home again, at it again!

So the excitement and the terror have subsided. Once again, thank you, thank all of you, for your kind words and good wishes. It meant the world to me to pick up my iphone and find kind messages from people I have never had the good fortune to meet in person. I'm loving you all.

Himself is home again, reading the hospital's recommended dietary restrictions as if they were the Internal Revenue Code and he a desperate accountant in pursuit of a loophole. I've been checking my emails and noticed confirmations of web orders I don't remember placing. The usual routine was disrupted, no rising at dawn to do personal computer stuff and so I guess while trying to check everything on an iPhone during quiet times in the ICU, I pushed a few more buttons than I thought I was touching. This gives me an opportunity to see if I have better luck when unconsciously, mechanically, browsing than I do when I go purposefully hunting.

Deliberate, stalked purchase (from before the hospital event). JCrew Creatures of the Wind cashmere twinset, recent 30% second markdown. Fair price, had tried on several different sizes before pulling the trigger, and so wound up keeping the cardigan member of the set on a Large, because when JC says something has a "shrunken" fit, they really, really mean it. The Small in the cardi was a bolero jacket fit, which was beyond unbecoming. With the Large and the tee, I have a set that will be great for travel, especially with the forecast rise to prominence of wine colors this winter.



Accidental purchase, a Donegal tweed wool vest and two leather belts from some kind of promo going on at Lands' End. I like vests instead of jackets or cardis, a little dressier than a cardi, not as bulky as a jacket. Will I like this one?

Uninformative catalog shot, can't even guess what it will do on me. Not sure about cut of front armhole. The copy included a statement that the back is chambray, indeed even included a shot of the back. I must have been asleep or listening to bells and beeps.
From the pictures, I'm not crazy about this, so unless it astounds me when it arrives, it's going back.



ok, I can see why I bought these. I needed the colors, they're leather, and the price was fine. Unless they are really dogs when they arrive, they'll stay.

Accidental purchase. Another glance at the inbox shows there must have been  a promotion going on at Banana Republic. This is a waxed cotton jacket, with zippers. No pictures of the back available. I don't think US retailers do waxed cotton all that well, but this is on its way to my house, and will be given a fair chance in exchange for having distracted me when necessary.

Deliberate, stalked purchase from earlier this summer. I bought a "colorblocked striped tee" from J.Crew early this summer, decided I liked it a lot, so bought another (yes) when they went to markdown, and tucked it away. Yesterday I decided to break out the new unworn one in honor of Himself coming home.
Yes, those are holes in the upper arm. I hadn't even unwrapped it, fool me.

Accidental purchase. The Madewell silk colorblock boy shirt is on its way. and another color of that shirt has been backordered for me - by unconscious me, who is starting to look like some kind of extravagant little thang.
Oh, well, if I don't like the first shirt to arrive, I can return it and decide whether to cancel the other or let it ride. Madewell's photography is so deliberately amateurish, I have no idea what these will look like. In the pictures, they look like jockey's silks on their way to the laundry.

Accidental purchase. Unconscious me also decided that I need Nantucket Red cotton pants with a button fly. Unconscious me also found the 25% off sale markdown at Ralph Lauren. What a girl. They are the smallest men's size, but can go back if they don't work. By the way, even though most of us turn to Lauren Ralph Lauren on the website, it's worth checking all the other divisions, including the men's, for things you might want to recheck when there are attractive markdowns and discount coupons, which happens with some regularity. The men's scarves are often interesting.
Deliberate, stalked purchase from before the hospital event. I ordered a cotton tee in navy blue with black silk collar and cuffs from J.Crew as soon as I saw it, and it arrived very promptly. Actually, I ordered two sizes, because I couldn't tell what it would look like on me. Both are going back. There will be a fuller discussion in another post, with pictures, but for now, this shirt is a good idea gone wrong.

Have you ever shopped without being aware of it?

This coming week should see an interesting bunch of arrivals!