Reporting in: I just got home after meeting up with Rosie and Melissa at the Nordstrom's in downtown San Francisco. It was so much fun to finally meet some YLFers in person and to shop with them. Melissa got a head start before Rosie and I arrived and scored some amazing loot in the shoe department. We all browsed in the handbags and wallets section for a while and then made our way over to the shoe department. Rosie and Melissa were kind enough to try to help me find a new wallet, evening bag and some brown riding boots, but nothing seemed quite right; however, me being me, I was very taken with all the bow-embellished patent leather Kate Spade handbags. But I bypassed them to maintain my focus, and we headed upstairs to clothing next.
We made a beeline for some of the jackets we had spied in the online catalog, but found them disappointing for various reasons--either sizing or color or material or fit. I tried on the Halogen black moto jacket, but felt it was too long, and Rosie and Melissa felt something wasn't quite working right in the shoulders. "We're sorry, but we don't love it," they informed me. A Calvin Klein brown leather jacket fit better, and though it wasn't on my list and I'm really not a leather jacket kind of girl, I'm feeling tempted and plan to sleep on it. I may swing back by after an appointment tomorrow morning if I can't get it out of my head.
You're all going to yawn, but my big find was a plain white button-down Halogen shirt that Melissa pointed out to me. Thank you, Melissa! I've been struggling to find a great white button-down shirt for some time, and this one was the right length and fit beautifully! I also picked up a fun and inexpensive red tartan engineer hat on a whim while Rosie was hunting down an anorak for Chewy Spaghetti. But on the whole, I found as I browsed the racks that Angie was right about the smaller sizes selling out quickly. There wasn't a whole lot in available in XS or size 0, and I was disappointed when a sales associate informed me that the Tahari dresses I was pining after are not carried in sizes below a 2.
Although this is not the point of hitting the NAS at all, I went berserk with belts, which weren't even on sale! Me--a professed belt phobic! I finally found a wide brown woven belt, which I've been on the lookout for to pair with a number of brown and taupe items in my wardrobe. But I also bought a lime green skinny belt for the pop of crazy color, and also a super skinny white leather bow belt with Melissa and Rosie's blessing. I'm not quite sure how I'll be pairing them with existing items in my wardrobe, but I look forward to experimenting!
So on the whole, while my shopping expedition probably wasn't as productive as it should have been, I came away with some new items that made me happy and don't think I'm finished quite yet. But the best part was meeting Rosie and Melissa, who were just lovely, having the benefit of their opinions as we shopped, and chatting about YLF when we stopped for a drink afterwards. I will try to post some loot photos later this weekend, but need to get some sleep now. I kind of have that same feeling you have at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve when all your last-minute shopping is forced to come to a halt. Happy Shopping, Everybody!