Shopaholics Anonymous

Me: Hi, my name is Ebony Jewel, I'm 27 and I'm addicted to shopping. 

My Shopaholic Anonymous Group: Hi Ebony Jewel!

Seriously, I am addicted to shopping!  I'm always out looking for the latest and greatest trends; this time it just happens to be fall trends!  I decided that I was past due for some new fall looks.

Here's my list of "go to" stores for the fall:

• Cole Haan - I love their shoes, seriously they are THE MOST COMFORTABLE pumps I have ever owned in my whole entire 27 year life!  Majority of their shoes are enfused with Nike Air technology, making them feel like a gym shoe, yet they look like a classic chic pump! Check them out, you won't be disappointed.
• Banana Republic - Yeah yeah, typical of me right? I don't care what you say! Banana Republic is one place where I can find really cute outfits for work & play.  The same little black dress that I doll out for work, I can glam up for a night out on a date! Their clothes are so versatile, they just keep me hanging on!
• Ann Taylor and Loft - Let me start with Ann Taylor! I love their dresses, dress pants, and most of all their jewlery.  On first glance, Ann Taylor seems a little stuffy, slightly pretentious but classy nonetheless.  When I'm looking for lined dress pants (of course in Tall) Ann Taylor is my first stop.  Now the Loft - thankfully the Loft is a younger, hipper version of Ann Taylor.  The Loft is perfect for a 20 something like myself! Their clothes are a little less pricey than the sister store Ann Taylor, but they're cute, fun and flirty - totally fits my personality & personal style.  I can take a shirt from the Loft and throw it under a suit from Ann Taylor; keeps me feeling young, cute and refreshed!
• Charming Charlie - I think Charming Charlie is a southern thing, so for all of you Southern Belles who love jewelry, Charming Charlie is the place for you.  The store is filled with coloful trinkets of absolute fabulousness! I'm addicted, every time I walk in there I'm overwhelmed!  I can never remember what color clothes I purchased, so I have to bring them with me when I go to Charming Charlie! 
• Coach Factory Outlet - Purses, purses, purses.  A girl can never have enough purses; hit up the Coach Factory Outlet for some awesome deals! I did over the Labor Day weekend and I totally lucked out.  You'll see shortly!
• Louis Vuitton - Oh Louis - you and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love you Louis, I think you're too freakin expensive though.  When I landed my first consulting gig I told myself with my first pay check I'd buy my first LV purse.  (Lots of firsts there huh?) I don't remember the date, but it was some time in August of 2007, I purchased my first LV Speedy 40 bag at the Louis Vuitton store in Boston.  Then in the summer of 2009, almost 2 years later, I purchased my 2nd LV bag at the "flagship" store on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris <- that was HEAVEN! After purse #2 & almost $2K in Louis Vuitton purses, my fascination with the brand had faded away.  Don't get me wrong, I still love LV, but it's just a purse & just a brand.  Yes, I want another one and I'll get another one, but not quite yet!  Anyways - my two LV purses have lasted and will continue to last throughout the seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall - they're timeless pieces that I love!
• DSW - Shoes, shoes, shoes! Yep - I like DSW; my only complaint is that I find better sizes online than I do in the stores.  To complicate that, ordering shoes online sucks...seriously!
• New York & Company - I can remember when NY&CO was the ONLY store I ever needed in my life.  Actually back then, it was Lerner New York & Company.  Over time, New York & Company has transformed into a company that sometimes I love and other times I question.  I question where the ideas for their outfits come from & what happened to the young, but sexy office wear look went.  In any event, I still frequent New York & Company, I'm a little saddened to hear that you now to have be a credit card owner to get coupons from them because I am not a card holder, but I don't think that will stop me from shopping there!

So! Visit some of the stores above, you know you wanna!  They should be paying me dangit - I'm advertising for THEM for FREE!!!

Without further adieu, here are some outfits I'll be sporting this fall! I've purchased a lot of timeless classics that I can mix and match, you'll see!

Ann Taylor dress, NY & Co cardi, Coach Purse & Cole Haan shoes

Ann Taylor dress, Banana Republic cardi, Cole Haan shoes & Coach purse

New York & Co suit, Coach purse & Cole Haan Shoes

New York & Co jacket, Loft shirt

Banana Republic skirt, Loft shirt & Loft necklace

Banana Republic cardi & silk shirt

Banana Republic sweater & sleeveles ruffle shirt

Black Cole Haan pumps

Brown Cole Haan pumps

Brown Coach purse

Coach makeup bag

Now you've had a chance to peek into some of my fall fashions - what are YOU buying for the fall?

My Life: A Moving Target? Naaaah!

