Leather Jacket of Long Ago, You are Mine! (Oh Yes!)

I got a second chance on my Squall jacket! Oh the happiness of a black leather motorcycle jacket with a faux fur collar.

It turned up on ebay about a week ago and this time I didn't let it get away from me. But oh, the stress and anxiety of bidding on ebay, if I do it too often, I may develop a heart condition.

The seller was super awesome and I had the jacket within three days.

And yeah, it's size small, and it might be ever so slightly too tight in the bust area, but I'm going to wear it anyway. How often do you get a second- er- third chance with such an item?

On Those Days When the Mere Thought of Going Outside Makes You Cold

I find myself spending hours pouring over the clearance sections of various web sites, and I'll go around, picking out various things, then searching for any coupon codes I can find, and should any good ones turn up (particularly free shipping) I might indulge a little.

I might have also indulged a lot today at American Eagle. It started out innocently enough - I've been wanting some stacking rings and they had a set of three for $15.50.

Then, my feet were feeling particularly chilly, and some cute fair isle print slipper booties were on clearance for $10.

And just for the hell of it, I stuck this super cute coat in my shopping cart - something that buttons straight up to the top and has a fur trimmed hood -- something that would likely keep me much warmer than my pea coat.

After a bit of poking around, I found a nice %20 off coupon code which made the coat only $48 - such a steal! And that in turn lead to the discovery that there would be free shipping on an order over $100. So at that point it only seemed like the logical thing to do, I mean really, waste $8 on shipping? It would simply be crazy.

So that is what happens to me, on the days when I decide to stay in and not go shopping.

The 75% off dilemma

It happens every January, nearly a month has passed since christmas, and I happen upon a small mecca of heavily discounted 'gift' items.

This time it was at Macy's jewelry department, where there were several racks and tables of the clearance seasonally packaged jewelry.

So I think, 'this is perfect, I can get such a head start on my christmas shopping!', and I start picking up items and mentally ticking off people in my head... Fossil charm necklaces in little tin boxes, others in black satin purse shaped envelopes, even a fish charm necklace in a polar bear box.

I fill my arms, 'oh yes, christmas '09, I'm ready for you... and oh, here's a little something for myself.' And everything seems to be going really well, until the doubt comes in. I start to wonder things like, 'what if in the next 11 months I find something better for this person, or what if I forget I even bought it, or I know I bought it, but can't remeber where I put it, or I do give it to them, but they want to return it, only that would be impossible.'

Which leads me to then not get anything, for anyone - except for myself.

So I ended up with a $25 gold bird charm necklace for $6, a $48 Monet chain necklace for $12, and a $15 star charm necklace for $3.75.

Somehow things are just better when they are on sale. I would always rather have a $50 item for $12 than a $12 item for $12.

A Little Sparkle In Your Step

Not too sound too depressing, but there are nine more weeks of winter ahead. Yeah, that is pretty bleak - the cold, the snow, the ice, for two more months and a week. And then the spring will continue to feel like winter well into May, like last year. I remember it was the last weekend in April, I was spending a long weekend in Boston, and I packed a bunch of light dresses and tank tops, only to be met with frigid air, and I had to borrow warmer apparel from my friend.

But to fight the winter blues, how about some sequins? It is very easy to go wrong with such bedazzled apparel, and there have been many times when i've completely dismissed them. I've found a few pieces wtih black sequins which I feel are subtle enough to be really chic, while being quite playful.

These pointy toed tripple strapped mary janes are adorable, and black is really the best choice - the red ones would invoke far too many Dorothy comments, and the blue, while tempting are just too much. They are on sale for $32.99, so it's easy to see why they are called Treatalicious.

This crochet beret wtih it's jumbo sequins reminds me of something Carrie Bradshaw wore in the Sex and the City movie, and I think that's the reason I was drawn to it. It's could be fun, and it is on sale from Free People for $19.95.

Sometimes the sparkle just needs to be on the inside, like tucked into your purse with this blue glittery cosmetic bag by Avon. I actually own this one, and it's sadly no longer in the brochure, but a few of them are floating around on ebay for a respectable $7 shipped. It's much prettier in person too.

Of course if your not one to ever even consider putting a sequin near your skin, than perhaps you'd enjoy this print, found on Etsy, of some sequins. It's $25 and is described as having a metallic print finish. That could be quite impressive.

I must have matured, I want to wear gold

For years I have shunned gold jewelry, stating that it was for 'older people'. I suppose I have now become one of them, because I want nothing more than to adorn myself in classy, delicate gold pieces.

At my local bead store I found these tiny gold balls with cubic zirconia embedded in them, and I made these cute earrings.

Now I've found this matching ring on Amazon, half off for $46. I love the thin, 2mm band and the fact that it's solid gold.

