FEDEX DELIVERY

My St. John pants were delivered today, a day early! Woohoo!!! I love them and can't wait to wear them this weekend. The pants do however need to be hemmed. Thanks Mom! Tomorrow we are going to do an exchange with Mom, she doesn't like one of her early Mother's Day presents, a white striped linen suit. Oh well, I tried. I really hope that she finds something that she likes tomorrow. We are also going to the Ellen Tracy boutique, I can't wait! Also, I had so many packages arrive today that I felt like a post office. DHL and USPS were for hubby. After the last delivery my house looked like a warehouse. Tomorrow I am ordering another jacket from St. John, I just have to call my SA.

SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING

Today (Saturday, even though I am posting at 3:11am Sunday since we just got home) I started out late due to a flat tire, so I only bought a few things. A pair of St. John cuffed slacks in Mulberry and a St. John Sport 2 piece outfit. The outfit consists of a cropped mandarin collar jacket and long pants in a light brown checkered pattern. It is VERY cute and VERY versatile. I LOVE VERSATILE!!! Unfortunately the outfit wasn't on sale, but at least the mulberry slacks were newly marked down. Hooray for me!!! Pics to follow soon!

SPECIAL THANKS TO FAHIONABLEYETFRUGAL'S JACQUELYN

I just wanted to take a moment and give a very special thanks to our friend Jacquelyn, editor and publisher of http://www.fashionableyetfrugal.blogspot.com for including us in her very selective blogroll.

I couldn't have wished for anything better than to be recognized by you Jacquelyn. Thanks again!


XOXOXOXO

I FOUND THE PAIR OF ST. JOHN PANTS I WAS LOOKING FOR

Whew! And on the first try! Ann from St. John said that I should receive it no later than Tuesday. Yippee! I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to find the pants. Do you know how much they were? Sit down, because you won't believe this!! $113.00!!! I must be dreaming! I can't wait until Tuesday, I'm even going to be a good girl and stay (try) home that day in order to sign for the package as signature is required for this beauty.

Be still my heart!! St. John for $113.00. Wait until I tell my mother. She can never find St. John on sale.

MY NEIMAN'S BOX CAME!

With less than half of what I had expected. Uuuuuugggh! I finally had a chance to call NM late this evening only to be informed that the rest of my merchandise should arrive by next Thursday. Geez, thanks for giving me the heads up Neiman's! I did receive one three piece beige set, one gray two piece set, one teal blazer and shell, one white blazer with black velvet bow and pants. The beige 3 piece was a different material than was stated on their website, the teal blazer and shell were irregular. Thank goodness that I can return everything at my nearby NM. No return shipping to pay.

Now, if it can only be next Thursday already!

I know, I know. I still have pics to post. Let's see when hubby can help me with that.

ST. JOHN SPORT JACKET + JEWELRY

Uuuugh! I hate when I have to run around looking for the other piece of a set. That's what happened today with the St. John Sport jacket that I purchased at Saks. All of the pants were sold. Now I'm going to have to call every Saks in the country to try and find the pants to this. I hate that. I hope I don't have to return this jacket, because I love it. It is a lilac color and it is fabulous. I will post pics later today. I also bought 3 pieces of Givenchy jewelry. One blue and two black. I will post pics of that later today as well, so stay tuned. Oh, btw all these purchases were made with the F + F coupon that I posted about earlier.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY TIME TODAY!

Went to the most loathed place in the world today, the gym. The worse part is that if I don't get up and go at the crack of dawn, then I never go. So, what choice do I have? Get fatter or go to the gym. I'll take go to the gym for $400 please Alex. But today I wasn't detesting the gym as much as I normally do because I knew that by getting up early and going I would be ready by 10 am to go use my F + F coupons that start today. I have a 20% off coupon from Saks and a 20% off coupon from Macys. There are two Sigrid Olsen very cute outfits that I've been eyeing and a pair of shoes that I want to pick up at Saks later this morning. After that I'll head over to Macys and see if the shopping gods will be good to me there as well. I'm looking for a two black necklaces, one with a pendant and one without. I've been looking for just the right black necklace for quite sometime now. Why has it been almost impossible to find?

