Sunglasses

Whether you're avoiding the sun, the paparazzi, or trying to rob a bank (a la the Barbie Bandits) sunglasses serve many purposes in addition to being stylish. Sure, you can pick up some cheap ones at the local dollar store, but there is just something about an absurdly expensive pair of sunglasses that makes you feel like you could take on the world. However, they are also easily misplaced, forgotten, or sat on. What could possibly be worse than having someones fat butt crush your $300 treasure (other than your own fat butt crushing them)? Allow me to explain how you can ease the pain by picking up everything from Gucci to Oliver People's for well under $100!

This part can be short and sweet since the havens for cheap, designer sunglasses are the same places where you can find many of my other favorite deals. Talk about one-stop shopping at it's finest! To keep you on the edge of your desk chair, I'll start from the less exciting deals and build up to the grand finale.

C-Mart- This is the one place I haven't mentioned previously. I will give C-Mart a full review at a later date, but it's basically a clothes/furniture warehouse. There are definitley some good finds there, but be prepared to make a day of it. Apparently they just got a big shipment of sunglasses including, but not limited to: Gucci, Dior, Versace, YSL, Kate Spade, and Juicy Couture. I have not made the treck to examine these in person, but from what I gathered from the advertisment they are marked down around 50% which places most of them at about $150. While that is definitley much better than paying full price, you can do better.

Off 5th-Normally there's a pretty decent selection at most of the stores. The sunglasses are priced around $70. If you are on the Off 5th mailing list there are ALWAYS coupons being sent out, so that can help knock the price down by up to another 30%. I would say the biggest plus to buying them here, is that you can actually get the matching case (make sure you ask at checkout, since they keep them in the back).

TJ Maxx/Marshalls-My first pair of designer sunglasses came from Marshalls. They were dark grey Dolce & Gabbana and cost me a mere $20. I think back then the stores hadn't caught on to what they had in stock. More recently though, I picked up an amazing pair of black Armani glasses for my grandmother for $40, which still is not too shabby. A secret to finding the good stuff: most of the sunglass displays are tall and generally have a bunch of sunglasses piled on top that I am too short to reach. One day while shopping with one of my taller friends, we were quite sad not to find anything good and then she started looking through the ones on top. Come to find out that's where they were hiding...

Last Call-If you hadn't picked up on it yet, I LOVE Last Call. So this is it...the best sunglass deal I have EVER come across. As I mentioned earlier, I adore Oliver People's sunglasses. Sadly, they cost approximately one arm and one leg. In a weak, foolish moment I actually broke down and bought a pair at full price (in my defense it was a Spend Some, Get Some day at Saks so I did get a gift card); I figured I would never find a pair on sale and I just had to have some. Once I had the black ones, I decided I needed brown ones as well. Oh I found a pair I liked; they cost one arm, one leg, and an ear (about $400). I had come to terms with the fact I would have to live without brown Oliver Peoples until one day while at Last Call, they had some sunglasses on top of an island in the jewelry display. My roommate and I did a doubletake and were shocked to find that Oliver Peoples were at the outlet store! Even more surprising was that the frames weren't in terribly odd colors or shapes; they even had some brown ones very close to what I was pining for. Well, because nothing is ever as good as it looks, we figured that they still probably cost well over $100. The surprises kept coming though! I had a sales girl give me a pair to try on (that I was instantly obsessed with), I asked the price having braced myself for bad news... low and behold they were only $35!!! Can you even find sunglasses at Target that cheap?! Needless to say, that probably goes down as one of my best finds.

With all this talk of sunglasses, I think I'm going to don mine and go enjoy some sunshine!

Mother's Day

With so many ad's out about "the perfect gift for Mom" where does one begin? How about those diamond earrings from Jared the Galleria of Jewelers or something straight from the heart from Shaw's Jewelers; I know...what about Alase laser hair removal! Let's be honest, those ad's you hear on the radio are far from helpful. I mean, you may as well just get Mom a car from Eastern Motor's while you're at it.

Mother's Day gifts are a tough item...you want to get something nice, something memorable, something she'll like, but not expensive. It's also a plus if you get something that's somewhat original. I also like the idea of a gift that she'll be able to have for awhile. Gift certificates to spas, salons, etc. are nice, but when they're used up there's really nothing to show for it.

All that being said, I still haven't bought anything for my mother yet! However, I do have a plan of attack...keep in mind, though, that everyone's mom is different and what my mother may like, yours may hate.

The first place I plan on scouring is Annie Creamcheese in Georgetown. It's an excellent vintage store that has tons of designer pieces (I found an incredible Pucci dress from the 70's there)! So, I'm thinking of finding some little deisgner accessory like a coinpurse or something similar. There are so many treasures there, though, so who knows what I'll find!

My next stop is Filene's Basement (the new one that opened by Tyson's). This is the perfect place to find really nice silk scarves. Most Filene's have a pretty good selection, of big, rectangular designer scarves for around $60; you can find Gucci, Missoni, Moschino, YSL, etc. In addition the last time I was at Filene's they had smaller, square Missoni scarves (perfect for headbands) that had been around $100 for only $15! Now if that isn't a great gift idea, I dont know what is. Plus, that's cheap enough you can pick one up for yourself while you're at it...

I really like the concept of a nice scarf as a gift. There are so many different varieties, they're pretty, they last for ages, and they're versatile! As I mentioned earlier, though, just make sure you get something that Mom will actually like; it doesn't matter if you just forked over several paychecks for something from Mervis Diamond Importers...if she doesn't like it, it's not a good gift.

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Mother's Day Shopping!!!