loubs and a rant about prince charming

these are the christian louboutin cinderella shoes which he created to celebrate disney's release of cinderella on blue-ray disc this fall. even if you love it, lust after it, and are currently caressing the screen with your cheeks because you adore it, they are not for sale. BUT, 20 pairs will be given away as part of the promotion which means 20 freaking excited ladies or 20 pairs found immediately on ebay after receiving them. i tell ya, everyone is always out to make a quick buck.

of course its met with some criticism. people are disappointed that it's not "glass-like" which really means using materials like plastic/ pvc to give that glass effect if you even want the shoe to be wearable...not like these loubs are really wearable with those sky high stilettos...but i digress. but let me point out ANOTHER THING...the original cinderella story before its translated version described the shoes as furry!! i don't know how legit that rumor is either, but i remember reading about that once so i suggest that you google it if you really want to know whether cinderella was rocking beautiful glass slippers or a pair of UGGs that fateful night.

anyway, louboutin's material of preference here is lace and swarovski crystals which can be seen on the back heel as well as scattered throughout the sides. let's not forget that there's a prevalent butterfly theme going on here a la mariah carey. i'm gonna bet on the fact that she's going to try to secure herself a pair. i would...if i had loads of money and like to buy shoes that i don't wear of course.

the sparkle is crazy intense. methinks a perfect shoe for a bride that wants to feel like a princess on her wedding day.

but seriously, let's talk about prince charming. i think the idea of romance and fairy tale loves were spoon fed to us as early as infanthood. we were brainwashed! look at all the love tales produced by disney. did these cartoons set us up for romantic failure because what they portray and what is reality is not remotely connected at all?

love is actually 90% work. it is a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. we don't get to see cinderella and her prince charming arguing about "going out" with friends too much versus spending quality time together. we don't see snow white and her prince arguing about having opposite sex friends or hanging out with an ex. neither do we see beauty and the beast disagreeing about money problems, sexual frustration, wanting to get married, or wanting to date other people. we have been brain washed to believe in fairy tale romances so every single girl looks for prince charming when in reality, what she should really look for is mr. good guy, mr. right, mr. you fit me the best. one that can still sweep her off her feet, but is also capable of providing her with the commitment and love to enter into a relationship that at the end of the day, is STILL about 90% work.

the days of kissing toads to see if they're really princes are over. the only thing you'll get from kissing a toad is a wart.

before you start wondering about the source of my rant, let me just tell you that i've been engaged in some matchmaking and listening to people's lists and their ideas of perfection...lordy that doesn't exist. there's always an achilles' heel to every dude/dudette you meet and if you can sit there and tell me with a straight face that your significant other is PERFECT, then i'm totally not going to pull you out of your reality. good for you.

but for all us regular folks, we know that people are not perfect. love and relationships take compromise, it demands that we don't get stuck on the LITTLE things, it's about empathizing with and for your partner and knowing when to support, when to guide, when to advise, and when to forgive. it's about commitment and a genuine passion to grow the relationship into something strong, beautiful, wonderful, and lasting. but most importantly, pick the right person for yourself and go all in. a successful relationship = love, effort, attraction and lots of freaking luck.

love deep, laugh hard, be good to yourself. talk to you laterz.

THICK SKINNED

ambiguous rant. yes siree. bear with me.

i loooooove how i volunteer to do a job for people but folks rear their ungrateful heads and complain about how much i DIDN'T DO FOR THEM. the last time i checked, i did quite a lot and tried my darndest to be informative and HELPFUL to folks, but of course, people who only know how to complain are also the same people who think that what i did should have been easy and uncomplicated. ok, sure...why don't YOU go do it. no takers? yah, not surprised.

talk about the number of extra hours i spent in meetings, nagging THE LAZY ONE, and making phone calls to multiple people just to get an answer to ONE QUESTION (and golly there were a lot of questions)....questions apparently that you don't think i did a good job of getting the answers for. a whole year people, a whole year of this shit and you still think i 1) targeted you and was unfair 2) didn't think i knew what i was talking about so you didn't believe me 3) was hiding information from everybody 4) was rude to you 5) was lying and making up shit 6) that i was oblivious to the side convos you had about me. six words to you: FUCK YOU AND THAT'S A WRAP.

