The Shopping Van

I hope that everyone had a lovely holiday. One of my favorite things to do over this time of year is go shopping (I enjoy it every other time of year too but that is besides the point). A few days after Christmas, I got to go antique shopping in Pennsylvania. Since we like to buy a lot of things, we need a large vehicle in which to haul around, well, our haul. The pictures below show a van, that has been raised up quite high, to jump over parking medians and go off-roading if the store ends up being somewhere off of the beaten path. This is the Shopping Van. This is the most amazing van that I have ever seen.

** Note the step stool needed to get into the Shopping Van.

**Also note, the humongous tires.

This Shopping Van was originally intended for hunting wild animals. Does hunting antique dishes and furniture count? I think so.

Chasing Shoes

This entire weekend I have been shopping. I have been looking for gifts all over the city. As I do every year, I decided that it was time to get a gift for myself. I have worked hard this year. I got a promotion. I spent enough on everyone but myself - selfish, yes. I decided that the perfect gift for myself was a pair of beautiful navy silk platform shoes by Steve Madden that were on sale at Macy's. Unfortunately, they didn't have my size in any of their stores. Thankfully, they had a sale and the woman behind the counter told me that I could exchange at any other Steve Madden store in the city...she was wrong.

I went to the store uptown with receipt in hand and asked to exchange the size. The woman behind the counter acted as if I was about to rob her as she screamed out their policy. I left with my head hung prepared to return the shoes to Macy's. Then an amazing thought popped into my head. These new shoes were a gift, to myself yes, but a gift none the less. I got out my phone and called 3 other Steve Madden stores in the city before I found the shoe in the correct size. I walked to the store downtown and presented my case with a smile hoping that the lady behind the counter would be nicer than the first. When she asked for my receipt I said "These were a gift" with the biggest smile (my mother always said to kill 'em with kindness). It worked! She exchanged the shoes for my correct size and I walked out of the store a happy girl.

Fashions Night Out Fun

Last night was officially Fashions Night Out which is the official start off to the fashion season and Fall shopping. I was so excited to hop around from shop to shop, drink free drinks, and enjoy the night. My friend and I started at Bloomingdale's with a vodka drink. This wasn't just any old vodka. This vodka, or I should be more specific, the vodka bottle had LED lights on it that you could program to say whatever you wanted. The woman promoting Media Vodka put my name on the LED screen! Now talk about a bottle of vodka with my name on it!

Next stop at Bloomies was to get bright red lipstick. I had felt that my outfit was missing something and it was a perfect addition. Continuing back out to stores we decided to just pop in wherever had a drink. Awhile after that is when I had my Obvious Reasoning #1. See below list for further details. While walking between stores in Soho, we passes the Mercer hotel where Jared Leto casually walked into with his 10 speed. I immediately decided that I would pretend to be a guest at the hotel and go and chat him up. Unfortunately, the security guard asked me what room I was staying in and I failed to answer. This is when I had my Obvious Reasoning #2. Thankfully we wound up having champagne at Calvin Klein who had created the most uncomfortable situation by putting models in their underwear in a very awkwardly small store. We obviously stayed there for awhile.

Unfortunately this year, some places decided to have guest lists and not let their events open to the public unlike last year where anyone could get in anywhere if you could fight your way in. Upon being turned away to go into a store that we didn't think had a list, Obvious Reasoning #3 was upon me. While walking to get champagne at Miu Miu, Obvious Reasonings #4, 5, and 6 happened. By the way - an Obvious Reasoning is something that I should already know but felt like I was just learning them last night.

#1 - Anywhere that has free drinks in this city is going to be mobbed.
#2 - Don't think that just because a celebrity walks into a building means that you can just walk in right behind them. They are people too but just a bit more important when it comes to security guards and bouncer's standards.
#3 - New York will always have guest lists for something to create exclusivity. I'm surprised they don't have guest lists at the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels yet.
#4 - Starting the night out with Vodka, then mojhitos, then margaritas, then adding champagne will get you noticeably drunk.
#5 - Telling all of the people in the city to come out and shop at the same time I'd a death sentence for cab drivers since the pedestrians are all over the roads. No, sorry, you cannot turn left. It is mayhem.
#6 - Drunk girls in very very high heels lead to wipeouts. Note to all of you drunks out there who were in 6 inchers that they couldn't handle - It's not a good idea to try to run to keep up with your friends. You will face plant yourself onto the sidewalk. Ohh...but you already knew that? Idiots.

