Tag Archives: purses

Fashion Friday: I Fell For It

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I will never stop nerding out over marketing. I guess that’s why I majored in it…why I work in the Sales Department at my employer…and why I love blogging! I get so beyond excited to see marketing in action, even if it’s a situation in which I become one of its “victims”. You are probably wondering…isn’t this Fashion Friday? Shouldn’t you wait and write this post on Monday so you can call it Marketing Monday? I know Meg is thinking that right now (she’s my fellow alliteration enthusiast).

Instagrammed accessories from Tuesday’s work outfit.

Well if there’s one thing that fascinates me most about fashion (aside from the pieces themselves), it’s the marketing aspect of it. Allow me to give you a perfect example, in which I “fall prey” to the clever email marketers over at Urban Outfitters.

Ecote Raffia Spring Skimmer

Firstly, all orders over $50 get free shipping. Secondly, they are having a bangin’ sale on shoes. Those three s’s (shipping (free), sale, and shoes), along with boredom, combined to create the perfect storm for online shopping. I filled my virtual cart with enough pairs of shoes (four to be exact) to get the free shipping (and then some). Actually, I picked out six pairs at first, but narrowed it down to four with Jeff‘s help via FB chat (sorry to rat you out there, Jeff).

Laure Elastic Colorblock Skimmer

I swear this post has a less-than-completely-shallow point! I ended up abandoning my cart of shoes, something that happens all to often for online retailers. The purchase wasn’t completely off the table in my mind, but was definitely in “wait and see how I’ll feel tomorrow” status. I did not check out.

Cooperative Applique Flat

Then this afternoon, I got a nice email from Urban Outfitters with this goodie inside:

IT WAS FATE! Or so I thought. I couldn’t believe it – here I was, on the fence about purchasing some lovely cheap foods, and along comes a coupon. I quickly logged onto my account, added the below adorable straw clutch to my cart (oops), and checked out using the promo code. $110 gone…but it could’ve been $122!

Nautical Stripe Woven Clutch

An hour or two later, while telling my co-worker about my fateful coupon purchase, I stopped in my tracks. DUH DUH DUH. And I call myself a marketing major?! Urban Outfitters saw me add those shoes to my cart. They saw me decide not to purchase them the day I added them. So what did they do? They sent me, specifically, a nudge. Who was I to think everyone on their mailing list got that coupon? It was no coincidence. It was NOT fate. No, it was just smart email marketing.

Cooperative Canvas Tassle Loafer

So I fell for it, just like every other schmuck out there. I often tend to think of myself as superior-minded in terms of being aware of advertising efforts. In fact, I can be downright cynical. But yesterday, Urban Outfitters got me to purchase the items I shared images of in this post. And all I can do is sit back, be in awe of the fact that I am an example of “the girl who fell for it”, and give them props for successfully utilizing tried-and-true marketing best practices.

At least my feet will look good while I’m doing so.

EDIT: After drafting this post I stopped into Francesca’s after work since I had time to kill before meeting up with my parents for a glass of vino. And what did I find? A sale. And what did I do? Purchased three more pairs of shoes. And jewelry. And another purse. Um..you only live once?

$12!!! Love the bows.

Also $12 and so unique!

$2 necklace!

These were about $2 each!

$6. Yup, $6.

I love how the straw makes this clutch summer-friendly but the black makes it winter-friendly too. Year-round use!

Have you ever “fallen prey to” a marketing tactic?

What was the last thing you bought online?

What is the largest number of pairs of shoes you bought in one day? Yesterday’s seven is a (sad) record for me.

Quizno’s and Shopping

My very favorite sandwich chain is not your usual go-to, Subway. It’s Quizno’s, which so happens to have had almost every location in CT closed – LAME. The company has fallen on some hard times, but I hope they survive because I think they offer the best ingredients, no question about it. The only thing Subway beats them on is the bread, but the contents of the sandwich (including pickles – and Quizno’s has them on their condiment bar!) are more important to me.

It’s one of those chains that I always make a point to visit when I am near one. Though FL locations have been forced to close too, the phenomenon is not nearly as widespread as it is around here, and I always visit the Quizno’s near my grandma’s apartment whenever we take our family trips to Florida, as we did last month.

Enough rambling, let me show you the fantastic small veggie sub on wheat that I had for lunch one day by the pool on our trip!

Completely stuffed with banana peppers, pickles, cucumbers, pepperoncini, chickpeas, tomato, onions, and mushrooms. No iceberg lettuce shreds for me – those 95% water things always make more of a mess and do nothing more!

As you can imagine, I made quite a mess while eating this and ended up using a fork to finish a lot of the fillings that fell out. But it was the best Quizno’s sub I’d ever had – and I got to have another one for my last meal of the trip, on the airplane ride home, since our layover airport had a location too!

Another thing I did a lot of in Florida (though this one I can do back home) is shopping. I had the perfect amount of shopping luck – enough to get a few fun things (mostly with holiday gift cards) but not so much that I felt forlorn as I left desired purchases behind for the sake of saving my money (yeah yeah, first world problems, I know). The day after Christmas, my fave fashion blogger J was live-tweeting all the amazing sales going on, which sparked my urge to use some of those gift cards ASAP!

My favorite purchase of the day was also my first – a new Nordstrom’s purse. Usually I don’t buy anything from this store because I’m too cheap, but it was super affordable and not even at a sale price! It’s slightly larger than my last purse (a Coach from a secondhand shop) so I already feel like I have SO much extra room in it. I love using it so far!

I did make a food-based purchase at the mall as well. I got hungry for a shopping snack!

My Starbucks gift card came in handy here!

I used my Forever 21 gift card to buy a blazer that is a bit more daring than something I’d normally buy, but I knew just the pants I can wear with it, and I “debuted” the outfit at work yesterday. Success! I went with a plain black T underneath the blazer.

Image courtesy of forever21.com.

Bath & Body Works continued to lure me into buying mass amounts of things I don’t need. They were having one of those “Hello Yellow!” sales in which they hang giant posters of rubber ducks in the store windows and proclaim that everything is “99% off “or “buy 1 get a zillion free”! These are exaggerations, but the signs’ proclamations might as well have said those phrases, judging by the way I made a beeline for the store and started scooping up seasonal candles and soaps that were marked-down to post-holiday prices.

Got this little candle, and one other flavor that I can't recall at this time.

Totally don't mind if my hands end up smelling like peppermint in June.

Come springtime, my hands will smell of freshly picked…gingerbread men?

At least I can spread the holiday cheer all year round, right? Monthly purchase of things I don’t need from Bath and Body Works…check.

Do you have the same tendency as me when it comes to Bath and Body Works (buying things you don’t need at all)? 

Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

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I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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