you can smack talk me all you want, but i sure did my best. i was transparent and honest and absolutely had integrity and fairness in mind when i took up these extra duties. the true lessons i learned this year were 1) people who don't like you will NEVER like you, no matter what you do because their view of you is tainted like dirty underwear 2) i should NEVER apologize to anyone who cried in my presence just because i felt bad that they cried and especially when i didn't do anything wrong IMO...i cannot help that your spine is weak and you get special treatment because you're a crybaby...and too bad for you that confronting you with the truth makes you tear up you dumbass 3) friends who are on your side will always be on your side because whatever you do, they always trust that you won't wrong them. thanks friends, i didn't wrong you at all. in fact, i went ABOVE AND BEYOND the call of duty because i was mindful of the stress level everybody experienced and worked hard to keep this year FAIR and all you TOTALLY INFORMED. seriously, you think anybody that was ever in this post WOULD EVER do as much as i did for you guys this year?? the answer is a big ole HELLS NO.

i also learned to be THICK SKINNED to eek me through these last months of this volunteer work but apparently, thick skin won't come about if i keep using this clarisonic. gawd i love this clarisonic. so good for your skin, makes you feel like you walked out of a facial.

for a tad over $100 (though i paid $30 more at that time to get this cheetah pattern, teehee i am such a sucker for packaging) you get an oscillating brush head that thoroughly cleanses your skin. actually, here's the clarisonic blurb.

• Removes 6X more makeup than manual cleansing
• Leaves skin feeling and looking smoother
• Cleansing helps products work more effectively
• Gentle enough to use twice a day
• Reduces oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes
• Minimizes the appearance of visible pores

but per my sis-in-law who use to work at a dermatologist owned beauty spa, overusing products like these thins out your skin which is a huge no, no. so though i love the way it feels and the way my skin looks after 5 months of usage, i limit myself to 2-3 times a week just so i won't cause any skin thinning...besides, after the horrific year of volunteer work i did, i definitely learned that i should be THICK SKINNED, not THIN SKINNED. so YAY to clarisonic and a big ass BOO to some cray cray folks i dealt with this year.

rant over.

my internal convo

i know i've taken a long hiatus from this bagtastic blog (about 3 months and some change), but in light of all that has happened in this world and the utterly SUCK-ASS economy, i've had a constant convo within the inner space of my skull whether it's appropriate to blog about material needs and wants when i should be focused on more substantial things that don't involve leather, and handles, or diamonds. the world is suffering and the economy is tough. i know. i get it. so i refocused....instead of designer talks and leather wants:

• i focused on my wedding instead.

• i focused on my dogs.

• i focused on my family and all the people connected to it.

• i focused on my job.

• i focused on getting fat which now leads to unfocusing on this part stat so i can fit into my mutherfuckin' wedding dress (fml).
  

so in no particular order these were the topics that i spent my free time on....until just recently when i clicked on my beloved bagnatic blog just to check up on it and realized how utterly desolate it looked. :'( i saw cobwebs and a thick layer of dust had settled in peoples. after rereading some of my old posts, i had an EPIPHANY.

after almost four years of superficial rants and wants, the lack of current posts on bagnatic made me realize that i'm neglecting an extremely important part of my identity...my blogger one. it is NOT just a superficial blog (but of course it obviously is to a certain degree), but it really was my escapist trick, one that allowed me to decompress from life's stresses while working on my engrish as well. it is also a living, breathing platform that documented various facets of my life that i felt comfortable enough to share, and one that does not involve shoving some tasty morsel in my mouth since i got that one covered too :0 this IS how i REBOOT myself as i shouted to myself. you go on vacation to decompress...i blog about stuff that i like.

so yes, i am mutherfuckin' back bitches (that is said with love). i still see a trail of people wandering through my site on a daily basis and for that i am thankful for cuz no word in my mind is really written unless it is read. oh yeah that felt good. *sigh*

it feels good to be back.

don't deal me valentino

have you ever met a dealer who tries to hook you onto something else down the road? you know, like "hey baby, try some ecstasy. it'll make you feel good." then it becomes "hey baby, crack ain't whack. why don't you try some on me..." until you find yourself lying in a seedy hotel room faced down in your bile with heroin marks running up and down your arms....yeah, the pusher just pushed you over. ok, i've never done this before, but i have a good imagination.

anyways, another s.a. that i "deal" with only works with me on chanel and have sold me several chanel pieces...but every once in a while, she will send me emails trying to tempt me with another designer:

"Good morning bagnatic, I thought you might enjoy seeing the new Valentino that just arrived. It is very soft and feminine. If you are interested in any of these please give me a call. Thanks from the Pusher"

this time, she tried to push some valentino bags on me:

i don't mean to insult any of you valentino fans out there when i say this, but THESE BAGS ARE UGLY. how do you go from hot totty chanel to granny panties valentino? the ruffles are seasons old and prada has already done it. look s.a., you are cluttering my inbox with ugly bag pictures when i could have saved that space for emails that recommend that i "enlarge my penis" or "get same medz at better prices."