Fall-ing

Yesterday everyone in my office was wearing cute new Fall clothes. Since I haven't exactly had the cash flow to buy a new wardrobe, I have been kidding myself instead. I have been repeating in my head that I don't really like the Fall (lie), and that I'm not ready to stop wearing my Summer clothes yet (lie, minus the shoes), and that I'm not excited about all of the great new items in the H&M windows that I pass by almost everyday (definitely a lie)! I must have been crazy to think that this could have ever worked. Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons - because of back to school shopping of course! Since I haven't had to technically go back to school in the past few years it should really be called "I'm bored at the office so to make it new again I need fall clothes shopping."

Today it hit me that I couldn't ignore the shopping bug anymore. Forget bed bugs, I have been infected with the shopping bug for as long as I could walk. The crisp weather and seeing every ones amazing new clothes sent me over the edge. Thankfully my birthday is just around the corner and my parents have so generously contributed to my back to school fund. Tomorrow is Fashions Night Out that includes tons of discounts around the city and lots of free giveaways...Let the shopping begin!

Wardrobe Wonders

I am going through my closets in search of something to wear to Atlantic City this weekend. As I am flipping through the dresses I slowly begin to realize that I have nothing appropriate to wear. By appropriate, I mean inappropriate. Atlantic City isn't always the classiest of places and definitely isn't where you should try out your brand new dress for the office.

Does the fact that I don't have any inappropriate clothes mean that I am getting old and growing up?! If it does, I'm headed out to go shopping for something low cut, short, and sparkly!

Shopping And Partying Under One Roof

This Friday is it...the official opening of a new shopping destination in Manhattan. This new marketplace used to be home to one of the best clubs in the city, Limelight. The Cut reports that after months of waiting and extending the opening date, it is finally here. What more could a girl ask for with a place where she used to dance her ass off that has now been turned into a place where she can shop her ass off.

Check out the Shopping Guide to make sure you can pinpoint the perfect area to find your brand new jewelry. Make sure to bring your glow sticks...

Tracking My Shopping

The New York Times posted an article today about consumer habits and how they are currently tracked through technology. These computers watch what we buy at the grocery store, what top we picked up on Saturday, where we ate our lunch, and even when we stopped to sit on a bench and relax in between shopping.

If this type of technology can track if I bought the yellow bra or the pink bra, what else can it track? Personally, I think its a great idea. It should also be able to track when someone decides to buy lots of wires, gun powder, and a few alarm clocks. These same computers should also be able to detect when someone combines all of these purchases into the trunk of an SUV and proceeds to abandon it in Times Square.

Why are we so worried about what types and colors of clothing that I am buying when we can look a little deeper at the combination of potentially dangerous things that people are buying. An invasion of privacy you say? Wouldn't you rather have a computer track what you are buying and where you are going and also know what the person next to you is buying and where they are going, rather than wondering if you are actually walking into a potentially life threatening situation? Yeah, I thought so.

Track on technology!

Ugg Sandals?

Since it is finally a little bit warm in the city, I have been thinking about Spring shoes. It might be a little too chilly to wear sandals yet but that doesn't mean that I can't dream about them! While flipping through my Vogue magazine, I caught a glimpse of the cutest sandals ever. They have a silk flower print scarf that wraps around the ankles atop a leather sandal. I got so excited about them until I saw the brand name - Ugg.

Ugg sandals? Ugg the one that makes the super comfy shearling boots that I love to wear in the snow? Yep, these super cute sandals are Ugg. See for yourself - the fuzzy boots that we love now have an amazing Summer counterpart.

Buy Them!

Shown In: turquoise multi

Red Red Lipstick

Today, in lieu of Valentine's Day approaching quickly, I decided that I needed to do something to celebrate for myself. Since I don't have a boyfriend to take me to dinner, I took myself shopping. Are you surprised? I needed makeup so I went to Sephora. As I was looking for a simple face powder, I passed by a set of lipsticks that caught my eye. Just as I started to walk away, a sales associate asked me if I needed help finding anything. I said "I have been meaning to try a red lipstick, I think." She replied "Ohh perfect, but you need to be more confident about it than that if you really want to wear a red lipstick." I smiled and asked her to pick one for me.