FREE GIFT TIME!!!

I thought I posted this yesterday but I guess I did something incorrectly upon publishing. I'll try this again. I went to Bloomies yesterday, (not where I usually purchase my makeup but DH wanted to go to a store in that vicinity) as I had run out of my YSL touche eclat. Once there I discovered that it was free gift time A .K. A Beauty Benefit Time. I received a large red tote bag with zipper and a YSL cosmetic bag full of goodies. What did I buy to qualify for these, "free gifts" you ask? One touche eclat, two YSL blushes, one lauder lipstick, one DiorShow. I am going to call my SA at Neimans later today because I heard through the grapevine that Chanel's gift with purchase is a cosmetic bag filled with goodies that is a must have for all collector's of useless cosmetic counter free gifts. My SA usually calls me for these events, I'm wondering whether or not the Chanel free gift is taking place at Neiman's. I'll keep you posted on the developments. In the meantime run and get your YSL freebie. You're going to love it!

Also, I'm still waiting on my FedEx or UPS, (whatever as long as it gets here) from Neiman's. Yoo-Hoo! Rather large package from Neiman's, where are you?

SPRING BLOUSES (PICS TO FOLLOW, I PROMISE)

Whenever I am fortunate enough to find a blouse that fits my adult-film sized chest it's a great day. Whenever I am able to find three of those tops in one day it's a, "G-G-R-R-R-E-A-T" day as the eloquent Tony the Tiger might muse. The blouses are from the Jones New York Spring Collection. They're elegant, yet flirty and are so versatile that going from the office to dinner no longer requires the dreaded and always rushed pit stop home. Sure, in theory meeting for dinner and drinks with that special someone and his not so special friends right after powering down sounds like it might be a fun way to relax and unwind, but we fashionistas know what that spells for us - CHAOS. Your head starts to race with thoughts of how you're going to pull this logistical fashion nightmare off. Should I tell my boss that I'm not feeling well so that I can catch the 4:00 pm express home you ponder? Or should I say that my cat has to see the vet at 4 o'clock today since she insisted on eating her weight in Fancy Feast last night and is now suffering from the worst case of kitty indigestion known to catkind? (With three of his own, Boss is a friend to the felines, surely this would work you think) Light bulb moment! I'll say that I am the emergency contact at my nephew's school and the school nurse just called saying that hell's star hellion has a case of the chicken pox. You can't say no to an emergency contact. There must be a law against not releasing an employee who's been given such an important role. Undoubtedly you decide that you'll go with choice C. To start, its a surefire way to go home early. Second, this excuse would give you the most amount of time to go home and get tres chic, since the frantic phone call from the school nurse would have to be received before 3pm. And last, but certainly not least, this excuse gives you the option for continued use at a later date. Two weeks from now when the weather even more closely resembles jungle heat you could take a much needed hiatus to become one with the sand. Mr. Bossman remember my nephew that had chicken pox? Well you won't believe this...

COUPON FOR ELLEN TRACY + DANA BUCHMAN

I couldn't help myself. I went back to the Ellen Tracy - Dana Buchman store today. I bought a blouse, no big deal. But what is a big deal are the two coupons that I received. The first coupon is 20% off any single regular-priced item with a purchase of $100 or more. Coupon is valid for the month of May. The second coupon is 20% off on a second item of your choice. I have to call their toll-free number within 2 days of today's purchase and take their automated survey on my shopping experience in order to qualify. This second coupon is also valid for the month of May.

I love coupons! Especially when they're for my favorite stores!

CORRECTION ON ARMANI SUIT

In today's post regarding my shopping trip on Saturday, I meant to include not only the original price of $3,475 for the Giorgio Armani suit, but also the price that I paid, $1,200. Sorry about the error, I was so excited to share my finds with you that I didn't give you the actual TDF price. $1,200 that's more than 1/2 off!!! Otherwise it wouldn't have been a TDF score.

TDF SCORES ON SATURDAY!

