Since everyone seems to enjoy “Currently Obsessed” so much I thought I’d try out something called “What I Bought” which is like a Currently Obsessed except it’s Currently Purchased, which I don’t think is grammatically correct.

Anyway, I thought I’d switch this one up — instead of the normal copy-and-paste from various web-pages, I thought I’d draw my finds. Aren’t they pretty? Can we talk about how hard markers are to use? And how much they smudge? And how much I had forgotten anything about them? Alas.

I took a little old hike down to the East Village a few days ago because Tricia said I had to checkout UNIQLO. She was right. WALLS OF BRIGHT COLORS. Must do another post on that soon. Anyway, I walked from UNIQLO up to Penn Station and stopped in almost all of my favorite stores along the way, including but not limited to: H&M, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Barnes & Noble, The Strand, and Forever 21. I also managed to hit up a drugstore and a grocery store. Big work for one day.

Of course I had to behave myself (SO HARD). With my current budget most of the above purchases were considered splurges. Still, I feel I should be applauded for my restraint.

• I tried on sunglasses in Forever 21 for literally one half hour. I tried on those shown above (which I can’t seem to find on the web-page, but my drawing is accurate in that hot pink and checkers are involved) and these rose colored glasses (hahaha, I’m such a jokester, they have “floral printed frames”). All the glasses are under $6, so it’s hard to convince yourself that you only need one. I managed, though.
• Next in Forever 21: headbands. Rules: under $3. A piece of fabric should not cost more than $3 unless it has feathers coming out of it (and some do, and I wanted them). Anyway, my drawing really doesn’t do this highligher-green flowered-mesh-style headband justice, but the real thing does its job, which is to get my annoying non-bangs out of my face and not sticking randomly in the air.
• At UNIQLO, where I fell in love with and tried on several items, I only ended up with one purchase — and it was BLACK. Black tights! Of all the yellows, oranges, turquoises, greens, pinks, blues! Of all of the colors in that store! I got black! They were on sale for $2, and the other two pair of black tights I own have HOLES IN THEM. So, needed.
• I have had old tea bags sitting around my house (ie gross flavors I’ve had since college… oh! fail!), and I have been craving tea and avoiding the old tea bags, so I decided to get new ones. I love sampler packs especially when they are in fun flavors. I prefer Lipton over Celestial Seasons (though they do have delightful sampler packs themselves) because Lipton puts each tea bag in its own little sack which in my head means it is preserving freshness. Anyway, this Lipton: Collection of Flavored Black Tea (which apparently you can buy online) contains Blackberry, Orange & Spice, Honey & Lemon, Spiced Chai, Mint, and French Vanilla. (I sort of want to be cooler about my tea, and buy loose leaf and have one of those little metal tea balls with the holes in it, but I have to take my life one step at a time. This step doesn’t involve loose leaf tea.)
• When I went into Barnes & Noble to get a little work done, I wanted to sit in the cafe. To sit in the cafe you have to purchase something (edible). And, since I didn’t plan ahead and bring any food with me on my day-long journey into the bottom of Manhattan, I went for a double chocolate cupcake. It was good. I know, I was right there in Manhattan near all of the best cupcakes in the UNIVERSE and I went for a B&N cupcake. Don’t judge. I was really hungry.
• I have been using this free sample I got of brownish blush for about five months. Finally, I marched into the drugstore and picked me up some pink (“central park pink” blush to be exact). I chose the NYC (New York Color) brand because they are super inexpensive. (Alright, so maybe I’m not helping the economy THAT much.)
• And finally, the biggest purchase of the day: a light weight purple cardigan from Forever 21 for only $12! I love the color and I constantly wear cardigans because I prefer not to reveal my arms. Since it’s light weight, no one will look at me weird for using it in the summer.

This weekend I went to a Cape Cod wedding (yes, the hurricane did put a literal damper on things). My favorite parts about Cape Cod include: visiting family, the beach at off-times, the sad-influenced flora, the quaint houses, and s’mores.

My next favorite thing is, yes, the Christmas Tree Shop (no, it doesn’t really have anything to do with Christmas trees). The best one is in Hyannis, Massachusetts (the Sagamore shop pulling a close second for its straw roof).

The Tree, as we regulars like to call it, is a chain store full of super-amazing bargains — and I am not one to use the word bargain lightly. The sales flyer, which you can view on the chain’s (albeit, limited) web-site, is the least of The Tree’s bargains. If you scour this store you’ll find name brand make-up for mere dollars and cents (yes, sometimes literally cents), home products, and more, much of which was probably over-ordered by those companies.

Although you may picture such a center of bargain happiness to be like the Playtogs of old (Do you remember that store? Large bins of stuff stuff stuff = a little scary!), The Christmas Trees on Cape Cod are actually quite nice. As I said, my favorite is the Hyannis shop (pictured here), with a pretty outside, bright details, and satisfying displays. Not all Trees are such happy places, but you can expect something above mere bargain bins (but still with bargains!) at most of the Cape Cod locations.