A typical Saturday afternoon...

This last Saturday, while my hubby was entertaining at the Cubs game, I embarked on my favorite pastime: shopping. I don't always buy, but I enjoy seeing what's out in the stores.

I shopped alone. I actually prefer to shop on my own for the most part. I can spend more time paying attention to something that I've read about in a magazine, or go to an obscure boutique. I can demonstrate great control by myself, but it is also then I can do the most damage. On the damage scale, Saturday was about a 4 in terms of items purchased and what purposes they serve, and a 6 for amount of money spent.

I do follow a few guidelines when I go shopping; mostly because shopping can be a tiring and frustrating activity, but I like to enjoy it for the fun aspects as often as possible while getting something accomplished at the same time.

Here are my tips:

1) Nothing says you have purchasing power than showing up looking decent.

My outfit -- H&M white striped 3/4 sleeve sweater, dark Seven For All Mankind jeans, Tory Burch "Reva" black flats, J. Crew black peacoat.

2) Always have some sort of game plan as far as where you are going, or what you are looking for.

I was looking for: blush, some new tops, and a leather jacket. Stores to hit: Bloomingdales, H&M, Banana Republic, Neiman Marcus, and Saks!

3) You never know what you will find, so keep your eyes open for deals/bargains/good finds.

I snagged a cream colored silk flutter sleeved blouse with painted dots on it from Banana Republic. They have finally gotten their heads out of their *sses and stopped doing vanity-sizing. I thought that was the worst idea ever, and clearly someone in management finally figured it out. It's a good work top, but can double as a going out top too.

I also found a great pair of Diesel jeans. I love jeans, and I own many, many pairs of designer jeans, but none by Diesel. The cut caught my eye when I passed by, so I tried them on. They are fantastic! The denim quality is excellent and made in Italy, the wash/cut quite flattering. I would have never thought of Diesel if I were looking for new denim, so it was a great find.

Lastly, a great deal was had at Coach, where I picked up a pair of brown python detail leather roman-style sandals for $69.00. It's going to look great with dresses, skirts, and jeans.

I didn't find my leather jacket; not too many people are showing the style I'm looking for, but I did find some blush and a bronzing shimmer oil from Stila, so all was well!

Can't wait to do it all again...next week? ;)

Hooked again, and not ashamed!

I have found a new late night activity on the weekends that is slowly becoming a habit: watching back to back episodes of General Hospital for the past week on SoapNet.

Let me preface by saying that SoapNet is a great invention. It is a satellite channel dedicated to the daytime and primetime soaps that you love, from the present and more importantly, the past. I can catch reruns of 90210 and Melrose Place if I felt like it, and for those who didn't watch that stuff, they are also now featuring The O.C. , which was just cancelled. I think they also have Dallas and Dynasty too. Basically, it's a channel of guilty pleasures. The women are witchy and conniving at times, and many of the men are easy on the eyes. Now with the full cooperation of the networks, the actors and actresses participate in documentaries, biographies, etc. for their show. It's a big bonus if you like to know more about the people, background for storylines, and general tidbits. It's a dream come true for the on-again, off-again soap watcher like myself.

I usually find myself catching an episode or two of GH every now and again, just because of SoapNet's program scheduling, but most of the time, I'm not interested enough to watch. I don't usually like jumping into the middle of a story because I like to know what happened before that led to this point. But this time, I quickly became attached to the relationship between 2 characters I knew from when I first started watching the show, Jason and Elizabeth. Jason Morgan is a Quartermaine by blood, but became a new person after being involved in a terrible car accident. He shunned his overbearing family for a different life as the right-hand enforcer for Sonny. Elizabeth Webber is the niece of one of the nurses at General Hospital. She started out as a teenager jealous of her perfect sister Sarah and always getting in trouble. Since I last really watched the show, she has become an RN, had a child from a brief affair, married Lucky Spencer, and is dealing with Lucky's addiction to drugs. Both Elizabeth and Jason were part of of a few storylines before that were good, but I never took any interest in their characters. Why now?

It's been a couple years since the introduction of Jason as this good guy turned brooding bad boy, and the character has evolved into a seriously sensitive and stoic dude with an instinctive hero complex for damsels in distress (particularly Elizabeth). The way the actor plays emotions and reactions are subtle, but effective. (I should also mention that he's pretty fine -- dark blond hair, blue eyes, and muscles!) Now these two have had a long history of being into each other but never able to get together because of Jason's dangerous lifestyle. So it's been long-suffering and there's a lot of history that led up to an intense and emotional evening together when they found out their respective partners were cheating on them at that very moment. So they finally got "together" out of needing to comfort each other, but it couldn't go beyond the one evening.

Right now, you might be like, "This is lame", but with their backstory and the very good chemistry between the two actors, it made total sense. Now, Jason found a way to forgive Sam for being a hussie (I don't like her), and Lucky hit rehab, so Jason and Elizabeth are left w/ their memories of a very sweet night...that is, until Elizabeth got pregnant! (Yes, that was a soap opera moment.) She figured out the paternity of the baby (Jason's, of course), but doesn't want Lucky to turn back to drugs, so she's asking Jason to keep it a secret, and let Lucky be the father. Needless to say, this is causing some serious inner turmoil for Jason because he's always wanted to have a kid (you'll need his backstory to know this), and he has loved Elizabeth from a distance (I've been catching up on them via YouTube) for the last 7 years, so this guy is ready to implode from all that brooding and old, unresolved feelings.

Everything about this storyline and especially with the character of Jason just makes me melt. It's cause I have a major thing for misunderstood men. Always have, always will. Mind you, I didn't marry a misunderstood guy. I married a guy who is charming, fun, very loving, and is open about things (much like the previous object of my soap opera affections, Jax). However, my real-life crushes and failed attempts at relationships were always with slightly misunderstood men who I thought were good on the inside. None of them were as fine looking as Steve Burton, but I didn't get to hold a casting call either. ;)

This week, a storm brews in Port Charles and Elizabeth goes into labor with complications this week (or the next). Supposedly Jason finds her and rushes her to the hospital for surgery. Will Jason admit to Elizabeth he still loves her? What will happen with the baby? When will Lucky and Sam find out? Yeah, I'm into it up to my eyeballs and I don't care. This is a great and brief escape from the daily grind of life, and I am all for it. There's a reason I don't read non-fiction on vacation, and why I don't want to watch documentaries and the news when I go home after work.

Stay tuned!