My #1 mission on this trip was pants for work (camel, olive, brown). I also had the following on my list: jeans, brown, bronze, or Brighton shoes for work (small heel), possible splurge of leopard shoes (inspired by another thread), non v-neck cami’s (white & cream), black smart casual jacket that’s seriously missing as a wardrobe staple for me, purse, more skinny belts?

Here’s how the trip went down….we got there Thursday afternoon. I headed straight for Nordstrom’s Narrative dept. to look for the NYDJ pants. Ugh…they only had 1 style & the leg was too wide for me & the material not structured enough. They had tons of jeans in NYDJ. I might not have described what I was looking for well enough on a previous post. Anyway, I found a GREAT sales person to help me out – Meg. I told her what I was looking for & had her pull some things for me (told her I’d be back later that night or the next morning). Perfect, she was working both shifts! Meanwhile, I ventured out to discover other stores. Towards the end of the afternoon, I found the olive/hunter green pants - score!! http://www1.macys.com/catalog/.....goryID=170 I typically don’t buy on the first day but I was on a mission. Exactly what I was looking for – fit perfect & great price point. Simple, basic Jones New York. I had to see what other colors there were – I found a dark rinse denim color, navy blue, white, and black. I opted for the dark rinse denim color. I’ve toy’d with the thought of navy pants recently but decided I need to focus on my wardrobe colors (neutrals-camel, black, brown, cream, white) (colors-paprika/brick red, medium purple, raspberry, burnt orange, lime, turquoise) (accents – animal prints/texture). Then, I decided these could be like a nice trouser denim for me & decided to go for it. http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/30.....2&P=1 At the end of shopping Day 1, I also found a fun little pair of leopard peep-toe flats (Paul Green) on clearance at Nordstrom’s – this was a splurge for me. I so hope I like wearing them (comfort wise) as I’m not familiar with the brand. I’ll have to post pics of the shoes later.

Shopping Day 2 – purposely didn’t take my blackberry with me as I needed a break from work. We got to the mall right as things were opening. Ugh…..the crushing call you do not want to get in the middle of a shopping venture! My employer just announced co. wide salary cuts (2, 4, 7, or 10% based on current salary level). I fall in the 7% category. Naturally, my first instinct was to not buy a thing! After I recovered from the shock a little & talked through it with DH – realized I was shopping for work clothes that were much needed & I needed to move on with my plan and stick to my mission. Luckily, we have some built up in Emergency Fund & such. Naturally, I was much more selective. I did manage to get the 2 cami’s & a pair of white Bermuda shorts http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/30.....6&P=1 (they look sloppy in this picture but really aren’t). Meg helped me with these. Here’s the best part. The shorts were actually about an inch too long. They tailored them for me on the spot, no charge & they were done later that afternoon. Now that’s service!! I also landed a pair of brown Brighton’s (2 ½ “ heel, wingtip, small silver button) that were on clearance 50% off. This was a tough one for me but realized I could wear them with jeans, pants, skirts, dress, etc. And, the style was probably a bit on the dressier side instead of my casual side where I have a tendency to lean…

Lastly, I stopped at Macy’s the morning we left & purchased the black pair of pants as well. I’m still eye’ing a black jacket – I have it picked out @ BR. It goes on sale April 3rd & I will be purchasing that day!

I do feel that I would have not had near the success & especially not the confidence in my decisions (considering the phone call I rec’d) had I not landed on this site & learned what I have since the beginning of the year! I am so grateful to each of you that post on this site & to Angie and Greg for providing us with this wonderful service. It’s truly been a blessing! I did see some other really fun items at Club Monaco, Martin + Osa, etc. – mostly belts, jewelry which I really don’t need. It was very hard for me to stay away from tops, I have a tendency to go for those first & caught myself on the very first day, first store doing that even! The really interesting part is that I had both of my teens do a “closet inventory” & count how many items they had of each thing. Then, make a list of what they thought they needed. Sort of my way of getting them to do their own closet sweep & focus on what they really needed. It was rather interesting in the end as my daughter said she doesn’t need any t’s at all b/c she has tons. Needless to say, she was drawn to them as well & in the end did splurge on one with her own money. Everything else they stayed on target for what they needed. It was a GREAT trip! Again, this is in HUGE part to the help from all of you on this site. THANK YOU!!