I'd love to have several of these oversized bangles on my wrist, perhaps at all times - for causal looks, evenings out, the kind of classy look that would make a black tee and jeans into an outfit.
14k Gold plated silver bangle with cubic zirconia, $30 at Amazon.

For pieces which are merely gold tone, I like these Chain drop earrings by Daisy Fuentes at Khols, for $9.10. I can imagine wearing these with my hair down, letting only little glimpses of gold shine through when I fuss with my hair.

I love the length of this Jewel Box Necklace by Urban Outfitters for 12.99. At 34" it will fall well below the neckline and will look lovely when combine with a scarf wrapped around the neck. The double strand necklace has little filigree beads and small dark faceted beads, to add plenty of personality to the gold chains.

Knits Just the Thing

It's freezing out (yes, really 32 degrees!) and my ears are so cold, and I, as always, have nothing covering them, or my head. Winter hats never have been my thing. I've got dozens of scarves, but no hats.

I was watching the movie "Love Actually" a few weeks ago, and the character Natalie (the 'plump' one who works for the Prime Minister) was wearing a red coat with an over sized white hat. And I loved it. So I went into Khols and got the only white hat I could find that was actually cute - this beret style one. But here's the thing: it doesn't cover my ears.

So I've continued my search and found the perfect hat at modcloth.com. It's called the Popular Beret, is oversized to keep my ears warm, and best of all, on sale!
I know this one doesn't match hers exactly, but it matches my memory of the hat, fused with my own love of the playful popcorn stitch of this hat.

Leather Jacket of Long Ago, You are Mine! (i hope)

A few years back, must have been 2004, there was this leather jacket at Express that I was in love with. Black with a removable fur collar, and at the time it very distinctly said Squall (of Final Fantasy VIII) to me. My love of that video game begged me to possess the jacket, but my high school job salary said 'no'. Even when it went on sale for $80, I still resisted, and never bought it.

Now, four years later (I say four because it was December '04), what should I find on ebay but the leather Squall jacket! I must have it! There is currently one other bidder, but I am confident that I will win, because clearly God wants me to have it, other wise I would never have been looking for leather jackets on ebay today in the first place.

I suddenly have a very strong desire to go and play FFVIII, but maybe I'll just watch this... a couple of times.

*update* Lost the auction. Tremendously depressed.

Yummy Leather Gloves

All the leather gloves at TjMaxx are on sale! Some are as low as $16, which is pretty fantastic, particularly for someone who often finds themselves with one cold hand. And you know how it goes, you have that one glove hanging about for ages, and as soon as you finally decide to give up and toss it, the other one pops up. Always.

I am hoping that these will stick around for a while though - I'm in love with the maraschino cherry red color, the eyelet and lacing detail, and most of all, the cashmere lining.

So head over there quick, discounted Italian leather gloves with cashmere lining wont stay on the shelves for long!

Bringing in the New Year with new clothes!

Happy New Year! I hope 2009 will be one of my best years, fashionably speaking - and I'm already working hard to start things off right.

December was a great shopping month, with the constant bombardment of sales to boost retail - all of which I enjoyed and took advantage of. Not that I want our economy to be doing poorly, nor do I enjoy the constant talk of recession, but I do love "buy one handbag, get one free" and "20% off everything in the store" and "additional 25% off sale items" Oh yes.

I also love checking the prices of the shoes on my Amazon wish, so much so that it has become a daily addiction. I just keep watching and waiting until all the shoes I want get to 70% off, or more. At which point, buying them feels almost like an obligation - so I have to exercise a good deal of self restraint. I know I've mentioned it before, but their shoe prices are just amazing.

Of my after Christmas shopping trips, I managed to snag some great deals when coupling sale items with discount coupons. Coupons can be quite annoying at times, with their stipulations and exemptions, but I always try to utilize them as much as possible.

30% off at Khols is always quite nice, and I knew just what I wanted, black skinny jeans. I recently saw a girl wearing a pair with some silver heels and a slouchy white top. She looked amazing - so put together with so few pieces. I found the jeans I wanted on the Khols website, Rewind Skinny Jeans for $30, however, when I went to find them at the store, they only had my size in purple.

Purple, is actually quite lovely! Never would I have thought to wear puple jeans, but they are such a dark wash, it's almost more of a warm black. And of course, now that I know which size I need, I can always order of pair in black from their website. If they wear well, it's often a good idea to buy more than one pair of pants when you find ones that fit!

Another coupon discount I got was 25% off at Bob's (a store I don't usually shop at), but when I saw some black suede booties by Steve Madden already half off, I couldn't resisit. My only issue with them is that they are pull-on, and I seem to have an extreme amount of dificiulity doing this! I don't know if it is just me, or if I perhaps need a shoe horn, or some slippery socks, but really - is a zipper too much to ask?