4.29.2012

Saturday Night Shopping

I did travel to another JC B&M on Saturday night; I'm glad I did.  I found the Tillary purse in collegiate green and a linen cable knit sweater in beige--both on sale, then -30%, -15% with my teacher's discount.  I also purchased a Blythe silk blouse in alabaster to go with my schoolboy tipped linen blazer (and almost anything else in my closet).  Purse and sweater came to less than $78 together; silk blouse was not on sale.  

{I LOVE green!}

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome week!

4.28.2012

Pimms anyone?

Wooooo Hoooooo!

It sure doesn't take much to make me a happy camper.  I went out with some of my colleagues last night.  At first, I wasn't thrilled at the choice in location, but the little Irish pub called Merlin's Rest turned out to be a nice treat.  They serve Pimms!  Yummy!  What's not to love about an adult beverage filled with strawberries, cucumbers, green apple and orange slices and fresh mint?  I fell in love with this drink when I was in London years ago.  It's just such a hassle to mix a single drink at home.  I could have stuck a straw in the pitcher and sucked the whole thing down myself.  Easy to guess where I will be on hot, lazy evenings this summer!  : )

Today I went to J.Crew to return my (neon) jewelry and to exchange my Sperry Top-Siders--one of the grommets came out on the first wear!  I really didn't see a whole lot of things that I wanted to try on, but my hubby was with, so I didn't feel like I could take my time.  I looked at the pink and navy color block cardigan that I love online.  It was already sold out in my size at that location, so I didn't try it on.  My thoughts?  Beautiful colors, but such a light-weight fabric for the price!  I did grab a cream/black striped tee and, as luck would have it, someone had returned a Schoolboy blazer in tipped linen in my size.  Fell in love with it as soon as I tried it on, so that came home with me, too.

After leaving the mall, we stopped at a few thrift stores.  I bought only one item:  a pair of J.Crew chino shorts in that super light (shell?) pink color from maybe two or three summers ago...in my size...with the tags still attached...for $7.99.  Yippee!  At the cash register, I learned that they were an additional 50% off.  $3.99.  Score!  Now it just needs to get warm enough to wear them!

I'm thinking about going to another mall tonight; I hate sitting on the couch on the weekends, even though it is abysmally cold and rainy here today--perfect for snuggling on the couch under the blankets with my mini dachshunds.   Maybe there's time to do both!

Here are my past few OOTDs

form Friday:

and Thursday:
Hope you all enjoy your weekend, and, as always, thanks for reading!

4.25.2012

The good, the bad and the obsession

Hiya!  I've got some J.Crew blabbering to post today.

The good:  B&M customer service.  I can't give enough accolades to the SAs at the stores in the Minneapolis area.  Every time I go in, with VERY few exceptions, folks go out of their way to be friendly, accommodating and to make me feel like my business is important to them.  Since my J.Crew obsession began, I've established a first name relationship with at least one SA in each store I shop in regularly.  I receive phone messages from one and emails from another including messages to inform me she has found and put on hold items I have been looking for while she was doing her own personal shopping in other stores than her own!

I am a return-aholic, and very rarely do I feel scrutinized or condemned for my returns (I almost always end up purchasing something else).  Often, when I enter conversations about the quality of items, they'll agree with me and share their own personal stories about seams gone awry or odd sizing/fits.  Love this.  Sometimes they even complain to me about what J.Crew does/doesn't allow them to purchase themselves.  "High demand" items are off limits to them.  Didn't know that!

The bad:  Quality.  I ordered a pair of shorts and a necklace online a few weeks back.  The necklace showed up looking like crap.  The enameled links of the chain looked like they'd been to hell and back.  Scratched, nicked--the metal underneath the paint exposed all over the necklace.  WTF?  Granted, this necklace was not one of their higher priced jewelry items, but really.  I requested to order another in the store, but it was sold out by then.  Of course, the necklace popped back online after the 30% off sale was done, so I ordered it at the sale price with no discount and paid the shipping costs.  I am thinking about calling online customer service, hoping that the BM clerk coded my return reason as "defective merchandise".  I wonder if they'd give me the % off price.  I guess it would be worth a try.  Nothing to lose; a few dollars to gain.

