shOptOut

It was worth the damage

One month to the day I last wrote and I have broken my resolution many times over. A pair of amazing blue cigarette trousers at Zara, a nautical stripe shirt at J Crew and most importantly, some amazing finds from the last ever Gilt employee damage sale. Oh, the damage sale. I can’t really compare it to anything other than to say that it’s the most amazing shopping one could imagine. Racks, boxes, and tables full of designer clothing, shoes, and accessories with very little to no damage sold at insanely low prices to Gilt employees. It was a ritual I held closely to my heart. Getting up early on a weekend day and gear up with a purpose.  Black stretch pants and a tank top to try on clothing because there are no dressing rooms. Flip flops or Ugg to be able to easily try on shoes. 2 large IKEA bags to put my stuff in. The people who ever went to a damage sale with me knew that I meant business. Scour the racks and be open minded. In the 5 damage sales I managed to go to, I scored some of my favorite pieces.

When it was announced that Gilt would be hosting another damage sale, and that this would be the last, I had mixed emotions. I was elated to hear that we were having another one. I knew at that point that I would end up breaking my no-shopping rule, but it would be worth it. Simultaneoulsy, I was majorly bummed that this would be the last. this would be my final chance to exercise the skill I’d perfected. Finally, I was anxious, wondering what they would have and how I would make out.

So, what were the damages? To name a few: long Marni dress, white Marni jacket, cream Guillaume Hinfray flats, really chunky fun aqua necklace, Valentino pleated design T-shirt, blue Vena Cava skirt, ADAM navy blue blazer. Totally worth it. :)

The Fruits of Labor

About two months ago, one of the ladies in my department came in carrying around her new navy blue Nina Ricci besace purse that she bought on Gilt. As soon as I saw it, I was in love. The shape was so unexpected and the bag itself was dainty while still containing enough storage space. I became obsessed with getting this bag, knowing that if I did, I’d have some money to either make afterwords or try to earn beforehand.

I went on the site and saw that we had the black version of the purse that was going to be available a few days later. So, I did my due diligence and tried to find as many pictures as I could of this purse online.Luckily, it’s also being sold on Barney’s, but I never considered getting it there because of my work discount. And it also just so happened that some greater power wanted me to have this purse, or so I think because I received a translation assignment which would allow me to earn what I would end up spending on the bag. (I started doing translations the summer when I graduated from college and still do an assignment or two when I’m looking for extra cash.)

On sale day, I stalked the sale and scored my bag. Then, the long wait to get it. At Gilt, we have a type of sale where we will list the items on the site before we procure the merchandise. Then the vendor ships it to us and we in turn ship it to our customers. My purse had estimated delivery period of almost 3 weeks out. Every day, I checked up on the status of my order, hoping, wishing, praying, that there wouldn’t be an inventory error that would cause me not to get it, but like I said, it was meant to be. I finally got shipment confirmation and tracking number. I was in the home stretch keeping my fingers crossed for no lost or stolen packages. Yes, I was THAT anxious.When I finally got it last Wednesday, it was perfect!

I’ve been wearing it around since and love the way I can carry so much stuff without it looking like it. While I love my old Alexander Wang, the black hole syndrome was getting a little annoying. I also wanted to downsize for the summer. Most of all, I’m glad that I don’t have to force myself to sell anything now since the bag was a thoughtful purchase that I worked towards.

Sometimes, we all need to smile

It was another overcast afternoon in New York and I was going back home from work. On my commute back, nothing much of interest happens. However, on this day, I happened to be riding with a man who was dressed from head to toe in pink. He had a pink fuzzy jacket with matching hat, pink and black pinstripe suit, sunglasses, and pink patent leather shoes. in one word, AMAZING. What was more remarkable to me was the reaction that everyone who passed him had. It was as if they’d seen the most pleasant thing. Every person would smile as they went past him. I don’t remember the last time I saw any one common person have such a positive impact on everyone around by simply dressing in a certain way. Maybe it’s something we should all aspire to do a little bit more. :)

Long Passage of Time

It’s been about three weeks since my last post. Not quite the pace at which I want to write. Mostly, it’s been due to my own inability to find time to update, but it’s also been a busy few weeks of doing and waiting.

