Empire State of Mind. Empire State of Mastercard.

On Wednesday afternoon last week, my husband and I arrived in an unusually balmy New York, and being the cosmetic whore that I am, my first stop was....ta da....Sephora. For those of you that need hard evidence of my whoring, allow me to relay my conversation at the till that day:

Cashier: Where are you from?
Me: South Africa.
Cashier: Wow! I've AAAALWAYS wanted to go there.
Me: No kidding.
Cashier: You must be a make up artist?
Me: Huh?
Cashier: You bought so much stuff, no way it can all be for you, so you must be a make up artist. Am I right?
Me: Um. Yes. (presumptious little shit)
Cashier: Wow! You've spent so much, you qualify for TWO free gifts! Wow!
Me: (ok seriously numbskull - if you say 'Wow' once more, I will glue your mouth shut with my new Philosophy vanilla cake lip gloss)

That was Day 1. Fortunately, we only had another 2 days in the Big Apple, so the plastic damage was limited by something called daylight.

I have so much to share about those crazy 48 hours of consumerism, but my husband wants to watch Mad Men, so brevity is called for:

Banana Republic - Sorry to be crass, but fuck you Stuttafords. Seriously. It's the most awesome store, and you bring back 9 pieces of crap and charge us Prada prices for it. Go to hell. Banana Republic rocks rocks rocks, but I wouldn't touch it in SA.

Bloomingdales - Yawn. I'm sorry. I know many of you are mad for that place, but I found it an all-too-typical drag. A big-assed department store with the usual brands at unusually high prices. I want to pound the streets; not the escalators. That said, I did find two pairs of pumps: Juicy Couture and Calvin Klein - both quite reasonable. Lasted 20 minutes. Then I needed a Starbucks and some tar beneath my feet.

Century 21 - Do not go unless you have lots of energy, lots of patience, lots of upper body strength to wade through the rails and no social phobias whatsoever. It's basically a multi-story shithole with high-end brands at great prices. I loved it for kids clothes and their jeans selection is fab. You can live without it. I'm so not into shoving my way to a $100 pair of Sevens jeans. It's uncouth.

J Crew - A lovely store in its own right, but the treat is Crew Cuts, their kids' range. Be prepared to spend a bomb. Stylish offspring don't come cheap. The range is great: found boys' pants with little skulls all over them and a kiddies' cashmere cardigan. Very cool.

Abercrombie & Fitch - If you have a fantasy of being 21, hot, skinny, attending UCLA and dating the quarterback, A&F is La-la Land. Firstly, on entry, a supremely hot, abs-of-steel young man beckons you while he gyrates to cool dance music. He smells of youth and promise and twenty-something hormones and a hint of the A&F fragrance (which they pump through the vents like some sort of a nasal aphrodisiac). He asks if you want to take a photo with him. And then when you do, he looks at you like you're 21 and hot and skinny and dating the quarterback. And they ALL look like that. Every single A&F employee is The Hotness. Go there for their well-priced brilliantly fitting, cool T-shirts that make you look like you have toned arms. a slim waist and narrower hips...or just go there because it's nice to sniff the Abercombie guy in the entrance area. Up to you.

Zara - You know the deal. Wonderful place. Always a reliable source of fabulousness at prices that won't make Rand-earners projectile vomit from vertigo.

Pippen Vintage Jewelry - I only share this one because I love you. Pippen is a true find. A hole in the wall with absolutely exquisite vintage jewelry. I found $15 Italian mosaic hearts for necklaces and $5 diamante-encrusted house of cards pendants. I also found a Tiffany platinum necklace with a vintage diamond and emerald pendant, but fortunately, I was at the arse end of my retail frenzy and my reasonable-ness was returning. Check out her website and if you go to NY, go to her truly special (and super-organised!) store. You won't be sorry. http://www.pippinvintage.com/jewelry.html

Now Mad Men awaits.

Later. X