Snowpocalypse!

So with the insane weather we've been having here in the Northeast, I couldn't take the slush anymore and bought myself a pair of these:

SOREL JOAN OF ARTIC BOOTS IN BLACK

They are so warm and the BEST part, waterproof! YAY! Snow storms here I come!!! 

I am so good!

I have to give myself a pat on the back. I walked into Zara today with a friend and just about wanted to buy the whole store. BUT, I left empty-handed. Say no to shopping. Especially when you're going to Mont Tremblant & Buenos Aires in a week. PHEW!

Zara Envy

Happy New Year! I've decided to kick off the new year with ZARA :) A trip to this store is much overdue despite my looming but highly anticipated vacation. My credit card probably needs a rest, but how to say no with these fabulous cats on sale????

    

Lately I've been on the hunt for a camel coat..these babies are on sale! 

 

Then there's these in RED...

 Will I be able to hold out before my vacation & keep my credit card safe? Stay tuned and you'll see...

Why hello there...

COOPERATIVE POLAR BEAR SWEATER, AVAILABLE @ URBAN OUTFITTERS $49

I do NEED this sweater. Does anyone want to buy it for me for Christmas? It's only $49 and fresh out of Urban Outfitters Holiday Catalog! How cute is it!! Mind you, I do own a polar bear sweater made of angora wool purchased from Korea for the Holiday season last year. But WHO CARES! It's a polar bear!!! :) Happy Holidays!

What I bought:

So this Saturday, J & I took a drive upstate to Woodbury Commons since his folks were visiting. We thought we'd try our hand at some of the early Thanksgiving sales that the outlets might have and despite a slow start, we made away with lotsa good buys and some Christmas presents in tow. Well at least I did :) So here are some things I got for myself as an early Merry Christmas to me:

JCREW TWEED CARLIN COAT

KENNETH COLE REACTION LEAD ACTRESS LACE UP BOOTIE

JCREW GLIMMER POCKET CARDIGAN

JCREW CHEVALIER CARDIGAN: I GOT IT IN IVORY

BETSEY JOHNSON JUNGLE FEVER PARROT FEATHER EARRINGS

KENNETH COLE FLEECE FOOTLESS TIGHTS: THE WARMEST LEGGINGS I OWN THUS FAR

As you can imagine, I will not be shopping for the rest of the year. Granted we only have about a month till the year ends and I probably will be shopping when I'm in Vancouver this Christmas....BUT, no excuses. No more shopping till next year! And even then, I probably will hold out till my vacation in January. So I'm on another shopping ban once again. I'm only allowed to buy Christmas gifts and that's it! The rest of the weekend was spent eating...I will be hitting the gym this weekend. No excuses :P Hope your weekend was as productive as mine! 

shopping fail

It's another weekend and once again, I've found myself lulling a Saturday away with J. My first week of "real" work ended well with a market trip to California and I came home exhausted but feeling very productive. Unfortunately, my attempt at a shopping ban failed me miserably while out in the burbs of Cali. The moment I stepped into the largest Forever 21 I had ever seen, I knew I was done for.

It was HUGE!!! Flanked at the end of the mall, it took up the real estate of what a Macy's or Sears would and I knew I could not resist. $175 later, I walked away with a large bag of 8 cute outfits. *sigh* But now that I'm back in the city, no more shopping. Seriously though....NO MORE.

So it's on with the weekend, with more sleeping to catch up on, naps to cuddle with and food to eat! :) Happy weekending!

Denim Shirt Found!

As lame as this sounds, I finally found the denim shirt I was looking for! Up till now, my search was futile: to find a denim chambray shirt that was a) AFFORDABLE and b) CUTE in a non-Western-cowboy sort of way. And here it is, courtesy of American Eagle! It was waiting for me at Marshalls for a lovely price of $14.99. Oh I shall miss you, Marshalls....

On a separate note, I have decided that once I'm back in NYC, I am imposing a shopping ban on myself till the Fall season comes (ie. Fall Solstice September 23). I have shopped WAY too much over the course of the 7 weeks I've been in Ohio (partly due to boredom and the availability of big box retailers like Target & Marshalls) so its time to get those credit cards in check and save myself some cash before Thanksgiving Sales start ramping up. 

