The Gift of Graduation

I just wanted to share two items I got for graduation. One was from my mother, and one I bought myself.

For a while, my mother had this gift card to Coach for $388, and she hadn't used it for the longest time. We had planned on getting a bag that we both could use, but recently she's found some bags that fit her needs and still hasn't gotten around to spending that gift card. Ridiculous, I know...but we're both very picky about our purchases. Then, a few weeks ago, she offered the card to me as a graduation gift -- she figured that our prior plan of sharing a purse wouldn't be practical while I was away at college (by the way, I'm still deciding whether or not to reveal my college...). I was so excited, and in typical me form, obsessed for weeks and weeks about which purse to pick. I knew I wanted a brown one, so I could wear it with both black and non-black looks, and so it would go with the various other neutrals I insist on wearing (mainly every neutral colour besides brown).

Finally, finally, I settled on a purse. I brought my most Coach-knowledgable friend to the Coach store on Michigan Ave. and selected a small chocolate brown purse. It's a good thing I came when I did -- there were only 7 of that bag left in the country!

Of course, I haven't removed the tag yet and probably won't for another week. But that's just the way I ensure I really want something.


I kind of wanted to get a special something for myself this summer, and was debating on whether to splurge on a nice pair of summer sandals or a great pair of sunglasses. I settled on a pair of sunglasses, because I figured I could wear those for more than two years, whereas a splurge-able pair of sandals might be on the trendier side, and therefore not as necessary to be reliable for more than a year.

I've been passing by the new Loehmann's on State Street, which is kind of like a bigger Nordstrom Rack. I recently discovered their sunglasses section, which is filled with a wide array of hit-or-miss designer sunnies (and an odd amount of Jessica Simpson sunglasses. Really?). I had tried on full-priced designer sunglasses, and concluded that the Ray-Ban aviators worked well with my face shape. Unfortunately for me, they were $100+. Not so good for a high-schooler. So after visiting Loehmann's for a little while, I started going back to two pairs of sunglasses: a red plastic framed pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglasses, and a pair of bronze Missoni aviators. Now, one of the problems with shopping at a place like Loehmann's is that you get lots of odd, cast-off sunglasses. The MJ glasses, while cute, were a little goofy. One might interpret it as kitschy in a good way, but...in general, I try to aim for older-looking things, and red plastic frames certainly did not say "older." The Missoni aviators were pretty, but again, kind of leaning towards cast-off; they had twisty curly-que details on the sides and were veering into "bug" territory with the size of the frames.

Then, one day, when I walked into Loehmann's fully expecting to have an internal debate as to what style of sunglasses I should buy, I came upon these:


Yep, those are Ray-Bans. And yep, they're $60. Granted, they're a little pricier than the Missoni glasses ($45) and the Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglasses ($55), but...I loved the style and I loved the frame colour and...come on, they're Ray-Bans!

I am officially in love. Of course, I haven't taken the tag off of these either and I've been having many internal debates as to whether I am being too excessive with my purchases, but today I came thisclose to taking off the tag. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually use scissors.