Happy Anniversary, Nordstrom!

Tomorrow (or today, technically) is the last day of this year's Anniversary Sale at Nordstrom. Granted, I've already been to the sale about four times now, but I offered to go one final time to pick up some things for my mother, so I will be doing some last minute shopping tomorrow downtown.

Earlier in the sale I purchased a messenger bag; within two days, the strap had started to rip. Knowing Nordstrom's lax return policy, I returned the bag later that week, no questions asked, giving me another excuse to visit the sale. It's customer service like this that makes gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside (is that what an orgasm feels like?) when I shop at Nordstrom. Who needs alcohol when I've got retail therapy?

Even though I found the sale pretty disappointing this year, I'd like to commemorate the end of the sale with the old Nordstrom Employee Handbook; the whole thing used to be printed on 5x7 gray index cards and distributed to employees upon hire:

WELCOME TO NORDSTROM

We're glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.

Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.

Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.

Losing things makes me a loser

Sunglasses and me don't get along very well for the most part. My little Asian nose can't handle big or heavy sunglasses, but I don't really look good in smaller frames. So you can imagine my jubilation at finding the perfect pair of sunglasses last weekend while shopping with friends at New York & Company. I've basically been looking all summer long and I finally found a pair that not only fit, but that didn't look too shabby either.

And, in a wonderful twist of fate, I seem to have lost them already. Yes, that's right, I've lost the perfect sunglasses.

I've searched the only place I've been all day (work) and can only think of one other place they could possibly be. If I can't find them, I'll have to go buy another pair before I die of a broken heart. Until then, I'll just reminisce on the wonderful four days we had together...

Fun with hats

I look good in hats. It's a fact of life, just like the fact that George Lucas will never again make another good film.

This summer I've done a lot of shopping and have tried on dozens of hats of all different shapes and sizes. Sometimes I try them on for a laugh (like this one from a costume shop on the right), but mostly I try them on because I appreciate my own natural ability to wear hats.

What makes a hat person?
I've thought a lot about this matter because as fashion goes, I understand why there are certain items that I can pull off and others that I can't. For instance, I'm short. Yes, it's funny, I can sleep under the couch, hardy har. But beyond that, I know I can't pull off those short little half-sweaters that are so popular (aside from the fact that I think they're already ugly anyway). Anyway, the point is, there doesn't seem to be any defined characteristics of someone who pull-off hats, so what makes me so special?

A quick search on Google gives us a brief essay by a hat designer and her thoughts on the matter. She essentially argues that hats, as a fashion piece, can be worn by anyone, and it's really more of a psychological barrier that keeps people from reaching their inner hat person.

This seems like a load of bullshit to me. Some people look good in hats (I am one of them) and some don't. It has little to do with one's want to wear hats - even though I can wear them, I rarely do.

So unless you know someone who's undergone a psychological transformation that has manifested itself in their ability to wear hats, I have no choice but to believe that hat wearing is just another one of my God-given abilities, granted to the few, the proud, the Marines. Well, not the Marines, but the few and the proud, certainly.