after christmas gawking

i normally avoid after christmas sales like a kid with lice and especially now that i'm older, the thought of driving in circles to look for parking or standing in lines for everything (including the restroom when it's not even the movies or concert!), does not speak to me. i would rather stay home and wash dishes.

but this year, i ventured out of my lair because i wanted to pick up a prezzie for my friend's baby so the thought was....if i'm going to the mall anyways, then let's go to south coast plaza! yay for having a nice boyfriend because he obliged and off we went to the o.c. if you guys aren't familiar with south coast plaza, it's like rodeo drive all packed up into a mall. personally, i prefer it over bev hills. at least parking is free and accessible and there's a ton more places to shop, like H & M and zara to name a few.

when we got there in the afternoon, the place was PACKED! i'm not sure what kind of sales there were to be had there, but i wasn't really there to shop, more like to GAWK since i was out and about anyways.

some leftover christmas cheer. instead of playing "where's waldo," let's play, "where's santa?" can you spot santa's little helper in this picture?

i saw a few "sale" signs placed on the windows of stores that i would normally patronize, but walking into one of them and not being able to turn in a 360 degree circle without getting bumped was nuts. so i decided, NO WAY, i'm gawking today, NOT shopping so off i went to cartier, chanel, and hermes instead.

the nice thing about a busy shopping day is that stores that are normally stone cold empty have life in them. hermes is a perfect example. normally, i wouldn't even set foot in there because it's usually empty and intimidating. the sales people usually check you out, stare you down, and then ignore you because their quick robotic assessment tells them you have about a dollar in your purse. some folks really don't care about that and would walk in anyways, but to me, i feel unwelcomed so i normally stay away. besides, i won't be buying anyways, so why deal with unpleasantries...but HA HA! they were so busy after christmas with so many lookie loos that i walked right in and was comfortably ignored. whooo...let's bag molest shall we?

birkins and other shapes with all kinds of colors. i didn't tote any (didn't want to take a chance of sowing a seed of desire when i absolutely can't/shouldn't/wouldn't).

they also sell a lot of other things, like bags, bracelets, scarves, ties, and belts. you name it, they probably have it. i saw a couple looking at dishware. NOW THAT, i don't understand. hermes is known for their bags, not dishware.

they also have these super pretty lizard skin wallets. ooh la la.

and the biggest hermes bag of them all, this big orange pumpkin of a bag. i don't know the style name of this bag because they change base on the size, but it's in the iconic shape with its iconic hardware. orange is the signature hermes color and when you buy hermes, it comes in an orange box. the charms of the hermes orange is intoxicating.

they also make the prettiest red color ever. i think of crayola red when i see this.

so after dragging the boyfriend through the store, it was time to depart. the drooling was too intense and the front of my shirt was wet from it. next time i go to hermes, i'm bringing a bib and walking away with a birkin :)