"I love the smell of commerce in the morning!"

I'm not much of a fashionista or trendsetter.  I mean I love clothing, design, even shopping, but I wouldn't say I'm particularly skilled at it.  

I saw Wishcake's post the other day and commented on how I never think to go to Old Navy to check out some affordable clothes.  So, I stopped by the local mall on my lunch break today and cruised on over to Old Navy.  

There is something about that store that inhibits my ability to think outside the box.  In stores that big, I feel more comfortable if the mannequins show me what to wear.  You know, give me some ideas.  I've been shopping in mostly smaller boutiques for the past year or two, with the exception of Anthropologie...I LOVE that store more than any other store I've been to.  Seriously...Anthropologie is AWESOME. So you know at boutiques you can cruise through the store and there are lots of unique items.  You have to be careful when you're looking so that you don't miss some hidden gem.  

At chain stores...even though the store is bigger, there are fewer things to choose from.  There will be one dress, but it's in 5 different colors and two of every size.  I used to work in retail...at the evil Abercrombie & Fitch...so I know these chain retailers put the best of the best of what they've got on the mannequins.  

Everything the mannequins had on was not cute or too obviously Old Navy (no offense Old Navy, I'd just rather give the illusion that I spent a lot of money on my clothes).  I probably didn't stay long enough, but when I couldn't find the pants Wishcake was wearing, I bolted.

Since my search for affordable pants at ON was over, I thought I'd go ahead and look around for a dress to wear to a wedding I'm going to to this weekend.  So, next stop was Banana Republic.  Ugh, frustrating.  The a/c wasn't working in the store & they were setting up for a sale, so the staff was moving stuff around while I was browsing making the whole experience unpleasant.

I headed over to White House | Black Market to browse.  Lots of cute stuff.  Not cute enough to spend $200 though.  

I left the mall frustrated.  

Does shopping in the mall frustrate you?  How do you handle the blah-ness & find cute stuff?

On the bright side...Back at the office I had an email from a friend that had a link to join this cute website, called gotidbits.  It's specific to Austin and Houston (Austinites check it!).  Cute website & good info so I signed up.

Look what I found!

This laptop bag is adorable...and it comes in other colors & patterns.  This one is out of stock until mid-August...I may go ahead an splurge for a different one...maybe the green or red one?  Oh and what am I saying, it's not splurge, these adorable bags are only $69.99 on the Kailo Chic website.  There are retailers around the country too...so you may be able to find a shop that carries Kailo Chic near you!  

After my experience today, I think I'm going to stick to my boutiques & Anthropologie.  The mall has left me feeling jaded  But at least I found an über cute new website to follow!