the new flats

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oh, poor beloved sigerson morrison flats.

so dead. shapeless.
and majorly causing forefoot pain when walking greater than 5 blocks.

welcome the new walking flats. why hello, dvf from loehmann's.

loving the yellow with the red lips.

loehmann's: pietro alessandro

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my dkny hobo bag that i purchased last christmas in hawaii is a bag that i love...but being such a large leather bag, it is a tad bit heavy (even without anything in it). so, i decided i needed a*lighter* bag... a light bag that was large enough to carry shoes. and lunch. and such.

a trip to loehmann's in chelsea.


enter pietro alessandro, style 2084 convertible shoulder bag.

as a tote.

or shoulder bag.

soft italian leather and definitely a bag that will hold all my stuff. new fave.

why i heart loehmann's

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i had a friend visiting this weekend and after she left this afternoon, i headed to the meatpacking district to try on many mackage jackets. after mackage, i walked up to the chelsea loehmann's to check out the fall designer sale that started this past thursday. i only knew about it because they sent me a coupon in the mail for an extra 15% off. yesterday, i almost drove my friend crazy looking for a boyfriend blazer while we were shopping, and was ultimately unsuccessful. today, i found exactly what i was looking for:

bill tornade boyfriend blazer. (retail $220) loehmann's price with extra 15% off $60

there were also many designer shoes. and numerous customers browsing those shoes. i was looking for dark-coloured booties...i tried on quite a few: a nice black pair from prada, a really cute brown pair from giuseppe zanotti, and a pair from chloe. the giuseppe zanotti ones were still over my budget (discounted at $359 from $890). if they had been more discounted, i may have gotten them. i did find these towering opentoe booties from l.a.m.b.

l.a.m.b. booties. (retail $400) loehmann's price with extra 15% off $85

loehmann's fall designer sale
ongoing, 15% coupon valid until september 22nd
101 7th ave, nr 17th st
and
2101 broadway, nr 73rd st

mission accomplished

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i went out for brunch on sunday to this restaurant called dovetail. the food was pretty amazing. if you are planning to visit me in the city, you will likely be dining there.

while in the upper west side, i dropped by loehmann's to look for rain boots. of course, i didn't find any. i found these instead:

pour la victoire red patent leather flats. $40 (original retail price $220)

seeing that i wasn't finding what i was actually looking for, i headed back to the upper east side and decided to look around my own neighbourhood for rain boots. i don't want to bore you with all the stores that i actually went to (there were a lot...i even went to bloomingdales, where hunter rainboots were in the three digits. outrageous, no?) after going into what felt like a million stores, i went to payless. yes, payless. did i find rain boots there? no. but the sales lady there advised me to go around the corner to daffy's. so i did. there were definitely cheap rain boots there, but not in my size. so i thought to myself, what's the equivalent store of daffy's in the city (but not really)? that's right, strawberry.

black rain boots from strawberry. $19.99

there you go. 3 stores that i would never go in otherwise (payless, daffy's, and strawberry). enlightening. here's to dry feet.

lazy weekend shopping

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the things i really need to do this weekend, ie. laundry & groceries, haven't been done yet. perhaps tomorrow.

this morning, i got up relatively early to go look for 2 things: walking sandals and rain boots. why i need these 2 items is obvious. walking around in flip-flops just doesn't cut it in the city, esp when you are walking around a lot. the rainy weather for the past few weeks has totally scared me into buying rain boots. it's disaster to try and walk in the city with "normal" shoes when it's raining and it's just desirable to start the work day off with dry feet.

so, where to go? of course, dsw, union square. i tried desparately to find something here, but just couldn't. the rain boots were disgusting and there were no decent sandals. after half an hour, i headed to the next best option, which would be loehmann's, and i found these.

tahari gladiator sandals. $30 (totally discounted)

for some reason, i still remember when gladiator sandals were trending...(i was in amsterdam, 2006). i didn't really think the trend would last, but surprisingly it has. these shoes were super cheap and are totally walkable.

