:::Accessorize:::

While I was running some errands at Union Station this afternoon I saw a poster advertising the grand opening of a store called Accessorize. Have you heard of this store? Oh, baby. Oh, baby!!! I have such a weakness for low-end accessory stores and discount jewelery, but finding something decent usually takes a good rummage through a lot of tacky and ugly pieces. But, oh baby, that's not the case at Accessorize.

I have no words for how amazingly wonderful this store is. Let's just feast our eyes on some of inventory.

{I went home with that gold knot necklace on the right.}

{And when I go back I will be doing some serious damage in this section.}

Sigh.

Bad news for you though, this is currently the only location in the entire US of A. But, apparently there are a million locations everywhere else in the world. It was really funny to see a never ending stream of elated foreigners telling the sales girls how happy they were that there was finally an Accessorize in the US.


I had to snap a covert picture of this beautiful girl who was part of a large group of effortlessly stylish and elegant French teenagers. What is she, 17? Double sigh. How do they do it?

:::$39.99, Are You Out of Your Mind?:::

{If you have parents from the South, no doubt you were guilted into eating some of these today}

This morning at breakfast, Shorty and I realized that we both missed the clock striking twelve last night. I was busy trying to figure out how to defragment my laptop, and she was online furiously spending the rest of her FSA money. Ha.

I went out to Marshall's today in Pentagon City to do some, ahem, Christmas shopping. I just love these types of stores. I spent a good little while finding little gifts for some of the people at the house, etc., and just perusing the shelves.

I noticed that they had a lot of monogrammed items out. Too bad 'R' doesn't make a good monogram. It's too unbalanced, I think, and made of too many little pieces.



The pillow aisle is always like a cave. I spent some time snuggling with the silkiest pillow in all creation, but I put it back because it was $39.00!!! That's a little steep for a Marshall's pillow, friends.


After spending some time in Border's looking for a Christian romance novel (don't ask), I staggered home be-headached and be-hungered. I decided to treat myself to a New Year's Day pizza feast (I like giving mundane things special names), and now I'm putzing around and watching Murder, She Wrote on Netflix.


I feel like tomorrow should be Sunday, so I'm very excited to have an extra free-for-all weekend day!

:::It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas:::

When we went to Hobby Lobby this week I was a little surprised to see so many Halloween decorations out already. Then I saw the rows and rows devoted to fall decor, and then all the rows and rows for the Christmas decorations.







I feel so behind on Valentine's.

:::Day 10 -- Etsy, Etsy:::

{ The 'a' is from Ikea's reusable shopping bags! I don't think I've recognized any of the other letters before.}

Do you shop on Etsy? I do, and I love it.

Every payday I buy myself something on Etsy. I usually don't spend more than $10, and I always get something pretty and fun that never fails to make me giddy when it arrives.


I've had a thing for letterpress lately. I love running my fingers of the indentations that the press makes on the thick, cotton paper.


Last Friday, I spent more than my usual $10 and bought a few cards and this print from a letterpress shop in Heber, Ut.


One thing that I love about Etsy is the direct and personal relationship that you have with the sellers. I love buying handmade items, but I love it even more when I can buy directly from the seller and have a personal conversation with them about what I'm looking for.


Every Etsy order I've ever placed always comes with a personal note, almost always handwritten, thanking me for the order. Sometimes sellers even include little tokens or free gifts. I just love Etsy. I wish I could do all of my shopping in this kind of environment.

:::compare at $45.00:::

i have a marshalls habit, a tjmaxx habit, a ross habit. do you? i could shop off-price retail everyday of my life and never get bored with it. every shelf is packed with potential discoveries. every find feels like a one-of-a-kind steal.





my new reduced-priced lovelies make my heart sing.

:::$1 face candy:::

a few months ago i bought $75 worth of makeup from e.l.f. (<----do i do a double period there?) gone are my days of MAC and bobbi brown. sister has student loans to pay back. if you do the math, that means i bought 75 individual makeup items. 7-5. why? because i'm friends with a shopping connoisseur who laughs in the face of paid shipping, and $75 was the amount i needed to spend to get free shipping. i wanted to make her proud. it's a bargain, really.
when the makeup came, it sat in the box for at least a month before i opened even a single package. it was just too overwhelming, and i had no idea where i was going to store 75 pieces of makeup.

luckily, a couple of months later, i came across this gorgeous paisley desk organizer at marshalls. now my makeup collection happily resides in organized splendor on my nightstand.


i must admit that having so many choices has made my makeup routine enjoyable again.




every day i stand over my tray of colors and decide what i want to paint with.


old pictures, camera still not fixed.

