Maison Birks

My last shopping spree....was at a jewelry store. Whooopeee!

A while ago, you probably read my post about my experience at Birks about 11 years ago when I was still a student and looking for a diamond band ring. The SA had guided me from looking at white gold to silver, and then finally...the cabinet that was going to be on sale next week. I left the store with nothing and took my business to Mappins instead. I found the diamond band ring I liked and got it as a gift from my folks for my birthday.

Now, 11 years later, I walked into the exact same store. Why exactly? Because I was tired from work and didn't want to drive all the way west in traffic. I was lazy.

A brief story:

I was browsing online, looking for a glamorous ring to wear. It had to be cute and pretty. I actually started on Cartier and Tiffany to see if I could find anything but what they were asking (for the size of diamonds) was ridiculous. For example, the carat would be 0.13 but they were asking for $2100. It wasn't worth it in my opinion. Now of course there are reasons why (the 4 C's of diamond hunting), so perhaps that's why it was a ridiculous price, but I wasn't crazy enough to purchase it.

Then I remembered Birks. Of course I remembered Birks.

I browsed their rings online. They don't have as many selections as the rest but one thing I do know is that they are a Canadian company, and well, might as well support our own kind right?

That's where I finally found something similar as Tiffany and Cartier. Price was reasonable as well. So off I went to the store.

This was around 3:30pm on a weekday so malls were not packed. I wasn't expecting a busy time in the store but I wasn't expecting to be the ONLY CUSTOMER in there.

Let me tell you it was intimidating walking into Birks wearing half my scrubs and looking drained from work. There were 3 SAs in the store. The guy I remember very well, and I didn't want to ask him so I went towards 2 ladies. They were having a chat and I guess didn't see me, so I started to browse around, and didn't realize I was browsing the baby jewelry section.

At last, the older lady asked if I needed any help, and this is where I showed her the picture of the ring I was trying to get. She then directed me to the right place and brought out the ring to see. We sat down where I could see it more and try it on. Thankfully the one they showed me was in my size, so I did not have to wait for days or weeks to get it sized.

Diamonds can always be negotiated. I asked if this was the best price that I could get, and well, maybe I didn't push hard enough, but I knew I wasn't going to get a better price, as it was already a pretty good price. The SA said unfortunately that was the price it was going to be. But, she could throw in a few things for me. For example, the infamous silver bell used for engagement rings. Considering this was not under their engagement ring section, I am not suppose to get the silver bell. Because I was nice about it, she decided to throw it in for free for me!

The ring comes with the Birks blue box, as well as a traveling pouch to put the ring in, instead of bringing the silver bell with me as it is a bit heavy. It also comes with a certificate of authenticity, listing the type of diamond, for insurance purposes.

All in all, I was pretty happy with it. The diamonds really shine in sunlight and bright lights. It does look pretty glamorous. I debated telling her about my terrible story 11 years ago (and I believe it was the same lady too!!) but I decided not to. Figured if I did, maybe she would give me a better price LOL.

Now for the reveal:

The magical blue bag and box with ribbon that it comes with.

OooooOooo the silver bell!

Voila! 

This is the Birks Starry Night collection, heart shaped diamond cluster ring with a single halo. Consists of 0.5 carats, with S1 clarity and H colour on the scale. Comes in 18k white gold. You wouldn't be able to know unless it's under magnification, but when it glistens in the sun, it just shines WHITE BLING BLING!

It comes with a 1 year factory warranty. Birks will also do complimentary cleaning (like other stores).

For more information: Starry Night Heart Shaped Ring

Tiffany does have a similar ring. The only difference is the centre piece of the heart is one solid diamond. And of course the minimum overall carat is 1. It comes in platinum. Tiffany is asking north of $24,000 for that ring. I'm fortunate I did not pay that price. This is magnificent enough for me. 

And here it is: Soleste Heart Ring

Cartier does have a heart shape ring, which only consists of a diamond in the middle, but no diamonds on the band. They're asking for about $2100 Cdn. Not as glamorous looking as the above two.