while at loehmann's, i also picked up a summer dress.

necessary objects summer dress. $19 (total deal)

walking back to catch the subway, i passed by the chelsea housing works thrift store. now believe me, peoples, i'm definitely not a thrift/consignment store kind of shopper, but i've read about housing works infamous $20 all-you-can-stuff-bag events and so i stepped into the store to check it out. forget everything you think you know about thrift stores for a second and think about a thrift store that has labels. people who drop off their clothes here for resale (or donation) probably can afford to do so. not sure that i would ever buy clothing or shoes here... but accessories are a totally different story. i bought this gorgeous, soft leather adjustable belt which was like new.

ellen tracy belt. $12 (seriously)

it was a productive morning. in the afternoon, i went to the met with one of the other radiology fellows to check out the model as muse exhibit....(why does naomi campbell always look like she can kick your ass in her photos?). it's a beautiful day in the city (mostly due to the fact that it's not raining, for once)... will head out for dinner laters.

tomorrow i really need to find rain boots. planning to hit up the upper west side loehmann's, here's hoping.

saturday shopping

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there are quite a few stores i've been wanting to check out, but just have been too busy (or too lazy) to get to. here are the few i managed to get to today before i passed out from walking too much.

first stop: century 21 department store.

century 21 is the gargantuan of discount shopping department stores in the city. i've been wanting to see what it's all about...and was greatly disappointed. it has all the high-end label names...but the choice of merchandise is no better (if not worse) than loehmann's. also, the separate century 21 shoe store could not even match the breadth and volume of shoes at the DSW in union square. that being said, i did see some nice suiting at a reasonable price from rebecca taylor, but no sizes unfortunately. loehmann's vs century 21? i'll take loehmann's. (on a related note...the defunct virgin megastore space in union square is set to become my favourites of the discount stores--nordstrom's rack, spring 2010).


second stop: topshop.

the topshop in soho is the first store in the US. i've been to topshop before in europe, including UK, and everytime i go in, i wonder why i did. i just don't understand why it's so popular. the store in soho is huge, including a topman shop and a shoe salon. i was tempted to drop by because of the currently advertised sale of spring/summer merch. in terms of clothes, yeah sure, kate moss line...blah, blah, blah....but really, the clothing totally reminds me of overpriced forever 21. the shoe salon was meh. the only saving grace would be the costume jewelry (also overpriced), unless you choose something from the sale rack.

third stop: white house black market.

my sister-in-law introduced me to white house black market, which is popular in hawaii (and west coast). there's a single store in the city near union square. i have a few pieces from this reasonably-priced store. it has nice stuff for work in terms of dresses, skirts and sweaters. the store in the city is extremely small, and i didn't see anything that i liked from the spring/summer merch.

i also went to express (disappointing) and sephora (to pick up some needed philosophy products).

on the agenda tomorrow: more on-call.

favourites: bcbg

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so my medical license from new york state still hasn't been issued yet, so i haven't been to "work" yet. today i took a vacation day, and i'm dearly hoping that my license will be issued tomorrow so that i won't have to take another vacation day (or alternatively extend my fellowship).

today, i had to head downtown to the time warner cable office to transfer cable and internet services from the previous fellow to myself. since i was down in the area, i walked to the chelsea loehmann's to browse for awhile. i ended up walking away with a white w/ blue embroidery summer dress from bcbg (discounted, of course). for canadians not familiar with loehmann's, think winners, but more high-end labels. decided to walk back uptown via 5th avenue and passed by the bcbg flagship store @ 40th st, which of course i had to enter. i just couldn't pass on the high waisted mina tulip skirt in geranium:

bcbg mini tulip skirt. (was $138) now 30% off at $96.60

sorry, no pics of the bcbg dress...lack of camera at the moment.

tomorrow clothingline's tocca and milly sample sale starts (july 7-9, 261 w 36th st). if i'm still not allowed to "work", then i might as well go check it out, no?

not a fan, but also this week, alexander wang spring collection sample sale july 9-11, 83 wooster st.