Everyone closest and dearest to me know I love to shop. Shoes and bags are my especial weaknesses- just ask Jude. Whether I can afford to shop is another question, but having the will is never a problem. We're talking marathon, 6-hour straight, need-a-herbal-foot-bath-at-the-end-of-the-day kind of shopping here... So when faced with a relatively relaxed Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas just a month away, and family exactly 9399 miles (or 15124 km) away, what does a girl do? Online shopping of course...
Now everyone thinks of Amazon.com when they think shopping online which is natural since they're probably incomparable when it comes to books, CDs, DVDs, etc. But the thing that kills me is the shipping- we're talking an almost 20% hitch in price because of the delivery charge. They make up for it with huge discounts, but only on books that are popular. For those of us overseas who want to send books home, I recommend Acma Books. A group of English graduates from the National University of Singapore set up Singapore's first online book store about 4 years ago and I've been using them ever since. You may not find the great discounts that Amazon gives you but you save a ton on shipping. And the website's pretty cool too.
Oh, and I was way over the moon to discover that my favorite cake shop in Singapore not only has a website, they do local deliveries as well! The Patissier makes beautiful and absolutely drool-worthy cakes. My all-time favorite is their passion fruit meringue- just thinking of it gives me a sugar rush... They charge a S$10 delivery fee but that's negligible considering how difficult it is to order things like cakes and hampers and get them delivered from way out here. Trust us- it's a lifesaver.
As for our friends right here who fortunately don't have to worry about international shipping, I don't have to tell you about the tons of wonderful sites out there on which to spend those Christmas dollars. Jude & I just ordered stuff from Ann Arbor's own Zingerman's, a veritable institution in this town. They've got great food items (we recommend the sour cream coffe cake and lemon poppy seed cake) so if you've got foodie friends or family, trust us, this is THE place.
On a more altruistic note, check out this website from Robib, Cambodia. Buy their hand woven silk scarves and the proceeds don't only pay the weavers, but the profits also go to the local assistance programs. And they're really nice scarves too! Since we're on the topic of clothing, I have to give a shout out to my friend Sheryl who runs two clothing websites with gorgeous clothes and accessories. Bohemian Closet and Bohemeluxe specialize in vintage clothing and jewelry so go visit her- she's got really pretty stuff!
For those less coutre-inclined, check this store out- isn't everything so cute??!! Ok, so their pricing policy is clearly not realistic by any grad students standards, but... isn't everything so cute??!! Also, I know people out there tearing their hair out for that special someone- c'mon... admit it! If I were a girl waiting for a gift from a would-be beau, this would be nice. She's got pretty designs and they're all hand-made to boot. They might not be the most affordable things around, but you pay for the uniqueness of it I guess. If your girl prefers something edgier, our friend Shing has her own design studio. She thinks of herself more as an artist actually. She did our wedding rings (she calls them union rings) but I don't think she ships overseas though. And ladies, don't fret, Flax and MOMA should solve your problems for that man in your life. Even if he doesn't do the chores, he still deserves that one gift a year...
Most importantly, I finally found a site that puts together all the neat things we can get for kids. Oliebollen has everything from books to clothes to things for their rooms. Their tagline, "essentials for perfectly childish living" says it all. If I were a mum or an aunt with a healthy bank account...
So there, no one said shopping was for the faint-hearted. Just for the holiday season, I'll put all these sites up on the sidebar so people can access them easily. Happy shopping and watch that credit limit!
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