Forget everything I said yesterday

Remember yesterday when I was all.."O, I don't care about Black Friday, I could take it or leave it." We totally went Black Friday shopping and I braved all the crowds at 10am. At 10am everything we wanted was still there and I didn't feel deprived in the least.

We got up and headed to Robinson Town Center Mall but first breakfast. The Center Diner is pretty new to the area but we ate there the last time we were in town and it was delish then as well. I went with eggs, bacon and hash browns, Can we take a moment of silence for these hash browns? 

Sliced potato hash browns with a little onion? Happiness. They don't make them like this down south, They just don't. Kev got some crazy challah french toast and it was amazing too.

Then we headed over to the mall. I had my eye on some new booties and Macy's was having 25% off boots until 1pm. Also, they had a door buster for $35 gold earrings and I wanted to get some for my grandma.

Macy's was ridiculous, they just didn't have a good system for the retrieval of shoes. I waited close to 45 minutes to find someone to get the shoes from the back and check out. Conversely, there were 5 people with nothing to do over in the men's shoe section.

In the end I was pretty happy with my purchase. Kev wanted to get me better boots as a birthday present. I went with these Dolce Vita Prynce booties. I love them a lot.

Then I waited a really long time for someone to sell me these earrings. 10k for $35, I really can't complain, especially since all the other ones I've seen were well over $100.

Another great deal were these Yurbuds which were 50% off at Dick's Sporting Goods. My earbuds are constantly falling out of my ears and I've heard that these ones stay in pretty well. For $10 I'll give them a go.

Then we headed over to the Sephora at JC Penny. I heard about the $10 eye shadow palette they had on special and wanted to check it out. I got there exactly at 1pm and the last one juuuust sold out. It was OK, I got this Smashbox one instead. It was a little more expensive but I kinda love it. They also talked me into an eyeshadow primer.

Then it was time for some lunch. We went over to a new coal fired pizza place and they had a meatball lunch. Now, I love me a good meatball and it's pretty hard to find a good one in the south. 

It was soooo good. I only ate one of the meatballs and a piece of Kev's pizza. The thing that makes it different and delicious is hands down the sauce. The sauce is phenomenal. Only in the north can you get a bowl of sauce with a dollop of ricotta cheese.

On the way back from lunch Kev wanted to stop at a tool place and maybe get a weed whacker. Instead we found an assortment of tools that we never knew we needed. 

Work gloves, a storage container for small things, a hand held spotlight and this.

That would be a $4 machete. In true Back Friday fashion, we didn't know we really needed one but when offered a machete for $4?? How can you pass it up?

We own a machete now.

Did you go Black Friday Shopping?

What did you get?

Black Friday thoughts - I just don't care

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving yesterday! We left bright and early yesterday morning to dive to my parent's house and spend a few days in WV / PA. We made it here at 430, waited a bit for the turkey to be ready and enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my parents. We have a few activities planned for the weekend, including a trip to the casino and the Pittsburgh Steelers game on Sunday.

Well, well, well, It's Back Friday and all across the land people are up and about looking for the best deals. Back in the day when I used to work in retail, I didn't mind working Black Friday. As a matter of fact, it was one of  my favorite days. I loved watching the crush of humanity and people fighting over the last turtleneck sweater. I would work my 8 hours or whatever and still go out shopping that night.

Main reason is that oddly enough, Black Friday is not a busy day for jewelry stores. Know why? Men. Men are the biggest jewelry shoppers over the holiday season and they wait until the last minute to buy anything. The week before Christmas is really busy and during the 2 days before Christmas jewelry stores will do 2% of their entire sales for the year. That's equivalent to the month of January. #themoreyouknow

The last few years I just haven't really had a reason to brave the Black Friday crowds. Here's why.

1. I value my time. Time is precious, I want to spend it wisely, battling crowds and waiting in line just isn't my idea of a good time. One year, Old Navy was having their crazy sweater sale and the line to check out wrapped all the way around the inside of the store, It took over 30 minutes to get to the front. Do I really need another $7 sweater? Probably not.

2. I think the sales cause us to be impulsive and get things we really don't need, I wasn't planning on replacing my towels but OMG for $8 apiece, how can I not? $9 Waffle iron? I don't make waffles, but what if I did? For $9 I might start making more!

3. I don't have a lot of people to buy for. Kev could care less about a discount sweater and the things I would buy him are usually found online or in stores where they don't really have Black Friday. I'll bake a crap ton of cookies and give them to mt employees, Kev's co-workers and out friends and pretty much everyone else wants gift cards.

4  Let's be honest, there is going to be some sort of door buster every Saturday morning from now until Christmas. If you miss one, wait a week and there will be another.

5. Amazon. I love Amazon prime. I can sit on my computer and order everything I need and have it shipped to my house. I don't need to fight the crowds ever again.

Let's be honest, after all of that, I'm absolutely going shopping today. I have my eye on a new pair of black boots and I know there are some great deals out there. :)

Happy Shopping!

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Meet at the Barre

EShakti Review - I wore cowboy boots

A few weeks ago I received an email from eShakti asking if I would be interested in reviewing their service and an article of clothing. We all know how much this gal loves shopping and new threads, this one was a no-brainer. 

I was provided the dress in exchange for a review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'd heard of eShakti and seen several of their dresses across the blog world. They're an on-line clothing store that really focuses on customization. You want the dress a little shorter, no problem! Have short Tyrannosaurus Rex arms like moi? Perfect, get the sleeves shortened. As a short, curvy gal, the idea of being able to make it just the way I wanted was really appealing. And, I'm one of "those" people. "How's this made, can I have it without sauce, can those veggies be steamed, is this butter or margarine, can I have this on the side?" Yea, I love making things the way I want them.

I as given a link with several different dresses and asked to choose one. I was really drawn to this blue print floral dress and could totally see it transitioning from summer to fall, especially here in NC. 

I can't say enough about eShakti's customer service, I had no idea what I was doing and they were so nice and patient with me. The dress came with cap sleeves and I first asked them to make them a little longer, then they asked if I preferred regular sleeves and even sent me a picture. Um, yes please! Not only did they give me different sleeves but they also made the dress short enough for my 5'3" self. 

For being specially made, it arrived very quickly and I couldn't wait to style it. Then the 95 degree days came, and the rain. I assumed that eShakti would prefer their dress not to be featured with boob and pit sweat so I waited. Finally I was able to get some pictures taken this weekend. Woo Hoo!

I first styled it for summer, just the dress and some nude wedges.

 

(and a janky foot. What am I doing?)

 Then I paired it with a navy cardigan and some cowboy boots.

People in the south love wearing cowboy boots with dresses. I really don't understand the trend, I mean, I think it looks cute and I love how it compliments this dress but why? It must be the northerner in me, we just don't get cowboy boots. 

Thoughts on the fit of the dress. I ordered a size up because I was paranoid that the sizing would be off. I shouldn't have done that. It definitely fit true to size and I should have gotten a size down, It was a little big in the hips and shoulders but still wearable. If you were more modest (which I'm not), you could wear a cute lace bandeau underneath it and not be so boobalicious. I loved the pockets and pattern is so different than what I usually wear. As Kev said, "Thank God you didn't get stripes" (but I totally would have)

All in all, working with eShakti was a great experience. Their customer service was fantastic and I really liked the dress. If you have a hard time finding things that fit you properly in the store, I highly recommend trying them out!

Have you ever purchased something from eShakti?

Would you ever have a dress customized?

Congratulations to Mary! You're the winner of the $25 Landry's gift card! I sent you an e-mail. 

 

Linky Linky with these awesome ladies! Fashionably Employed