Happy Monday! *grumbles*

This weekend I decided to head out to see an old friend—the Flatiron District in Manhattan. I love shopping in the area on Broadway and Fifth Avenue between about 23rd and 15th streets—most of my favorite stores are there and on a Saturday afternoon there isn’t much of a crowd.

My main reason for being out was to check out the MAC Fabulous Felines collection early at the Pro store. I wound up not buying anything, but I’ll have more on that in a later post. But since I was out there, might as well take a little shopping trip, right? Right!

I headed to Sephora since the day before I was on the hunt for the DDF Glycolic Acid 5% Cleanser that Carm B recommend in her anti-aging basics post, but my Sephora didn’t have it so I got the Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid 3% Cleanser and the Boscia Black Iluminating Mask. I didn’t even open the Boscia mask and returned it because so many reviews said it’s almost impossible to get all of the mask off your face. Who needs that kind of aggravation? Not me…lol. So in exchange I got the DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum, Carol’s Daughter Khoret Amen Hair Oil, Tui Hair Smoothie, and Black Vanilla Leave-in Conditioner. I’ve heard good thing about the DiorShow lash primer and lash serum wrapped all in one and I’m also trying my hand at transitioning out of my relaxer again. I’ve been “going natural” since 2005 and each time after about month 2, I somehow find myself in a stylist’s chair getting a relaxer…lol. But I read on Moptop Maven’s interview with Carol’s Daughter creator Lisa Price that the Khoret Amen Hair Oil and the Khoret Amen Hair Smoothie (they were out of stock at my Sephora so I got the Tui instead) are good for transitioners to help soften the hair without affecting the kink. We’ll see…

More Carol’s Daughter…

Then I headed to Zara to check out what they were serving. And serve they did! I had about 10 things in my hand, then edited it all down to a jacket and a faux fur vest. Then I just wound up with the vest. I’ve always wanted a fur vest but since I’m tall, wanted one that didn’t make me look like a bear. This one did the trick:

for $79.90.

Then I hopscotched over to Gap to exchange the Tuxedo Khaki Pants I had ordered online. I find that in order to get a true boyfriend fit on pants/jeans/shorts, I have to order 2-3 sizes up. The waist may hang a little bit but it gives me the look I want. I also got the Pleated Cropped Pants on sale for $17.99. I used a 30% coupon code to get both for less. High five!

More Gap…

After that I decided to walk down to Herald Square to check out the Rachel Rachey Roy collection at Macy’s. I love NYC but there are two places I’d have to have really good reason to venture out to and that’s Herald Square and Times Square. I am so not a fan of crowds and both places have crowds to the infinity power. *sigh* But I managed to catapult my way through the sea of people and to the 2nd floor at Macy’s. O-M-G. I used to go to Macy’s 34th street quite often when I worked four blocks away some years ago but since I moved out of the area, I never really go in there aside from an occasional beauty purchase, but boy have I been missing out! The 2nd floor is their contemporary women’s section. No cheesy juniors collection stuff yet no matronly “womens” clothing or über sophisticated and high priced duds either. Brands like Rachel Rachel Roy, BCBG Max Azria, French Connection, and many more live here. And it’s all totally fabulous. I wound up getting the Crinkled Faux Leather Lady Shorts from the Rachel Rachel Roy collection (I’m not one for shorts in the fall but these were too cute to pass up) and the Fitted Blazer With Scalloped Trim marked down to $46.44 from $179 and I had a $10 off coupon.

I also slid by the junior’s shoes section (mainly because of my love for super high platform heels found there) and picked up a pair of Steve Madden Catcherr pumps marked down to $79.99 from $129 but I had a 20% off coupon. Then I also got the Not Your Daughter’s Blouse in navy. I normally avoid buying button down blouses because they gap at the bust area on me and I can’t be bothered with fashion tape or fasteners. This blouse is chic, super comfy (has a stretchy t-shirt material on the sides), and doesn’t gap at the bust. And my back fat? What back fat? Score! They were marked down to $34.50 from $69 and I had another $10 off coupon. I love Macy’s again.

More Rachel Roy…

My new mantra with my wardrobe (so I don’t repeat my reckless behavior of buying everything and racking up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt) is to only buy pieces that can be worn 50 million times and limit my closet to only a select few items. Right now my wardrobe is so tiny but I like it that way. When it was overflowing with clothes, I still wore the same things over and over anyway. I’m pretty much done with fall shopping—all I need to add in are some more shoes, jewelry, and hats (can I bigger-headed sister find hats that fit—sheesh). I still have time before deciding on a major fall/winter coat.

So that was my weekend. What did you do/buy?

