Love Story 2011

The first time we met was in November. Ah Sweet November, that time right before the holidays, when hope and excitement is in the air. I thought it would be just a regular November day. How was I to know this day would change my life.

It was love at first sight. I don't know if I'd ever felt this strongly about anything else before. There was an instant connection and I couldn't take my eyes away from the beauty before me. I imagined our life together, going from party to party, everyone admiring what a gorgeous pair we made. From that moment on,  I knew instantly that my life would never be complete until we were together. That first day, I stayed as long as I could, trying to figure out a way for us to be together. Unfortunately, at that time, there was just no way. Regretfully, I said goodbye, but whispered a promise that we would one day be together. As I walked away I turned and looked back. Someone else was walking towards my love! I was seething with anger and jealousy, but it quickly turned to despair. It would serve me right - I was the one who left. How could I expect someone else to resist what I myself wasn't able to? How could I expect that someone else wouldn't imagine themselves going from party to party with this perfection on their arm? I couldn't. It was my own fault.

In the days that followed, my thoughts were consumed with planning our life together. But every day, the hope that we could be together diminished little by little.  I tried to visit as much as I could, but as the holidays drew closer, the thought that someone else would be enjoying what I should have been, was overwhelming. I stopped visiting. The hurt was too much for me to bear. 

As Christmas came and went, I lost hope of us seeing each other again.  I had resigned myself to an incomplete life - as that is what it would be, if we weren't together. Life went along and soon, I began to forget.

Last Friday I went back to where we met. I was thinking that there was no way we would see each other again. It was after the holidays after all. But then I turned the corner and there it was. Waiting for me.

My Black Ostrich Feather Clutch from Club. And it was on sale. AAAAAaahhhhhhh!!!

I couldn't believe my luck. There was only one left and it was an extra 30% off.

Yay! Happy Birthday to me!!!

"START the car!!!"

Do you ever go to a store and look at your bill as you leave and notice you were either undercharged on an item or not charged at all? Do you go back and ask the sales person to correct it? I’m sure most people don’t. (Unless of course you get overcharged, then you’re back in there immediately asking the salesperson to give you your $0.57 cents back. Haha.)

Anyways, there’s this Ikea commercial where this lady checks her receipt after walking out of the store. She begins to walk faster and yells at her husband to “Start the Car!!!” thinking she got away with a steal because what she paid was so low.

Well, one day I got an email coupon for an extra 40% off of regular priced items at one of the stores I usually frequent…So of course I had to go and check it out. The coupon was a one-time only use, but you could buy anything that was regular priced, so I waited for my husband in case there was something he wanted to buy as well. I ended up choosing a top and he picked out a belt. When I got to the till, the girl rang up our purchase, but the belt was apparently on promotion for 30% off…so my husband mentioned that it was regular price (ie. It did not have a sale tag on it), so wouldn’t we be able to get the 40% off of it instead? The girl rolled her eyes, copped an attitude and said, “NO. It’s already on promotion for 30% off.” So my husband said “Oh. Well then I don’t want it then.” (He figured since it did not have a sale tag, it was therefore eligible for the 40% off, then because they didn’t give it to him he decided he wouldn’t take the belt “on principle”) However, the girl (w/another roll of her eyes) stated “It’s only 2.00 more” with a “I can’t believe you don’t want this now, you’re so cheap!” tone. Well I said to my husband irritatedly (at her not him), “Let’s just get it already”. So the girl sighed loudly again, rang it up and pronounced my total to be 37.00. My husband, had already left and was waiting in the mall. I walked up to him with a strange look and said “Let’s go” He looked at me and understood immediately – START THE CAR!!

In her annoyance and haste, the girl rang up my top AND the belt as 40% off. However, the belt had already come up as 30% off. So in essence, we got the belt for 70% off.

Suckah!!! That’s what you get for being annoyed with your customers.

But it's the Principle!!!

