devilwrites, posts by tag: shopping - LiveJournal

Okay, you know how you can get replicas of all the lovely jewelry worn and designed for the LOTR films? If you don't, you do know. It's been available since Fellowship of the Ring's premiere. I even have an Arwen Evenstar necklace.

And of course, there are many a replica of THE ONE RING, which is fun and cool.

But isn't it missing the point, just a wee bit, to design such a replica and promote it as a wedding band?

Because nothing says love like script of Mordor:

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

Oh yeah. If my hubby's wearing that sucker, I know exactly how much he loves me. :)

Though, looking again at the translation, perhaps it's a more fitting engraving for polygamists? One husband, many wives. Or vise versa, but I can't say I've heard of that particular situation. :)

So you know that lovely 4-in-1 Cargo Jacket that I fell in love with and ordered? Well, it arrived on Friday, and let me tell you: it didn't work.

Now, maybe I got a size larger than necessary. It's possible. But after seeing it in person, I knew that even if I had the right size it wouldn't work on me. I need jackets that don't stop right at my waist line, and this one, I failed to realize by looking at the picture, DOES. Such jackets do not flatter this devil's figure.

Oh, and despite the fact I ordered the color in the picture, labeled "herb green," the jacket is brown. Brown, brown, brown!

So back it goes, along with one of the two sweaters I ordered. Alas. That's the tough thing about catalogue shopping is that you never know how it's gonna look until you try it on, and when it doesn't work, you've got the hassle (and cost) of shipping it back.

Fooey. And thanks to this debacle, I'm now obsessed on finding a cute jacket that actually flatters my figure. Wish me luck! :)

After working at Carlex for two years and having to wear a uniform, it's a joy to remember how much I love fall fashion. I love the jackets, the sweaters, the layers, and the ability to mix and match just about anything and get away with it because the temperature's just right.

I had a couple coupon codes and a gift card for Victoria's Secret, so I got suckered in to getting a couple of really cute sweaters I can wear to work. But the pride and joy of my purchase is THIS item behind the cut: a 4-in-1 cargo jacket. You can wear this sucker FOUR DIFFERENT WAYS, and I can't wait.

I love jackets. I love jackets TO PIECES.

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/girliness

It's been a very, very long time since I've taken an official "me" day. Even when I got my hair cut last week, it wasn't a me day. I just went to Maryville and back.

Today, however, was a "me" day. Started with a baby shower for my dear friend daniantyler, who is one of the very few people who knew me pre-college that I still keep in contact with, even if it is a random email every six months or so. She's having her first kid in February, a baby boy, and I'm thrilled for her. She's going to make an awesome mom. And the really neat thing about sending a couple hours with her and her family was remembering just how wonderfully NORMAL those people are. Her mom and dad are still together, and after watching her older brother play with his 16 month old son (who is absolutely the sweetest, happiest toddler in the world), I've decided he wins the most adorable dad EVER award. Seriously.

It's not that I didn't have a good family or anything, but mine's far from normal, and seeing these people together is just profound in its own way. Oh, sure, all families have their problems, and I'm sure these guys are no different, but still. When you know them as long as I have, it's just amazing.

Anyway, from Maryville I trekked up to Knoxville on a mission. A jean-hunting mission. Here's the skinny (heh): in college, I discovered that Express jeans are MADE to fit my body. They fit perfect, so even though they cost roughly $75 bucks a pair, I would buy them, without fail, because they fit.

However, over the years, it seems that I've gotten bigger (not that I was a tiny thing to begin with) or they've started making stuff smaller. I suspect both. But I've reached the point where I was buying two pairs of jeans a year and wearing them out IN A YEAR. Mind you, I wear jeans every stinking day, so they would wear out, but it's really discouraging when you're wearing holes in them in not-so-great places after a YEAR, especially at $75 bucks a pair (and now that I'm thinking about it, I think they cost more than that . . .). Anyway, I've been suspecting that my size 10 jeans are getting made smaller and smaller, so today when I tried on a pair, and they didn't fit, I'd had enough. When I looked for the next size up (a 12!!! Horrors!), I was informed that Express has stopped making that size in the "short" version for women.

Okay, honestly? I know these tall, willowy girls who have cute little bubble butts and straight skinny legs exist. No really, I do. I see them all the time when I'm in stores like Express, and in the mall in general. But I am so sick and tired of these stores catering to sizes that don't allow for curves and don't allow for the fact that yes, some women aren't TALL for fuck's sake.

I've complained before that I'm the bastard stepchild of the women's clothing world, because I'm not big enough for Lane Bryant, but I'm too big for stores like Express. And it sucks, because I like fashionable colors, cuts, and lines that don't make me look prematurely forty. Really, I do.

I wish there was a store for "mid-sized" women, women with shape, women of different heights, that offered fashionable clothing. A lot of the stores that cater to women my size are either too mommy-ish, too country-ish, or too forty-ish.

Rant over. Save for the possible uber-cute shirt or cool piece of jewelry, I am DONE with Express.

I did find some really adorable sweaters and an awesome black jacket at New York & Company, a store that seems to cater to both women AND girls, so I'm going to keep an eye on it in the future. And I went to JC Penney's for some jeans. Found a pair I REALLY loved, but had to get them in a size 12. And you know what? I'm fine with that. It might've made me cry five or so years ago, but if you look at the women in my family? I'm doing well. And I shouldn't be ashamed of my curves, even though they mean I'm not a size 6 or a size 2. Well, I can't completely blame my curves...I don't have the best diet in the world, but you know, I'm just not concerned about that, so I refuse to beat myself up for nabbing a pair of jeans that are size 12's. Got two other pairs that were size 10's that I didn't like near as well, but they'll do the trick for work since that's what I wear everyday anyway, and if I wear these out, I won't mind.

The best part is? These three pairs of jeans at JC Penney's came to just under $70. THREE PAIRS. Now imagine if that ONE pair from Express had fit? $75 for one pair, or $70 for three?

Gee, I wonder...

The rest of the day was spent in bookstores. I got four books for my grandmother for Christmas, a cute marshmallow bear for my mother (maggiedr knows what I'm talking about!), and a couple of books for me, particularly one I excused as "research" for my novel, even though I'm technically WAY past the research stage. Hee!

The only thing I didn't get today, and I really wanted to get, was a new purse. I saw one at New York & Company that really, really looked appealing, but you know those tote-shaped purses that zip on the top but still have gaping holes on each side of the zipper? Yeah, I have issue with that, and couldn't excuse the extra $30 it would've cost to get that sucker. But I want something better than the Wal-Mart brands I've been getting, and I want something big enough to fit all my crap, including a hardcover book, if need be. Last night, I was browsing Timbuck2's website. Granted, their stuff is insanely expensive, but it's so damn nice! I really like this one, but even the small version is a wee bit too big to use as a purse. This one is a real possibility, and it's about the right size, but I'm also really enamored of building my own, cause the material is fun and pretty and stuff. ;)

But, on the other hand, do I really want a purse that basically looks casual? It's fine for where I work currently, but if this Edward Jones thing pans out, I'd really like something more professional looking, kind of like the one I saw at New York & Company, which had a shiny black leather look.

Anyway, now that I've bored you with all this shopping talk, I'm going to attempt to be productive before BSG comes on. Cheers!