Happy 4th of July! Sale Roundup

As per usual for any American holiday, there are tons of sales online and in stores to correspond with Independence Day. It is up to you whether you choose to shop, picnic, or both but if you plan to shop here are my favorite deals.

Saks Fifth Avenue currently is holding their Consolidation Sale. Usually the consolidation prices are north of 75% off but this time around they are holding at 70%. Still, plenty of good deals can be found depending on what you want.  I took a screen grab of the amazing discount on this (still pricey but so) classic Burberry Brit trench called the Reymoore (with zip off hood and detachable lining). Although it is sold out online, when I tweeted about the deal, the Saks Customer Service twitter account responded saying they could help track down a size in stores. I'm sure they'd help you too! But word of warning: they stipulate that items are final sale which makes shopping online very risky so proceed with caution.

Boden is holding a sale with prices marked down up to 50% off. It's too late for this to be a Fourth of July option but I love the patriotic color palette and nautical theme of the Francine Dress! It would work just as well for Labor Day.

Other deals:
The Disney Store is doing their twice yearly sale and offering free shipping today and tomorrow with code: Freeship
J. Crew Factory is offering free shipping and an extra 20% off prices (already marked 50% off) with code: HOTSALE
Kate Spade is offering an extra 25% off sale prices with code: SETSALE
Anthropologie is running the Tag Sale and you get an extra 20% off sale prices with code: SALEAWAY
Outnet has a killer selection of pieces an extra 40% off when you add to your cart
And Net-a-Porter is running their final clearance where you can get an extra 20% off with code: SALE20

Emilia and I shopped the mall a bit yesterday with my mom and sister but we will be picnicking tomorrow so we are shopped out. Regardless of how you spend your weekend I hope you have a great one and Happy 4th of July!

Boden's Easy Scoop Tunic Restock! And a few Cyber Monday highlights!

Easy Scoop Tunic (full review here)

I've gotten a few inquiries about the Boden Easy Scoop tunic via email so I figured I would give a heads up that almost daily I see the stock situation shift on the product page. I also see a number of resellers on Ebay so I think this dress must be in high demand. I love mine but do think that the length is a bit short. Thankfully it comes in longer length sizes too!

Today, Boden is offering up to 40% off select merchandise, 25% off everything else, plus free shipping and returns with code 9y6e!

Also, 6PM.com is offering an unprecedented additional 20% off plus free shipping with code: 6PMCYBMON113020142053!

Anthropologie is offering an extra 20% off sale items with code EXTRAJOLLY and free shipping on all orders with no minimum! I went to the store on Black Friday and found a bunch of things to wishlist. I will have reviews up soon!

PB Kids Telluride Advent Calendar

Pottery Barn Kids is offering free shipping on all orders with code FREESHIP plus they took 40% off all Advent Calendars! I bought the Telluride Advent Calendar recently and it is gorgeous in person! 

Happy Cyber Monday!

'Tis the season for great bargains!

Larksong Corduroy dress

It's Black Friday and although that phrase has been rendered kind of meaningless as eponymous sales have colonized the culture of US shopping beyond that of the day that follows turkey day (I swear Amazon has emailed me about "Black Friday deals" year-round!), there are still arguably the best deals of the year available, right now!

Anthropologie is offering 25% off everything with coupon code HOLIDAY25! I might venture out to try on this dress which has captivated me as much as my favorites from the Anthro of yore!

Nordstrom is taking an extra 20% off select sale items, in stores only. So that's some decent incentive to head out. But even if I decide not to go shop in person, there are plenty of good deals available!  

Millie Skirt in City Print

Boden is offering 30% off everything plus free shipping and returns with coupon code 3k3g! I love the quirky "City Print" version of the Millie Skirt... not to mention their always irresistible Mini Boden offerings!

Black Friday shopping makes me miss the Pittsburgh Saks location more than ever. But even if I can't go in person, I like to browse their Thanksgiving sale online. Until noon today, you can get up to 60% off! I love this Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, available for $122, down from $458!

Hatley Pajamas

Also through today, 6pm.com is offering free shipping on all orders plus an extra 15% off with code 6PMEU112720141585. Use 6PMCYBMON113020141535 on Cyber Monday for 15% off also. I might snag these adorable woodland animals-themed Hatley jammies for Emilia. The discounted Penrose booties by Sam Edelmen are an edgier version of my beloved Petty boots! And after the extra 15% off they're a pretty great deal.

Between these deals and the extra 20% off Yoox with code YOOXGIVING, I might be able to get a lot of holiday shopping done from home! In case you missed it, I posted about bargain Marc by Marc Jacobs Mouse and Owl Flats thanks to the code.

Are you going out today? Shopping from home instead? Doing both?

