a few words from the self-proclaimed "Online Shopping Guru"...

For the past few months I have been frequenting any, and every online shopping website. From Neimans to Nordstrom to Bloomingdales's and Zappos, and everywhere in between. I will share with you the run-down of the best places to shop online. 

First off Nordstrom:

Nordstrom is your one stop shop for fabulous salon shoes, an abundance of fragrances, and great online personal shoppers that are there literally 24hrs. a day to answer any question. Nordstrom always offers free shipping and free returns (which is important, because some retailers offer free shipping, but deduct a return fee from you credit). Usually a package will take roughly 4 business to receive. Oh and the best part every item is Tax Free! 

Next Zappos:

Zappos has to be one of my all time favorite online retailers. They are division of Amazon. Zappos company motto is "powered by service". Seriously they will do anything to please their consumers.  Zappos offers a 365 day return policy (yes an entire year). They offer free shipping, and free returns, each purchase is tax free. If you spend more than $250.00 per one fiscal year your are automatically accepted into Zappos V.I. P program. The program is completely free, and offers FREE overnight shipping on all of your orders.

 

Bloomingdales:

This company has been on the radar forever. Bloomingdales is owned by the Macy's corporation, and offers exclusive items from designers that only Bloomingdales receives. Shipping is free when your purchase meets or exceeds $150.00 or more (trust me its super easy to meet that expectation). Bloomingdales website is clean, and easy to navigate. Overall, Bloomingdales is one of the top online shopping contenders. 

Last but not least Neiman Marcus:

If you are searching for luxe designer items Neimans is your place. With designers like Roberto Cavalli, Hervé Leger, Emilio Pucci, just to name a few, Neimans is home to fabulous designer finds. Neimans offers search filters to find, favorite, and locate hard to find items. Their search specialists are eger to help and are extremely efficient. 

As you can tell, one of my absolute favorite hobbies is online shopping. I feel as though I am a huntress, searching for my next find, I will not take "sorry this item is sold out" or "unfortunately this size/combination is no longer available". Actually, you could call online shopping my sport. 

Here is one item in particular I am literally foaming at the mouth for. Meet the Louis Vuitton Keepall 55 Duffle bag with a shoulder strap. It's simply love. Maybe this beauty will delight me for my birthday (hint, hint).  

where there is smoke, there is a Pope...

All of the recent hype about the former Pope Benedict XVI resigning, has creating a worldwide uproar, especially for "Cradle Catholics". I've heard things across the media like "No Pope, No Hope", or "No Pope No Rules". If you ask me this couldn't have come at a worst time, not to mention during Lent.  Throughout my life time I have have only witnesses one Pope in charge of the Catholic Church (Pope John Paul II). Attending Catholic schools my entire life, and preforming Catholic rituals may things have been deeply ingrained into my thoughts about the Catholic Church. All I have to say is, no one likes a quitter. I know this sounds completely ridiculous, but thats how I feel about the whole situation. I know that there were some underlying issues that prompted the current Pope to step down, but this is unheard of. Some Catholics were completely awestruck. This is the first time in 600 years for a Pope to resign. I feel as though this is the easy way out. I will however inform you what former Pope Benedict XVI will be doing, and where he will reside.  Pope Benedict XVI was first stripped of his solid gold fisherman's ring worn on his left ring finger. The Pope had to hand over his "ever coveted" red Prada shoes (which I may be somewhat partial to), all of the former Pope's vestments were removed and his stamps and seals were obliterated. Destroying all of Pope Benedict's stamps and seal will discourage others to follow Pope Benedict, thus creating a sect in the church for those who choose to still follow Pope Benedict XVI instead of the newly elected Pope. Benedict's personal butler will continue to serve him, as well as the new pope (that job sounds hectic). Benedict will be sent to a house in the mountain to live a life of solitude and prayer. There are 10 potential candidates to become the newest leader of the Catholic Church. I will share some of my own thoughts about the potential candidates in a later post. Now lets all hope for whit smoke!

Below is a picture of myself in front of the Vatican, while on vacation last summer.