This is what I bought on Saturday with DH and puppy in tow:

One violet colored St. John Pants Outfit
One two toned St. John Sport Twinset
One St. John Aqua Blazer
One Giorgio Armani Pants Suit - $3,475
One pair of Ellen Tracy Pants
One Dana Buchman off the shoulder white and navy blouse
One Dana Buchman red twinset
One Ellen Tracy black and white angora cardigan
One Ellen Tracy 3 piece pants outfit
One Ralph Lauren Pink Stone Necklace, (its very very heavy)
One Ralph Lauren White Stone Necklace, (its very very heavy)
One Ralph Lauren Blue Stone Necklace, (its very very heavy)
One Sorrelli light green necklace
One Sorrelli light green bracelet
One Sorrelli light green earrings

Puppy suffers from a serious case of separation anxiety. When we go shopping, hubby likes to find an available chair or couch, turn on his iPod and go to his, “happy place” while I spend the equivalent of a Bentley. Unfortunately Puppy does not follow in her father’s footsteps. She just about has a nervous breakdown when I am not within eyeshot of her. This makes going shopping on a beautiful day like Saturday near impossible. I don’t want to leave her home cooped up on such a perfect day, because it WILL take me all day to shop. But at the same time, her need to be held in my arms at all times, especially when we are out can prove to be quite challenging to say the least. How I managed to find all that I did is beyond me. We’re going back again tomorrow, (yesterday really since I am publishing this today Monday, April 23, 2007) because I didn’t get a chance to go to more than 3 stores. Thank goodness tomorrow’s hours are from 9am – 9pm. Maybe then I’ll have enough time to do all of the shopping that I want.

If someone was listening to me in the dressing room, they would have heard, “Oh, TDF TDF!” Don’t you just love it when everything you try on actually fits?

LOEHMANNS ONLINE, WHO KNEW?

More you wanted to know about me: I'm not one of these girls who likes sifting threw sales or clearance racks. And I'll tell you why:

1. I don't like the utter and complete chaos that always seems to ensue near a rack of clothing that is signed with the words, "Just reduced take an additional 70% off clearance price".
2. I'm not a size xs, and therefore do not want to waste my time looking through item by item, (as die-hard sales fanatics do) of a 60 ft. clearance array of size xs sheer ruffled skirts, returned leggings and blouses that should only be worn by the cast of Dark Shadows.
3. I'm from the school of thought that once an item hits, "sale" status, its either [a] not in demand [b] is in demand but there is only a petite size 0 remaining [c] irregular in some form.
4. I have yet in my DECADES of life as a discriminating shopper ever glanced over at another shopper's finds and thought, "Oooooooh, let me try to wiggle my way through the 3 rows of ravenous women with no-frills strollers, wailing unattended babies and make shift Diaper Genies because I just HAVE to have that pair of asymmetrical gauchos that she has".

Friends of ours swear by Loehmanns and their, "killer" merchandise, but I've yet to bear witness to such criminality. These two women sound like a broken record, "Loehmanns is the best. You wanna go to Loehmanns? I'm off tomorrow Ma, lets go to Loehmanns. Ooooooh, be still my heart, they just opened a Loehmanns in Sarasota? Why don't we go there this year instead of Disney? The kids can go to Disney next year, if I don't blow all of my money at Loehmanns". You get the picture. If Loehmanns were to close these two women would handcuff themselves to an emergency exit in order to die along with their favorite store once the wrecking ball hits.

I've been to Loehmanns, twice. Once because the above mentioned friend gave me a DKNY hoodie that I wanted to exchange. The other time? Because I still had a store credit to use from the DKNY return. I had that store credit for over a year. That NEVER happens. I ended up giving the store credit to another Loehmanns junkie.

Now a sale online, that's a different story. Assuming the sale isn't Old Navy, or Target that is. Take for example yesterday's sale and subsequent posting. Neimie's still had tons of great stuff and at a bargain hunters price. No sifting through clearance racks. No pushing my way through foamy mouthed moms. No headache from the wailing and most importantly, UNATTENDED, (I can't emphasis this enough) spawn.

