TAG!

I got tagged by Tina.....ask you & shall receive!

I don't have anyone to tag that is not already playing, but I hope you all enjoy this hideous photo of me & my sis, just for kicks. This is a SUPER old photo of me & one of my sisters, circa 1983, if I had to guess. I know I was a junior in high school or about to be one, as much as I hate to admit that looking back on this photo with our fab mullets & geek attire! It was ALL about Adam Ant in those days, as well as Duran Duran. This photo was taken by our dad during a trip to Detroit to visit him & the rest of the family. I later read the rules of this game. The rules of this photo blog tag are as such....

What to Do:

Go to your photo files, pick the 6th folder and the 6th picture and post it! Then tag 5 of your unsuspecting friends! So, if I play by the rules, the real photo, from folder #6, photo #6 is the one of the peacock. I took this photo at the LA Arboretum in the earlier part of this decade. The damn bird would not open his feathers, so this was as good as it got!


Thanks, Tina!

Bella Wish -- handcrafted w/ LOVE

OK, time for some online FUN shopping for a change.....a very dear friend gave birth to an adorable little girl nearly 6 months ago (my, how time flies) & this new chapter of motherhood has pushed her to find other means of making a living.....so she can stay home & be with her sweet baby more & be off in some horrid office environment less. She has created a line of jewelry & is working at adding items daily to her site on Etsy. Here is the link.....I hope it works, if not, try searching on Etsy.com for BELLA WISH.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5830407

At any rate, BELLA WISH specializes in ALL hand-made pieces, as well as custom orders, including adorable dog tags for the pups in your life. Items are of the best quality sterling silver, some include gemstones or charms -- the choice is yours & the possibilities for creativity are endless! All of the items are hand-stamped, hand-finished & made with lots of love & care, not to mention the attention to detail. No 2 items are alike.

My pal is so very creative & it's wonderful to see her taking this leap into self-employment. I hope that I can soon follow in her footsteps, but in the meantime, I hope you will drop by her online store & do a little shopping to support her cause.....and to keep the real-life Bella Wish well-stocked in clean diapers! ha ha!!!! Check back often as she is constantly adding new photos as new items are created. Working all alone & by just her own 2 hands takes time, you know. And, speaking of worthy causes, some of her items also provide for charitable donations to be made to various organizations when you purchase them.....just be sure to read her item descriptions & you will learn all you need to know about all of the items & any linked charity causes. (She will donate to the ASPCA on the dog tag sales, for example).

Hurry, check it out!! I am sure my pal would be happy to have you visit her BELLA WISH Etsy store and I know she would LOVE to make you a custom pendant!

Happy Shopping!

Underwear from Down Under

I think I may just have a new fave vendor for underwear.....GILLY HICKS Sydney! It's actually a spin-off of Abercrombie, but all undies, bras & some lounge-wear. We went to the retail store at the new Americana at Brand in Glendale last weekend....purely by accident. I was not shopping for undies -- after all, I have MORE than a girl could ever possibly use! But, they had such a cute store-front, like a quaint old beach-house porch with big, down-filled patio furniture to lounge on... how could we resist? We were intrigued & had to head inside to see what it was all about. It's probably not fair to freeload, I mean LOUNGE on their porch without at least taking a peek inside, right?

At the front door, you are greeted by cute employees decked out in some COMFY looking loungewear with the Gilly Hicks logo all over it. Inside, it's dim & dark, with dark wood floors & you have to wander from room to room.......much like a real house only without windows or much in the way of lighting. The place is constantly being "misted" by some form of aroma-therapy, but subtle. There are girls perched everywhere in their comfy "uniforms" of Gilly Hicks lounge pants & tanks -- I guess they have to keep an eye on you in that dark place to make sure you don't shoplift! ha ha!!!!

As you wander from room to room, there are cute, simple tables & wall displays of undies, undies & more undies.....sprinkled with a few tanks, camisoles, shorts, T's, lounge pants & hoodies. Everything is soft -- like a chamois cloth!!! All the displays have very focused tiny halogen spot-lights, so while the entire store is DARK like night, all you see is the lit up displays of panties & the like. The prices are not as bad as I would have expected, either, but not cheap.

The fitting rooms have dressers inside them (as in furniture dressers) filled with all the popular bras in all sizes so you can try them all on without having to run out repeatedly to get other sizes or styles. Genius idea!