More bad:  Color fail.  I ordered a few other jewelry items recently:  the new "double crystal brulee" necklace in flame and matching bracelet in flame and in yellow.  The yellow was shipped later, but I got the orange today.  The color is perfect...if you hunt deer and need to wear neon orange to be seen in the woods.  Yuk.  Not impressed at all.  And the "stones" in the bracelet are super small.  I don't remember the first version of the bracelet having such small stones.  I'll see how "neon" the yellow one is, but I have a hunch I'll be returning all three.  Bummer!

The obsession:  Statement jewelry.  So this pending return almost allows me to justify my splurge from last weekend:  the bubble necklace in yellow.  Hefty, hefty, hefty price on that sucker, but soooooo awesome!  I got a gray one on eBay this winter for around $20 (who knows if it's a knock off or authentic--who cares!) and I always get a ton of compliments every time I wear it.  I have a red one coming from somewhere in the far East sometime this year for which I paid around $15 including shipping.  It will be interesting to compare the J.Crew one to the one I have and the one that's coming.  I'll let you know.

Although I've been invited, I haven't been in the stores for the new roll-out this week.  After trucking in on a weeknight for the last few only to be disappointed in the number of new items in the store, I'll wait for the weekend.

Here are my past few OOTDs!

Today/Wednesday: (Sorry the lighting is so crappy!  I'm wearing the jade cafe capris with a bright yellow tee and patent black belt.  And my gray bubble necklace!  The paisley sweater was an eBay purchase.)

 Tuesday:  (with and without blazer)

















And Monday:
Thanks for reading!

4.21.2012

Greetings!

 
I went to an exhibit this week that one of my students helped create at the MN History Museum.  To my surprise, this cheery art greeted me on my way in.  Love big-letter post cards!  Thought I'd greet you with it, too.

Here's my OOTD from Friday.  I ended up swapping out the black shoes for some bright yellow flats.  POP!
It was a good week, all-in-all.  I've begun my summer search for just the right bike accessories.  I've been looking for many, many years, but can't seem to find the right bag/basket/pannier/handle bar bag that hits the right note.  They're either too industrial/military looking, or the wrong size.  When I find something I like, my bike isn't set up to accommodate it.  I don't want to add things I can't take off to my bike.  I'm already sort-of regretting having fenders added to my Marin bike last summer.  When you search online, there are TONS of awesome choices...in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands.  I thought I found a winner with Po Campo, but I'd need to install a rack that attached to the axle or frame because I have a shock-post seat.  Here are some of the cute bags I found online that won't work:

These are by a company called Fast Rider out of the Netherlands.  I found them on the Australian web site Cycle Style.  The one on the left is sold out, and the company's catalog doesn't have any information about ordering or retail locations.  The one on the right is not made any more.  'S all good; both need a back rack, which I can't do.

I ended up purchasing this Po Campo bag for my handlebars:

Certainly not big enough to fit anything but the bare necessities.  But I have a need for that.  Now I'm considering Timbuk2 messenger bags.  They have the option of designing your own, which I like.  Here's what I'm considering ordering:

Timbuk2 is offering 30% off to recycle old bags; I happen to have one I've used only once or twice.  My question is what size to order, small or medium.  And whether it would work as a tote bag/purse, too.  I went to REI to "try some on", but they didn't carry the small size.  The straps seemed twisty to carry the medium on one shoulder (vs. cross-body), and it felt a little large on my side, but not across my back.  I like that it doesn't look like it will look like a bike bag from the photo above.  But I'd want it to be useful as a bag when I'm not on my bike, too.  Custom orders cannot be returned, so I've got to be sure.

Decisions, decisions.

I guess I'll send off my old bag regardless, then decide when I get the discount coupon emailed to me.  I like that they recycle them by giving them to others in need.  : )

Thanks for reading!