Crushing Hard in Stereo: Bloomies Friends & Family; Stella & Dot

I have been harboring a few Bloomingdale's gift cards since Christmas.  The old saying is true: When you got money to burn, there ain't nothin' out there; When you should be on a budget, the choices are endless.

Well, I've made the trek to my favorite Bloomies down at South Coast Plaza on a few occasions.  My goal has always been to find the perfect gift for myself but, since Christmas, I have come home empty handed on more than several occasions.

This past weekend was Bloomingdale's Friends and Family promotion, I thought to myself, "I have a bunch of gift cards and then an additional 20% off, I can't go wrong."  But boy, was I wrong.  After walking for hours through Bloomies (and Saks and Barneys Co-op and Mango and Intermix and H&M and Sephora for inspiration) and then back to Bloomies, NOTHING caught my eye, peeked my interest, got my mojo going...a failure. 

As I was literally walking out the door thinking of nothing but a lovely glass of Sauvignon Blanc, there she was... beautiful and just waiting for me to take her home.  It was a Coralia Leets http://coralialeets.com/index.php gem necklace that was calling my name.  On closer inspection, I realized that I had been waiting for this piece of fashion jewelry all my life; HOWEVER, Bloomies did not have the exact color stone that I was looking for that day.  I truly was loving the Peruvian Opal earrings but the necklace did not come in that color.

The "SAID" necklace

After spending an hour with the sales associate trying to figure out the color I wanted, I decided to call it a night and sleep on it. 

Sadly, I left empty handed.

I dreamt of the necklace all night long.  It just had to be mine.  It reminded me of the necklace, which I could not find a picture of, that Camille Grammer was wearing all season on RHBH.  The only clue I had were the matching earrings Camille donned along with the necklace


The next day, I did my research.  Bottom line: Bloomies did not carry the necklace I wanted.  Since I had the gift card and the discount, if I was going to pull the trigger, it had to be there.  But I found out that Camille Grammer's earrings -- not necklace (because I couldn't find any mention) -- were from Stella and Dot (sort of the Tupperware of fashion jewelry).

According to its website, Stella and Dot, http://www.stelladot.com/ an Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Company, is a San Francisco based social selling company that creates flexible entrepreneurial opportunities for women. Our boutique-style jewelry and accessories line is available exclusively through in-home Trunk Shows by Independent Stylists and online. Our one of a kind collections are designed by celebrated New York designers and featured in Gossip Girl, In Style and Lucky Magazine as well as on the wrists and necklines of today's hottest celebrities. The Today Show, Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have praised Stella & Dot for our innovative social shopping concept which brings together the best of ecommerce, social media, personal service and passionate earning to create the ultimate home based business for today's modern woman.

Not to mention that celebs LOVE this line.

The next day, I vacillated over whether or not the necklace was for me.  By 5pm, my husband said you are so koo-koo over this necklace, please go buy it right now.  Which I did and promptly logged onto Stella and Dot site to purchase the matching earrings for a third of the price.

I am in love!




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