I don’t think anyone likes to be told “I told you so.” Especially not me, but I’ll admit that I was told that it was too good to be true by many people, but I still held on and kept going. I’m referring to my eBay purchase of the Hermes watch. Well, let’s just say that it was a total fake and I spent a month or so trying to get my money back. Let’s just say that I will probably never buy a designer item on eBay again. The experience to win my case was so long and required such diligence on my end that I really wouldn’t wish this upon anyone. If there’s a little voice inside you that’s telling you something is wrong, it’s probably right. Don’t turn it off or ignore it.

Last week, I went on my long-awaited trip to South Africa. I found the country to be among the most beautiful I’ve ever visited. It was bizarre for me to be there at times because I knew that the life I led there as a tourist for a week or so was not one that most South Africans would ever live or experience and in my mind, I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. We rented an apartment in Cape Town and ate at the city’s best restaurants, which to us were such a good deal with the conversion rate. My 2 course 5-star dinners would cost about $35 each night, with drinks included. And yet in most of the restaurants where we went, my friend and I were the youngest people there by at least a decade, and mostly all of the patrons were white. I suppose that’s to be expected. I won’t go on and on about this, but my days there as an American tourist were certainly spent in a very nice bubble watching every day life go on. While in most places I go, I like to get closer to local culture, I made the decision before leaving that having a safe trip was most important.

So you might ask, did I end up buying anything for myself in South Africa? The answer is yes and no. I kept my promise of not buying any clothing, shoes, or accessories, but I did buy myself some beautiful Zulu masks. I was so happy to find them, especially since I collect masks. Good job, no? It’s now been a solid 3 months of no shopping now that I’m deducting the watch from the purchase history. Only 4 more months to go!

The Chosen One

I’m coming to the realization that when it comes to life-changing choices, I’m slow at making decisions. It took me several weeks, several conversations with current students and alumni, and an impromptu trip to Barcelona to figure out where I was going to business school. In the end, I decided on IESE. There’s a part of me that is totally scared about going to b-school, let alone one that is as competitive as this one. I’ve never been graded on a curve. Yet, I need to make this last go around in higher education a good one and learn the most I can, cause this is it, folks. No PhD or additional degrees after this. There is a point in which formal education stops and the real world is left to teach us what we don’t already know.

On another note, I got new sneakers!! Before you go and roll your eyes at me thinking that I broke my resolution yet again, I want to assure you that I didn’t. My new blue and highlighter yellow Mizuno sneakers are a gift from my boyfriend, who agreed that my old sneaks were really gross. I’ve never had Mizunos before, but these are amazing. :)

Streaming

6 more months in which I must dismantle my life. build it up again on another continent. leaving good friends behind. will i make new ones as easily? scared to move. miss my family. my brother is turning 14 tomorrow. off to high school. he’ll be so big when i get back. Big Love came tonight. maybe i’ll watch. should i replace my iphone? loans… gotta remember to call about that tomorrow. need new sneakers. mine are embarrassing. got Amex gift card. Yay!!! long weekend ahead. tired. tired. tired. 

The Other Version

I bought my beloved Alexander Wang Trudy Tote in sage at Gilt back in late summer and have carried it around with me every day ever since.  It’s even been to the Middle East and back with me. The buttery light-green leather now has a grey tint to it from all of the wear. My boyfriend hates my bag because it takes me too long to find items in it, but I know that he simply can’t appreciate having something that not only holds all of my daily necessities and “just-in-cases” but is stylish as well. I was on the train the other day when I sat down to a lady who had the Trudy in a navy blue tint. As soon as I noticed, I pointed it out to her and we started talking about how much we love our bags. I didn’t even know the purse came in that color and I remember thinking for second, had I known, would I have wanted the navy blue instead of the light green? While the other version might look tempting when you can no longer choose it, decisions can only be made with the information we have available at the time.

