“Unable to Refuse a Good Deal”…Or “I Have a Problem”?

I wish it were cut and dry, but it’s not.

Here’s the sitch:

I fell in love with this bag when I saw Kristin Cavallari running around The Grove with it:

It’s the Kirsten satchel by Alexander Wang in granite.  I didn’t know this at first.  I didn’t learn who made the bag until I emailed the Possessionista and she wrote a blog post about me.  Yep, here it is:

Yeah, I know.  I’m a freak.  Anyway, I started a mad search for the purse.  Know what I found out?  It was $945.00.  Yeah.  So I tried everything for this baby:

I looked for coupon codes, I searched eBay.  I even asked the newly-divorced guys at work if I could clean their house once a week for a year in exchange for the bag, to which they replied, “That’d be nice, but I can’t spend that much on a bag.”

So I pouted.  I found the Kirsten Satchel on eBay in the taupe color (I wanted granite) and began a bidding war that proceeded to dominate my weekend.  I pouted some more.

And then Bergdorf Goodman sold out of my precious bag.  And so did Neiman Marcus.  And I gave up.

But I was jonesing for a new bag.  JONESING.  So…I found one.  I really wanted this bag for a long time, but couldn’t justify the $448:

I ended up buying this one instead for a damn good price:

But then I wanted the Alexander Wang bag…a lot because of the color.  So I began to hunt for a green bag–olive green to be specific, and since I already had a brown bag, I compromised and (as much as it verifies that I have a problem) I purchased this:

FOR 50% OFF THE ORIGINAL PRICE!  And it’s a beautiful green color.  Thanks to my, Tweeps, especially, the Country Man’s Wife!

That either makes me a helluva deal-finder…or a compulsive handbag-buying bitch.  Let’s go with the latter?

 

No More Christmas Surprises

It blows Mike’s mind that I don’t care about knowing what all of my Christmas presents are.  And it drives my mother nuts that she never has anything to surprise me on Christmas morning anymore.  But the truth is that I just don’t care about surprises anymore.

I’d much rather know that I’m getting things I like, and that I won’t have to run around in the days after Christmas returning and exchanging things.  It really doesn’t bother me to know everything that is under the tree.  Plus it helps my momma out because I can run around and go shopping with her and not have to have her worry about sneaking presents.  It’s really a service that I do, ya know?  I’m just doing daughterly duties.  ;)

On another Christmasy note, and to conveniently help me be more womanly, I have been invited to a Christmas

Cookie Party.  Every person will bring a different type of Christmas cookie, a dozen for each of the attendees, and everyone will walk away with tons of cookies!  It’s a really cool idea and I’m pretty excited about it.  So this weekend, I’ll be seeing about some cookies, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to make these cookies to the right.

Oh the Christmas season is in full swing!

 

 

Shopping Success

We did it!  Mom and I have almost every single present bought for Christmas.  And wrapped!  The tree looks awesome.  I’ll get a picture of it when I go home next weekend.  I had so much fun with her, and with my poppa.  They’re the best.  Plus an unbeatable sale at the Gap.

I have a lot on my mind today.

I’m thankful that something worked out in my favor, and that an honest mistake was understood.

I’m excited to see Mike tonight.

I’m nervous for tomorrow.

I’m exhausted and ready for Christmas.

I’m high on carpet glue from the remodel ha ha.

And I’m hungry, so I’m going for sushi.

Later people.

 

An Uncrazy Black Friday

So it’s 9:25am on Black Friday.  I’m sitting with my family in the living room watching Storage Wars while Mom paints her nails and while my brother picks at leftover dessert for breakfast.

Mike is getting ready in the back, thinking about where we want to go:  Cleveland, Toledo, or Sandusky.

We’ll go out today to shop, but mostly to get our first taste of the Christmas spirit (minus my consistent listening of Justin Bieber’s Under the Mistletoe).  We just like to see the people, to drink coffee in the food court, and to walk under the gawdy Christmas decorations hanging from the ceiling.

While I’m a bigger fan of Cyber Monday (and cyber shopping in general), I still think Black Friday is an entertaining phenomenon.  It’s a chance to see people at their best, and at their worst.

So out we go into the world.  Happy Black Friday everyone!

 

 

A HECKUVA deal.

So.  Okay.  So.  I’m really excited.  I ordered that dress from eShakti and it was too big.

So I went to the mall last night after work and got a different dress.  It was one of those “walk into Dillard’s, spot the dress, get really excited, grab it, try on 8 other dresses just to make sure there’s nothing better, but ultimately know that my heart is already set on the dress I looked at to begin with that fits like a glove and makes me super happy because I don’t have to wear a bra with it” kinda moments.

It was $80.  More than I would have liked to spend, but I was in love.  I walked up to the lovely woman behind the counter who said, “I think this should be on sale.”  She scanned it.  $53!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so excited.  And then it made it even better because I didn’t have shoes to match the dress–duh.  So I went downstairs, found some shoes for $30!!!!!!! and now I’m just damn excited.

I will not post pictures of the dress because I do not want you to see it until after I’ve worn it.

______________________________________

This happens to me a lot.  When I bought my Michael Kors purse, it jumped up $80 the very next day.  I got the last hotel room in Cincinnati for The Requiem Project for the lowest price.  It happened with my dress.  It happened with my shoes.

Tonight, I will buy a lottery ticket.

 

“That’s all you’re buying?”

Last night, I ran to Kmart at 9:11 pm to buy one of the following items, all of which are unacceptable/embarrassing/promote odd looks when they are the only item you are purchasing.

*I know some of these from experience, and some from watching others buy them.

Single Items That Are Awkward to Purchase

A plunger

Tampons

Underwear

Vaseline

Chocolate syrup

Pregnancy test (unless you were TRYING to get pregnant )

Medicine for athlete “itch”

A teeny bopper magazine (with Bieber on it) as a 25-year-old woman

…I’m stopping this before it goes too far.

Basically, the embarrassing things to buy are digestive, medical, or sexual.  And buying them as single items (and in some cases, pairs) can certainly raise a few eyebrows.

And I’ll tell you that I bought a plunger last night.  And I made a joke about to the cashier, who was surrounded by a bunch of other workers because no one goes to Kmart anymore.

I was trying to think of things that I’m too embarrassed to by as single items, but the truth is, that there just aren’t any.  I used to get so embarrassed buying Backstreet Boy posters and magazines.  And I made my mother buy tampons until I was in college.  But anymore, there just isn’t anything that I wouldn’t step up and buy solo.

Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten cheap, and that I don’t want to spend more than I have to just to provide “check-out camouflage” (thanks Woody!).

What wouldn’t you buy as a single item?  Or maybe what wouldn’t you buy as a single item in the past?