oogly.

a big bag of stressssssssss

i must have pissed off god in the last year because this year, my new class of kids are especially hard to deal with. in fact, if i was told i wouldn't be found legally responsible for my actions, i would probably punch a few of their faces in. yes, teachers ARE human and we DO have emotions and some of us DO like to PUNCH faces. p0w!

i know the hood i teach in isn't the best, i know a lot of them come from broken homes, i know my students deal with a lot of issues outside of the classroom so i try not to shit on their already full plate by being harsh or cruel. i am strict though and maintain an environment of learning because it's important to me that they learn, it is important to me that they don't become another hoodie statistic, it is important that they know how to freakin' read, write, and do some goddamn math!

at school, i am known to be able to keep my shit together and my classroom management is not an issue. but for this particular year, my shit is a bit scattered and feels pretty loose like i just ate a bad meal at denny's and have extremely harsh diarrhea spurting from my ass. so with this new class of kids, their "inherited" free spirit from previous teachers that don't care about classroom management has reared its ugly head on me. i have movers and talkers and most that JUST DON'T PAY ATTENTION. being the nazi teacher that i am, i want you to listen, and practice, and TRY because i want you to GET IT goddamnit! PLEASE don't roam about when you feel like it, PLEASE don't talk to your neighbors instead of listening to my lesson, PLEASE don't play with your eraser in your desk. PLEASE. i said PLEASE! in previous years, i slowly but surely wittle my wiley class down and they settle in and become better learners. THEY begin to bend to my wind like little willow trees because eventually, they decide the howling wind isn't so bad after all and can be soothing, intriguing, perhaps charming at times and they become better learners.

this year, my wind has howled and howled and granted that i've only had 1 1/2 weeks with this new class, i feel beat. beat cuz on top of my usual pool of movers and shakers that have to learn how to LEARN, i have an autistic student who comes in with NO support. HE needs an extra adult to help him other than just me. i have already gone through two 30 minute tantrums, head banging against the wall outside of my classroom, table pounding, loud outbursts, and growls when he doesn't like what i do or say. perhaps if all the 20 kids around him were nice and kind, then i can concentrate my wind one this one child and i would not feel so beat, but alas, the rest of the kids are trouble makers in their own right with a few cute ones sprinkled in so i feel i'm constantly putting out fires left and right. eventually, does the forest just not burn down?

i know a lot of my fellow teacher friends are having a hard year themselves, but they are not blogging about it and i am. ha! so i ask that you pity me for another month at least and deal with my whining and bitching because i'm trying real hard to deal with the frustrations that well up inside me whenever i see my class of kids being disruptive, disorderly, or plain just bad learners. ahhh, and the autistic kid...man, i won't shit on your plate because god has already dealt you a heavy hand, but can you PLEASE decrease your tantrums to 15 minutes at the very least? i am a teacher after all and at the end of the day, i still feel guilty when i don't think my kids are learning and the outbursts and tantrums is making it real hard to learn.

so if you see me wielding this BAG around campus, i can assure you, it is NOT orange juice. anyways, i sit here, at home and totally sick, after 7 days of teaching this new class. phlegm and boogers galore. i can't teach with a pounding headache or a raspy throat so i'm revving up my energy for another go at it tomorrow (well rested and somewhat recovered i hope) even though i feel ashamed that i've already called in sick after only 7 days.

i would like to implement mandatory happy hours this year. who's in?

eld 1

my bag whore ways have been traded in for boring teaching days. i've been a school marm for the past 10 days now...ahhh....my soul has been sucked out of me once again. no, don't get me wrong. my kids are super cute and i like them a lot....i think it's just the hum drum of teaching and the same routine of feeling "stuck" in the classroom. i'm just getting bored i think...you know, the dreaded 5 year itch that teachers talk about. seriously, i think i need a new challenge and changing grade levels probably isn't the answer either. perhaps i need to really go on a vaykay next time instead of teaching intersession...but then again, how else will i support my bag whore ways AND my wee house? my priorities sure are screwed up :)

anyways, to commemorate me teaching once again....my REAL identity as oppose to this bag whore one, i would like to show you this fug tote that marc by marc jacobs actually tried to sell to his minions. it's called the "new standard supply tote." i think it's hilarious....reminds me of the scaffolding you would need to provide to second language learners when they access english...you know, label everything in the classroom. like a chair would have a card that says "chair," a clock would say "clock," and his tote says "tote." ugly right?

why are you so hot?!