For so long I have lived in a town close to the friends that I've known for years, close to my family, somewhere safe when I could just run home if there was a problem.  A few weeks ago, I decided for sure (this time) that I'm going to change that.  At 27 years old, it's way beyond time... I've been taking care of myself since I was 18.  Yes, I admit that my parents helped me along the way, but for the most part I've done this alone.  Here I am 27 years old and totally unhappy about the city that I live in.  It's an awesome place to raise a family, but not such an awesome place for a single 20 something like myself. 
Needless to say, I put together a plan - by August 31st, 2011 I plan to be in my new place in life and in a new state.  I debated long & hard about where I wanted to go & I've settled on the big city of....drumroll please...CHICAGO! I've been to Chicago plenty of times, I know that parts of Chicago are dangerous, scary, super nice and super expensive, but I'm ready to take that plunge. I don't care that it's expensive, I can afford it - I may have to do without shopping every weekend, but that's okay - I'll survive.  Who the hell needs 3 closets full of clothes and shoes anyways?! I definitely don't! 

Anyways - here's the plan....

I'm going to stay in my condo until December 2011.  At the end of December, I'm putting my stuff in storage and moving in with my parents (don't want to, but I need to save some major $$).  I'll rent my condo starting January 1, 2011 that way I'm not only making $$, but I'm also saving money - no bills other than car note, car ins and student loans. 

I'll take a few trips to Chicago in the June/July time frame to solidify my condo or apartment there; I plan to sublet a fully furnished place for 6-8 months so that way I can see if I like the area then either rent or buy something in that same area.  By mid August I'm going to take a week or two vacay from work & make the move to Chicago!

So operation pay off credit cards starts now! That way, the only bills left are my car note, car ins and student loans.  I've already paid off 1 card - 4 more to go which I plan to do in the next 2 months!

Wish me luck - hopefully there are no hickups in the next few months - I need my plan to stay on track 100%!

Memo to my neighbors

I cannot sleep all night because I have to listen to your fuckin yapping ass dog all night long.

Am I a bit hostile about this? Yes, can you tell?

Seriously you inconsiderate assholes, the entire neighborhood complains because you leave your dog out all night. How rude of you to disturb your neighbors when we're trying to do something as important as sleep. How dare you think this is acceptable behavior.

If I could figure out which house the barking was coming from, I'd open your gate and let your dog run free, free as the wind blows! In the mean time, I have to listen to this bullshit all weekend.

I won't be home again until Thursday night and I swear if your dog is outside all night yapping away the two options will be animal control or antifreeze. YOU pick your poison.

Happy Monday!

P.S. I love animals and your probably can't tell it, but I'm tired of this dog barking all night.


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The Last Few Months

Hopefully this will give a little insight into where I've been for the last few months.....

In my post here I mentioned that I was going to do some renovations to my condo.  I had a contractor ready to go, estimates were in and I knew exactly what it was going to cost me.  Just before I called the contractor to start, there was a little hiccup in my life and my finances.  I never really talked about this hiccup because I didn't want anyone to "feel sorry for me" and quite frankly it depressed me to even think about it.  

I, a woman who was totally independent, a woman who "lived the life" a lot of 20 somethings dream of, a woman who was financially stable....was let go from my job.  It happened at the end of January.  I kind of, only kind of, knew that it was coming - the company was failing miserably financially, there had been other cut backs & I was happy to not be one of them, but I knew my time was coming. The good thing for me is that I had been on a mad hunt for a job.  When I was let go, I'd previously had 2 interviews with a company (that I was dying to work for) and was waiting on my third and final interview at which time I was advised if they liked me, they would make an offer.  My third interview was a week after I was let go & I landed the job that day!  I was ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic!  Not only did I land a job with a company that I've been wanting to work for for the longest, I got a pretty steep signing bonus for accepting the offer.  My skill set is one they've been looking for since the economy picked up; so the signing bonus was pretty freakin sweet as was my salary offer. 

I started at the new company at the beginning of March, so in all actuality I was without a job from the end of January until the beginning of March, but the break was good.  I got to spend some much needed quality time with my niece, see my friends who I hadn't seen much and get everything straightened out for the renovation.  Since I started the new job, I'm back to traveling every week.  I've been to Chicago, NYC, and a couple of other pretty cool places.  All and all it's been a good, but life changing experience.  

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, I believe that when one door closes another door opens & not only did God know it was time for me to move on, he made sure I had a place to move to.  He works in mysterious ways doesn't He?

Off to bed now - I have an early morning flight to Charlotte - hope everyone had an awesome weekend!  

Monday Morning Madness

Rain?! The weather man [or woman] has been predicting rain all weekend and I have yet to see one iota of rain. I would like them to stop lying ASAP! I could have used a good rainy weekend at home, instead it was a hot overly humid weekend. Guess there were some good points of the weekend tho. Office social on Saturday night was outside & didn't get rained out!

Moving on! Today marks my first day on a new project at work. I'm excited and nervous. You never know how clients are going to react to you, or how well you'll mesh [or not mesh] with your new team, so wish me luck. I've met some of the team members before and they all seem really cool, but seeming cool & being cool are two different things right?

Can I just express to yall the new found excitement I have about blogging? I am always at a computer, but I rarely ever have time to blog while I'm working. Plus new job heavily monitors laptop usage - so I try to keep my personal usage to a minimum. I downloaded BlogPress to get around that obstacle. So expect more posts and potentially more craziness from me!

Alright off to the airport! Holla! Happy Monday peeps!

~Ebony Jewel~


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone