Friends craft the best jewelry

earringsI got new earrings (pictured) a few days ago, courtesy of my friend Karen. (Here’s a close-up photo from her Etsy store.) I’d had my eye on these for a while, so when she put out the word that she was trying to finance some car repairs, I figured that was a pretty good reason to go ahead and buy.

The best thing about getting these earrings (besides helping a friend in need, of course) is that they complement a pendant I bought last summer from my friend Carolyn. It’s an antique gold keyhole pendant, and I didn’t have any earrings that really matched it. So now I’ve got new earrings and solved a problem as well!

Adventures in shopping (or, Some slightly embarrassing things happened at LOFT)

SaleMom and I went shopping this afternoon. Unfortunately, I left my brain at home.

But let’s begin at the beginning. My birthday was a few days ago, and LOFT sends cardholders a small gift card to use during their birthday month. I’m still tired and congested, but the end of the month is coming up quickly, so off to LOFT we went, gift certificate in hand. We each tried on several things (partly due to the fabulous 40% off sale this weekend). I found a cute dress I wanted, and Mom found a sweater with a matching top that she liked. The only problem was, they didn’t have a petite size in the right color. She said she could alter the regular size, but I wanted her to get the proper size if she could. So I asked a clerk if she could do a search for the right size/color combo, and she found two at the downtown store. I placed an order and returned to the dressing room in search of Mom, who still hadn’t reappeared.

I found her and relayed the news, but she was worried. What if the store sold out before they processed the order? So we decided to get the regular sized one as a backup. I put Mom’s sunglasses in her purse, picked up the blouse and sweater, and chivied her out of the dressing room and up to the register.

The clerk explained that I could save an extra 20% by upgrading my LOFT card to a Mastercard. Getting a bigger discount sounded good to me, so I agreed and we went through the process of switching out my card. Then I gave her the dress, sweater and blouse.

What I forgot to give her was my $15 birthday gift certificate.

After we left the store and stopped at a gas station, I looked in my purse and realized my mistake. I debated whether to go back; I wanted that $15 credit, but would I lose the extra 20% discount if they re-rang the transaction? I almost decided to forget it and go home, but Mom said I should go back and ask. So I returned to the store with my bags, saw my original cashier, and said, “I did something really stupid; I forgot to give you my birthday discount card. Is it possible to fix it?” She assured me that she could, and after a few minutes of fiddling with the register and my receipt, she got it to accept the birthday gift. Hurrah! I left the store relieved and happy.

That feeling lasted about 20 minutes, until Mom looked in her purse and went, “Where did these sunglasses come from? Oh my God! I didn’t put these in here.”

I had been tired and hurrying and was so sure the sunglasses on the dressing room bench were hers; I never even saw the tag. I had unintentionally shoplifted a pair of sunglasses.

Jesus.

Mom starts trying them on while I freak out.

“They fit me perfectly!” she said. “How much are they?” She checks the tiny tag. “$24.50. Oh, that’s too expensive.”

The accountant in me takes over. “Forty perfect off, though. That’s only $15.”

She looks in the mirror again. “I like them! Maybe we can pay for them over the phone.”

One slightly embarrassing phone call to LOFT later and Mom is now the happy owner of new sunglasses. The lovely Spencer thanked me for calling, didn’t make me feel any dumber than I already felt, and even e-mailed me a receipt.

Guess we’ll call it a win.

Something so right

It’s easy to get fixated on things that go wrong, to let minor snafus ruin entire days. This afternoon, something wasn’t working for me and I found myself getting increasingly upset by it. I considered blogging about it, but after some thought (and a cooling-down period), I realized I’d be a lot happier if I wrote about something this week that went truly right: my new shoes from Amazon.com.

First, a little background: buying shoes is an exercise in frustration for me. I have troublesome feet — size 10 with weak arches — and if my shoes aren’t supportive enough, I’ll feel it in my leg joints in a matter of days, if not hours. So when I find a pair of shoes that works for me, I buy multiple pairs in a variety of colors. After my last “go-to” style disappeared from stores, I discovered some cute little low-heel slip-ons from 5th Avenue that I adore — feminine styling, enough support, and a cushioned interior that my feet just love. I have two pair, brown and navy, but this week I decided to get a black pair as well, since my everyday black shoes are clogs or booties — both too hot for New Orleans summer.

When I went to shoes.com to order, I discovered something awful — no black pairs left. I tried Zappos and a couple of other places and got a horrible sinking feeling: my favorite shoes had clearly been discontinued.

Not one to give up easily when hunting for my perfect shoe, I did a Google search. Lo and behold, a little ad popped up on the side: Amazon.com said they had my shoe. I stared at the ad, thinking it was a mirage, then clicked.

OH. MY. GOD. Not only did Amazon.com have my shoe, but they had it 20% off and they had GRAY, the dream color that I lusted for last fall when I was doing Felicia Sullivan’s fashion challenge. I snapped up the last gray pair in my size and one of two remaining black pairs. After the discount and a gift certificate, I got them for $33 each. I LOVE YOU, AMAZON.COM!

And, okay, I guess I should admit it — I thought about it overnight and ordered two more pairs this morning. No gift certificate this time, but $45 each is still a great price for leather shoes. And when it comes to comfort, the right fit really is priceless; even cheap shoes aren’t worth being in pain.

So I’m eagerly awaiting my shoe order and reminding myself not to dwell on the things that go wrong. Focus only on the things that go RIGHT.

Fashion Find: the $5 ring

My $5 fashion accessoryI’ve become a lot more fashion-conscious in the past six months, and I’ve learned to really notice accessories, which are the icing on the cake for any outfit. I follow style blogger Felicia Sullivan and after seeing some of her colorful cocktail rings, I’ve been lusting after one of my own. But I wasn’t sure where to find one. I tried on a couple at Forever 21, but I was convinced that they’d turn my fingers green. So I resigned myself to admiring rather than owning.

Last weekend, I was at Pier 1 for glassware and saw the most adorable rings: feminine, colorful, well-sized, and incredibly affordable at $5 each. I wanted one! Okay, I wanted two. But I told myself I could only have one. So I scooped up a pink one, which is the color I wanted most. I’ve worn it a few times and my fingers remain stain-free. Hurray! I recommend you get over to the nearest Pier 1 and grab one for yourself.