chanels have increased in retail price at a monstrous rate. the classic chanel styles you buy now are hiked up sometimes 3-9% in comparison to the previous year's cost! outrageous! i suspect one of the reasons for these price hikes is to maintain "exclusivity." young hollywood has been rocking them hard and the lemmings always follows. i wouldn't call myself a lemming, but unfortunately, i do heart chanel so much. let's look at some young hollywood rocking their chanels.

here's lauren conrad from mtv's "the hills" (omg i love that show). she's rocking a jumbo caviar flap. to no one's suprise, there is a suspected price hike on jumbos in november.

here's heidi (also from "the hills") rocking her white chanel accordian flap.

and here's audrina (also from "the hills") rocking her chanel diamond stitch tote. that sucker went up in price real quick and became a hot ebay number.

lindsay lohan and her super cute mini red lambskin flap. this bag is slightly bigger than a wallet on a chain. LOVE the red.

not to mention the countless other young celebrities that love them as well: mischa barton, nicole richie, paris hilton, olsen twins, christina aguilara, etc (hahaha, i didn't want to spend too much time downloading all their pics). anyways, a good bag is loved by all. too bad this love drives up the prices so damn high, hence, another suspected price hike in november.

*btw, why my homage to "the hills" girls? they brought teen attention to chanels. talk about the power of media.

if it ain't broke....

if you didn't already know, i purse stalk a lot. you know, check out other people's purses like a purse creep...especially if the purse comes from a design house that i'm familiar with. anyways, i started noticing a horrible trend in the bags that i checked out...good gawd. why are you effing with the purse?!

for instance, look at this travesty. the chloe paddington was awesome because of the leather and the padlock. in general, the padlock is made from heavy hardware and now, the paddingtons have this lucite lock which is a fancy way to say PLASTIC. seriously?! you are going to charge us purse sheep THAT much for plastic?!!! yous so wrong...

the original padlock.

the cheap lucite versions (thanks calamari for the first padlock pic).

then comes marc by marc jacobs. when i bought the dr. groovee bag, i really dug the tarnished metal that he used for the hardware. i think it gives it character and fitted the leather really well. now, the new generation of dr. groovee bags have this super polished metal which i think looks cheap. i don't like the shine. what do you think?

please don't take me out

last weekend, i went to a yelp elite event. if you did not know this, i'm a yelper too (ahhahha...the things i do on my free time). i'm not just any ole yelper mind you, but an "elite" one, meaning i get invited to free shitz! last saturday, i was invited to some shmancy shin dig where i got free booze and fancy tapas....oh, and a free yelpie hoodie carried in a cute green awareness tote. whoo hoo! *bagnatic smacking her lips* i was drunk by 7pm and stuffed. haha. good times, good times.

anyways, while drinking and eating, i spotted a few bags there. OF COURSE! i saw this fellow yelper toting a super cute chanel brown lambskin flap. so purty! but then i saw THIS atrocity:

ugh, PLEASE DON'T EVER BUY A PURSE SHAPED LIKE A CHINESE TAKE OUT BOX. PLEASE DON'T. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S COVERED IN FAUX SILK TO MAKE IT "FANCIER." THERE IS NO WAY OF MAKING A TAKE OUT BOX FANCIER!!! THAT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG AND SO FREAKIN' FUGZ AND I JUST FELT LIKE GRABBING THIS FELLOW YELPER'S TAKE OUT PURSE TO PUT IN SOME TAPAS TO TAKE HOME. LET'S ALL PUKE IN UNISON.

hey, i'm not saying gimmicks can't be cute. look, i have a star purse circa before i became a bag obsessed whore, but you don't see me rocking it now do you? i know my limits, like no mini skirts after age 35....

my star bag is still hella cute, but once you go bagnatic, it's hard to go back to this hot topic tote.

a collective sigh...*sigh*

my pretty glazed lambskin wallet just got it's first long scratch in the front. ahhh!!! depending on the lighting, it is noticeable, but it's also not...again, depending on the lighting. and also depending on if you are as fixated on it as me.

why am i devoting a post to it? because i'm a dork.

seriously, do you gals ever get the new high of owning something new and once it gets it's first scratch or nick, the holiness that was this item vanishes? this happens to me. i remember when i got my first new car, i would wash it almost weekly, regardless if it looked like it needed it or not. then after it got a gnarly scratch from a mofo's keys when i was parked at vons once, i didn't care to baby it much anymore. i didn't even care if pigeons shatted on it...i would just leave the shat marks until i have to seriously bring it in to get washed.

don't get me wrong, i still LOVE my wallet. the orange color is to die for! i just wished it got it's first scratch like 5 years LATER. ahh...now it officially functions as a wallet and not as a museum piece.

