BONANZLING

I listed several pieces of jewelry on Bonanzle earlier today; I really hope Bonanzle takes off (if it hasn't already)! My websites are listed to the right, but here are my items anyway. I'm about to list a couple pairs of shoes as well.

CALVIN KLEIN SALE

Silver v-back charmeuse top, $14.99
Photo courtesy of calvinklein.com

MORE SPRING SHOES

Someone posted these on TPF, and I love them. I want them. Where can I find these shoes?

J. Crew Vachetta Sandal in Driftwood. Orig. $88 down to $29.99 available in 7. Of course I will be thinking of these all day. I wish all sandals looked good on me; sadly I must try them on to see, and J. Crew is *shudder* final sale.

SCARFACE AKA THE SHAME OF THE NATION

Embellished straps and chandelier earrings

Smirks are always in style

Doing the Beyonce

Boyfriend and I have been watching the original Scarface tonight (1932). I've watched it before so I am blogging at the same time. It's truly inspiring. Below are Ann Dvorak (brunette) and Karen Morley (blonde). Photos found on the intarnet and are not being used for commercial purposes.

LBD'S

Rick Owens (Yoox)

Manoush (Yoox)

MISSONI SKIRT

I would have to see and feel this skirt in person. I love this. It reminds me of how the ocean is painted in Japanese prints. Photo courtesy of Yoox

A BIT OF SPRING IN YOUR STEP

As you can see I have been checking out the Yoox sale tonight. I would live in these shoes every day for three months out of the year. I love the thick straps and subtle snakeskin print. Photo courtesy of Yoox

DRIES ON YOOX

Pictures courtesy of yoox.com . The black dress is such a Dita von Teese number. I can just picture her rocking this in patent black Loubs and her trademark red/white makeup. I can also imagine it getting rocked out by Madonna or Gwyneth Paltrow with just yards of silver chains and spike stud pumps. I think you'd have to be quite petite to pull off the second dress. I love the neckline and drape but I'm not so sure about the sleeve length...maybe with opera length leather gloves in a color like dark green.

SAKS STOCK SUCKS

I am not a stock expert by any means, but I've been teaching myself how to look at balance sheets. Nothing really drives it home for you like looking at a company's balance sheet. All of these places - Saks, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, J. Crew, etc. all count their inventory as assets. Their inventory ballooned this quarter (not to mention previous quarters). The fact that they count their inventory as assets inflates their balance sheet to their favor, when in reality if they ever liquidated their inventory they would get only a fraction of how much they paid for it in the first place. I was considering buying some retail stocks since Saks and Macy's are such retail mainstays. However, we all thought Lehman Bros and Bear Stearns were too elite and rooted to fail and look what happened.

I've read some interesting articles about discount retail websites and how they are here to stay. Some examples are hautelook and gilt. I've registered for hautelook but have yet to really check it out. I went by a J. Crew last night to get a gift for a friend and picked up a catalog on my way out. I bought a $68 wool and cashmere scarf for $10 as they are having a 50% off winter final sale. I noticed that in the catalog they emphasize how cheap the prices are. They never used to do that before. I wonder how their "collection" pieces will do in the next few months.

LORI'S SHOES

Lori's Shoes is offering an additional 40% off sale items. Shipping is harsh ($15), but it may be worth it because some of the prices (especially on boots) are decent even if you average in the shipping.

PROPER TOPPING

On the way to happy hour, I stopped by the Proper Topper on Connecticut Avenue to decide whether or not to buy a hat that I tried on and really liked a week or so ago. The BF does not seem to like it very much but I love it and I don't care. I can't wait to wear this tomorrow. Sorry for the scary mannequin head but I am too lazy to take a picture of my own hat and post it at 2 AM in the morning.

FAREWELL NEIMAN MARCUS 40% OFF SALE

I have been haunting you all week to no avail. Last night I had Cole Haan flats and silver-plated swizzle sticks in my shopping cart, wondering why in the world I tempt myself like this. Good riddance (and come back soon).

FORUM LURKERS

I am very frustrated by resellers who lurk in fashion forums to snatch up heavily discounted items off of websites such as Saks and NM. No matter how much I want a certain something, I will never support these "sellers" such as Coco's Closet.

SPRING COLLECTIONS

Jil Sander

Celine

Akris

Monique Lhuillier

I was dazzled by the following: Marchesa, Missoni, Dries van Noten, Brioni, Bottega Veneta, Stella, Jil Sander, Burberry, and Chanel. Nanette Lapore's collection struck me as high-end Anthropologie ie not very impressive.

INAUGURATION

I didn't post at all this weekend because of the inauguration, which I ended up attending at the last minute thanks to a friend's friend who works for the inaugural committee and had extra tickets. We were in the purple section, and we had a very rough time getting in although I met Katie Couric, Reverend Sharpton, and Mary J. Blige! I even held Katie's hand, to steady her. In real life she is very short and fragile-looking, and her makeup was caked on to show up on television. I did not dress properly as I learned I was going to inauguration once I was already in DC. I am still sleep-deprived and I swear parts of my body are still chilled to the bone, but it was worth it.

ONLY THE BEGINNING

My boss came into my office this morning talking about what she had read in the papers. Apparently last year's obliterating fallout is only the beginning, and TARP funds only covered the losses then. There are going to be so many defaults in the coming months and years, a whole wave of them we can't even fathom. I'm very worried to say the least. We may all be ecstatic what with all the 70% off sales at places like Saks (and shoes at $800 apiece were overpriced enough as it was), but it is a sign of rapid deflation. We are all waiting out the prices so that we buy only on sale or clearance. Businesses are shutting down and credit is tightening. You can look at it one way and say that we are getting all of the bad blood out (i.e. Bernie Madoff), which is how I try to look at it.

SNAGGED: VINTAGE ETIENNE AIGNER RIDING BOOTS

I won the auction for these beautiful new Etienne Aigner boots while at work today. I hope they fit and I hope they're black, because I forgot to ask and I can barely tell from the photo.

CLINT

The BF and I have been devouring movies online thanks to Netflix. In the past few days we've watched at least five movies on there, including The Maltese Falcon, The Corpse Bride, Jesus Camp, Deliverance, and an episode or two of a Britcom I am obsessed with thanks to his grandparents. We also saw Gran Torino this weekend, which was very, very good. I love Clint Eastwood. He gets hotter with age. Is that gross?

SNAGGED: BROOKS BROTHERS SWEATER CARDIGAN

Brooks Brothers has been having a huge sale lately. I picked up a shirt and tie for the BF last weekend, and then last night I found the above sweater I've wanted to get him all season - marked down to 60% off. The world is truly ending.

In other news, Happy New Year! I'm a little late, but I've been busy readjusting to routine. Lately I've become obsessed with The Purse Forum. I'm on there at least two or three times a day checking out the Deals & Steals. I feel as if I am constantly talking to a huge circle of people without leaving my desk. Anyway, I've spent more money than I ever have thanks to that forum. I always catch the latest blowout sales or free subscriptions. It's also interesting to see how other people budget money, handle family, and otherwise live their lives in two or three sentence snippets.