Stained Lass

One great thing about purchasing cosmetics from drugstores instead of Sephora is that you can buy more of them. Not that I ration my Sephora purchases. But I got this new Cover Girl product, Outlast Lipstain, to test for free. I like the product -- it gives me a nice, stained look (stained in a good way, not in an I-need-Tide-to-Go way, which is good because I hate Tide to Go, it smells like vomit which I choose to believe is because it is digesting the stain) and is fun to apply. It's like drawing on your lips with a marker, which is more enjoyable than it sounds.

The problem with Outlast Lipstain is that it doesn't really outlast anything. It doesn't stay on very long -- certainly not through my Grande Caramel Light Frappucino -- and it can be a little drying. But like I said, it's cheap (or free, in my case), so I can afford another product to layer over it and help it stay on longer. It's nice with a clear gloss or lip balm. I recommend buying at least five.

Get Thee to an Old Navy

I was all set to order this Greek-inspired top, for $8.75 using my 30% discount. Except it's only available, through midnight tomorrow, in stores. And, I may not have mentioned this, but I have a wedding to go to.

Bubblicious

As alluded to earlier, it's never, not ever going to stop raining. Never never never. Not ever. So, time to man up (chick up?) out and get yourself this bubble umbrella, just like the one you had (or desperately desired) as a child. While shielding you from the inevitable downpour, the clear plastic also lets the world enjoy your cute outfit, brightening others' day. So buying it is a purely altruistic move.

Wedding Crashers

So, remember those shoes I ordered for the wedding I'm going to? Gotcha! Trick question! I didn't actually order them. You thought I did though, didn't you? Well, so did I. But it seems like I forgot to press that very last confirmation button. Surely it can't be for lack of experience in online ordering...


So, there I was, with no shoes. And then I lost my watch. Not my everyday watch, but my fancy schmancy watch that will cost a pretty penny to replace. So, feeling rushed and pretty cash-poor, I stopped in at my local Payless, and there they were - $15 pewter wedding shoes! Now, frankly, it's quite possible that there will be a checkpoint at the entrance to the exclusive town in which this wedding is being held and I won't be allowed through, what with the shoes being so cheap and my having to wear a swatch. It is a risk I'm more than willing to take.

The Five and Ten

Well, it looks like Urban Outfitters has thrown in the towel, and utterly given up on even the remotest possibility that summer is actually ever coming to NYC this year, and accordingly has marked their prices waaay down, with many items a mere $5 or $10 (OK, $4.99 or $9.99, if you must be such a stickler for accuracy. And yes, apparently I must be.). Let their loss of faith be your wardrobe gain. Especially since you just know August will be hotter 'n hell starting at precisely 12:00:00 AM on 8/1/09.

$5!

$10

$10 (leatha)

It figures

I have been searching for the perfect affordable summer flats for weeks. I've pored over thousands of web sites, made trips to hundreds of shoe stores, and tried on dozens of different pairs. I sent Jayn countless e-mails, texts and IMs asking, "What do you think of these?" I lost sleep night after night, tossing and turning and debating the merits of slingbacks vs. huaraches.

So it makes sense that once I gave up my search for shoes I could afford and forked over $80 for a pair that I would come across these. $15. Old Navy. Perfect.

Wedding Sells

As you are aware, I have been invited to a wedding. I have officially selected my dress, (by which I mean, I purchased five dresses, selected the priciest dress and returned the other four - and yes, that is a productive use of my spare time) and now the search for accessories is underway at full throttle.

I completely intended to wear shoes I already have, but then, well.... even I can't rationalize purchasing new shoes. Then I saw these shoes below and they go so well with the jewelry I plan to wear (by which I mean, I have purchased and not yet returned), and they are only $40. They are the perfect height - while I could dance in them, they are also high enough that I can claim I can't, should I not be in the mood to dance in endless circles in a dance step all the other women learned earlier in their lives, but that I somehow missed entirely. And they'll be so useful - I mean, can't you see me wearing these at work? To the beach? On my daily, sometimes twice-daily, trip to the Food Emporium? There! That was a decent rationalization

oh, and to get free shipping, isn't this an awesome little clutch? you know, to get free shipping.