FINALLY!

So I've tried to go shopping about three times in Athens so far this vacation and ... nothing. Mystery novels, conditioner, and moisturizer had been the only things I'd bought so far. Fun sandals to replace the silver ones? No. Cool European bohemian maxi-dress? No. JEWELRY? No (but let's hold out some hope for that, because there are only eight more shopping days until my birthday). I mean, I won't be working next year, but the Greek economy is in the crapper, I have more money saved up than usual ... I'm practically THROWING my hard-earned euros at storeowners. Alas... I had decided to just stop looking for anything until today: I made three purchases!

First off, while walking (and walking, and walking), we passed by my favorite Athenian street (Ermou) and ended up at Nine West. Oh, look, turquoise sandals! I love turquoise! Bam!

I know, right? They're like walking on a cushion. That is my new favorite color. That goes with my jewelry. And my skirt. Just like that, I decided to renounce all sandals (even the gladiators!) and leave them in Athens just so I could bring home these beauties to the States. I'm that fickle. But look!

I will probably be wearing them tomorrow. And for the rest of my life. 

Upon deciding to take them, the saleslady informed us that if we got one other item, like a bag, we'd get 10% off the purchase. Never being ones to shy away from a challenge, both my husband and I zoomed in on an adorable salmon/pink handbag. BAM!

(it's less pink and fluorescent than it looks in this picture)

Cute, right? I've never brought it up on this blog, because it's a little too painful, but I love handbags. When I lived in Philadelphia, I had a million pouring out of my closet. When I moved in with my husband, I bought a new closet mostly to house my handbags. When I moved everything to New York, I was "the teacher with the cool bags" (at least, so I imagined it). Then I moved to Boston, where I have about three purses on rotation. Only one of them is big enough to hold my laptop. Another is my first and only designer handbag (Fluevog!) and it's gorgeous, black with turquoise trim (...what?), the third is a small, lady-like purse. Anyways, I like huge bags, the bigger the better, but I'm very excited to add this girly one to the rotation. It will be coming home with me. While I was staging this very official photo shoot in our upstairs bathroom, I opened it for the first time, and look:

An extra little purse and leopard lining!

As we skipped on to Monastiraki, I felt kind of bad for asking my husband to stop by another handbag store, as he had just generously bought me a pink handbag (yup, he paid for my stuff). He said that it was worth checking out and I prattled on and on about how the Holy Grail of handbags for me would be a nice grey leather one (just as it was for boots). I had a grey handbag for about two hours: I bought it with my grey leather booties from Aldo, but after a couple of months of very little use (also quite small), its zipper stopped working and I chucked it. So we get to this cool store and...well, call me Galahad:

Enormous? Check. Grey? Check. Different handle situations (including that one in the middle with the three ridges that I'm not quite sure how it works)? Check. Big enough to carry my computer? Along with the majority of my closet? Check and then some! Super on sale? CHECK!

I'm a rock star.