Shopping Spree ~City Place~

City Place is a beautiful little stroll through high end shops in West Palm Beach. Though I can rarely afford to satiate my shopping addiction there, I thought that with a little money in my pocket and a few set items in mind, I could pull it off. Besides, my friend M. (with whom I love to shop) was free Sunday, so I thought I'd take advantage of the company on the drive and the spree.

As we walked in and out of stores, gabbing, enjoying each others' company, I abruptly realized that it was an hour into the shopping adventure, and we had bought nothing all day but... Starbucks! Were we actually... forgetting to spend money?! But how? I had been in the market for a new watch and designer sunglasses (I make this distinguishment not to be a jerk but because I'm a trigger-happy sunglass junkie - I have loads of cute, cheap versions, but I always need one solid pair that will survive the season); I'm also perpetually on the daunting quest for that perfect white dress and some unique blue shoes (wedges or something like these). And even if I hadn't needed those particular items, I feel it would have been downright wrong to walk away from a City Place spree with only the remains of a frozen liquid treat with which to mark it. This simply had to be amended. We were armed with credit cards and caffienated enough to do some damage.

Once I forced myself to focus on the task at hand, and with much of M.'s enabling, I picked up:


DKNY two-tone twisted watch, $75. (My price: $60 with applied sales and Macy's Card discounts.)


D&G sunglasses, $134. (My price: $91 with applied sales and Macy's Card discounts.)

So for about $150 I managed to score the two major items I was hoping to buy! That's a serious reward for a focused shopping effort. My favorite store in the strip is Anthropologie; M. favors Betsy Johnson. Before leaving, M. and I wandered down the Clematis strip of shops and restaurants (mostly dead on a Sunday afternoon- hey, free parking!- but definitely more renowned for its night life) and ended up having late lunch at a cute little pizza shop called "Pizza Girls" on Flagler, bringing my grand total of the day to $160 (..quality time with an old friend? priceless). We sat on the edge of the intercoastal, which runs along Flagler, and we rested to enjoy dusk and wrap up the chatfest against a gorgeous backdrop with the ambience of a light breeze carrying the scent of ocean:



At the risk of sounding like an ad for Florida tourism, I strongly recommend: if you're in the West Palm Beach area, be sure to stop by City Place. A free trolley runs between there and the river every 15 minutes. Bring a friend and your Starbucks card.