Quick snaps from my locavore Valentine's Day

Pretty flowers and cookies from Enrico Biscotti thanks to my valentine

Although I don't have an outfit photo uploaded yet, trust that as a schoolteacher's daughter I wore something festive. I'll show you as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, I wanted to share some other Valentine cheer. Chris and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. But he still had some flowers and sweets for me this morning. My favorite cookies in the city are the chocolate covered macaroons at Enrico's in the Strip District. One is plenty so four is ridiculous. But they'll find a good home I'm sure.  The flowers weren't local but a friend who does arranging at Whole Foods always makes the prettiest bouquets full of purple flowers (my favorite color).

I also wanted to share my most recent purchase. I bought this beautiful bib necklace directly from Amy, the designer and artist behind Redraven Studios (who's pieces are sold at Anthropologie as well as Pavement and other boutiques around the country). We met up at the Bloomfield Crazy Mocha so that we could talk about her work for an interview. I didn't realize we had already met through a mutual friend until she arrived. It was a good reminder that Pittsburgh can be such a small town in the best way! I was excited to buy a piece of jewelry directly from her. It was my self-present in honor of Galentine's Day.

Redraven Studios Candy Apple bib necklace

I am also eager to share what I learned from the interview once it is ready. In the meanwhile, I hope you had great Galentine's and Valentine's Days!

Gifts 2010 vs 2011

The tree is trimmed and Speck is glad. She loves relaxing underneath with the presents. I really relish this time of year! The reruns of classic movies! The lights! The singing (obnoxious corporate big box ads, notwithstanding)! Last year Chris and I were apart while he conducted field work toward his dissertation in South America. I was adjusting to my new job and what it meant to be on the tenure track as faculty. My sense of holiday anticipation in 2010 was dominated by our impending reunion in Rio de Janeiro, where we honeymooned. All these anxieties made trimming the tree and shopping for gifts feel a bit harried. Although I was fortunate to be surrounded by friends and family when Chris was away, the distance was starting to wear on me. It can be so easy to take for granted the emotional support of a mundane routine. And everything about our time apart felt transitional. Combining the newness of my job, the hectic schedule of getting married that fall, the worry I felt when Chris was in Caracas, specifically, and the general stress of being apart from your partner, I was way off my gift game.

Sure, wedding photos provided plenty of parental gift fodder. And I did my best to be thrifty and selective with siblings, girlfriends, and coworkers. But I didn't even finish until the day before Christmas.

This year we have more plans to travel over holiday break. But with Chris home, work calm, and life routinized, I decided to be organized, completing a lot of my gift shopping early. I am 95% finished, including wrapping. And if I was confident that my giftees were unaware of my blog, I'd share what I bought. I LOVE buying gifts for those who are dear to me. But the one thing I am not so good at is being patient by preserving surprises. I cannot tell you how many times I've begged Chris to accept his birthday or Christmas presents early. And he isn't the only one I've forced early gifts upon. As soon as I get home to visit my parents, I start pestering them to see if they'd be open to opening something early. They're steadfast in their refusal which I respect. I imagine I'd have less restraint if the roles were reversed.

Once the last gift arrives they start to burn holes under my tree. The waiting feels impossible! Hopefully the travel will provide enough distraction.

BTW, I have a new article up on CBS Pittsburgh's website. It examines how to shop for winter boots. Be sure to check it out!

A happy weekend of gift giving!

This weekend, not only did I celebrate Father's Day (like so many here in the US), but my parents were celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary! Like many married couples, they were together for years before that. And regardless, 34 years of marriage is nothing to sneeze at. Next year they plan to finally take a long-overdue trip to Hawaii to mark their 35th. I hope to figure out something special my siblings and I can do for them to honor the occasion. Hawaii is a place they've wanted to see for ... well 34+ years! But my parents have never been big travelers. They still live in my father's boyhood home, in the area where they both grew up. After they had kids they rarely left town without us (occasional business trips were the only times). And it wasn't financially realistic to take vacations that required plane tickets for the entire clan. My folks were more interested in saving the money to help with the cost of three college educations (not to mention all the other parental expenses they were generous enough to assume). I really hope they do something indulgent and for themselves after all these years!

To celebrate 34 years, we kids gave them a gift that was very inexpensive but that moved them both. At home, I had an 8 by 10 frame that was from the cookie table decor of my own wedding. It was matted to display two 4 by 6 photos, side by side. To turn it into an appropriate anniversary gift, I picked two photo prints of my parents: one from their wedding day and one from mine.

They loved it and it was such a simple, inexpensive idea! In this era of photographic post-materiality, it is a gift just to save someone from the task of ordering and framing tangible prints. And the photographic aftermath of our wedding has yielded many gift opportunities for all three sets of parents.

Chris and his brother also came up with a clever, sentimental, and inexpensive father's day gift that made a bigger splash than the other, more costly gifts they gave. They compiled a list of songs that their dad sang to them when they were kids and turned it into a mixed cd. The entire family was so excited to gather around and listen when they learned what it was. And Chris's dad was clearly moved by the gesture. One of the really interesting things I noticed as a relative newcomer to the family was the excitement his baby sister (who is 20 years younger than Chris but really no longer a baby at age 11) exhibited when she also was able to recognize so many of the songs from her own childhood. 