I headed to Sephora since the day before I was on the hunt for the DDF Glycolic Acid 5% Cleanser that Carm B recommend in her anti-aging basics post, but my Sephora didn’t have it so I got the Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid 3% Cleanser and the Boscia Black Iluminating Mask. I didn’t even open the Boscia mask and returned it because so many reviews said it’s almost impossible to get all of the mask off your face. Who needs that kind of aggravation? Not me…lol. So in exchange I got the DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum, Carol’s Daughter Khoret Amen Hair Oil, Tui Hair Smoothie, and Black Vanilla Leave-in Conditioner. I’ve heard good thing about the DiorShow lash primer and lash serum wrapped all in one and I’m also trying my hand at transitioning out of my relaxer again. I’ve been “going natural” since 2005 and each time after about month 2, I somehow find myself in a stylist’s chair getting a relaxer…lol. But I read on Moptop Maven’s interview with Carol’s Daughter creator Lisa Price that the Khoret Amen Hair Oil and the Khoret Amen Hair Smoothie (they were out of stock at my Sephora so I got the Tui instead) are good for transitioners to help soften the hair without affecting the kink. We’ll see…

More Carol’s Daughter…

Then I headed to Zara to check out what they were serving. And serve they did! I had about 10 things in my hand, then edited it all down to a jacket and a faux fur vest. Then I just wound up with the vest. I’ve always wanted a fur vest but since I’m tall, wanted one that didn’t make me look like a bear. This one did the trick:

for $79.90.

Then I hopscotched over to Gap to exchange the Tuxedo Khaki Pants I had ordered online. I find that in order to get a true boyfriend fit on pants/jeans/shorts, I have to order 2-3 sizes up. The waist may hang a little bit but it gives me the look I want. I also got the Pleated Cropped Pants on sale for $17.99. I used a 30% coupon code to get both for less. High five!

More Gap…

After that I decided to walk down to Herald Square to check out the Rachel Rachey Roy collection at Macy’s. I love NYC but there are two places I’d have to have really good reason to venture out to and that’s Herald Square and Times Square. I am so not a fan of crowds and both places have crowds to the infinity power. *sigh* But I managed to catapult my way through the sea of people and to the 2nd floor at Macy’s. O-M-G. I used to go to Macy’s 34th street quite often when I worked four blocks away some years ago but since I moved out of the area, I never really go in there aside from an occasional beauty purchase, but boy have I been missing out! The 2nd floor is their contemporary women’s section. No cheesy juniors collection stuff yet no matronly “womens” clothing or über sophisticated and high priced duds either. Brands like Rachel Rachel Roy, BCBG Max Azria, French Connection, and many more live here. And it’s all totally fabulous. I wound up getting the Crinkled Faux Leather Lady Shorts from the Rachel Rachel Roy collection (I’m not one for shorts in the fall but these were too cute to pass up) and the Fitted Blazer With Scalloped Trim marked down to $46.44 from $179 and I had a $10 off coupon.

I also slid by the junior’s shoes section (mainly because of my love for super high platform heels found there) and picked up a pair of Steve Madden Catcherr pumps marked down to $79.99 from $129 but I had a 20% off coupon. Then I also got the Not Your Daughter’s Blouse in navy. I normally avoid buying button down blouses because they gap at the bust area on me and I can’t be bothered with fashion tape or fasteners. This blouse is chic, super comfy (has a stretchy t-shirt material on the sides), and doesn’t gap at the bust. And my back fat? What back fat? Score! They were marked down to $34.50 from $69 and I had another $10 off coupon. I love Macy’s again.

More Rachel Roy…

My new mantra with my wardrobe (so I don’t repeat my reckless behavior of buying everything and racking up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt) is to only buy pieces that can be worn 50 million times and limit my closet to only a select few items. Right now my wardrobe is so tiny but I like it that way. When it was overflowing with clothes, I still wore the same things over and over anyway. I’m pretty much done with fall shopping—all I need to add in are some more shoes, jewelry, and hats (can I bigger-headed sister find hats that fit—sheesh). I still have time before deciding on a major fall/winter coat.

So that was my weekend. What did you do/buy?

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I almost fell out of my chair when I saw these images from the Gap Fall 2010 Lookbook. Why? Because this is what the clothes look like outside of all the styling:

More Gap…

And also because this is Gap! Growing up all I remember seeing at Gap were khakis and white button down shirts. My how they’ve evolved…lol. Their boyfriend shorts have been complete wardrobe staples for me this summer. I buy them about 2 sizes larger so I get a true boyfriend fit (I mean really, who calls something “boyfriend fit” and it’s skinny? Who is your boyfriend?). Those tuxedo khaki pants are MINE!

Plus I’m pretty sure most of us have many of these basic items already in our closets so we get some cool styling ideas here, too.

Looking for an inexpensive way to jazz up your wardrobe this Fall? Check out these affordable pieces by designer MelanieMarie.

That first necklace has my name written ALL over it.

Looking for some cool items to add to your fall wardrobe but don’t want to break the bank? Check out these fashionable pieces from the Rachel Roy little sister line Rachel Rachel Roy. Hot accessories, too!

More Rachel Roy…

See any favorites? Discuss them in the comments!