Shopping

Shopping, Style, Travel

Luggage Lust

Some may spend their lives dreaming of their wedding day. I dream of the day when I step off the plane with my perfectly quirky, perfectly lightweight and perfectly badass carry-on approved bag. My soulmate, hahaha. I normally travel with a big ass backpack, but it would be nice to have some proper grown up luggage.

Luggage shopping is intimidating. There’s just so damn much to learn and so many choices. What size? What material? Soft sided, hard shell or mixed? Duffel bag? Suitcase? Wheels? Spinners? WTH. That’s not even getting into style options.

I have a few mini trips in the hopper for the upcoming months, and while I don’t absolutely need it, I’ve been having fun checking out luggage options. Here’s a few pieces that I’ve been eyeballing and dreaming of…

Lugguge Lust

From the top, clockwise:

  1. Everlane Weekender– At only 95$, I can’t believe that I’ve wanted one for so long without getting one. I worry that the straps might be a little long on me. Also, it’s kind of duffle baggy, and I don’t do duffles. Decisions, decisions.
  2. The Small Weekender from Kate Spade Saturday- It has a separate compartment for shoes! How cool is that? This could make a great gym bag.
  3. Lipault Plume 22″ 4 wheeled carry on- When I first saw this in a travel shop I thought that no way it would be able to take a beating. However the Amazon reviews for it are A+++, and in person the bags are gorgeous. I wish I had a real reason to buy this luggage.
  4. Tumi Vapor International Carryon– I love Tumi bags, and occassionally see them in Marshalls stores at like 75% off. Fingers crossed this one shows up.
  5. Eagle Creek DS3 hardshell– I’m a fan of Eagle Creek’s packing systems. I imagine their suitcases are quality too.
  6. Samsonite Cityscapes 20″ hardshell- I know this bag is cheesy, but I don’t care. When I saw it at the mall it just made me smile.
Art, Food, Shopping

Drink Like Your Favorite Characters

CocktailChart

 

From Pop Chart Lab:

A catalog of 49 drinks culled from great works of film and literature, depicting everything from Philip Marlowe’s Gin Gimlet to Fredo Corleone’s Banana Daiquiri to the simple yet effective Buttermaker Boilermaker.

 

Finally, an infographic worth framing! Now I can finally make  The Flaming Moe from the Simpsons and the Gibson from North by Northwest. Which drinks are your favorite?

San Francisco, Shopping, Style

Where I Shop For Clothes (Hint: The Gutter)

When I was younger I shopped all the time. Seriously I spent so many hours dedicated to digging through thrift store crap  looking for the right clothes to change my life. These days, not so much. I still shop all over, but it’s more strategic. I’ll pay a little more to get something decent.

Of course the concept of paying nothing didn’t click for me until college. In college when I started working for the recycling department at Yale, one of the biggest donation events of the year was the end of the year moveout. We’d have these great big blue plastic barrels set out near the dorms and people would donate everything and anything as they left campus for their summer adventures. As a recycling worker I received first dibs on all the donated goods. Some great finds I’ve gotten from the blue barrels include:

  • A very fine oboe which I had fixed for $300 and sold for $2000.
  • Lots of Kate Spade purses. What’s up with that?
  • Furniture
  • Great books
  • Food!
  • Expensive makeup and perfume
  • Booze (rare)

Last but not least, there were so many free clothes. Great clothes, fancy clothes, normal people clothes, workout clothes, everything. God, it was fantastic.

These days I have limited time, but I shop for clothes all over:

  • Thrift shops, consignment shops (Salvation Army, Goodwill)
  • Resale shops (Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads)
  • Random “boutiques”
  • Big ole mainstream chains (Gap, H&M, Zara, etc.)
  • Big box (Target)
  • Discount dept (TJ Maxx, Marshall’s)
  • Online shops (6pm, Zappos)

But my favorite by far is still:

THE PILE OF DONATED CLOTHES LEFT ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET.Nothing beats free.

Oh yeah, I have no shame. I’m the person digging thru trash for goodies. It’s one of my favorite things about San Francisco. Look at this fantastic-ness! This person could not sell all her clothes @ Crossroads so she left them outside for free. THANK YOU!  Can we make this a regular thing? Just leave it outside for the fashion vultures to scoop up.

20130522-202233.jpg

 

I dug through the pile and came out with some cute stuff.20130522-202239.jpg

  • A 100% silk J Crew Top with a nice sweetheart neckline
  • A pair of J Crew matchstick jeans cut into jean shorts. Thankfully not too revealing.
  • And a Velvet drapey jersey dress.

I know that in smaller cities this would not work, but I do love this about San Francisco. The street giveth, the street taketh away.