^GREAT* Sale at Macy's!

When I have an amazing shopping experience I like to share it. Yesterday I popped into my local Macy's and it was incredible.

As I walked into Macy's [I prefer the entrance near men's wear] 2 sales associates were talking less than a foot from the front door, a bit odd I thought they will probably ignore me - and boy was I wrong! One of the sales associates said "Hello, how are you today? Would you like a coupon for an extra 25% off?"

Yes I would. I thanked him and he said "Happy Shopping!". He had an amazing attitude, so cheerful and a kind not at all pushy persona. Coupon in hand I stopped by the jewelry counter to see what Givenchy, Kenneth Cole and Alfini are up to - when I was offered another coupon! I let them know I already had one, thank you.

As I tried on necklaces I overheard sales people all offering coupons to all their customers and telling them about the "friends and family sale" basically an extra 25% off for nearly everything in the store.

I found 2 necklaces I liked and one that I loved! So I texted the man in Philly I am dating pics of the necklaces and asked him which one he liked [gotta love modern technology!] and tried to make up my own mind. I had the excellent sales associate "Beth K" put my necklace on hold for the rest of the night while I continues my shopping.

My necklace of choice was an Alfini silver necklace with several chains of different weight/thickness/lengths and had an unusual clasp that was super easy to use. It was $36 so I really had to think about it.

I headed off to shoes where they were swamped and had to rationalize myself out of buying a pair Anne Klein's that were slightly too big and $79.99, sigh - twas not to be.

Then I checked out the perfume area. Normally I avoid that part of the store as I am sensative to certain smells but I had seen the Calvin Klein commercial for "Euphoria" and I wanted to see what it smelled like. Also the ad said if you spend $70 you get a free orchid and I wanted more information. This is the one area of the store where I literally had to track down a sales person and when I did she did not know anything about the commercial AND her keys would not open the perfume cabinet where the larger bottles were kept. I wont print her name here poor dear, she was probably filling in and I don't think this was her counter.

She *did* tell me that after you spend $70 or more on perfume you fill out a form and they send you the free orchid in the mail - that's interesting I wonder how that works exactly. There were 2 versions of Euphoria - one was a "Spring" version which was a lighter and more floral/fruity scent. The orginal Euphoria was a bit too musky for me but the Spring/lighter scent was nice and I might go back and get that one at a later date.

Next I ventured to clothes and implimented my favourite shopping trick; I pick out everything I like in the entire department. Then I take it all to the price scanner and scan my 30-40 items to be sure nothing I picked out is over $100 or whatever price limit I set for myself/my client that day. Nothing was over $85 so I carried my giant pile of clothes to the dressing room. As I try clothing on I am always sure to return it to the hanger [this helps the over-worked sales associates more than you can imagine] and I hand things in 3 places: 1. yes 2. no 3. maybe.

I return my "no" pile to the rolling rack the sales associates leave for unwanted clothing. Then I take my yes+maybe clothes back to scanner to see now that I know how everything fits = how much each item is. There were only 2 items I really liked: a cadigan and a knitted tank that reminded me of Twiggy or Audrey Hepburn - it was black with a light band around the neck that emphasized the shape of the garment and was a calbe knit below. It was the sort of thing that you think might not look good on you but you try it on and "WOW".

The cardigan was more than I wanted to pay and my 10 or 12 "maybes" just didn't work for me so I ended up with just the cable knit top. I scanned it and it was $9.99!

I checked out kitchen wear and saw a Black&Decker rice cooker for $24.99 which made me giggle, not the brand you think of when you think rice cookers.

New shirt in hand, and on hanger, I returned to jewelry and decided that since I didn't get the $79.99 shoes or the $83 silk shirt or the $70 jacket or the $40 cardigan that I would go ahead and splurge on the $36 necklace. I had the coupon after all and I haven't bought anything at all for myself other than things like groceries and cell phone batteries in a really long time.

"Beth K" was happy to help me out. She was surprised when my fabulous shirt rang up as $9.99 but not as surprised as I was when she gave me the total: $17.79!

The necklace I had fallen in love with was also on sale - that combined with the coupon and the great price on the shirt meant I saved $67.43!

*Another great tip about Macy's: if you ask they will let you keep the hanger you clothing came on, and I kept my hanger! Also if your hanger breaks - they are recyclable.

I can't believe I only speny $17.79 at Macy's on 2 such amazing and well made items! This was less than I would have paid at say JC Penny's, TJ Maxx, or Marshall's - all places known for having cheap things and at TJ Maxx and Marshall's it would have been last season's not the beautiful current items I found at Macy's. As "Beth K" said, when "Macy's has a sale - you can't beat their prices."

Happy Shopping!

Happy Earth Day!

My apologizes blogworld, I have been a bad, bad blogger. I would like to blame the economy and my still ongoing search for a new permanent postion.

On a brighter note:

Hannaford's stores in my area are giving away free re-usable shopping bags for Earth Day!

(Hannaford's is a great grocery store, simliar to a Harris Teeter in the north eastern United States.)

In other news:
Trader Joe's is still planning on being in the Portland Maine area by the end of 2009!

Rachel Zoe is filming the Rachel Zoe Project II for Bravo and I can't wait to see it!

And Project Runway is moving to the Lifetime Network.

More news soon!