So if you have a girlfriend who is looking for heart shaped rings, these are wonderful selections from great companies. It's just a matter of how much would you be willing to spend. Don't forget though, you can always negotiate when it comes to diamonds and gold.

Vapormax Plus

Hello and greetings to all!

Now that we are winding down to the last week of August (what the heck man...really?!), there has been a lot of shopping happening. Well I don't know if it's a lot if you consider 2 shoes "a lot". But to me it's a lot.

Last year (beginning of 2017) I had bought a pair of Adidas Superstar shoes in black and rose gold. It was beautiful and I ended up using them for work. Now, considering I was on my feet a lot at work, I needed really good pairs of shoes. I have never bought Adidas before so decided to try them out. It was kind of funny because they weren't the most comfortable, especially if you have flat feet. They are pretty flat looking and don't have much of an insole, so I had to purchase insoles and switch out their stock ones.

After about a year and a half, they started to crack. The part where the front has the bend, and where the front meets the sides, that area started to really crack on my right foot and then the left. I was told from my friend that hers had cracked like that too over time. So I guess this is a known issue in Superstars.

Now begins the hunt for another pair of shoes. I'm usually a Nike fan, and have bought a lot of running shoes over the years.

A brief history:

I used to run a lot of cross country competitions during my school years, as well as track and field. As a young kid, my parents would not get me Nike shoes because they were super expensive and didn't see the point as my feet kept on growing. They bought me Brooks and still gave me good results in the end.

In my last year of grade school, my parents decided to reward me with my first pair of Nikes. I was so excited and happy because I could run in cross country with my very first pair! Lo and behold, I picked up wicked blue Airs (sorry I can't remember the exact name as it's been almost 20 years already), which at that time I believe the cost was $130...ridiculous if you think about it. However, I was very thankful they agreed to buy it as my feet finally started to stop growing.

I used them for several practices and the final competition. 3 months into wearing them, I noticed the front was tearing. The plastic that was situated at the tip of the shoe had started cutting into the mesh material on the side where the toes sort of bend with the shoe. I was pretty sad, as I felt my parents wasted money on a shoe that wouldn't last. I had no idea what to do.

Until my dad suggested we talk to Nike. The store probably wouldn't take in the shoe for an exchange as it was already past the date. So we decided to contact Nike directly. Nike has this exchange policy that if the shoe breaks within the year due to manufacture issues, then they can replace the shoe. I didn't know about this policy until we wrote to them. I remember we filled out a form and then explained what happened. We did this 5 months after they had bought it (although the shoe was ruined in 3 months, but for some reason we waited until the 5-6 months period...probably because we had no idea what to do).

I thought I could help out by...gluing the sides with my glitter glue. Yes, I actually did that and think I ruined it more to the point that it couldn't be fixed. However my dad still said to send it in and try. Nike contacted us and told us they would try to fix it, otherwise they will send a replacement.

About a week later, I got a pair of brand new Nike Airs in the mail. They were purple this time, the same style. I was super happy and fortunate that they were able to replace in such a short time. Although I was a bit sad they weren't blue, but still blessed that I still got something back.

I managed to get about 2-3 years of wear on the purple ones before they started to rip as well over time. By this time I wasn't doing much running anymore so that probably helped as well.

It's been over 18 years and I still remember that experience. Hence why majority of my running shoes over the years have been Nikes.

Now, back to the current story.

Now that my Adidas Superstars have ripped and is no longer safe to wear in the workplace, I began to search back to my favourite: Nike. I hadn't bought a pair of Nikes for some years now (the last one being from the Nike factory) but I browsed their main website and came across the current trend: the Vapormax.

Nike recently celebrated their 30 years of Air Max by introducing a hybrid into their line up: Vapormax. Apparently it took them 7 years to design and finalize this product, and released it on their 30th anniversary.

I tried to find a nice pair of anything. I was quite disappointed in the women's selection as I find women's get the crappiest colour selections (no offence). I used to hate my feet but maybe I should feel blessed as I have the option of browsing the men's catalogue as well, because there's such a vast selection.

