Designer Shoes, Handbags, & Jewelry

Okay, so I am the last person with any sense of style or taste when it comes to women's fashion design. I started this search for an early anniversary/birthday gift for a woman who means everything to me. So my search began with Google and ended with a pre-purchase on a handbag that I shelled out $250 for... AND I still have to pay more to get the purse. I really hope she likes it... I really really hope she likes it. But now I am getting ahead of myself.

I started my search on a site called Purse Pixie, which was a blog I found while researching my wife's browser history. I read through about a dozen pages full of handbags that all blurred together in my memory. The lady had nice taste I was sure, but I wanted to do something special. So instead I started looking for designers. Designer handbags seemed like it would be a quick Google search and done!

Well... I was wrong about that. It turns out that there are a LOT of strange sites with links to products on eBay or products that they seem to have an affiliate connection to. The last thing I wanted to do was risk this purchase if I was going to put out the money for it. I mentally gave myself a limit of $600. She bought me a watch for near that same amount last year, so I wanted to equal that sentiment.

After sorting through too many pages of sites I just didn't feel like I could trust, I started looking for the designers themselves. Wouldn't it make sense that a designer with limited seasonal lines might tell you where to look? (I'm pretty sure I smacked my own forehead on that one... ). So I found a designer named 'Dareen Hakim', and started doing some poking around with that ladies name attached to it in Google Image search (I know... I thought I would have had this done in an hour but it ended up spanning an entire day).

After some reading and a bunch of emailing inquiries that evening to that Purse Pixie lady (Nancy I think) and a few others, I decided to wait on making the purchase. I had found a small bag that was around $500 and she had shoes that would go with it (See? We do listen sometimes when women complain about their outfits). I went with a site called Bonfaire because they seemed to have an inside connection to these designers. The collections were limited time availability and they were all pre-ordered items. I figured the unique factor would add more to the "awesome gift" factor.

By midnight that night I was wearing thin on waiting for responses from the bloggers, and I'm not even sure why I thought that I would get a response. I threw caution to the wind (well... at least the bedroom window) and went with the purchase. I had a limited time to get it all done while she was out of town on a meditation retreat. I ran my card for $250 and waited on the confirmation email.

So, like I said, it was late. The confirmation email came and I went to get some sleep before I went to the airport in the morning. Then I laid there trying to close my eyes and relax, but it felt like spring shutters were keeping them open. And then I started thinking... What if it wasn't enough? Do I buy her a gift card? Will I ever hear the end of that argument for buying her a gift card? What if I screwed up? No.. the purse was good... but dang it, was it enough??! I did sort of miss the part where I blew her off to go with her on the retreat...

So I stumbled back out of bed like I was buzzing off of a gambling rush and went back to Bonfaire again. When I was buying the handbag/purse/thing/whatever I saw something that I knew she would like because she was a jewelry buff. I entertained the thought of getting her some new shoes, but I figured that would backfire no matter what I did. The bag designer was Joanna Maxham, but her jewelry line wasn't anything that I figured she would ever wear. The bracelet that looked like a large golden sparkly version of a modern earring shape that I had seen was made by Vita Fede, which sounded European and would give me bonus points this year. So I went all out and got the last one for another $375. That one went through for the whole amount and I already got it, had it wrapped all nice, and hid it.

The whole designer handbag/jewelry thing might not be for everyone, but that is why I got it for her. She isn't like anyone. She is the woman I love and there is nothing I wouldn't do for her.... well, except for the whole "Meditation Retreat" thing... I mean, seriously. I'm only human.