Online shopping 'clubs' & emails

Until I added in a long commute to my life I wasn't an online shopper. Now, the last thing I want to do is stop by the mall for clothes or gifts. Luckily, or dangerously, I have discovered some online shopping sites. Most of them are like online fancy versions of TJ Maxx -- heavily discounted designer brands.


 My newest discovery? ShoeDazzle. Everything on ShoeDazzle is $40 and you save an extra 20% off your first purchase. Shoes, bags & jewelry sets. The catch for this one is you have to log in once a month and shop or "skip" the month or you'll be charged $40/month and rack up a stack of credits. Luckily you get email reminders and clicking 'skip' is easy. If you skip the month you're not charged a thing. But, with deals like this how bad could having credits be? Even these awesome knee-high boots are just $40. Should I buy them? I just might...  This site, unlike many others, is knock offs not the designer brands.

What other shopping deals go I get delivered to my inbox?

Rue la la
This is my all time favorite deal site because it's a mix of designer and more affordable brands. I've purchased from them many times for myself & gifts.  Best deal I scored? A pair of Rock & Republic Jeans. New deals start every day at 11am with 'city' deals emailed around 8am. City deals are mostly restaurants & salons but worth checking out too.

Guilt Group
Here I have a best deal tie. $14 for a pair of movie tickets. OR jewelry for my sister's birthday gift. Guilt deals are mailed at noon, and like Rue la la Guilt also has a city deals page. If you're looking for the most high fashion brands, than this is the deal site for you.

Haute Look
I got the BEST green platter for my mom. She loved it. Score! This site tends to be less designer brands and more middle-of-the-road brands. The good news is that this means most clothing deals are super cheap.

Swirl by Daily Candy
From the same people who send you a daily email of what's trendy, now they too offer a shopping deal site. I got an american apparel dress, the kind you can tie a bunch of different ways, for $20. See the shirt dress on the left? That's a deal today for only $29. As Anthony says when I tell him about a good deal...you'd be losing money if you didn't buy it! This site has the quickest shipping of them all. Once you score a great deal there is nothing better than getting it FAST.

Afraid that it won't fit? Unless it says otherwise these sites offer returns/exchanges. They even provide the return shipping label. Also, most times if you take a website credit the return shipping is free. Or you pay return shipping and receive your money back. Seriously, this is way easier than braving a crowded mall.

I also LOVE the restaurant deal sites...but that's a post for another day! You might be wondering, why the fashion post again? I thought you were a wedding blogger & foodie. Well, I noticed that my post 'How to tie a scarf" was one of my reader favorites. Hmmm...who knew? So, if you like that, I hope you like this too! Happy shopping.

*Photos are not my own, they are from the online shopping pages. I did not receive compensation from any of the above sites for this post it is purely my opinion.

I've won a Wedding Wire Bride's Choice Award!

I've been chosen to receive a 2011 bride's choice award from Wedding Wire. I won in 2010 as well, which means I've been in the top 5% of wedding pros 2 years running. Pretty cool! Thanks to my fantastic clients who voted for me!

Cute Birthday Cupcakes -- zero calories!

What? Cupcakes with no calories? Too good to be true? Ok, these cute little treats from 1-800-FLOWERS aren't for eating, but they sure do bring a bit of birthday fun. FUN FACT: Did you know that today, 10/5, is America's most common Birthday? Apparently 'tis the season of Birthdays! Last weekend was my mom's birthday. I had planned on going to visit her, and then I got taken down by a nasty sinus infection. (That's another story, but I'm feeling mostly better now.) Since I didn't get to drive up to see her in person I was extra glad that I had decided to send her one of these cupcakes! I saw it and couldn't help but thinking about how when my sister & I were little my mom used to tell us that carnations were her favorite flowers. She said she liked them because they last such a long time. Maybe she just said that because they were the kind of flowers for sale at our school on mothers' day? It's funny, my mom usually has expensive taste, but I know she loves these simple flowers. Every time I see cute little carnations I think of her. I was so glad that I was able to send her this carnation cupcake! What's the best part? When the cupcake in bloom arrives it actually looks like the website photo (as you can tell from the iphone photo my parents sent me).

Hopefully soon I'll get to see my mom in person so I can give her the rest of her birthday gift. Hint, it's a foodie gift that I'll be blogging -- but later so I don't give away the surprise!

*1-800-Flowers did offer me this complementary arrangement to review for my blog. Look for another blog post later this month where I'll give away a $40 savings pass from 1-800-Flowers to one lucky blog reader! While I do occasionally accept products to review on my blog, I only accept & post ones that I really love!

How to tie a scarf

 I know that this is a bit unusual for my blog (since it is by no means a fashion blog) but some of these suggestions are kind of cool. I love scarves, especially now that its Fall and getting cooler. Brrrrr! Everyone knows how to "tie" a scarf the first way, but the 2nd is kind of cool. Just thought I'd share. :) Want to see all of their ideas? Check out the Coldwater Creek site for more.




All photos and drawings are from Coldwater Creek.