Loehmanns just seemed to me to be just one giant store of the aforementioned. Items that didn't sell at department stores at markdown prices now disguised on 4-way racks as regularly priced merchandise. Has it gotten any better? I don't know, I haven't been there in years. A thought occurred to me that perhaps a good way of seeing Loehmanns and thereby avoiding the unneeded mayhem is by checking out their website. Once there, you're directed to http://www.smartbargains.com/ for your Loehmann's fix. I haven't yet had an opportunity to peruse their online site, but by the looks of the front page of smartbargains, there is much being offered.

I'm crossing my fingers for you Loehmanns Online! And by the way, my Amex Platinum sends her regards.

NOW NEIMAN’S HAS ADDED AN ADDITIONAL 25% OFF THEIR ALREADY REDUCED CLEARANCE PRICES!!

Total items purchased in the a.m. before the additional 25% went into effect: 6

Total items getting a credit adjustment this afternoon post additional 25% off announcement: 0

Total items purchased today at NM online: 16

Girls, don’t let this offer pass you by. Stuff is selling out fast. What did I order? Off the top of my head, quite a number of suits (including Ellen Tracy), a wrap and fitted shirt (for $35.00!!!!) and more, I just can’t remember it all right now. However, you have to know your prices, because not everything is an additional 25% off, take for example the items that I ordered this morning. No price change there of course. They know what they have to mark down and what they don’t. Of course, the cute Sesto Meucci Velcro Sneakers available in your choice of red, black, or brown are marked down from $250.00 to $28.00 – there’s only a size 4 remaining! My dreams of owning one in each color were quickly crushed when I read that my popular size 8 were all but a memory in Last Call. Free shipping still applies, if that’s any consolation to your heart and wallet.

There was much more that I wanted to order, but as I expected much of what I wanted to order was sold out, (actually, it was sold out quite a while back). Take this Nanette Lepore Tiered Coat and Cocktail Dress for example:





I could see myself wearing this everyday – morning, noon and night. I’m still kicking myself for missing this TDF outfit when it was full price. I would have GLADLY paid the $775.00 for both pieces. But as they say, you snooze you lose.

~ Sigh ~ Cest la vie

PLEASE MAKE DRESSES IN ANOTHER COLOR

Maybe it's just my computer, but I think that this color looks like the color of light - fair skin, although designer lisli describes this color as, "shimmer". See for yourself, the model pictured has almost camouflaged into the dress, or the dress has almost camouflaged into her. I'd say she's even a shade or two lighter than shimmer. Maybe that's why we can still differentiate where this pretty model's flawless skin ends and where the dress begins. So what about the rest of us, who aren't as white as snow, but are slightly darker in shade? Although I love the style and shape of this dress, the color alone makes it not worth paying $388.00. Oh my goodness! Who said that? Did I just say that? lisli Dear, would you kindly make this in another color please? Actually, come to think of it, this color looks almost dirty, like a favorite white shirt that's never seen the healing properties of a cup of bleach. Maybe this lovely dress is a totally different shade when you see it in person. I'll let you know next week when I go to Bergdorf's.

Rats, and there is free shipping and double InCircle points today! (Code: BGAPR7) I'll take a look again after lunch and see what else I can buy with todays double dose of Bergdorf generosity.

NOTE TO DESIGNERS:

Please make dresses this season in colors other than in a shade that I can find with Chanel's Teint Innocence. If I wanted to be the same color as my surroundings I would live in a swamp and do death rolls just because.

I SAVED $1075!

My latest find is this pair of Ralph Lauren Giovanna high boots. I purchased these from Bergdorf Goodman. Too bad I’ll only be able to wear them a short while longer, as we are entering into Spring. This purchase would be an example of what I would refer to as a “cheap” purchase. Why cheap do you ask? Because I saved $1,075 on the purchase of these boots! Now, I don’t want anyone to think that I’m one these people that will wait and wait, and cross her fingers in the hopes that when said item finally does go on sale, that my coveted size will still be available. No. That’s not the case here. I could never do that. First of all my size would be out of stock. Secondly, I’ve never done that, nor do I understand or want to understand that level of restraint. In actuality I don’t need a new pair of boots. I have quite a few, several black pairs and brown alike. I purchased this boot not only because I liked the style of it, but because I now need a new pair of black high boots. Need? Why need if I have so many? Because I’m getting tired of struggling with my current favorite pair of zip up black boots that I purchased from Bergdorf’s two years ago. Zip-up boots plus thick calves equal a great deal of hard work and sore fingers. Hence my newest pair from Bergdorf Goodman. Likey? I LOVEY!!!

