Postcards From J

It has been a very busy few weeks at work thanks to a mega sporting event in London that concluded on Sunday (in the wee hours of Monday for us actually!). And I was feeling awful about missing all the monsoon sales that so many retail stores were offering. So, I took an off on the first occasion that I could and spent a good six (!) hours at the spanking new Phoenix Market City in Kurla. Yes, Kurla - that drab and totally unsexy suburb in central Mumbai. More about that later.  I wanted to pick a few things for myself and also make the most of the discounts by picking up future gifts at a steal * . And after those six hours, I returned home happy and sad. Happy because I found some great bargains and sad because the wallet was considerably lighter.  Le sigh.  My tweet captures it all: Charles & Keith, Body Shop, Accessorize, AND, Pantaloons and Debenhams are all a little richer today because of me. # RetailTherapy — vodkaholic (@vodkaholic) August 13,...

My no-shopping vow has taken a terrible beating the past few months, especially because of the ease and convenience of online shopping. Sample this: a watch, books, a pendant, more books, shoes, silver earrings, a bath towel (don't look surprised; it was from the Wimbledon tennis range), some more books and now... just look at these beauties that I picked up at the Aldo sale:   Even after discount, they cost me quite a bit. But, but, but... look at them. Sexy, no? Now I have to find the perfect outfit to wear them with. Sigh. Don't remind me of my credit card statement now. Please?

Last evening, I visited the spanking new Infiniti 2 at Malad West. Yet another gigantic mall which houses international brands, a food court, the fancy Manchester United Cafe & Bar among other things... It's still not completely operational, so it was empty on a Friday evening. After a bad traffic-filled ride to the mall, I caught up with girlfriends waiting for me and ended up burning my tongue sipping on a hot cappuccino from Gloria Jean's. Now these women had already finished all their shopping. Between the four of them, they had bought SEVEN pairs of shoes. Now, I couldn't be left behind, no? So, on our way out, I insisted on popping in to the Charles & Keith store on the ground floor. It also helped that they were having a flat 50% off on footwear. While I tried a few styles, I realised most of the stuff I liked were sold out in my size or *slightly* big for me. Damn you, feet-in-between-sizes-39-and-40! Anyway, I did pick one pair: a faux snake (or is it croc)...

"I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot."                                                                                   ~ Marilyn Monroe I'm lagging behind by a day on our August Blogging Challenge. And I just couldn't think of anything to write about... when I remembered this one post I've always wanted to do. About shoes. More specifically, *my* shoes. Let it be known that I was never a footwear fanatic. I don't remember any sole favourites as I was growing up simply because I never had much choice. My feet were always too large for kids my age, and too broad to fit dainty girly stuff. Also, having to wear black leather, and later brown canvas shoes as part of my school uniforms five days a week ensured I didn't really miss out on much. My indiffere...