It's like being in a fun-house of underwear.....so dark & compartmentalized, but fun because you never know what's around the next corner in the next room! The cash wrap desk is in the far back corner of the store & if you can believe it, it's even darker in that room still! They wrapped up my purchases SO cute & the bag is adorable with sturdy, thick paper & cloth handles. My husband said this was the first time he ever actually enjoyed underwear shopping & looks forward to going again. (Normally, you can't pay him enough to set foot in a place like VS, for example).

So, after we dropped a small fortune & signed away the rights to our first-born, we made our way back out of the dark, cozy store.....and by cozy, I am not implying small. It was a big place, with a LOT of rooms! Make sure you have your sunglasses ready upon exiting because that daylight sun is blinding after wandering through that dark underwear fun-house for the last 30 minutes or so........all in all, a really fun experience! And, the undies are very comfy & flattering, too!

On a side note, I found that most of the panties run smaller than normal, so keep that in mind if you are buying stuff without trying it on -- and, let's face it, how many of us try on undies before we buy?? Not many & certainly not I.

GILLY HICKS -- a whole lotta fun for your undergarment needs! I highly recommend at least touring the store, but I dare you to walk out without buying SOMETHING. :)

Happy Shopping!

Shoes on Sale!

It's that time of year for the Nordstrom shoe sale....40% off clearance merchandise. It's a great time to score some nice prices on some even nicer shoes, if you have some extra dough lying around your wallet....which currently, I do not. At any rate, I recommend this sale to anyone who has feet!!

Happy Shopping!

I heart Salvatore Ferragamo

OKAY.......one more post for the day & then I am done, I promise!

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO is having their "factory store" sale for Labor day weekend (last day of the sale is 9/1/08). The factory store would be the locations at your local premium outlet mall. in my case, the closest location is in Cabazon, just outside of Palm Springs.

Handbags, my weakness, are 40-60% off retail prices. I have been known to come home with a fantastic deal during such sale events! I know these handbags don't come cheap even at outlet mall sale prices, but they are awesome! Who would not want a bag marked down from say $1100.00 to maybe $400? Many Coach bags can cost $400 or more, you know......

Shoes are 75-80% off at this outlet sale. Clothing & other items will also have significant reductions. Last Fall, I scored a pair of Ferragamo shades for only $99.00. They have seldom left my face since I bought them!

So, if you have a taste for premium goodies, particularly handbags, I highly recommend checking this event out before it's too late. There are other stores in Vegas, Florida, NY, etc. Pick me up a little something pretty if you go..........

Happy Shopping!

Love me some Loehmann's!

It's that time again at Loehmann's.....you know the time......when all the clearance merchandise is yet another 50-70% off the clearance prices. Wahooo! I suggest you all high-tail it over to your local Loehmann's store before it's too late. I have been there the last 2 weeks thanks to a generous b-day gift card from my bother & his wife. Too bad I spent it all before this new sale began, but it's all good. I did get stuff I liked!

Happy Shopping!!

Did I fall off the Earth?

I have to confess, not doing much shopping these days & I find myself wondering why I even need this blog page now? Ha ha!! My intent was to share the all the deals I find, but alas, I have not been shopping to share.....

I had a b-day recently. That always sends wonderful gift cards my way to places like Loehmann's, Macy's, Target & Victoria Secret. I went online just yesterday to spend the VS gift card so we shall see how that turns out. Loehmann's is always great & a long-time fave store of mine. I found a few cute tops, including a "Retro Sport" Raiders t-shirt for my man.....he loved it. It was soft & worn like he has owned it for a million years......right up his fashion alley! Let's just hope our fave NFL team performs better this season than in recent past seasons. I still have some Loehmann's credit to spare for another day.

I went to Macy's to spend a gift card I had for that store........shockingly, I bought myself a sweater for Fall in a color no one ever sees me in -- purple! Well, OK, maybe it's a very muted egg-plant shade, but it's still purple (and I hate purple). I was drawn to it for some reason. It's by American Rag and I very much look forward to cooler weather so I can try it out. I still can't believe I bought purple..........must be my old age!!!

All that aside, there are some upcoming deals:
Macy's / Lancome - gift w/ purchase of $29.50 (Starts this Friday) - looks like a nice GWP, too!
They also have another "One Day Sale" this Saturday, but it starts on Friday.

Sorry for the lack of cool information this time around. Trying to save money, so I am shopping less, which makes life far more boring, I know.

Happy Shopping!