REMEMBER:

Zip-up Boots + Thick Calves = Sore Fingers

FREE SHIPPING FROM NEIMAN MARCUS!!!

Now I HAVE to order the nine items that I have saved in my shopping bag. It's free shipping time!!!! Your order must total $150 or more to qualify and you must use code NMSPRING. I think with nine items I have that covered.

Keep in mind, for those of you that are new to ordering from NM online, that most, (assuming it's not sold out) of what NM offers online is availabe in all sizes: womens, misses and petites. Just make sure to keep scrolling down the page once you have selected an item. Also, and this is VERY IMPORTANT, you can return your online items in the store!!!!!! Yipee!!! No having to pay for return shipping makes me, and especially Hubby, very very happy. Just go to customer service with your online-returns for a hassle free transaction. But then again, isn't everything at NM hassle free?

Neiman Marcus, I love you.

STUART WEITZMAN SHOES AND MATCHING PURSE

I need these so badly. Well, need? Not really. Want? Definitely. What truly stylish girl can resist shoes that have a coordinating bag? Not this one! I already have the shoes in the cream color, now I just need the bag to match. If I had to choose between the cream and the aqua, I would choose the aqua, I’m afraid the cream colored shoes would not, “pop” as much as the aqua ones would. And oh, how I love to POP! I held the aqua / sky blue bag in my hands today, and it took every fiber in me to tell the SA, “just looking” when he asked whether I wanted the aqua colored hobo or the cream colored one. I felt like such a loser for not simply saying the words that were on the tip of my tongue, “I’ll take both bags and the aqua shoes in an 8 please.”

Bag $595

Shoes $315

OOOH LA PRIVATE SALE!

~ This was supposed to be posted yesterday, Thanks Noreaster! ~

Finally had a chance to head to Bloomingdales on Saturday to use some of the $15.00/$75.00 coupons that I received for shopping last month’s sale. For every $100 that you spent, you received one of these coupons. I got 30, you do the math.

Saturday I got some much needed retail therapy. I bought three CUTE Anne Klein twinsets, one Jones New York twinset, one TDF Ellen Tracy dress, a mother’s day gift for mom from Ellen Tracy and an Ellen Tracy shell that coordinates with the blazer that I bought about 3 weeks ago.

Unfortunately for today, I have not had my RDA of R.T. – the electric has been out all day due to the storm (just went back on, that is I why I am typing – 10 hrs later) so I have not even been able to take a shower yet since I don’t want to walk around with a wet head of hair. I should have a back-up generator for just such a fashion emergency. I was so looking forward to wearing one of my new outfits today too! Rats! I hate when my plans get ruined. I guess there is always tomorrow. Let’s hope the electric doesn’t go out again and let’s cross our fingers that the internet goes back on soon. As of 6:16pm, no internet, no phone, no television. No fun. My favorite buy of course was the Ellen Tracy dress. I'll try to learn how to post pictures sooner than later.

INTRODUCTION TO FASHION PLUS JEWELRY

Hi! If you love shopping designer clothing and jewelry as much as I do, you’ve come to the right place. I love buying CLASSIC pieces for my wardrobe that are not only stylish but well-made. So what if I have to spend $400 on a Dana Buchman dress? Chances are that I won’t be donating it to Goodwill next year, because the, “Sheath” look is out, not to mention sloppy looking and unflattering. Perhaps if you’re a size 2 something that resembles a hefty bag looks, “okay” on you, but for those of us with God-given curves, the pregnancy look so many people are wearing this season is a big no-no. This blog is dedicated to women who love to shop, (and are sometimes lucky enough to find a bargain, but usually when you’re shopping high-end that is rarely the case) who are proud of their voluptuous sexy curves, and who are always the best dressed.