Do you ever say that? Usually these words are spoken during an argument where you are not necessarily going to win or gain anything for choosing your position except for the fact that you believe that your position is correct and your arguing about it is justified.

Take for example the other day…

I was out shopping (what else is new?) and I bought a couple of things from this store. I’m always slightly shocked when the sales girl tells me what my total is (“What?! I spent that much!”) and I am one of those people that as soon as I get my bill, studies it to make sure I wasn’t over charged in any way. I pull out the calculator on my cell (the ease of pulling up the calculator on my cell phone is one of the major criteria I look at when choosing a cell – what can I say? My family is full of accountants, well, except for me. I’m a left brain thinker…or is it the right brain? Well whatever side of the brain is the creative side instead of the analytical side) and begin calculating the taxes to ensure I was charged correctly. This day was no different. As I walked out of the store I had a nagging feeling that what I was charged just wasn’t correct! I had bought a gift card so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t charged the tax on the gift card. As I calculated my total, I saw that my nagging feeling was correct. I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t adding up though! Until I saw the taxes…the girl had somehow charged me 8.5% tax instead of 7%! I called my dad (who is a retired accountant and constantly pulls out the calculator to tell me exactly how much savings I should have.) as he would know if tax had suddenly been upped to 8.5%. He said “No! We would have heard that on the news leading up to January 1st! Go and get your money back!!” (Incidentally, he is also constantly glued to CNN, so he knows ALL current events. Even stuff that hasn't happened yet. Yeah, THAT current.) Unfortunately, since I was getting picked up and was already late to meet my husband, I decided I would give the store a call later to let them know what happened.

So, later that evening I called to inform them of their mistake, thinking that there must have been tons of other people they were overcharging. I was somewhat surprised that the salesperson who answered had no clue what to do in this situation (I imagined crowds of angry people holding up their bills shouting "Too much tax! Too much tax!"). Anyways he took down my information and told me their manager would be informed the next day.

The next day I decided to go back to the store to see what their solution would be. I went up to the counter to tell the girl what happened. She took my bill, scanned it and said “Honestly, it’s only a difference of like 50 or 60 cents” and gave me a look that said “Really? You came back here for THAT?” which incensed me so I answered back, matter of factly, “Yes, I know that, but I’m more concerned about the fact that I’m not the only one who might have been overcharged.” So she called her supervisor, who didn’t completely understand what happened. The salesgirl explained “We charged her 8.5% tax and it only should have been 7% tax”. The supervisor looked at my bill and said “Wow, that’s weird. Would they have changed the tax to 8.5% for like a week or something?”

Um…seriously?!

Inwardly I said to her “Are you crazy? How are you even a supervisor?!”

Outwardly I said “Um. No. Probably not. Plus I bought something else yesterday and the taxes were still 7% . Didn’t anyone else get charged this 8.5% tax?!”

The “supervisor” said “No. You were the only one.”

Hmm….YEAH RIGHT.

Anyways, after much calculation and confusion, I ended up getting my $0.57 cents back! (plus some samples!)

PS. I refuse to believe that I was the only one this happened to. I do believe, however, I’m the only cheapskate that decided to go back for her $0.57 cents under the guise of “being concerned that it happened to other people”. Heh heh. Principles.

Feathers and other things...

Hi friends - sorry, I know it's like the middle of January and I've been neglecting my posting again...I've started a bunch of posts but sadly have not had time to finish them (plus my laptop at home is so slow I can't do anything on it. I have to erase a bunch of pictures before I can even get on the internet because I have no space on my hard drive. I'm pretty sure I have a virus or 2 (or 100 as the case may be)).  

However to make up for it, I'm putting up a few posts, as a pre-Birthday Weekend Extravaganza present for you guys. You're welcome.

Before I go on...

I don’t know when I would ever wear these, but can I just say “WOWZA”. What is it with me and feathers?!  LOVE. They are just so "Black Swan" - don't you agree?



Ann Demeulemeester Feather Trim Gloves

They're on sale for $442.00 (from $885.00) Aaahhhh!!!