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!

21 comments:

  1. You are killing me! I am imagining you "accidentally" pushing buttons all over the place! Really himself ought to support these, given your distraught state of mind! :-)

    So glad all is better - there is nothing like a bone fide crisis to remind us of importance in life and the need for good clothes to accompany us there!

    Who was it - oh yes Billy Crystal - better to look good than feel good!

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  2. I think it was more like finding voice mails from people you didn't call on purpose, but when you sat down...

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  3. Okay, firstly, I'm a jerk for not seeing your previous post and wishing you two all of the good vibes the Flying Spaghetti Monster has to offer.

    Secondly, I'm so jazzed someone else found the CotW pieces fab. I posted the cardigan on my blog and received a boatload of not nice comments.

    Thirdly, aggravated stress shopping (or ASS) is a recognized disorder which is best treated by celebratory cocktails once purchases arrive.

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    1. hi, Raina, you know you'll always find a little luv here.
      I travel with a couple of missoni twinsets, which fit well and are spiffy without being dressy, and I thought that these pieces could work the same way, at 1/5 the price. So I waited until in fact they were 1/5 the price. And the workmanship is - no complaints so far. I didn't care for the CotW shoes or the dress, but I like these pieces. I think they'll be great in restaurants.

      ASS, huh? and there was me thinking it was the retail equivalent of butt-dialing.

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  4. In heartening news, i have a waxed cotton jacket from BR two years ago and it is awesome! Bought on a whim on super sale and probably the best buy of that year! Now slightly too big but I love love love it! Did me proud during a trip to England and Sotland and I look forward to more travels together! Hope this year's is also high quality. And by the by, my jcrew shirt developed spontaneous holes too though I wore it first!

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    1. Hi, Margaret, that is heartening news! Except if I love it and want to keep it, I'll have to pay for it. Sigh.

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  5. Wow, Fred, I guess I missed your news, but glad all is well.

    Those CotW sweaters are not for me, but even when they first arrived I admired them as interesting. Can't believe that your color block tee has holes even before wearing. Mine is falling apart at the armpits and I don't think it can even be repaired.

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    1. thanks, Hexicon, what is it that's supposed to happen while you're making other plans?
      I've decided to save the tee to wear while shopping in J.Crew.

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  6. I try not to online shop,I just can't be bothered sending stuff back. I love the look of that BR jacket, it's definitely my kind of thing. Hope Himself is continuing to improve .

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  7. Thanks, Sulky! I shop both ways, but generally confine web shopping to places where I can do free in-store returns. if the jacket works out, I'll put up a picture.

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  8. This is hilarious. I read it earlier while making dinner for the masses and I can assure you I had a good chuckle and you maybe saved me from a grump-attack.
    As Raina pointed out ASS is a recognized disorder and the cure is cocktails when the UPS truck arrives, perhaps WITH the UPS driver but that is up to your discretion.
    I like your picks, I almost bought that celery green leather belt from LE myself while ordering bedding for my #1 Rascal's first apartment, but I made myself attend to the task at hand, hmph never a good strategy.
    I am very happy to know that Himself is back, well and worrying about his menu. All good!

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  9. Hi, Dani, thanks, i guess even the worst of us can serve s horrible examples, glad to know I am of use to humanity. Our UPS guy does not need an excuse or an invitation to take a drink. Fortunately he's just as happy to take returns on board as he is to drop things off.

    I'm hoping that I love the celery-green belt, I can't for the life of me remember ordering it.

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  10. Being the technology infant that I am, I never realized that you could derriere shop, but hey, it makes perfect sense. Glad Himself is home. Were they kind enough to send along a wine list to make those dietary restrictions more palatable?

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  11. Hi, David, I may have figured it out. I put anything I like or want to come back to into the Shopping Cart on a site - I'm not good at wish lists and such. So if iPhone was not officially off or asleep, and I absentmindedly tapped or touched it while the site was open... and then again, there are a lot of iPhone functions I've never bothered to use or activate or even just learn about because they sounded like trouble. I may have activated the Mind-Reading Bargain-Hunting Shopper!

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  12. I've totally woken up to email confirmations I don't remember placing orders for, no drinking involved. I don't know what to call it. Some shopping fugue state, I suppose. I like the belts and the BR jacket. And the vest. Stupid J Crew tees. Stupid.

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  13. Shopping fugue sounds like it, Gigi! Anyway, I am going to pair the tee with the chinos that lack a belt loop and the shoes that completely fall off my feet, and wear that outfit the next time I shop in a JC store. Curious to see what the vest looks like.

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  14. Hello:
    It really is reassuring to know that all is well. We are so pleased for you both.

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    1. thank you again, Jane and Lance, there will no doubt be some small lifestyle changes, but the key part of that clause is "life." Yes.

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  15. Oh I missed your last post, I'm so glad that things are calmer and that himself is out of the danger zone.
    Nantucket reds - love them, go check out the blog "My F....ing red pants" it is hilarious.

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    1. hi, Tabs, thank you! These pants can't be real Nantucket Reds because they're not from Murrays.

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  16. Nylon lace has zero glamour, at this price silk or linen or even metallic.

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