Two minutes later I am standing, staring at myself in the light bulb framed mirror, however it didn't look like the old me. I looked daring, sexy, and kind of like a bombshell for a slow Saturday afternoon. I asked "So, what do I need to wear this? A lip liner or something?" The saleswoman responded pointedly and said "Balls, honey. You need balls but you look amazing." I said "Sold!"

Happy Valentines Weekend ;)

Last Day For The Sales?

All this week I was stressing out about getting my holiday shopping done. I was running around the city looking for the perfect gifts. I was also getting continual emails from stores claiming that it was "The Last Day." They were saying that it was the last day for the sale, for the deals, for the shipping, for the best gifts. However, I continued to get these emails all week from the same stores.

A quick note to all of you online retailers - Please don't freak out your shoppers by making them think it is their last chance to get the best gifts. It is just mean. You make us worry and stress over gifts when we actually have a few days left. Yes, we are cutting it close and we know it, but we are just waiting for the right thing to come along. And we also know that the best deals to be had are after the holidays, so don't try to fool us online retailers :)

Online Shopping

I was just browsing the Internet for a Vintage fur coat. I landed upon this website called Mildred's Antiques. It seemed like a cute selection of coats, jackets, hats, and even teddy bears until I came upon the strangest thing. After all of the wonderful fur selections, a pair of Lucite shoes are for sale. Size 7.5 with rhinestone trim. Very good condition. $160. Does this Mildred lady assume that anyone looking for a fur coat or teddy bear would also like to purchase Lucite shoes?? I am wondering if a fur coat is the right choice to keep me warm this winter.

Bad Date-O-Rama

Yesterday, I went on a date with Bar Boy. I haven't seen him in such a long time and he had been bugging me to go out again. I was thinking that I could go as just friends instead of a real date. I already know that I don't like him, so the reason that it was a bad date is more my fault than his. Either way, I had a boring time.

We started out by going to the Guggenheim. The last time that I went to the museum was with him also and I had sworn to never go back because I didn't enjoy it at all. This time was a little different. They had the Kandinsky exhibit and it was beautiful. The colors that he uses are amazing. However, towards the end of the exhibit when you just kind of get sick of looking at paintings with a boring person, you begin to wish someone funny was with you. I was hoping for someone to make me laugh at the moment when I got so bored. If you ever need to know if you really like a guy or not, take him to a museum. If he is a bore after an hour, then you know what to do.

Next, we went to lunch at Pastis. This is one of my favorite restaurants and once again, I didn't really enjoy it because I was so bored and had used up everything I had to say at the exhibit. After lunch, he decides that he wants to go shopping. Normally when I hear the word shopping I want to jump for joy. Instead, I wanted to hop in a cab and run away. Thankfully we only went to one store and then I went home.

I did 3 of my very favorite things, look at art, eat, and shop, and didn't enjoy any of them. Needless to say, I will not be hanging out with Bar Boy again. For all of you girls out there going on a date with a person that you already know that you do not like, in can sometimes be more painful that going on a date with a person you end up not liking during the first date.

What I Learn From Shopping

Shopping isn't just a silly thing to do when one wants to pass the time. It can actually teach you a lot of life lessons.

Sharing - When you see someone who is looking for that exact dress you have been carrying around for over 10 minutes just because you like it and not because you are going to buy it, you kindly pass it off to her. This is sharing.

Math - Yes, I know that math is not a life lesson, but it is something to learn. 20% off, 40% off, 2 for $20 versus $15 each. You quickly learn math and how to calculate the value of buying in multiples.

Patience - You have been waiting in line for over 15 minutes to get a fitting room. Finally you get to try on all of your clothes and make it to the register. There is another line to check out. Patience is learned in these lines. Since the clothes that you are holding are worth it, you will wait patiently in line and you quickly learn that huffing and puffing doesn't make the line go faster. Honestly, it makes the lady behind the counter go slower just to make you angrier.

Decision Making - There is always that time when you have to choose between the really fun party dress and the black cardigan that you came into the store to find. You needed the cardigan but are very reluctant to let go of the sparkly number you spotted on the rack when you walked in. Not only do you learn to decide, you find out if you are a practical person or if you are a little more adventurous than you thought. Who needs work clothes anyway?

