Next best thing to the wedding ring

Apparently, there's a service called the The Rejection Hotline out there. If somebody asks you for your number and you don't want to give it out, you can give them one of these numbers instead. Then when the person calls it, they get a recorded message breaking the news to them. The logic is that a rejection straight out is embarassing for the rejectee, while giving out a fake phone number gives false hope that they may have gotten a digit wrong. With the rejection hotline, there's no ambiguity.

I could have used this service years ago when the best way to get a guy off your back was to ask for their number instead. And then promptly throw it in the nearest trash when they weren't looking. A lot of guys just didn't get it when you said you'd rather not give out your number.

Of course nowadays, I have something better than even the rejection hotline. I just hold up my finger. (No, not that one... I'm not that rude!) My wedding finger to show them that I'm off the market. It involves no talking or explanation, and works on all but the truly persistent.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I just finished reading "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and it was frightening at how much I empathized with the character Rebecca. There's a part where she finds a Benny and George scarf on sale, and goes through hoops to get it. I knew exactly how she felt.

Recently I discovered the joyful world of sample sales. Even if the restaurants and takeaways are lacking here, a great thing about working near the Garment District is that I can hit these sample and overstock sales on my way home from work. Note, this is actually a bad thing as it's hard on the pocketbook.

Another Rebecca moment: when I found this amazing AMAZING light wool coat at Find Outlet, I had to remind myself to breathe. I was so completely thrilled with it. It's classic, beautiful and designer. It was and remains one of my best buys ever... even if I haven't been able to wear it yet. But I will... oh yes I will!

So you've uncovered my deep dark secret. I am a shopaholic. When I was in high school, I used to spend every other weekend at the mall. Shopping, scoping out guys and hanging with my friends. I'm embarrassed to admit that I was a mall rat. But at least I've grown from that... I can barely stand to be in a mall nowadays. But what has stuck is my love for shopping and finding great bargains. (Who doesn't love that?)

After I came to New York three years ago, the long working hours I put in (60+ a week) caused me to gain just a wee bit of weight and also left little time to shop. Plus, my relative greeness to the city left me without a clue for where to go besides Herald Square and 5th Avenue.

Now that I'm a seasoned New Yorker (though I still discover new places all the time) I have a good idea about where to shop and when. And with my hours cut back and a gym membership, I've slimmed down to my high school weight (size 6, sometimes a 4 or 8 depending on the cut). Yay! Go me!

I admit, I went a little bit crazy with end of season sales this year. And the amount of clothes I bought was a little unnerving. So I cut myself off and was determined not to buy anything else new. I haven't been totally successful at this, but it's an improvement. Then Mo, complementing me on my new stylish clothes complained about how he needed a few new things, but hated to go to the shops. My eyes lit up, and I instantly volunteered to shop for him.

"You'd do that for me?" he asked amazed.

"Of course" I replied and added silently, "I'd do that for me!"

It's a little scary how much I enjoy shopping. If I could, I would blissfully shop every day of my life. I'd probably get tired of looking for me, but it's just as much fun to shop for others. I've started having these little daydreams where I quit my job as a computer developer and become a personal shopper. Just imagine the fun. Then I could walk into stores like Prada, Fendi and Mui Mui with a ton of money at my dispense and no guilt! In fact, I'd be paid to shop there. It'd be almost as good as winning the lottery..!

Oh what a beautiful morning!

Don't you love the days when you get up, and life just smacks you on the back of your neck?

Today, I overslept and woke up 15 minutes late. I scurried around the apartment at warp speed trying to get back on schedule. Of course, all my clothes were dirty, and I had to forage around for my 'laundry day work clothes'. Since I was late, I skipped my usual breakfast cereal and made a mad dash to work. As I ran down the stoop of our brownstone building, I narrowly missed the pile of puke someone had nicely deposited on the middle step.

How appetizing. It made me glad that I had passed on breakfast that morning.

Rushing down the street, I tried to ignore the "Good morning baby!" comments from a moving man a few buildings down. Then I realized I had forgotten my cell phone, had to dash past that guy again ("Hey beautiful!") to run back to my apartment. After doing so, I didn't want to pass the guy a third time (he'd probably have thought I was actually trying to pick him up), so I made a beeline across the street to avoid him.

Finally made it to the subway station, and lucky for me, the train was just pulling in. Hmm... my luck must be changing.

not!

After the train pulled away, I was stuck between stops for the next twenty minutes due to an "investigation at 66th street".

In the end, I was very, very late for work.

So how is your morning going?

Remember this?

A while back, I mentioned that we had bought new furniture from Macy's. In anticipation (actually, due to lack of room), we sold our dependable old futon to make way for the lovely new set. As we let the guy who bought our futon carry it away, I had a nagging feeling that this could be a mistake. What if the moving men couldn't fit the sofa and loveseat up our narrow stairs? Would we end up furnitureless?

Well, there's a funny ending to that story. The moving men could NOT get the sofa and loveseat up the stairs. In fact, they didn't even try.

"I'm sorry. I've been moving furniture for five years in New York, and there ain't no way that sofa will make it up those stairs."

Since then, Mo and I have been living without furniture. Well, that's not entirely true. We do have two lovely 'temporary' pieces of furniture -- two Poang chairs from Ikea.

Suffice to say, we rarely entertain in our apartment anymore.

... But there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Mo and I just found a great apartment that we will be moving into. It is amazing (for new york standards anyway).

It's a little bigger than our apartment, right off Central Park West (you can throw a stone at Central Park from the building entrance). It's on a beautiful historic street. It's duplex with real stairs (not a spiral staircase).

But the best thing about this apartment... it's got a lovely private garden! When viewing that apartment, it was hard to contain my delight. All I could picture were the amazing parties we were going to throw there. I was already making a mental guest list for our housewarming...

Oh, and one thing I should probably mention. The building has a nice big elevator which should give the moving men no problems when delivering our sofa set from Macy's. Finally, I can have furniture again..!

You like me... you really like me!

Now this was a nice surprise, not to mention a boost to the old self-esteem. I guess people are reading this site..!

Coolstop review (Hint: see the review for 7/25/2003)

Crazy shoppers

Now, everyone knows that the Barney's warehouse sale is a huge event in New York. But how far would you really go to get a bargain?

After the power went out on the first day of the sale on Thursday, the fashionistas of NY refused to put down their bargains. Barney's had to work out a deal where they would save everyone's potential purchases in a bag labelled with their name and phone number.

As of the last day of the sale, only 20 of the 100 bags were unclaimed.

I know that I'm poking fun at these crazy bargain shoppers. But to tell you the truth, I'd probably be one of them. (Actually, I was surprised that both those number weren't a lot higher considering the fashion crazed attitude of the locals).

Which reminds me... day two of my favourite designer store's big warehouse sale is today!

In Dark, Barney's Shoppers Clung to... Bargains

job security

And here I was worried about the threat of off-shore developers taking our jobs. Apparently, I should be worrying about the domestic threat instead..!

Primate Programming(tm) Inc