I'll post some outfits and a review or two this week. I've been wearing some version of my Drawing Parallels skirt with a striped or basic top, as though it is my uniform. Later today I'm also going to post a less-than-flattering Tippi-dress-in-action photo. Happy (belated) Father's Day!

Valentine's Day Inspiration

Cocktail Dresses by Marc Jacobs
Pumps by Valentino

Havanianas Ubiquity

I will probably soon bore this humble readership with tmi about Brazil but one thing that struck me immediately was the inescapability of Havaianas in Rio (and in/along the way to Buzios). They are everywhere. You can buy them everywhere. People wear them in nice restaurants and to the beach. While dining at Satyricon (where Chris unknowingly ordered the same thing Madonna had when she ate there) I saw people wearing them. While sweating from dancing to samba music in a crowded club, people were wearing them. On the subway. In the mall. At the gas station. They even gave us two pairs at one of our hotels alongside the fancy tiny soaps. Granted, this was the splurge hotel (for the last night of our honeymoon). But you get the point. They are everywhere. And they are fairly cheap here. Chris keeps mocking me for buying so many. When we see a stand, he's like "oh hey you probably could use a few more pairs."

I hope the TSA folks don't think I am trying to import the volume I bought (for personal hoarding purposes) toward some unsavory profit motive!  Anyway, I promise to update with outfits soon enough (and I promise to withhold my most prevalent Brazilian outfits comprised of bathing suits). In the mean time, Boa noite!

Window Shopping for the Holidays

See by Chloe Trail Print Dress

Tibi Ruffle Coat (similar here)

Chie Mihara Lumi Flats (similar here)

Marc by Marc Jacobs Softy Max in Camo

A good friend of mine, Rachel recently moved back to Pittsburgh to get her PhD. This is very exciting because she is usually game for the sillier things, like heading down town to browse the holiday window displays at Macy's and what not. We did this about a week ago and snapped some photos in the process.

The theme this year was a commercially linked one to celebrate a book (and maybe soon-to-be movie?) re-release of Yes, Virginia: There Is a Santa Claus. But the windows themselves were cut paper dioramas that were angled interestingly (and sometimes with disorienting results). I always like to check out the holiday windows but haven't had a partner in crime with which to do it for some time. 

 

Unfortunately, for Pittsburghers Macys is probably the last remaining downtown department store to really take seriously holiday decor. While Saks includes a few tasteful holiday themed touches, their windows are usually designed with an intent to move product, rather than focus on the festive. 

(photo from the Diocese of Pittsburgh website)

But there are plenty of sites to see otherwise! Market Square and the ice skating rink at PPG Place come to mind. Then there is the huge Creche (nativity scene) at the USX Steel Tower. Supposedly this is the only creche in the world that is an authorized (to scale) replica of the one in Vatican City during the Christmas season.

And I always enjoy seeing the tree (even from afar in a parking garage) at the City County Building. I automatically begin humming Silver Bells in my head every time I spot it. Do other city dwellers seek out the holiday decorations at their favorite downtown spots?

Giving Thanks

This year I feel particularly grateful for so much. Here is a list that is by no means comprehensive:

*The health and wellness of my immediate family. I feel so fortunate for that and my heart aches with empathy for those facing serious illnesses and health challenges within theirs. 
*Chris, to whom I wrote a love letter earlier this week and with whom I hope to be, ad infinitum.

*Related, my loved ones. All those family members and friends who physically and/or spiritually enveloped Chris and me as we declared our commitment to each other in marriage just a few weeks ago.
*Speck the dog who brings joy to my life every day with her little face.

 
*The wheels of social progression. I personally believe that I stand on the shoulders of feminist women who came before me in the fight against sexism. There's still work to do but I am grateful for the incredible amount of headway made in the last 100 years.
*The cocktail of luck, timing, and labor that yielded a job despite all odds (literally).
*Perspective and how it humbles and challenges me to be a better, more thoughtful person.
*The technological developments that make distance less daunting for families and couples. My parents marveled over how exciting it was to Skype with Chris who was in St. Barths this week for Thanksgiving. And it reminded me of how fortunate we are to have economic and technological access to such an invention.
*The ability to give back. Whether it is through donations of time, labor, and/or finances, it serves an important reminder to keep a reasonable perspective, particularly when it comes to one's own privileges. Rather than buying something superfluous for myself, I can take those funds and put them into charities or other giving opportunities. This week my university is collecting toys and clothing from the wishlists of local children who participate in the Head Start program. I chose one boy and one girl, both four years old, and had such fun shopping for them.  Here are some of the gifts:

 

*The reminder that so many are less fortunate due to the extreme privilege disparities (economic and otherwise) that exist in the United States and all over the globe. And the desire to work to change or ameliorate those disparities in ways both small and large.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!