Focus - Checking each tag for the little S, M, or L is a lesson in focus. You need to be zeroing in to find that little letter printed in each garment while also flipping through the rack at an even pace so you can shop the rest of the store in the 15 minutes that you have to shop on your lunch break. If you are too slow, you only see a little bit of the store, if you are too fast you never find your size.

Calmness - When the doors to the sample sale are finally opened after waiting in line for 1/2 an hour, all you want to do is run in screaming and grabbing things off of the shelves. However, calmness is key in this situation since all of those girls that run in screaming don't have the focus and calmness to walk past the crowd to the back where all of the fun treasures are hidden.

Happiness - One of life's biggest rewards is being truly happy. The thrill of purchasing a truly amazing high heel or cocktail ring always makes me happy :)

Happy Learning and Shopping!

A Fabulous New York Weekend

I had a fabulous weekend with my mother and aunt who came to visit me in the city. On Friday night we did something very New York - went to a Drag-Queen Bar called Lips! Thankfully, even though I dragged them there, we had fun laughing with the performers of the show.

Saturday was filled with even more New York events such as SHOPPING!!! We shopped the entire day and got so much stuff. I don't care what kind of mood I am in, shopping always makes me happy, especially when I get some really amazing shoes :)

The Park is the restaurant that we went to on Saturday night. I love this place for the atmosphere, however, our food wasn't that great. It took such a long time for it to get to the table and then it was cold. I had been there before and everything was perfect so hopefully this was the only time. A dinner with all women is always filled with quite a lot of chatter about everything and this dinner was no different.

We ended up talking about, of all things, dinner times. It was about 10:30 by the time we actually got our dinner and my girlfriend and I weren't that phased by it. However, my mom and aunt were starved and not used to eating so late. We discussed how 9:00 is the perfect time to meet a date for a dinner. That way, if you have a good date and the dinner goes well you can go right into dancing and drinks. If the dinner does not go well you can always begin acting. Start by yawning and pretending to zone out, if you haven't done so already. After a yawn or two say "I'm so sorry but it is really getting late and I have an early morning." It most likely isn't a lie if you are bored out of your mind!

Crazy Old Ladies

This afternoon I went to the grocery store to shop for the upcoming week.  I go to Trader Joe's in Union Square which, anyone that has been there will tell you, is ridiculously busy.  Almost everything is organic or just healthy and super cheap.  If the line doesn't stretch out the door, there are at least 20+ people bumping into you per trip.  

As I was waiting in line, which started at the front of the store, wrapped around the back, and eventually ended in the front again, an older woman who looked about the age of 80 or more jumped in front of me to grab something out of the cold case beside me.  This is normal as the line wraps around the store in front of the food making it very difficult to shop.  After grabbing her cottage cheese, the old lady stayed in front of me in the line.  This made me a little angry because she jumped the line but there was no way that I was going to say anything to her.  How much of a jackass would I have been to tell the old lady that she had jumped in front of me and 75% of the rest of the people in the store and that she should go back to where the line began?

I stood in the line behind the old lady and said nothing, however I wondered about her for the rest of the time.  Did she realize that she cut in line? Did she care?  If I was 80 years old, would I care that I cut all of those people in line?  Probably not.  I would assume that by that age, I had waited in enough lines for my lifetime and that I was entitled to just skip them from now on.  Who would say anything?  If anyone did say anything you could just ignore them and pretend that you didn't and can't hear, or you could play the "I'm a little bit off my rocker" card and act nuts.  Honestly, I would let any old lady cut me in line after really thinking about it.  She already has to wear orthopedic shoes which is bad enough and also wears her elastic pants up to her boobs (or is it that she is wearing her pants at the same spot they have always been and her boobs have just fallen far enough down to meet them?)  The next time someone jumps in front of me in line, I won't be so quick to get angry.

I'm a Little Teapot

This post really is about a teapot.  And yes, I would file this under cooking since it is about the closest that I get!  

I bought the cutest teapot today at Macy's.  It is the Martha Stewart Enameled Cast Iron Teakettle in "Martha Blue."  I, however, think that it looks a little more like "Tiffany Blue."

Whatever color it is, it brightens up my kitchen and makes me smile - and my kitchen doesn't make me smile often!