Lo and behold, I land on the Vapormax Plus. Now that's my type of running shoe. Although I won't be running in them anytime soon (maybe except during a code) but otherwise I had to do some reading on them. They are comfortable. Knowing my past Nikes, I can whole heartedly agree that they could be comfortable. I landed on a pair that was (thankfully) on sale at that time in the men's section, and of course I chose a blue and black combination from Foot Locker.

They arrived in the mail about a week later and I was SUPER HAPPY!

Now of course I went to browse more colours and realized Nike has this "Be True" category. I fell in love with a pink and purple one with rainbows on the sole. Unfortunately they sold out everywhere in North America, so my only option at this point was to order from the UK. It took a while to figure out my UK size but I jumped the gun and ordered it. Got butt raped by customs, but can't escape them as it was coming directly from the UK store.

The shoes arrived 1 day apart. And I'm super happy to unveil them both here: The Vapormax Plus and Be True collection.

Voilaaaaaa! My 2 pairs of Vapormax Plus.

The Vapormax Plus soles.

The back of the Be True shoes.

At the bottom of the right sole, it says "BETRUE" at the end.

My verdict?

I have began wearing the blue Vapormax pair and they are super comfortable. I am still breaking them in so my feet are still somewhat sore from the stiffness, but they are slowly starting to loosen up. If you have flat feet, it will benefit you. I can feel the big arch helping, especially when I do a lot of standing and walking around during work hours. 

Another advantage is that it will give you a slight boost in height. The sole is basically all air, so you're essentially standing on air. And no, the soles will not pop if you step on a needle. Apparently it will take some force to break the air soles. You can try to search videos on Youtube.

Some disadvantages are that they do squeak a lot on glossy floor. It sounds like when you come into a building from walking in the rain outside, but eventually they clear up. At this point, they're still squeaking so I assume it will take a bit of time to wear them in before they stop squeaking. Everyone knows when I'm coming.

Another disadvantage is the tongue of the shoe. There is no place to weave the laces through to prevent the tongue from sliding around. I find after a while, the tongue has migrated to the right side of my feet, or the left. My prior shoes I was able to weave the laces through and the tongue wouldn't move. So I'm not sure what happened here!

Some people report that their shoes get stuck on the stairs, due to the gap in the middle of the sole. The sole is 2 parts, allowing more flexibility. I haven't had any issues yet of getting stuck or falling down the stairs, but I will report if I do. Hopefully not.

I sprayed down the Vapormax Plus with a protectant that repels fluid spills (definitely need that in my workplace setting). So far it's been working well; the shoes look flawless. I've had many compliments at work and they do stand out quite a bit. 

The Vapormax Plus Be True pair will most likely stay on my shelf untouched as it is a limited edition piece. Maybe I'll wear it once or twice but they will most likely end up like my pink breast cancer Uggs: stored away safely, living in my closet.

For more information, you can visit Nike's official website. If you're seeking the Be True version, you may have to order it via a UK site, but fair warning, they don't have many left over and they only come in men's size. And don't expect a discount, as they do cost more than the average Vapormax Plus shoes.

Code for the Vapormax Plus Be True: AR4791-500

Code for the Vapormax Plus in Blue/Black: 4205550

Summer Fendi

GTR and what is that?!

Hello August! Now we are officially halfway into summer. Kind of depressing now that I think about it because I haven't done much this summer except work like a dog. July was madness with work. And now that it's over, it's August. Great.

Last month I was browsing the net on my downtime, and wasn't really looking for anything in particular. I hadn't bought a brand new bag since last summer (the Alma BB was bought some time in November in the used market), so my streak was getting pretty good. A much better improvement than the past 2 years considering my designer handbags have now reached 10.

I was browsing the Chanel collection but didn't find anything appealing. And here's the thing. Chanel has been increasing prices left and right lately, that it's now impossible to find any handbags under 3K. The WOC is now a whopping $2700 and depending on the material or style, can easily reach $3300. The Mini has now hit $3700, which in my opinion you really can't fit much in either bag. Dropping 3K on a wallet seems a bit insane. And I didn't find much appeal in any bags in the latest collection. Considering I have a WOC and 2 classic bags already, I'm not desperate to get another piece.

