Tucson Fashionista's Blog..... By Yvonne Auld

Adventures in Shopping
Tucson Fashionista's Blog

By Yvonne Auld




Monday Oct. 3rd, 2005	There is one store where I really and truly loose all self control. I want everything and every time I turn around it seems that there is something more fascinating and desirable than the last. Bet you think that I am at a shoe store or fabulous boutique. Oh no I love books therefore I love bookstores. I can get lost in these huge stores for days and never see enough. When I went in on Monday I was looking for the book "What Remains" by Carole Radziwill who was married to Anthony Radziwill. He was John Kennedy's cousin, Jackie Onasis Nephew. Carole comes from a working class family and met Anthony (a real prince of Polish descent). Anthonly and John Kennedy Jr. were more like brothers. They were the best men at each other's weddings. Anthony was diagnosed with cancer and was in remission but the cancer came back and he would not survive it. But during the years before the cancer became terminal the two couples were inseparable . Carolyn Bessett Kennedy and Carole became best friends as close as sisters. The last person Carolyn spoke to on the phone was Carole as they were to see each other the next day. Within hours John, Carolyn and Lauren were dead. Within 3 weeks Anthony lost his battle with cancer. This is the story of a special friendship between four very special people It is also about fate, tragedy and the human spirit.

Thursday Sept. 22nd 2005	My friend Julie Penny called me (she owns Butz Jean Co and Piece By Piece) to let me know she has the greatest stuff in for Fall. I had to check it out. Oh my God the stuff is amazing! She just got in the best jeans by TAG. They are embellished with gold colored studs and the fit is out of this world, I never want to take them off! I got a pair. What I love about them is that the waist in the back comes up so that when you sit or bend down your back end stays covered, but the waist is still low in the front. But not too much of course! I think that all jeans should be made this way. These jeans are so flattering

Wednesday Sept. 21st 2005	Today I stopped by the Hallmark store in Oro Valley on Oracle and first. This is a great store because it is not a franchise as the others are. This store is so much bigger and it has so much different stuff. Oh and best of all it has the best markdowns. There is a clearance section where everything is 50-70% off! I got the most adorable cake platter really unique that was $40 for $10! I got coffee mugs that were $12 for $2. If you like Harley stuff they have a Harley line that has cups, picture frames, address books and so much more all 70$ off and more! I got stuff for $1. This is a really great store with so much. They have the greatest candles. This is a great place for baby gifts and for party stuff. Gotta go get some rest. I will be back for more adventures in shopping!

Tuesday Sept. 20th	There are so many sales going on right now. Off Fifth (I love this outlet store because it does seem like an outlet store at all) has so many. I got the most bbeautiful pair of Prada shoes last week. I had seen these ones in the magazines a season ago and they are still really hot. They are a purplish (very light) satin with snakeskin trim and the heel has rhinestones on it! These shoes were $750.00 and I got them for $199.00! $555.00 off! Gotta love that. Oh and I got my daughter a pair of baby blue UGGS for under $80! I just saw these same UGGS in their Fall advertisement in Elle. I also got a great Coach bag. Off Fifth has some of the best bags at really great prices. They have the Marc Jacobs bag that was $1200 for $600! Now here is the thing with Off Fifth...you need to go in there twice a week or even more if you can. Yeah I know but hey if you want Prada and Dolce shoes and bags for under $200 you have to do some work. They get Gucci in there but I have been there when they get it in and sometimes it is gone in an hour. They have great dot sales. A green dot on the tag means you get 40% off a purple 70%. These sales are great and I highly recommend you get there. Now for those sales you can get Coach shoes for $20.00! You may have to search a bit and these shoes and items may be last season but hey it will be summer again soon

Tuesday Sept. 20th	You know I love a bargain and I love mixing $500 dollar shoes and $5 pants and the like. A great place to get a great deal these days is Payless! I know can you believe it? But really they are getting some very cute styles and hey who knows where you got your shoes and who the hell cares? AS long as what you wear is pretty and fashionable I personally don't care how much I have paid for it. In fact the less it costs the cuter it is. I never understand people who brag that they paid a fortune for something. I like to brag about how little I paid, especially if it works! Some of the boots at Payless are really cute this season and I got some of the cutest tweed pumps. Hey they are not leather it is just cloth so why pay a fortune and they are so cute. I was at Park Mall and they just got in the most amazing shoe I have it pictures here. It's a black Mary Jane with needlepoint on it and I got them for $20! I got the tweed shoes for $17 and they had some of the cutest boots for $30. I am in love with a pair of wedge boots with fur on the top. Wedge boots are huge this season. Michael Kors has the best wedge boot but it is not too cheap so off to Payless my dear. Another place I am loving is Ross. The one out in Oro Valley is the #1 Ross in the country!

Tuesday Sept. 20th	I got the best Halloween candles and decorations. I mean really nice ones for $3 and $5. Oh and Ross is a great place to get things like pillows for your bed. They have Ralph Lauren ones and Tommy ones for about $7! And think pillows are something that you need to replace and you put pillow cases on them so why pay a bunch? Ross has everything. My daughter got the most adorable Steve Madden copper ballet flats with a bow on them that are so adorable for $9! They have some great home and kitchen stuff. I get all the Kitchen Aide serving utensils for next to nothing and they are not cheap in other stores. I even bought Calpahlon pans there. They don't have them all the time because they go so fast. These pots are expensive and I got one big saute pan for $34.00 that goes for $150.00! Ross even has furniture. I mean it they have everything. I really am going crazy over sales these days. Oh well more shopping adventures tomorrow!
Saturday Dec. 3rd Sunday Dec. 4th	I have sooo much Christmas shopping to do. I love to decorate everything in my house. I pulled out all the stuff I already have. I have tons of Christmas dishes and all kinds of cute decorations for the table and all over but I need more. I am in a different house and there is so much I have to do so I am starting out at Kohl's. They have all their Christmas stuff 50% to 60% off! Hey now that's a deal. I could not believe everything that Kohl's has. they have by far more holiday choices than any other store. I love decorating the bathroom for Christmas. Most stores have one Christmas pattern for sale but Kohl's has about 11. I could not believe the cute patterns they had. A lot of the rugs were gone when I got there but I was lucky and found the snowman bathroom rugs I wanted. I also got glittering little Christmas trees to put on the mantle. They were $30.00 but I got hem for $15. Everything was 1/2 off. I was thrilled with everything they had. They also have so many different patterns of Christmas dishes. I also got table linens they have 15 different patterns at least and it was all so inexpensive. I then went to Michael's. I love Michael's they have so many different things and the prices are great. I got silk poinsettias and they were all half off. the extra large arrangement was $40.00 I got it for$20.00.I also got the silk ones in a planter, they are the large size for $9.00 and the small size for $5.00. I got tons of decorations some for 24cents each. I bought wreaths that were twice as much at Target , I bought large size wreaths for $10.99. I love the plain wreaths and then I buy the decorations that are only 24 cents to 1 dollar. Every time I come home my car is packed to the top! I got home with so much my living room looks like Santa and his elves were here! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It's back to Michael's for me. I have to go back and forth to the store when I am decorating because I figure out what I need as I go along. I need more flowers and wreaths.