Offline...

For starters, this is my 200th post! Holy moly. Who knew I'd have that much to say?? Don't answer that.

Do you buy a lot of things online sight unseen? I have never been much of an online shopper. I must be a glutton for a punishment because I can't seem to end my affair with actually going to the stores, sifting through sale racks, trying on 10 things to have most of them look terribly unflattering on me and then piling back into my 170 degree car with my purchases. Wouldn't it be so much easier to sit in my air conditioned study, click through sale pages while sipping on my mango tea and wait impatiently for my package to arrive? I mean, who else loves the thrill of driving home and looking in your mail box for the package slip or glancing at your front door as you pull into the driveway for that big brown box? Am I alone here?

But I have to be honest....I have RARELY had a successful online shopping experience. There. I said it. I can't say I've bought too many things online, but I also can't tell you of one single time when I received something that I bought sight unseen and wasn't slightly surprised at how small, not cute, different than I though, rhinestones on the pockets or I was just downright duped.

Like the one time I bought these jeans from White House Black Market. Now, I wear there clothes and I've worn their jeans. They fit me great, I know my size, so I figured it was foolproof. I found some great deals online, bragged about it in a fabulous find and then bought most of it for myself. :) What can I say? I practice what I preach! So I ordered the jeans, they were a great dark wash and when they came in and I opened the package....gasp! They had these red and black rhinestone flower things on the back pocket!! I mean, honestly. Truth be told I would have never bought them in the store, but they were mine now so I wore them with pride. They ended up being one of my favorite pair of jeans.

A not-so-successful purchase were the individual hand soaps I purchased for my guest bathroom when Dave and I first got married. I literally didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I opened the box. I think I cried and I think EVERYONE else who saw them laughed! It was the TINNIEST thing you have EVER SEEN! Ever. I literally could not believe I had spent one dime on it. (And I had spent about $35-$40!!! I even e-mailed the company telling them that their marketing was totally misleading and that I was very disappointed in the product. Of course I never heard anything back from them. And because it was "personalized" with our name on the paper surrounding the tiny sliver of soap I couldn't return it. I was burned.

Online shopping seems SO easy, I just can't seem to completely get on board. I guess I don't totally trust it after the unfortunate soap incident and I also don't enjoy paying the additional shipping and handling when I feel like I can just run to the mall and get virtually the same thing. So what about you? Do you do most of your shopping in the stores or online? Am I missing the boat here?

PS....don't forget to enter the giveaway before 8:00am CST tomorrow! I'll be using the Random Integer Generator. Sign up now! As a side note....I will be ordering your stamp ONLINE! All of the fabulous tamps were found on ETSY, but don't worry....I ordered one for myself and have already received it and it is just fabulous! I couldn't help it, I needed to try it out! After all of those online ordering horror stories I just told you you didn't think I would let YOU be the guinny pig did you? I took it for the team. :)