My new-found love:

Mr Steve Madden

(Sorry babe, but shoes are different...hee) For the last several weeks in Ohio I've spotted a colleague of mine wear fabulous platform wedge sandals and she glides seamlessly in them all day without flinching or switching to fitflops and I ask her: "How?" She replies with a smile "Steve Madden". So the next time I was in a mall, I headed straight for a store and had to try some on. True enough, Steve Madden's collection of platform wedge sandals were comfortable, sassy and on sale! :) So I picked up a pair of these:

They fit my skin tone perfect and they go with everything! And most importantly, as I age, comfortable shoes are a MUST especially with all the walking I do in Manhattan. Plus, they were on sale! So today I browsed Zappos and found some other fabulous Steve Madden sandals I'd love to own:

TRACKKS

TARIN

GLORYIA

I'm accepting early Christmas presents if anyone is feeling extra generous....

Ohio grass is greener...?

BEADED CARDIGAN: ANN TAYLOR LOFT, TANK: BANANA REPUBLIC, TRIBAL SKIRT: FOREVER21, WEDGE SANDALS: SAM EDELMAN

The Sam Edelman zebra wedges were the highlight of my roommate & my week - We found these current season platform wedges at Marshalls on Clearance! Just 2 weeks ago, we were eyeing them in Nordstroms and lo & behold, Marshalls had them! I've worn them for a full day of work and they are incredibly comfy and perfect for the Manhattan pavement :) My room mate got them both in leopard and zebra! She couldn't resist! Now if only there were a Marshalls in Manhattan....and a Home Goods (also known as Winners & Home Sense for my fellow Canadians!). Don't knock your off-price retailers...you never know what you might find!

Temptation

I want Lent to be over soon because the H&M next door to my work is showing $15 off blazers and jackets and I have $50 Forever 21 birthday gift card that's calling my name...ARGGGHHHHHH...oh, and did I mention Aldo Shoes is having a major clearance and Gilt Groupe has about a bazillion things I want to buy along with Liberty of London Target line and their delightful MAC Collab?? I could go on really, because the sales just keep popping up and the shipping is all of a sudden FREE. Dear Lord, please save me from my Amex. Amen.

PS: But I have a fab boyfriend who gets me these awesome shoes for spin so I can have something new & show off in spin class tonight! HA! God is fair :D Amen.

Bags of my childhood

I was never a handbag kinda girl. But thanks to my late mother who was totally a "bag lady" - I've grown a love for handbags and inherited some her fabulous pieces. But I like my bags big - none of this dainty, barely-can-fit-my-wallet-and-iPhone nonsense. I also prefer shoulder straps or the ability to sling my bag across my body messenger-style. I guess its the years of school that have cultivated a desire sport my bag like a school kid :P

So when I saw Giles Deacon's fabulous fuzzy monster bag on Racked - I smiled with delight! I've always loved Giles Deacon as a designer and more so, for his fantastically cute and quirky hand bags he includes in his collections. He first caught my eye during his Spring 2010 RTW collection with the metallic triceratops bags - impossible to obtain of course, because all the magazines were requesting them for editorials and no one was giving them back. Dammit! Now, with his Fall 2010 RTW collection - he accessorizes his line with a fabulous fuzzy monster bag, reminescent of Hayao Miyazaki's Susuwatari dust bunnies from Hayao Miyazaki's Totoro film and I so desperately want one! 

Lent. What is your sacrifice?

Today marks the first day of Lent.

I'd hate to begin my first entry of my new blog on such a serious note but it is Ash Wednesday - the start of the season of Lent where we search our souls, take the time to reflect and make sacrifices to remember His sacrifice. I consider myself a spiritual person - I've never liked to say I'm religious because it sounds so constrained. So I begin my first blog entry on what I've decided to give up for Lent - normally it's meat but this time, I've decided to take stock of my finances and give up shopping for the next 46 days.

I realise this might come across as frivolous but this is going to be a challenge, at least for me. I've become too comfortable knowing I can whip out my credit card and charge it to almost whatever my heart desires. This Lent, I'm going to attempt to practice abstinence from what I love - the act of shopping. I've drawn my boundaries for this challenge, which consist of the following:

I cannot purchase anything I don't need (ie. nothing frivolous or required for daily living) this includes cosmetics, beauty products, home furnishings/decor, books etc and of course, no new clothes, shoes, accessories and no excuses.

And for those of you who have been following me on Bite My Big Apple - you may ask, why the change? I've felt I needed a blank slate to share my thoughts - I felt that my previous blog was representative of my life as student in a new city, with a new-found independence. Now, almost 3 years later - I feel like I'm at a new phase of my life. I'm back in the workforce with a new-found ambition to better myself and succeed what I do best. 

So come along for the ride and dive into my world and see how I manage the next 46 days without a shopping bag in sight. Wish me luck!