Downgrade?

I went home for the holidays. It was good to see family and friends, and to have a home cooked meal. It was also good to go shopping with my sister like old times. While shopping in my old stomping grounds I discovered that my old city has added a Tiffany & Co. and a West Elm to the mall! OMG are you kidding me?!!! We don't have those stores in my new city, did I totally just downgrade when I left home?! Obvioulsy we went in both showrooms and gushed over the layout, selection, and history of the stores. I had to buy something from West Elm just to say I did. The blue box will come to me via gift someday (hopefully).

New sale price

My (hopefully soon to be) Banana Republic coat is now marked down to $94.99 from $119.99 from $225.00. I know I said I'd buy it at under $100 but, I think it will get marked down even lower so I'm gonna jepordize losing it and continue to hold out. There's only one XS size left in the store so I'm being awfully risky with this item. I'll keep you posted!

Commission anyone?

You would think in this economy that if a customer is wanting to purchase something from your store you as the sales associate would jump all over it. Not the case at Macy's. My sister gave me a gift card for my birthday to Macy's and I have been waiting for just the right pair of shoes to catch my eye to use the gift card on. I found them!... The Jessica Simpson Cornelia ankle boot in brown. This is just the style I've been searching all over for. They are ruched around the ankle in the perfect location for skinny pants and tights. They are the perfect round toe and short heel for someone on their feet for eight straight hours. So of course I enthusiastically take them off the table to the sales person to inquiry about the shoe and ask to try on my size. The shoe had absolutely no information on it. Tag missing, completely identity-less. I asked the sales person, "how much are these boots and can I try a size nine?" She goes on to notice that there is no tag identifying the shoe and says there was nothing she could do. According to her it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I couldn't believe my ears so I literally just stared at her, waiting for her to say, "but I'll see what I can do". Nope nothing like that, she pretty much gave them back to me to put them where I found them! So empty handed I leave Macy's in disgust with the customer service. Looks like these people aren't on commission. I found the boots on piperlime.com for $109.99 but I really want to use my gift card; what's a girl to do?

Sales still not helping

Are the holiday retail sales getting you out of the house to go buy buy buy? According to this year's numbers consumers continue not to spend money on items they deem as unnecessary saving for articles such as food, gas, etc. We rarely ever have sales in my store to avoid being classified as discount, but this season alone we've had two in an effort to get people in the door to spend. This week in my city Banana Republic had a 40% off of everything in the store for one day only sale. I've lumped myself in the group of folks who are hanging on to their every dime, but 40% off of everything I had to check it out! A lot of their items were already marked down and the catch to this new sale was that the 40% would only apply to regular priced items. I only found one thing that I felt I couldn't live without and it was a coat already marked down from $225 to $119.99 My friend accompanying me talked me out of the purchase but as soon as it's marked under $100 it's mine. Aldo shoes announced a one-day sale for this weekend only in my city that includes additional markdowns. The desperation on retail's face is depressing, and my store's numbers are even more depressing.

Smart AND gorgeous

Surprisingly my new obsession has nothing to do with clothes... In fact it's the exact opposite. Twenty-five year old millionaire Gurbaksh Chahal first caught my attention on Oprah. He launched a technology business at the age of 16 when he couldn't get a job in the not-so-blind United States. His business is thriving and now the technology entrepreneur has written a book and is creating a reality TV show about humanity. Not even 26 years old yet he's now worth over $100 million, but it was his supple skin and gorgeous face that initially caught my eye. I mean this man is gorgeous! When I googled him to see what else I could find out about him, this picture came up... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I didn't expect to find this under the Armani suit. Chahal is brilliant, charming, and looks like a dream. He says he's single and having fun. Yeah I'll bet you are, wow!