Doing Battle with the Boca Housewives

I'm preparing for a second and final (YAY!) in-person interview on Monday. This is really positive news, but, of course, my mind is totally preoccupied with what to wear. Imagine the horror if I wore the same suit again, right?

Suit shopping in hot, steamy Florida is next to impossible. Nobody here wear suits. First of all, lined suits are a big no-no unless you want your thighs to sweat and stick to the lining in your slacks. Instead, what I tend to find are lots of linen/linen blend suits. And nine times out of 10, linen looks too casual and just too Florida looking for a professional interview.

Knowing this, I decided to avoid the mall and instead searched online for a good interview suit. Thankfully I found something really nice at Macys.com -- and, thanks to my sister's boyfriend who told me about a discount code -- I saved $70 with the discount and free shipping. I ended up paying $160 for this Tahari suit:
It arrived yesterday and, as I expected, it was wrinkled beyond belief. So frustrating! I considered taking it to Macy's today to have it steamed but decided to do it myself. I absolutely loathe ironing!! Thankfully the wrinkles came out and it looks great.

But Let's Go Back to Last Week, Shall We?
Last week after I ordered the suit, a bit of panic set in. What if the suit didn't fit? What if I didn't like it? I should have a Plan B, right? Yes, I told myself, you should have a Plan B.

So off to the Boca Town Center mall I went the next day, looking for another suit...just in case.

Bad idea.

First of all, I had no idea Macy's was having their annual Friends and Family event, where you save an additional ridiculous amount of money on top of the discounts already in place. I saw some racks of clothes that were labeled "Buy One Get One Free" and could not believe my eyes. They were practically giving things away.

After I assessed the suit situation at Macy's {as I suspected, they had NADA} I decided to browse the handbags. Remember I said bad idea? OH MY GOSH. Bins, upon bins, upon bins of discounted handbags, including a couple of BOGO bins.

And scurrying among the bins? The Real Housewives of Boca Raton, hunting and pecking for their new handbags.

This was a war zone. See something you like? You better grab it quick. Make eye contact with someone? Expect a dirty look in return. This is not fun and games, people, this is a SPORT. These women mean business. Do not cross them. Do not accidentally knock them on the arm with one of the bags you're carrying. Do not attempt to make conversation. They are in hunting mode. They are busy concentrating. Do not interrupt. And, whatever you do, DO NOT TRY TO TAKE A BAG THAT ANOTHER HOUSEWIFE IS ATTEMPTING TO REMOVE FROM THE BIN!

After I figured out what was going on, I quickly got into Defensive Mode and began searching the bins with the Housewives. I had an armful of bags at one point: Dooney & Bourke, Cole Haan, Calvin Klein, Coach, you name it. At one point a Japanese woman asked me if I was going to keep the Dooney bag. She wanted it. I think she would have paid me just to take it off my arm.

In all this madness, I tried to stay focused. What was the purpose? What was I doing? Do I really need another bag? No, I didn't. However, at times like that, you have to seize the moment. If you see something you really like, and it's deeply discounted, you need to make a decision because as us women know, you may not find that bag at the price ever again.

So this is what I ended up purchasing:

Calvin Klein bag, originally retails for $298, purchased for $125.

I love the classic, yet edgy style of this bag. I think this will be a great bag for work {it holds a ton} but also a good bag to wear with jeans. The leather is really soft and the chain straps are actually very comfortable -- and not noisy at all. I hate it when a bag has some kind of hardware that makes it noisy.

As for the price, let's talk about that. First of all, I think I got a pretty good deal considering the quality of the bag. Do I feel good about spending $125 right now? No, not really! The only way I can rationalize it: I could easily spend that much by buying several bags that I may not use more than a few times. I've been there and done that. After cleaning out my closet earlier this year I made a rule that I would stop buying stuff that was too trendy. For instance, remember these beauties?

Yuck. What was I thinking?

I decided to return the shoes to DSW. The check-out guy was like, "Are you sure you don't want to look around? You still have your coupon from this purchase that you can apply to a new purchase." Oh no. "Why, sure, I would love to look around," I said. And then I ended up finding this doosey and went home with it:

I ended up paying $17 for this bag with the discount and my coupon.

See what I'm talking about?

It took me a week to realize that I may use this bag once or twice, and then it would be going to Goodwill. This is exactly what I am trying to avoid. At least with the Calvin Klein I know I'll use it over and over again. And for that reason alone I can somehow rationalize the money I spent.

I am not usually this schizo when it comes to shopping, but something about finding a good interview suit and the possibility of going back to work sets me into panic mode. I feel like I need to be ultra prepared.

And now I will be staying away from the mall for a long, long time.