Being Thankful

I absolutely love Thanksgiving.  For me, it's a moment every year on the fourth week of November where you are just simply thankful for everything.  Your friends, family, health, and life among other things.  Like most things in life, there are downsides too, such as getting together with family members that just make you crazy.  I think the most important thing is trying to make the best out of every situation.

My grandfather passed away recently, and because of it, I've had to cancel my trip to Paris, so I could stay for the funeral.  Trust me when I say that it has been difficult, but the silver lining in the cloud is that my grandfather isn't in any pain, and Paris will always be waiting for me.

I like to read other people's blogs (more so than updating my own, it seems... ^_^; ), and I see these amazing photographs and achievements that they post everyday.  However, what they don't usually say is how hard it was to get there (sometimes, literally).  I'm sure there were struggles and perhaps a few tears along the way, but sticking to what they like doing, I think, is what pulled them through.

With that said (and while New Year's resolutions are a few months away), I am going to try to update my blog more often.  I do so enjoy writing, and while posting outfit pictures are fun, it can be a bit time consuming, but at least I have Instagram (and Twitter) now!  I am still such a noob at using it though, so please bear with me.

I know everyone has been posting links up for good deals with shopping for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so I won't bore you all with another list.  I will, however, put up a list of purchases that I've made thus far.  I bought everything online, because I really wanted to avoid the crowds this year.

The first thing on my list was this Eric Bompard Classic V neck pullover in navy blue.  I found out about it after reading Parisian Chic, and when I saw that it was on sale online, I immediately grabbed it.  Don't get me wrong: this 100% cashmere sweater is still expensive, but I was pleasantly surprised at the 20% discount that was offered.  The original price was $295, and after the discount, it came out to $236.  However, at checkout, it came out to $196, I think, because it's supposed to be 20% off the price in euros.  Plus shipping, I think, I paid $213.  The sale is still good until December 2nd, so there's still time to pick it up if anyone's interested.

When I saw that ASOS was having a Black Friday deal as well, I went to check out any tops that interested me, and my eyes immediately honed onto this ASOS Top with Pearl Grid Embellished Armour.  It was awesome!  I usually dress pretty simply, but I just couldn't get enough of this sweater.  It completely reminded me of the Balmain Fall/Winter 2012 collection with all its opulence and luxury.  I immediately grabbed it before it was all sold out, and sell out it did just a few hours after I grabbed it.

This was more of an impulse buy for me.  I really wanted a military inspired coat to wear, and I saw this coat at Topshop that met my needs.  It's aptly called the Military Piped Girly Coat.  There's no Black Friday coupon code offered, but there was a 10% student discount that I found online (and no, I'm not a student, but, hey, they don't know that. ^_^).  I'm already planning on returning it, because I have more coats than I really need, but we'll see how much I like it when it gets here.

There's also one last thing that I bought.  It's small, but it was a big splurge for myself.  Hint: I bought it to remind myself to never stop loving.  I will reveal all later.  Happy shopping everyone!

Update - 11/26/2012:

I know I wrote about a similar dress like this a while ago here, but I wasn't happy with the body conscious style of the dress, so I looked for another version, and I found it at Nasty Gal.  This version is much more forgiving, and the dress flows over your curves.  I wouldn't recommend it for tall people though.  Even for a petite person, such as myself, I found it a bit short.  There was a purple and white version that I bought already with the black lace.  I'm buying this one as well.  It's called the Tied Crochet Dress - Black.  Everything is 25% off today for Cyber Monday, so get it while there are still some sizes left over!

To be completely honest, I had no intention of buying this dress.  I first saw this Herve Leger dress on Net-A-Porter for $625 (down from $1250).  I was tempted, but I didn't buy it.  Then, I saw the same dress on Shopbop for the same price, but they were having a 25% deal for items over $500.  The price came down to around $470.  I couldn't resist, so I just bought a small size just to see how it'll fit.  I'll probably end up returning it later.