clearly stupid

you know, i “heart” chanel and everything, but seriously, must chanel ALSO get into this plastic bag see through craze? i know marc by marc jacobs has one with this glittery starburst pattern, but no matter how cool chanel is, a see through bag is just plain stupid.

why would anyone buy a bag that allows their contents to be visible? i don’t need to see that you’re carrying a cosco size box full of condoms or that you like using extra long kotex pads for that time of the month. hahahaha. no seriously, why are you broadcasting your wares? this kind of see through plastic bag reminds me of those cheap plastic umbrellas back in the days that looked like half an egg. or those restaurants that have those plastic side panels for their outdoor seating. anyways, just makes no sense.

to add insult to injury, these bags are pretty expensive for what they are worth. no leather to even justify the price….nothing. it is CLEAR that you are buying this bag just for the sake of the double c's. i've even read in some purse forums that women were getting the chanel pictured below because it was a relatively more "affordable" chanel. yo, chanel is cool, but a plastic bag isn’t…i don’t mind drawing a line to demarcate the difference.

"you are so nice"

not too long ago, i went back to scp to look at a prada wallet at saks so it was just natural for me to mosey on over to the chanel boutique for a looksie. i know i’ve been there already and have seen their merchandise, but i’m beginning to discover that sometimes, boutiques will get new things sent in and if you so happen to be there and you like what you see, you can just snatch it up. OR, you can make good friends with a SA and have her/him call you when the new items come in…yeah, like that’s going to ever happen. anyways, i wanted to know if there were any wallets that i may have missed last time (wishful thinking on my part. i think i just want a wallet and it bugs to have to wait). that’s when i met ritsuko lee, the SA over at chanel.

ritsuko is an older asian lady. she reminds me of someone’s momma. perhaps yours? i did not get a snob vibe from her which was refreshing. she was patient and answered my questions without making me feel like a poor dork. i inquired about their new wallets and she said they should be coming in at the end of january. she even suggested that i come and see their “trunk show” scheduled sometime in late january/february. btw, a trunk show is when all the new season’s products are put on display. it is also a time for you to put yourself on a wait list if you see something you “heart” and would love to buy when the shipments come in.

before i left chanel, i said, “you are so nice.” seriously, i thought it sounded stupid when i heard it coming out of my mouth. they are SALES PEOPLE after all. they are suppose to be nice because they want your business. but unfortunately, the ones i’ve run across aren’t very helpful and uber snooty…except for zeyad of course who likes to gab a lot. ritsuko was a nice change of attitude in the sea of snooty SA faces. if zeyad worked at chanel, it would be perfect. that mofo likes to talk up a storm even though i don’t buy much from him. he’s really helpful, too.

goodbye

i sent back my poo poo colored dior wallet today. it is typical of me to always procrastinate a bit (not intentionally since i do feel anxious thinking about the things that i have to do until it gets done) but it happens. today, i finally had the opportunity to visit a local fedex shop to mail the wallet back. it felt good to do so though i'm a bit annoyed that i had to spend roughly 15 bucks (the cost of mailing the wallet back) just because i ordered something that i should have looked at first in person. another tally mark AGAINST online shopping!!!! let me count...that's like 3 tally marks already! ugh!

when i was in the shop, this woman in front of me had many of her personal items laying on the counter. i can tell you what she had: keys with a public library card attached to it, cell phone, planner, a few bills and coins (no wallet!)....AND no purse. what a mess. she started apologizing to me when she took a bit of time to gather her things at the end of her task. in my mind, i was thinking "stranger lady, might i recommend a purse for you? the kooba nina small shoulder bag in slade is pretty hot, though i only saw this online and if you only knew why i am here in the first place...but i digress. it's on sale now on eluxury for under 300 dollars. if i wasn't already traumatized by the poo poo colored dior wallet quite recently, i might have bought this myself."

well, the lady finally gathered her things and left and i FINALLY mailed the dior wallet back for a refund. so what is the lesson learned today? buy things online if you've already seen it in real-time AND we ALL need a purse...even some men do, too.

the revamped fanny pack

my friend owns a gucci belt bag. when i saw it on her, i thought, cute. when sarah jessica parker wore it on sex and the city, i thought "oh, cute." but when i saw it on a multitude of random people at a mall AND by brands other than gucci, i thought "NOT CUTE." stop rocking the fanny pack!! it IS a GLORIFIED fanny pack after all and fanny packs AREN'T hot! when i see a fanny pack, my mind runs through these three things:

1) you are a tourist
2) you are a fat, white tourist
3) you are a dork

sorry. gucci was able to pull it off...now, it's just ridiculous. do yourself a favor and stop looking like a fool. ugh.