You know, The Body Shop isn’t even that chi-chi but when you’re reliant on drug store brands like I am, shopping The Body Shop, wielding gift cards from Christmas was a wonderous experience. I was shopping during their “Mother of All Sales” where you could buy three products and get two free and I still don’t usually spring so much on beauty products. The most I had paid for moisturizer up to that point was $20.49 for 75mL Aveeno tinted (1) moisturizer (2) with SPF (3). It has three functions! …

It’s funny how all it took is for one Tweet on a Thursday afternoon set off my “inspiration” and by Saturday evening, I had my very own much-coveted panda-styled iPhone case.
I’m subscribed to a shopping site (Outblush) that daily inundates me with fashion, household, and decorating ideas. There is a subset of the items that catch my eye that I also shake my head (at the price tag) and conclude that I could fairly easily make my own version, including highly stylized prints created in Illustrator, geometric shapes acrylic paintings, …

Once upon a time, I loved the rugby stripe look. At my most ardent, I had two rugby shirts and I was also in the market to buy flip-flops and bought blue-and-green rugby stripe ones from Old Navy. I did not know at the time how well they would work out for me: the fabric straps are a touch dressier from rubber straps and never rub and blister the top of my feet; the shoe surface is “felted”, smooth to the touch. The flip-flops have long been cracked where the …

One day, my co-worker arrived at work and I was dazzled. Why? She was wearing the chunky multi-strand necklace her mother had bought from The Bay and in turn passed it on to her (photo at left). It so truly captured my fancy that I could only hope to find the same necklace at The Bay (and hopefully on the clearance rack) or create my own.
For me–and even for NPY who likes when I shop with a purpose–it was a fun afternoon at Richmond Centre, dropping into every shop that …

I don’t consider my day started off quite right unless I have my dose of the morning news via Canada AM, straight from the center of the country.
Yesterday, to my great delight, Alfred Sung was on the show to introduce his (new?) outdoor furniture collection, Alfred Sung Outdoor, which people can see if they attend the Interior Design Show in Toronto opening today and running through the weekend. And… the first furniture he showed was the Blackwatch Collection. Not surprisingly, if you follow his designs–I don’t, I don’t follow anyone–you’d …

Well aren’t group-buying sites like Groupon and Living Social the greatest things these days? This time last year, I was flipping through (and flipping through again) my Entertainment Book, seeing the same-old restaurants, wishing there was something I could use after, of course, using the Tropika coupon.
Group-buying sites have been big winners because of the magical (synergistic?) combination of addiction-creating features. They are “social” by requiring a minimum number of buyers to activate, and then with all the Web 2.0 add-ons to share your sweet purchase on Facebook and Twitter. …

In the recent past, I have acquired four more items in my favourite tartan, blackwatch plaid!
In the last few months, I got a zipper case from Muji appropriate for holding make-up or something, a J. Crew bucket hat as a hand-me-down from my little sister, and joe fresh rainboots as a Christmas present from my sister. Then, finally, I have found the one item that most closely ressembles the clothing that sparked it all–a fashionable wool skirt that ressembles the kilt I wore for 7 years of Catholic school (actually …

My first shopping experience in China was at Silk Market, a “seven-storey shopping mecca”. Our tour guide didn’t seem enthused that we would make our way there during our free day but I wanted to visit this tourist spot with no other preconception than my aunt’s written instruction, “Bargain at least 60% off”. 60% off, really? The poor merchants! But I was not willing to be a sucker tourist, although I may as well be, with no conversational skills whatsoever in Mandarin.
Walking into Silk Market was like walking into a …

To me, it’s plainly obvious which shoe is which, but perhaps it’s not so easy to tell the difference: One of the following shoes cost USD$90 and the other cost USD$20.

Aldo Rosenthall
Material: Leather
Sole: Synthetic
Heel Height: 5 inches
Platform Height: 1 inches
USD $90.00
Payless Loveit Overlasted Platform Pump
“This chic staple features a rich faux suede upper with a classic round toe and an abbreviated modern 2″ vamp, a lightly padded insole, a hidden platform and a 3.75″ wrapped stiletto heel. Manmade materials.”
USD $26.99, but on sale for USD $19.99
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In a Canadian store, I …

On Saturday, we all woke up super early to meet up in southeast Vancouver to head on over to the border and onwards to Bellingham, Lynnwood, and Tulalip, in that order.
At first, the driving arrangement was for there to be a “boy car” with the three guys including NPY, and a “girl car” for the five girls. However, some concern about how a U.S. border guard will perceive three guys heading into their country in a hot little sports car induced us to change things up. Ultimately, all day long, …