Catching Up

Shopping has taken a back seat to family obligations, work and school lately. But that's not to say that I haven't strolled into a few boutiques as stress relief. And oh, more is to come. We're heading to another city filled with great outlets this weekend and plan to do some major catching up.

This past weekend, we were in Memphis, where we hit the Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma outlets - two favorites. But we didn't have any major luck at them. If I'd had more time, I probably could have done some damage buying kitchen staples at the WS outlet. But I need time to think during that kind of endeavor, and that's difficult with parents and a husband who want to vacate as soon as possible. Maybe next time.

I did, however, stumble upon a new Memphis obsession: The Vera Bradley store at Saddlecreek Shops. I'd never been in a store that was solely dedicated to Vera. I was in heaven.

After discussing my VB passion with a friend, I agreed with her conclusion that it tends to be an SEC trend. Never have I seen a piece of Vera outside the dirty south. But oh, how I adore it.

My love affair with Vera Bradley didn't exactly begin happily. I received a piece in 1999 for my high school graduation and knew nothing about it. I was like, "Wow, a printed duffel bag." It came from family members who had two daughters at a snooty southern state university, and they promised it was all the rage.

I toted it to my non-Fayetteville SEC alma mater and was the only girl in my dorm who'd even heard the name Vera Bradley. You couldn't buy it anywhere in our trendy college town, and when I looked for a matching piece in a nearby major southern city, none was to be found there, either.

But I started to love this bag because I could stuff a ridiculous amount of crap in it. I mean, tons of dirty laundry, all my books and folders, a pillow, my make-up bag, a variety of hair dryers and straighteners, plus clothes and jewelry for the weekend. That meant only one trip down four flights of dorm stairs was required for any trip back home. Perfection.

Two summers later, Vera was in every boutique and Hallmark store I entered. This is my long way of telling you I pride myself on being ahead of the Vera Bradley curve.

I now have six Vera patterns, four of which have been retired. I get a piece for every major holiday or milestone from my family, and I'm always excited to see which pattern and bag I'll be adding to my collection. If you're not the type who loves frou-frou bags and luggage, do keep Vera Bradley in mind simply because it's incredibly durable and the bigger pieces can hold EVERYTHING!

In Little Rock, you can find the best Vera selections at the Crown store at Park Plaza and the one near Wild Oats. If you're in Memphis, be sure to drop in the Vera store there. It's kind of breath-taking.

I bought this great travel brush holder, with six very nice make-up brushes for $35. The pattern is Yellowbird:

In other news, we ate at a restaurant in Memphis that is slated to open a branch at Shackleford Crossings, Yia-Yia's Euro Bistro. This will be a welcome addition to The Rock. Yia-Yia's pizzas rivaled Za-Za's in the Heights (go figure). They also served generous portions of delicious entrees. The menu included gnocchi, risotto, inventive burgers and a flavorful baked chicken with peppers. The atmosphere and appointments were similar to PF Chang's -- very metropolitan. We were pleased with the experience. Hopefully the Little Rock branch will be similar.

More Sales Reports

This a great time of year for finding discounted merchandise. A lot of the sale stuff these days can double for fall. If you're not familiar with Forsythe's & Kristen Todd, this would be a good weekend to check them out. (They're one store -- Kristen Todd is the front half and is all accessories, Forsythe's is the back and is jeans and clothes -- located just down from Belk at Pleasant Ridge Town Center). They're offering 75 percent off but all sales are final and you have to pay in cash.

Also, Barbara Graves on Rodney Parham is offering 40 percent off swimwear, sundress and spring/summer lingerie. This is my favorite lingerie shop in Little Rock and they have by far the best selection of nice bathing suits. Also noticed: half off at Beyond Cotton (Pleasant Ridge Town Center) and 50-75 percent off at Companions (an expensive-ish boutique on Highway 10 in the same strip mall as Entree' Vous). A good weekend to indulge is on the way!

Starbucks Speculation

Speculation about which Starbucks locations will be powering down their espresso machines is rampant. One of my favorite blogs, savvysugar.com, has a well-organized Google map showing some of the rumored closures, including the one that went in last year in North Little Rock on McCain. It's in that little strip mall behind Hooters. There's no official confirmation from the coffee nazis in Seattle yet, but the tip came via the Seattle Times, so maybe it's true.