:::texas 2009 -- shopping:::

since moving to a city and being disconnected from suburban sprawl, i've been chomping at the bit to spend quality time inside some big box stores. my mission on this trip was to stockpile things that i can't readily buy here in dc. i came armed with my tax refund and an extra suitcase.

it was thrilling to be in suburbia again because i knew i could find anything i wanted. isn't that strange? people are always saying that they want to live in cities because cities have everything. cities do offer many things, but suburbia wins hands down when it comes to items for everyday living.


target

target was a must do for this trip. wait, let me rephrase that, super target was a must do for this trip. as soon as i passed through those automatic doors and saw groceries on my right hand, clothes on my left hand, and home good down the middle, my soul was at ease. you never know how much you've missed home until you cross that friendly threshold again.


look at all those checkout stations! truly, don't take your super target for granted.

sarah, sophie and i all had a fun time throwing things in my cart that i thought i would need over the course of the next year. among other things, i ended up with 5 pairs of shoes and the cutest purse for only $5 in their amazing purse clearance aisle.

in the shoes aisle i put on the hot little numbers below and asked sophia if she thought i should buy them. her resounding reply was, 'yes!', but i decided they weren't the most practical shoes for someone who commutes on foot.

after i put them down and moved on to look at more shoes, i looked back and saw sophie carefully putting her feet into the shoes. it made my heart melt. i'm sure the main appeal was that they were bright pink, but it made me feel special that she wanted to try on the same shoes that her auntie had.


dollar store

there was a very good dollar store next to this super target where i found a lot of cute gift bags in vibrant pastels, rolls of clear cellophane, and some other items. i thought these flip flops were cute, but they didn't have my size.


in the end, i bought more than a few roles of cellophane. in order to make it all fit in my extra suitcase, i had to unroll all the tubes, then carefully fold it. i should be good for the next little while now...



target, uno mas

the night we dropped my mom at the airport we stopped by a newer super target on the way back to the house. everyone, including this shopping averse blogger, knows that no two target clearance aisles are the same, so all the super targets in your surrounding area must be regularly searched (the same rule applies to tj maxx and marshalls).


i thought that another joyous super target foray warranted a self-portrait.


look at these adorable umbrellas, just look at them. i purchased the light green one with blue polka dots on the top row. i also left with another pair of shoes that i will wear at my firm's big anniversary party next year (i told you i meant business), and...some other stuff. ha! it's all a blur now.


i'm not sure if this is a target wide thing now, but this store had the most delicious mango smoothies. i love things like this, little fun treats you know about at your favorite destinations, little inexpensive pick-me-ups to liven the monotony of life. suburbia, i'm telling you. it's where it's at.


flagship neiman marcus

the day we were in dallas, we drove by the flagship neiman marcus. i had no idea the first store was in texas. we didn't go in to shop, but i did get this fantastic, top-secret chocolate chip cookie recipe from a nice old lady outside...



home goods

i've saved the best two store for last. i have heard many marvelous things about home goods, so when we drove past it one day, i demanded that we go back later. my sister, mom, and i went one night without the kids, and i was absolutely floored by how amazing this store is. it's owned by tj maxx, and is an entire store filled with wonderful, well, home goods.


do you understand how fantastic this is?! instead of rifling through a few disorganized aisles at the back of the store, it's a full-sized retail space of furniture, linens, dinnerware, lamps, stationery, vases, oh my, i can't breathe.

when we walked in the door my eyes were darting in a million different directions. so much to buy, so little space in my suitcase. i seriously thought about buying one of these perfectly hued yellow furniture pieces and shipping it back to dc, but common sense mom prevailed.


and they had the most beautiful rugs! look how nicely organized they are, instead of rolled up and dumped in the middle of an aisle, as per usual.


and these lamps...i had one in my cart, i was going to ship it back, but the Spirit whispered, 'not now, dear, not now.'



hobby lobby

and now...hobby lobby. we went to two different stores. the first time my sister dropped me off and went to a primary activity. when she came back more than an hour later i hadn't even been through half of the store yet. the second i stayed for much longer and still had to speed walk through the last half. they just have everything that you could ever want. beyond the standard crafting fair, which they have loads and loads of, they have the best home decor items.


look at these monograms. how adorable are they? i bought one that is a square black frame with a ribbon hanging, and the inside is a piece of glass with my initial painted on it. too cute for words.


i discovered a deep love for houndstooth on this trip, so i had to buy the green houndstooth takeout container near the middle. sadly, i left it in texas...


i also walked out with one of these monogrammed candles for myself and my sister, and a cart p-a-c-k-e-d with other wonderful finds, mostly spools and spools of half-price ribbon. it's almost a good thing i don't live near a hobby lobby, as i would sink entire paychecks there at a time. as we were walking through one of the aisles i told my mom, 'i would have so many hobbies if i lived near a hobby lobby.' annual visits are probably for the better.


shopping shouldn't make me this happy, but on this occasion it did. we had some lovely shopping days in texas and i wish i could do this every year. the big shop is just a wonderful experience.