Same with LV. I didn't find anything too appealing.

Until I landed on Fendi's website.

I'm a sucker for cute things, especially monster eyes. They just look so evil and cute at the same time. I don't really see many monsters being carried around (or maybe I'm just not in the right setting or environment). But this particular bag really caught my attention. The price was reasonable as well (not a huge difference than the other monster By the Way bag that I own). I gave my Fendi SA a quick text and sent her a picture of what I was interested in.

She texted me back quite quick and said that they had 2 in store. One was on display, but there was a brand new one in the back. She would hold it for me, and off I went the next day with my BFF.

We arrived there sometime around noon, and was greeted by the SA right away. She had brought out the display model for me to touch and try on, just to see if it was really my cup of tea. And off she went to get the brand new handbag for me. I tried it on and really liked it. It has a classic twist to it, but yet a fun side to it as well. It was then I realized that I could get a matching WOC and a wallet as well! However, I wasn't really into those at that time, but mainly focused on the handbag itself.

SA brought out the brand new bag and had me check it over, making sure that I was happy with it before I dropped the money down. Fendi continues to offer the option of hot stamping initials or monster eyes on the key tag, but I chose not to at this time. And here I went, paying the handbag. I was ecstatic!

SA had also asked about if my mom and I enjoyed our Fendi bags and of course I said yes! She loves it to bits. She also asked why I didn't bring my mom with me, and I told her 'mom doesn't know I'm here!' :P

We walked around for a bit in the mall before heading back home, where I decided to do a mini unboxing in pictures below.

So here it is....the Fendi Monster Petite 2Jours in black calfskin with gold hardware.

The beautiful bag and box.

Comes with a black dust bag as well.

Voila! Here she is!

Another front end shot. 

The rear shot. It is pretty plain with just the calfskin leather.

The inside consists of 2 large compartments and a middle zipped compartment. The entire bag has one button snap closure on top.

A bit up close with the monster eye.

A shot with the GTR. This was her first outing (and her only outing so far).

The bag is made of 100% calfskin leather all around, including the interior. Previously on 2Jours bags, the front and back are usually saffiano leather, with the sides being calfskin leather, and the interior being a fabric type material. In this particular model, everything is calfskin leather. The good thing about it is that it's easier to clean, both inside and out. The bad thing about it is I feel it will be more prone to scratches and blemishes.

I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the key tag because it was so nicely wrapped up that I was too lazy to open it and take a picture of it. It does come with its own dust bag (really cute!). 

The hardware comes only in gold, for this particular bag. It also comes with shoulder straps that seem difficult to attach/detach. It doesn't have a clasp like the BTW bag but it's similar to a pop belt, which I feel can loosen up over time if it's being taken on and off over time. I have seen and read that if you don't want the shoulder strap, then it's easier to just hide it in the bag and then you can use it if you need it, without having to detach it. The bag itself is roomy already, so hiding the strap is no problem.

It's a beautiful bag all around, and I have a feeling it will age gracefully over the years. Based on what I've read so far on those who've had it long term, the bag's sides will tend to sag over time, unless you really stuff the bag well to keep the structure. I've noticed that with the bag, the store did give tougher tissue paper to be sure the structure of this bag doesn't sag as it sits on shelves. Overall, I am happy with this purchase (although when I checked the website now...1 month after I purchased it, the price HAS GONE DOWN WHAT??!), and I hope to get many years of wear on this handbag. Go monster!

Let's go to the nitty gritty details:

Brand: Fendi

Name: Petite 2Jours (Monster)

Product Code: 8BH253SQPF0KUR

Dimensions: L (10.23 inches), W (4.7 inches), H (8.3 inches)

Material: Calfskin, aluminum, brass

Interior: 2 large compartments, 1 middle zipped compartment, snap closure top

Comes with: key tag, black shoulder strap that can be detached

Where to buy: Fendi boutiques