A New Milestone

Several years ago, I would not have been caught dead doing this. I still would not be caught doing this on a Friday or Saturday night. Yet, for the first time tonight, after a trip to J. Crew to exchange some things, I --- get this ---- went to see a movie . . . BY MYSELF!!! Considering my weird work schedule and the abundance of time I have off during weekdays, I have been thinking about this often, but have been to lazy to follow through on it. This couldn't have come at a better time, though, because there was a movie theater at the mall, and this movie was starting just a minute or two after I browsed up to the marquee to see what was playing.

What did I see, you ask? Confessions of a Shopaholic, of course! Lame, I know, but I love Isla Fisher, and I have read almost all of the books, despite the fact that they became increasingly annoying with each new one. Besides, I don't know of too many other people in my vicinity who would like to go see this movie anyway. Furthermore, I pretty much AM a shopaholic, and the subject of this movie is something I can relate to!

Overall, I thought it was really cute and really funny. Better than expected. And lots of eye candy in terms of great costumes, scenery, and the cute leading man! Plus, there was an appearance by a J. Crew item; the Campo de' Fiori sweater dress from last year. It was worn by the main character's roommate and styled with hot pink tights to make it look completely atrocious. But I was happy by the sighting, nonetheless. Seriously, I am a COMPLETE dork!

The Best Part of Holiday Shopping . . .

. . . is that you will hear "Last Christmas" by Wham! at least three times during each trip to the mall. Word.

Random musings about J. Crew

I'm just going to quick hit a few deals I got and make a few comments about a few items:

Salina Iridescent Patent Leather Flats in Guava:

I think I got these on sale, plus 30% off, so they were around $60. They are very pretty and the guava color is neutral enough to go with almost anything.

Large Odile Bag in Driftwood:

Once again, a great neutral to go with everything. It's also the type of neutral that will work year-round. The leather is very soft. It is lined with cotton twill. I was a little disappointed that it didn't come with a dust bag, but I can live with that. It was only around $150 including shipping after 30% off the sale price. I actually ended up with two of these bags after I got an e-mail stating that my original order had been cancelled. Well, I reordered the bag since it was showing as still in-stock, and what do you know, both my original and the new one arrived at my doorstep. While returning the extra bag, a woman in the next line over loved it so much that she decided to purchase it after my return was complete.

Italian Calfskin Jamie Bag in Dark Cloud:
The leather on this bag is soooo soft and pretty, but it will scratch quite easily. It is quite roomy and lined with a silk grosgrain type material. Unfortunately, on my second day of using it, the tassel on one of the zipper-pulls came detached. It's hard to describe, but basically I am going to have to try to take it to a shoe repair and see if they can do anything about it. J. Crew was already sold out of the Jamie bags in this color, but they did credit 10% of the purchase price back to my card to cover the expense of getting it repaired. I got this bag on sale for around $210, which is almost half of what it originally cost.

Morgan Cozy Cardigan:

I posted about this earlier on my list of things that I wanted. I bought it, but now I am having second thoughts. It is super soft and cozy. However, it is not made entirely of alpaca wool. It also contains acrylic, which is not acceptable for a sweater that costs nearly $200. I was in my local J. Crew today, and they had the sweater on sale for $130 (plus an additional 30% off), so I might see if there is a store that has my size left and repurchase it at the lower price.

Cashmere Sweaters:


They are all only $99 in stores, plus an additional 30% off. I got an off-white cardigan and a black turtleneck. Boring, yes, but they are just some staples I needed for my wardrobe.

My local store was pretty close to clearing out all of their winter merchandise and predominantly featuring their spring/resort collection. Some of the items are very pretty, but I have barely even started to get wear out of my fall and winter stuff! I just need to hold out for as long as possible, knowing that it will eventually go on sale. While I love the J. Crew Aficionada blog, reading it all the time makes me become a bit irrational. I decide I *have* to get a certain item right as soon as it comes out, because it won't be available for long. Well, that bit me in the ass more than a few times, because practically everything I ever bought at full price ended up sticking around and getting marked down big time! This is good for J. Crew, but bad for my checking account...

The Holidays are Here!

I just spent the afternoon buying a few festive things to get my apartment in the mood for the holiday season.

First off was this pretty wreath from Pottery Barn:


Right now their holiday decor is up to 50% off, so I got this for only $49.99, down from $99. There's no way in hell this thing is worth anywhere near the original price, so I was glad I could get it for less, since it is the only wreath that really caught my eye. They also have some cute woodland creature and acorn ornaments that I might buy on after-Christmas clearance sale if they are still around (and I'm sure they will be).





To really get myself in the spirit, I stopped at Starbucks to pick up a Peppermint Twist Mocha. I have no idea if this is supposed different than the regular Peppermint Mocha, they probably just changed the name to entice suckers like me to buy it. They also have a new Espresso Truffle latte, which I tried yesterday. Tomorrow I plan on trying the Gingersnap Latte. Once again, this is probably just the Gingerbread Latte with a snazzier name. Btw, my local Starbucks is now carries some hot, savory breakfast items. They are tasty, but it brings the bill close to nine bucks. Oh, I think I would be very disgusted with myself if I added how much I spent on breakfast and triple grande holiday-themed lattes at Starbucks this week.

Next, I went to Target to pick up a wreath hanger and a few other random holiday things like some winter white place mats with metallic branches and leaves embroidered on them, and some glittery pears to replace the fake apples in this green glass bowl that sits on the counter top. Target really does have some cute Christmas decor, grouped into cute themed collections, like Birchwood Chalet, Snowfall Splendor, and Arctic Solstice.



I also picked up a few bird ornaments. Although I sadly do not have room for anything other than a miniature tree in my apartment, I am collecting bird ornaments, because one day I hope to have a full-sized tree that has nothing but birds on it. I love birds. Except for grackles and pigeons. I think when I am older and own a house, I will put all kinds of bird feeders in my backyard and become an amateur bird watcher or something. Anyway, it seems like I am in luck, because bird ornaments are just everywhere this season. Anthropologie has some especially adorable ones.

Once I put out the decor and put the pine-tree scented refills in my Wallflowers (which I wisely bought well over a month ago, because the holiday scents always seem to be sold out before Thanksgiving!), my humble abode will be ready for holidays! All I will need to do to make it complete is play my Rat Pack Christmas CD and pour a glass or two of champagne. It's about time I made a dent in my seven (yes, seven) bottle stash...