The above snap is an actual picture of me when I’ve scored a really good deal on something and nobody knows, like that time I somehow applied twenty five coupons and promotions on top of one another at Lord & Taylor to purchase a Milly dress that retailed for north of $400 and cost me $7.30. I remember my heart was racing and my palms were sweaty as I fished around for cash in my wallet. Petty cash! The kind of cash you carry for incidentals like hand sanitizer and cinnamon gum and a stale package of peanut butter crackers when you are in a dire situation. (Is there anything sadder than those crinkly packets of crackers, the peanut butter so processed and old it crumbles when touched, and one or two of the crackers are always already crushed?) I felt borderline guilty — indecent! — and wondered whether there had been a mistake in the ringing up, but damned if I was going to speak up. I was twenty-two and luxury was buying name brand toilet paper. And so I paid and high-tailed it out of there, and then transformed into the slinky side-winking conniver you see above. Incidentally, ask any woman in D.C. over the age of fifty where to find the best deals and she will quickly and in a hushed voice tell you: “get thee to Lord & Taylor.” I am fairly confident my mother owns a small pied a terre in the Lord & Taylor in Chevy Chase, so frequent of a visitor she is there. My sister once asked me, after gazing out the window in silence as we drove down Jenifer Street in N.W. D.C.: “Does it feel like mom is always running an errand at Lord & Taylor?” Yes, yes she is. And with good reason. The number of triumphant shopping coups that have been had in that store at the hands of my mother — too many to count.
But I am no longer in D.C. and such bargains are few and far between in Manhattan, where I have suddenly found myself purchasing things like melons for $5.99 without batting an eye. And so in lieu of the the tremendous physical pleasure of an in-person sale score, I will be doing my bargain hunting online, in my pajamas, at Shopbop, which is running an extra 30% off all sale items right now. Hallelujah and HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME JUST WEEKS AFTER BLACK FRIDAY. Use code JOY18 to save an extra 30% on these epic finds:
+My favorite, most flattering-but-still-sexy-in-its-own-way bathing suit.
+A really good boot — love the lines — for layering over jeans or under floaty dresses.
+A pretty peach of a dress from my favorite dress designer. Also love this citrus squeeze (D&G)?
+Velvet. hot pink. bow-backed. kitten-heeled. slingbacks. Comin in HOT.
+A stunning sweater. That color! The fit! Perfect.
+Wear-with-everything shoes for a sophisticated lass.
P.S. I try to buy holiday decor bit by bit, one or two items each year, and this year’s finds have been this incredible (washable!) kitchen rug, these cork placemats (love these for eating with mini — they look stylish but are easy to wipe down), and this nativity set, which mini absolutely has lost her mind over. We play with it every day. Incidentally, a perfect way to begin to speak to her about religion.
P.P.S. Check her out, my favorite purchases for home, and words I hate.