Saturday, June 07, 2008

The Cleveland Chronicles, Part 3: Domesticity's Retail Roundup

At least THIS didn't put a giant dent in my pocket. :)

Another week, another $100 or so lost from my bank account. Am I upset? No. For one thing, a good chunk of that money went to some highly respectable retailers here in Cuyahoga County - the better for me to bring out a proper Retail Roundup!

Target: Scribe may have given me a certain Target-related grad gift (ie. a gift card for an undisclosed amount of money) but that didn't stop me from going crazy all over Le SuperTarjay at University Circle. How else would I have been able to score two Mossimo tops, a Merona blouse, a pair of shorts, and a brown linen empire dress for roughly $80 en toto? I also got a great deal on the watch (ProSpirit, $6.98) and got both a foundation brush and a new foundation (L'Oreal Bare Naturale), AND a nice bathrobe. That's a lot to be happy about.

That said, I do have a complaint about my Favorite Big-Box Retailer of All Time: What the heck is going on with the whole Isaac Mizrahi line? I swear, I've tried on two dresses, and no matter how far I go up or down the sizing chart, NOTHING fit right. At all. I'm beginning to suspect that Isaac should consider firing whoever does his fitting, because I don't think I'm the only one with this problem.

TJ Maxx: I admit that I should've saved my energy for this, after maxing out my debit card at the SuperTarjay. That said, Blogdorf Goodman was right - you can get some insane deals on makeup and fragrance over here. Scribe and I may have snickered at the inevitable appearance of the Kimora Lee Simmons line in the Clearance bin, but even we'll admit that $7.99 for a Lancome lipstick was a killer deal. There were some Gap fragrances in the bins, too; I managed to snag a hand lotion in Nightfall for $1.99, which was a saving grace for the hands that got caught up in last week's Ohio chill.

My best TJ steal, however, goes to the Clarins Lip Sparkle palette (Sparkling Neutrals, I believe) that I snagged for the low, low price of $2.99. Six lovely see-through neutrals with a non-sticky formula. Gotta love that.

Tower City Center: On one hand, I can't help but be disappointed that there are a lot of major retailers that have since vacated their spaces here -although Mr. Scribe was right to point out that some of those retailers did price themselves out of the market in this economy. (Yes, Gap, I'm looking at you - and for shame!) On the other hand, I can't say I didn't get any great finds here, either.

Take, for example, this dress from Lane Bryant. $60 may have seemed kind of steep for me - and I did have some problems manipulating this at first - but I love the detailing on this, with the blue breaking up the monochrome and the built-in slip underneath. The fit on this one was also perfect - no boob issues (take note, Isaac), no belly pooch, no problem at all. Every single person in the store was unanimous about this dress: it was definitely a keeper.

And then there was Charlotte Russe, which I had written off for years as another Wet Seal/Arden B/Forever 21 wannabe... until Scribe steered me towards the flats, which were supremely comfortable and wearable. I was as good as addicted, and in fact I ended up buying two pairs to take advantage of their sale. I was also tempted to snag their jewelry and sunglasses, as well... but that'll have to wait. :)

Lest you think that I was the only one who got the epic deals (cue my parents gasping in shock) it wasn't like Scribe came up empty, either... not when Tower City has a MAC store, where she finally found the dream foundation/ powder combo that did not turn pink on her at all. I was so proud of her - and was floored even more when 1) the makeup artist that she worked with was super cool and friendly without pushing too many products on her, and 2) her entire MAC bill for the makeup she just purchased came down to $65, as opposed to the $120 she had spent at the [name withheld] counter for the incompatible base. She also snagged a killer black leather bag at Charlotte Russe, too - the better to carry around whenever she goes out at night with Mr. Scribe.

Also: If you must burn your hard-earned dollars at the Bath & Body Works clearance sale, I definitely recommend going to the Tower City B&BW - where I got stuff for myself and my Dad, at the low price of $10.48 and no tax. Best. Sale. EVER.

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