from across the way...

One week later I returned to Natick with the goal of returning home with a new pair of 4+ inch heels in tow. I was a woman on a mission and immediately found a sales rep who could grab me a pair of size 7s. They fit like a dream. While one would think that shoes that high would be naturally uncomfortable, they have to be some of the most feet friendly heels I now own. Part of the comfort level is probably attributed to the fact that there is a small platform under the toes. Normally I stay far away from peep toe shoes as my toes are pretty awful, but I think the cage style keeps the eyes from really noticing my piggies.


Harajuku shoes are really comfortable. Really comfortable. I tried the two other styles that were in stock in my size and didn't misstep even once while strutting around the department. There have been a number of times in my life where I have sacrificed comfort for height when picking out pumps. I was completely prepared for little awkwardness or an understanding that some breaking in would be necessary while coveting these. But honestly, I think I could have worn them out of the store and wore them for the rest of the day and night without a problem. These shoes are just amazing. I know these statements are being made based on my test walks, but I will be very surprised if I need to take any of them back later this spring.

Even though Boston has been getting warmer, I think I will need at least another 10 or so degrees bump in the temperature before I could be seen walking around the streets of Boston in these babies. Until then, I think my coworkers and students will be getting a huge kick out of them. Hopefully, they will get some rave reviews!

Who dat on my ring?

Saturday morning I had some time to kill between brunch and wedding shoe shopping (for a friend, not for me!). So I poked around Davis Square for a bit. While in Davis Squared I stumbled onto a couple of adorable rings. One was a cluster of pearl like beads, the other an owl wearing glasses. Decisions, decisions.

Clearly, based on the picture to the left, I went with the owl. I think it is adorable and so far have worn it out 3 times. Everyone notices it and makes a compliment. By notice, I mean that I shove it peoples faces because I am so excited about it and then complements come forward. Personally, I think owls are rather fashionable. I have a scarf with an owl and, well, now this ring. Still. I think they are an animal that really can make an outfit appear smart!