This location was one I'd imagined would be on the chopping block. It makes no financial sense for Starbucks to close the locations where they bought the land and recently constructed new facilities. But it does figure to close the shops they just threw into rented strip malls.

A global communications VP for Starbucks spoke just two weeks ago to a professional group in Arkansas (just two work days before the 600-store closings announcement). She mentioned that the company would be making more big changes aimed at moving their holdings from 80 percent U.S. stores to dominantly overseas locations. You'll see no more music or DVDs there that can be purchased elsewhere, she added. And I'm more than thrilled that they've switched from the T-Mobile pay-by-the-day Internet access to free AT&T wireless for people with registered Starbucks cards. Our household already has two.

Reluctant Shop Boy and I have contemplated asking our baristas if they know any buzz about the future of our local Starbucks. But we figured that's akin to asking if you know whether you're going to be fired. Our fingers are crossed that our favorite Starbucks location keeps its green sign lit for many ventis to come. Even in a shaky economy, a girl's gotta have her occasional iced vanilla latte.

Bad Hair Day

I have a love-hate relationship with hair dryers. They are essential for me to look remotely acceptable for work. Yet I've had two nice ones break since January. It happened again on Saturday, so I trudged to Target and was unimpressed with the selection. Most of them were the same brand that had just disappointed me: Revlon. I settled on a $20 Conair with a small diffuser, but wasn't happy with the purchase.

Then on Sunday I made a quick stop at Drug Emporium (corner of Reservoir and Rodney Parham), and realized that's where I should have headed for my new hair dryer. Drug Emporium has a full aisle of them -- every brand, type and heat-setting you can fathom. Mostly for the same prices as Target, but definitely a better selection. There's a bunch of nice curling irons and straighteners and curler sets, too. 

I've been buying my shampoo at Drug Emporium for at least a year. They sell all the designer salon brands (Aveda, Bumble & Bumble, Bed Head, etc.) for a couple bucks less than you'll pay elsewhere. And the selection is pretty incredible. They sell the typical drug store brand hair products, too. On these, there's at least double the amount you'll find at most of the local big box stores.

Be warned that Drug Emporium doesn't take credit cards, though. Since they don't have to pay the credit card fees back to the companies, they pass the savings back to customers by making everything a tad cheaper. Feel free to use your debit card there, though. 

If only we liked to cook ...

For a couple that doesn't especially enjoy cooking, we love kitchen gadgets. This may be because we like to play with gadgets of any type. But we always fawn over fun pointless devices meant for fancy chefs. For this reason, we had a ball during our recent visit to Eggshells, the store that replaced Sauce Co. when it joined all the other Heights shops in the West Little Rock Mass Exodus of 08. (Several boutique have moseyed over to Pleasant Ridge Town Center on Highway 10). Eggshells is on Kavanaugh kind of across the street from Mary Healey's.


Eggshells doesn't offer a spread of dips and noshing fare like its predecessor. But it does offer everything from frilly kitchen rugs and coordinating oven mitts to stainless steel measurement converter magnets and high-quality zesters. You can waste a lot of time browsing and find things you've never seen elsewhere.

Case in point:


This is a new-age ice cream scoop. You plunge it into a container of ice cream, twist the top and pull it out of the carton, then push it to deposit the ice cream in a bowl. The ice cream comes it out neat little round stacks (think cylinder-shaped building blocks with flat tops and bottoms), rather than a squishy ball of dessert. This would make ice cream a novelty at dinner parties. Obviously from the picture, they cost $15.

Another neat offering -- and great gift for a foodie who prides herself on a well-decorated kitchen -- is a hand-painted pepper grinder. There's a large selection, starting around $35 and going above $50.


For moms who are introducing their young 'uns to the kitchen, there's a cute Racheal Ray kid's cooking set for about $30. Other interesting items include some beaker-style olive oil dispensers (perfect for, say, your sister who is persuing a PhD in microbiology ;) ) and a ergonomically-shaped corn-on-the-cob butterer.

We have yet to check out the new Sauce Co. location in West Little Rock, but look forward to dropping in soon. For now, Eggshells is definitely filling their shoes in the Heights. Though we do wonder whether there's enough room for both Williams-Sonoma and a fun little kitchen toy store on this side of town.