Exchange or Ex & Change

Exchange- I went to Buffalo Exchange in Chelsea this morning to get rid of a collection of old clothing that I no longer where. From the 20 or so pieces I brought in, Celia (picture below), the lovely cashier, took 6 of them and gave me $37.35! (The zebra print scarf has officially been paid off and then some.) There were some pieces that I was surprised that she didn’t take, but she said that it’s mostly because they have a lot of stuff from H&M and Forever 21, which was most of what I was getting rid of. Oh well… At least that’s more money towards my saving account. Now I have to sell off what they didn’t take.

Ex- I spoke to my ex yesterday for the first time in a really long time. Nothing all that substantial was said. How are you? Fine? What are you up to? Not much…It’s funny how time changes relationships. He’s off in his world, and I’m in mine, but at some point, our lives were connected. Such is life…

Change- Come this fall, my life will probably change drastically once again. New location, this time across the Atlantic, most likely in Barcelona. I got into IESE Business School and couldn’t be happier. After months of waiting and moments of complete self-doubt, I’m going to B-School!

Time to Tell

I’ve been obsessing over the Hermes Ladies Arceau Watch for some time now. Yesterday was one of those days when I was just casually glancing on eBay and typed in “Hermes Arceau.” (Honestly, I don’t remember what prompted me to go on eBay in the first place.) Somehow, the stars all aligned and I found myself looking at a posting for a pre-owned, very loved watch with a going bid price for $125 and only 4 hours left to sell. Out of curiosity, I placed my first bid for $150. Then, I was instantaneously outbid by the eBay automatic bid system, which left me completely pissed. So I upped my bid price another $25 and was outbid once again. I kept playing this silly game with eBay for another few rounds and then decided to give up when I was at $250. I told myself, that’s as much as I’m willing to pay. Max. and took a nap. When I awoke 3.5 hours later, I went back and put in one final bid for 350, just to see how high the bid was and guess what? To my dismay, I was the highest bid at $307 (eBay autobid me so I was just slightly over the previous max bid). I know this sounds completely ridiculous, but I didn’t expect this to happen. I was so caught up in the competition, I forget that real money was at stake. I also figured that the bidder who I’d beat out would outbid me in the last few minutes, but that never happened. I was literally shocked when eBay told me that I’d won the watch!!!

(I realize that many of you probably think I’ve been bamboozled into buying fake goods. I don’t think that it is because the vendor has 122 positive comments on eBay and allows for returns. Also, I fully intend to take the watch to a Hermes dealer and verify its authenticity.)

I know that I’m not supposed to shop, but I don’t feel at all guilty about this purchase. It’s something I’ve wanted for such a long time and the opportunity of buying my dream watch at a price I could afford would probably not come again. Sometimes in life, you need to weigh your plans against the unexpected and find some room to let them coincide harmoniously.

And yes, I know I have to sell $614 worth of merchandise.

Within my reach

Do you remember those Loeffler Randall rain booties I mentioned a few weeks back? Well, I finally saw them in person on one of my co-workers. I was doing a mini training session with Emily when I looked down and flipped out. “Oh my god! I can’t believe you have them!,” I exclaimed. She had no idea what I was talking about and looked scared for a moment… I explained how I had been obsessing over the rain booties and had even blogged about them. Emily was super excited about my reaction and told me how she had called up Loeffler Randall and asked for a list of retailers near her. Amazingly, she found the black ones at one store for only $60 something. Can you believe that! If only we sold Loeffler Randall shoes on Gilt. They’re cooler in person than they are in pictures. Thanks, Emily, for letting me live vicariously through your feet.