my feet are propped up on my aunt's teak bench and i'm nursing the aches and pains brought about by a day's worth of shopping at 168. what can i say? i was barely able to buy anything, except for a couple of presents for some people, a cheap pair of cap toe quilted ballet flats in black and white, and a fake lesportsac tokidoki gym bag. virtually empty-handed, don't you think?

well, empty handed but i must say that i am now in serious fake-bag lust over a gucci jolicoeur medium tote which costs a whopping (for me it's "whopping") P2,800 (and that's after tawad, mind you). i checked the web the moment i got home and they got everything, down to the last stitch, perfect. so perfect that had i been shown the bag at an office christmas party over at ACCRA or sycip, i might have actually thought it was the real thing. but then again, since i work at the court of appeals and since my boss hasn't bought her first gucci yet, i'm sure people won't hesitate to think my bag's a knock-off.

the even sadder thing is that ever since last night, i've been having major bag cravings in the form of a major longing for an lv speedy 40. turns out it costs $670 only, which, given the low us dollar exchange rate costs a little less than P28k only if i buy it online. thank goodness it's out of stock online... otherwise i might have probably bought it without really thinking.

i am horrible with money, i tell you.

anyway, the christmas balikbayan boxes (they sent two boxes this year!) from my parents finally arrived last tuesday and they satiated my label lust by sending over this gorgeous dooney and bourke medium sac in the anniversary quilt (brown and amber). and, no self-respecting shoe addict will allow her parents to send a box without shoes so i'm now the proud owner of five new pairs of shoes, not to mention an extra pair of rubbershoes i didn't know about and gorgeous pink galoshes. i <3 my mom and dad --> my parents are clearly feeding my addiction, don't you think?

i'll be braving the malls again this coming weekend for presents. so far, i think i've gotten through ten percent of my list. hopefully, i don't run out of money before i'm able to get through the entire list.

advanced happy weekend!