Louboutin for Less?

I have always wondered how in the hell Carrie Bradshaw could afford to live in a (relatively) huge one-bedroom in NYC, eat out so frequently that she literally had no food in her house, and still spend every cent of her money on couture.   I guess that lifestyle is one of the perks of being a fictional character?  Sadly…um?…I’m of the non-fiction persuasion, and so I have to actually save my money, if for no other reason than that is usually what real people do.  On top of which, there is just no way I’m spending 3-4 digits on shoes  (full disclosure: I can’t be persuaded to spend $200 on jeans, which I’d wear every day, let alone some freakishly painful, though oh-so-fab shoes).  And so imagine my joy when I saw these:

Forever21 Strappy Platform Sandal

Notice anything?  Sure, they’re pleather (or, as Forever21 so delicately calls it “Leatherette”) and sure, they’ll only last about 2 months.  But at $24.80, who cares?  Because believe me – the dim light of the Mad Hatter hides a multitude of sins and that girl standing behind your barstool is going to see nothing but the trademark red bottom and hate you with the fire of a thousand suns.

Forever21 Strappy Platform Sandal

Sundress Cage Match

Of my friends, those who know me well, know that one of my (admittedly few) talents is bargain hunting.  Over the years, I’ve become an absolute fiend for a bargain, so the point where I almost refuse to buy anything full price.  While that sounds like it’d be a huge money saver, in fact it actually costs me in the end sometimes…I end up finding some item that was originally $500 on sale for $10 and I have to buy it, simply for the bragging rights.  No matter that it’s a lime green t-shirt with a skull and cross bones emblazoned across the front that I will never ever wear.  It’s got a label and someone else paid $500 for it, so, to me, it’s a victory.

To that end, I’ve decided to put my meager talent to good use and do a Dress for Less thing here.

My first contribution…a Victoria’s Secret sundress that I’ve been loving (and refusing to pay for) since last season:

It’s cute…it’s flirty.  I love the color and the fact that it looks like you could wear it as a beach cover up or walking around the boardwalk OR throw a cute cardigan over your shoulders and take it out to dinner.  I love me some versatile clothes.

But my rule of thumb is and has been for a long time…if it looks like:

a) my mom could make it herself in less than 30 minutes, b) there are no truly unique details, or c) my instinct is that it’s over priced

then I usually leave it behind in search of more favorable quarry.  This little cutie, at $55 ($45 on sale), fits all three stipulations of my drop it and run rule.

And so I give you the steal of the day:

As are most of the Splurge vs. Steal stuff you see in magazines and whatnot, this one isn’t an identical match.  But the Striped Sundress from Charlotte Russe has bright colors, airy style, and a price tag of $23.  Beat that Vicky’s.

Pop quiz

So, in the interest of seeing whether my 1 reader is as faithful as she claims, I’m posting this entry:

Melis, the night that we hung out at your place with Meg and Mat…I ended up trying on and wearing a pair of your earrings.  And so of course I walked right out of the house with them and have been keeping them safe ever since (in fact I wore them on Friday – I think they are the sole reason for my excellent 2 year review).  I’ll bring them to OAR on Saturday…evidently Joe isn’t the only drunken clepto in the family.

Another one bites the dust…

All right.  I’ll admit it – I am that person who has the champagne dreams and the Bud Light budget.  I’m the person who wants the cool new thing before it’s out and damn the price.  So to keep myself on a tight rein is difficult under the most normal of circumstances.  Now, with that in mind, imagine a room full of people my age (and in many cases much younger than me) tapping away on shiny new MacBooks, scrolling glibly through screens on their iPhones…everywhere I turned I caught glimpses of glowing white or shiny black, smooth keyboards and dazzlingly clear displays…it would have been less torment for a blackjack-addicted alcoholic with a fetish for flashing lights to be set loose in Vegas.  Seriously. 

But I’m back now and away from all that temptation…or am I?  In my free moments as I recover from my jet lag (ie – when I’m dozing off at innapropriate moments or staring off into the distance in a mental funk), my mind tends to return to those sexy, sleek little beauties peppering the main ballroom of the conference.  Between the unflappable nature of the Mac (despite Carrie’s little issue, in S4/E56 they are rumored to never ever crash…as one who has seen far more than her PC-equivilant blue screen of death, I can appreciate that a LOT) and the gorgeously designed OS, I can’t help but wonder if now might be the time for this PC girl to make the switch.

Stay tuned…I am trying to rein it in, but as you all know, I am no good at controlling my impulses.

Negative ImPact

When I was 17, my mom shipped me off to Minnesota to visit my best friend/ help her celebrate her high school graduation.  It was basically the first time I’d been away from home, on my own and I was a little drunk with my own independence.  Her parting words to me, as she forked over the traveller’s cheques, were “don’t come back with anything pierced”.  I wasn’t a particularly rebellious child, but the fact that I’d been contemplating a belly button piercing before she even uttered those fateful words made it an edict impossible not to ignore.  She didn’t find out about it for about a month, by which time there wasn’t much to say on the subject…and that incident essentially began and ended my teen angst phase.

OMG

A camera crew from Good Morning America is setting up in my boss’ office about 5 feet away from me.  To be this metaphorically close to Diane Sawyer is nearly giving me heart palpitations.

It was a hockey night in Pittsburgh…

“With ‘The Joe’ decked out in red and ready to rock, the Penguins drained the juice out of the building in the first.”

Losing never feels good, but if we had to go down, I am thrilled that it was in this way and to this team.  Congrats on a fantastic season guys!

Top 10 Things…

…I learned at Wine Fest 2008:

10.  during a downpour, an open bottle of wine is often more useful than a case of umbrellas;

9.  the inventor of aerosal antibacterial and the Tide stick is my hero;

8.  when considering what to wear, think of the probability of the following: rain/ mud/ red wine and dress accordingly.  As a rule of thumb: Lightness in clothing color should be in inverse proportion to amount of stainable materials;

7.  I am far less hilarious than I think I am;

6.  in addition to making the most putrid smelling beverages, Red Bull also makes extraordinarily low quality tents;

5.  digital cameras are a vital tool in the post-drinking reconstruction of events;

4.  spaghetti straps aren’t meant to take that much abuse;

3.  my boyfriend is a cleptomaniac alcoholic*;

2.  sometimes the bus driver cliche isn’t just a cliche…it’s a hilarious fact of life;

1.  my friends and I can have fun almost anywhere under almost any conditions.

 * in truth, I knew this before Wine Fest 08.