Only 56 Shopping Days Left...

Hello, my little chickadees!  So Halloween is upon us, and once we tumble through the sugar-fest into November, the reality of the holidays hits us like puberty will hit Justin Bieber (just sayin').  And yes, that means Christmas shopping.

TARDIS mug

Now, I know most people think of Christmas shopping as one of the most onerous chores on the planet, but I am of a different breed.  I L-O-V-E Christmas shopping, mostly because I love shopping and buying presents for people is a great way to get the thrill without the guilt.  And I firmly believe that the week leading up to Christmas should be spent caroling and drinking hot cocoa by the fire and going to fabulous parties--NOT spent rushing around a department store like a chicken with its head cut off.  So I tend to get my shopping done pretty early, which is why I'm posting about it now.

Geek Love Poem T-Shirt

Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver

Mini Lightsaber Tech Lab

LOTR Plushies

Millenium Falcon 3D Owner's Guide

I have a whole long list of people to shop for this holiday season--family members, friends from home, friends from school, etc., etc., etc.  Since I go to school in the absolute boondocks, there aren't a whole lot of shopping options around, so I do a lot of mine online.  I know I've mentioned etsy.com and GirlProps.com, and I will be prowling those sites again this year.  Another fabulous source of gifts, especially for the man in your life, is ThinkGeek.com.  They have amazing geeky gadgets, t-shirts, nomables (food)--all kinds of wonderful things.  Now, I don't mind telling you, my boyfriend is definitely a dyed-in-the-wool geek (and I love him for it).  So this site has been invaluable to me.  Just to give you some idea, my Christmas wish list for him includes: Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver (10th Doctor); Freakin' Magical Unicorn Gum; Geek Love Poem T-Shirt; Heat Changing TARDIS Mug; LOTR Mini Plush; Millenium Falcon 3D Owner's Guide; and Mini Lightsaber Tech Lab.  Oh, yeah, and the best part?  ALL of those things together cost about $100 total.  Now, I probably won't buy all of them (as previously mentioned, I do have a lot of people to shop for), but still, if your man is at all geeky, you can't go wrong with this site.  Oh, and it's okay that I pretty much announced to the entire Internet what I'm getting him for Christmas, since he's at boot camp right now and has zero Internet/phone access.  Just in case you were wondering--that's why I used him as an example instead of, say, my wonderfully geeky friend Kathy.

Here's to a great holiday season!!

xoxo,

Eli

P.S. All the pictures in this post are from ThinkGeek.com--I did not take them!!



Freakin' Magical Unicorn Gum



Awesome Customized Stuff!

So I am currently in love with CafePress.com--a fabulous online store where you can design your own t-shirts, bags, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers...pretty much anything you want.  I recently designed a bag on there in support of my amazing boyfriend, Thomas, who is in the Marine Corps (oorah!).  I ordered it last week and they said that it would probably get to me around November 2nd.  Well, I just got it yesterday!  And it had to go through the tangle that is the university postal system too.  So that was exciting.  The bag itself looks great; they did a fabulous job of printing it up.  The best part?  It only cost twenty dollars, INCLUDING shipping and handling.  Yeah, you read that right.  Twenty bucks.  It was glorious.  I promise to post pictures of the bag as soon as I get ahold of the cord to connect my camera to my computer!

xoxo,
Eli

What I'm About

Hi everyone!!  I'm Eli.  I love to shop, and I love to share my shopping triumphs.  Since I know there are LOTS of other people out there who share this passion, I thought I'd start this blog, with all my favorite stores and purchases.  I'm definitely very fashion-conscious, and I love expressing myself through what I wear.  I plan on posting critiques of stores, pictures of awesome things I've gotten (and the details so if you love them you can get your own!), and "wish lists".  I probably won't limit it just to clothes and accessories, but those will most likely make up the bulk of the posts.  I tend to shop for bargains, since I am on a limited budget (being a poor college student and all), so most of the things on here will be pretty affordable (except for the "wish lists," of course!).
 
To get things started, here's a list of some of my perennial favorite stores:
LOFT Outlet--I am lucky enough to work here!  A branch of Ann Taylor, the clothes here are classics with a fresh, modern twist.  There's something here for everyone--I shop here, my mom shops here...I see all ages represented when I'm working, from teenagers right on up to ladies "of a certain age."  Be sure to check out the denim as well as the dressier business clothes!

J.Crew--Do I even need to explain?  I love their casual-preppy clothes.  They can be pretty expensive, so I tend to save them for when I need a splurge.  That being said, I got one of my FAVORITE dresses here--they call it the "Sunar" dress, and it can be worn in three different ways.  I promise to post pictures of it soon!

Famous Footwear, DSW, Payless--I'm definitely a shoe girl, but I don't like to spend tons of money on them (mostly because I don't have tons of money to throw around!).  I love these stores because they have huge varieties of shoes and are usually pretty inexpensive.  They also have lots of sizes, which is important because I have tiny feet (size 6).  Quick tip for all you Cinderellas out there: check out the kids' department--I've gotten so many really cute, comfortable shoes there, and they're usually less expensive than "big people" shoes.  Once you get past the Hannah Montana light-up Velcro sneakers, you can find some truly sophisticated styles.

etsy.com--I LOVE this website.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it's basically a marketplace with lots of independent sellers of all kinds of things, from housewares and furniture to jewelry.  Prices range from a few cents to hundreds of dollars, so it fits every price range.  I love to check out the jewelry here, especially for Christmas presents--I'm a college student, so come the holidays I'm always on the lookout for cute presents that are a) inexpensive and b) mail-order.

GirlProps.com--Another great website.  This is an excellent source for cheap, funky jewelry.  You can find just about anything here, and the prices will literally make you say, "Wait, what?  How can it be that cheap?"  This is also fabulous for Christmas presents.

Tiffany & Co.--Because a girl has to dream, right??

That's all for now, but keep checking back!  I'll be posting more soon!
xoxo,
Eli