Brand me

Yes, another story about buying stuff. What can I say, it's what I do best.

I still had a 50 dollar Sears gift card from my days as a travel counsellor. Needless to say, I've been itching to spend it but I wanted to get something substantial with it. I don't know what it is with Sears but their clothes are generally crap. I love my store a lot better (as it should be) but if not clothes then what could I get with my gift card? They have terrible shoe brands, I've got enough perfume and such to last me eons, they don't have cute underwear (again, with the crappy clothing)...I was stuck.

I almost spent it on a new Guess? purse...but as fate would have it when I went back to buy it it was already sold, which is just as well.

At least their watch selection is impressive. My store doesn't sell Swatch, but for some inexplicable reason Sears does. Other than that, they carry the same brands as us it's just a matter of selection at any given time.

So I decided to use the gift card towards a trendy timepiece that I have been contemplating since before last summer: a leather-cuff watch. Nevermind that I have way too many watches...and that they don't seem to help me get to places on time anyway. Ever since I discovered the Fossil store in Seattle (I didn't even KNOW there was such a thing as a Fossil store...bad news for a Fossil addict like me) I've been drooling all over the many different styles of watches they have. A much grander selection than I have ever seen here in Calgary. I regret not getting one while I was there. Not to mention that they seriously inflate the prices up here. Even though you're paying with US dollars down there you're still saving at least 20 dollars Canadian when you buy it there rather than here.

Basic economics also points out that the price is going to be dictated by how easy the product can be bought here. One of the watches I would like very badly is the Naughty by Nixon.

I've only seen Nixon watches being sold at one store in my city, and they're asking 165.00 for that beauty. A far cry from the 75 dollars US it's being sold for in the States. Anyway, I love that watch, 'tis true, but I'm not willing to pay that much for it.

And then I fell in lust with a Big Tic from beloved Fossil. I am now the proud owner of this gorgeous timepiece (well, in my opinion it's gorgeous).

And as fate would have it, the next day at my own store, I found this version of the Big Tic.

Oi, dilemma. I don't know which style I prefer! The white on black stands out so much more...but the blue tint of my current one is supercute, too. It's also easier to tell time on the black-faced one. I mean, that's why I'm wearing a watch in the first place, right? I could get the black one at a discount at my store...but returning this one to Sears would give me back another gift card. I'm sick of trying to find something to buy with that stupid gift card. And it's not like I don't love my Big Tic right now, I just don't know if I'd love that other Big Tic even more.

Maybe it's time to phone around for a product check at the other Sears stores before my day off.