Pumped Up - Again

Tracking down pointy toe high heel (aka stiletto heels) black suede pumps has been a difficult endeavor in recent months. Living in New York City I thought it would be easy to slip into a store, pick out, try on (size 7 or 7.5) and leave with a pair of these pumps. It has been a few years since I've worn such shoes, attributable to the pandemic.* A change in my lifestyle during the pandemic hit me from head to toe. But with the pandemic less intrusive, loving that I'm taller in stiletto heels and going out more I decided to freshen up my shoe selection. Not so fast though! (*pandemic is not officially over? Right?).

My difficulty in finding black suede stiletto heels might be due to:

• These aren't being manufactured as much as they were during the pre-pandemic. Of course I don't know. Just a guess. The pandemic brought about, or reinforced the trend of wearing comfortable things: sneakers, slippers and all kinds of flats.

• Manufacturers might be focusing on trendier high heel styles such as platform ankle strap pumps. Check out the Versace and Valentino styles. The heel height is over 5 inches, along with a 2 plus inch platform. These are pretty shoes but too trendy for me.

• These pointy toe high heel suede shoes might not be popular with buyers anymore and manufacturers have responded accordingly, with fewer being available.

I'm not a quitter when it comes to hunting for shoes to try on in a store! Even if I'm buying an exact replacement of a pair of shoes I already own, I like to try on the potential new pair. Therefore, shoe shopping on the internet doesn't work for me.

The Saks Fifth Avenue website site had an adequate selection of pointy toe high heel black suede pumps when I looked last week. However, next to most of these shoes, it stated "Pick Up Not Available At New York" I thought it was worth a try to see if the Saks website was wrong, and maybe a nice assortment would be available in the Saks Fifth Avenue New York store.

When I reached the 8th floor shoe salon I slowly circled the floor hoping to locate black suede high heel pumps. There were just a few on display and I snatched them. Within a few minutes I was assisted by a helpful associate. Shortly thereafter he brought out a few shoe boxes. I found the perfect pair: The Manolo Blahnik BB 90 Suede pumps in black suede.

Some Of My Favorite Things

Home fragrances, especially scented candles have become an important part of my daily life. I've been a perfume wearer since high school and for about a decade my signature scent has been "Beautiful" by Estee Lauder. (Maybe I keep using Beautiful because I receive numerous compliments when wearing it.) Though set in my ways with wearing a certain fragrance, I'm eager to experiment with a range of home fragrances. Simply put candles help me relax and make me feel good. There is lots of reporting regarding the benefits of home fragrance. I've skipped those articles and posts and have been finding that out first hand.

Experimenting with different brands and fragrances is something I look forward to doing. I don't do much research prior to purchasing. To a marketer's delight, most of my purchases are based on just the name of the fragrance, reading what is on the packaging and evaluating the design of the candle.

I've been a lover of the NEST New York brand of candles for quite some time. And I'm partial to their 3 wick candles. A favorite fragrance is Moroccan Amber, which to me is an overpowering scent. Yet there is something delightful about the strong scent that comforts me. Love it! Since I want to experiment with other NEST New York fragrances I've moved on to this scent in the reed diffuser form. There are several Moroccan Amber reed diffusers in my bedroom. A friend of mine told me this scent is not calming and urged me to replace it with a scent such as lavender. I think the recommendation is "nonscence." Use what you like!

Getting back to my practice of not doing research about candle scents prior to purchasing, I have attended a few of NEST New York's live evening shopping nights via the internet hosted by Laura Slatkin, the founder of the company She describes the scents and the types of products such as candles, reed diffusers, misting diffusers and lotions. I've found the sessions a little too much focused on selling. However, I'm unsure a fragrance shopping event could be free from selling and I've concluded these are fabulous events.

At the last NEST New York live shopping event Ms. Slatkin focused on several scents. Subsequent to the event I purchased an autumn plum 3 wick candle. As a side note, I purchase the majority of this brand's products at Bloomingdale's. My initial feeling about this candle was it had a "fake- manufactured"smell and blew out the flame. But when I returned time and again to burning the candle my feelings about it changed. The burning candle gave me a warm feeling and this is now one of my favorites.

In the late summer I became a big fan of the Wild Mint and Eucalyptus scent. (Pictured in the green box). For a few weeks in a row I had to have a 3 week candle of this scent burning in my living room. It might have helped manage my stress! The next NEST New York candle on my agenda is Charcoal Woods (pictured on the grey box). Once that one is finished, I'm going to again try other home fragrance brands. Then-- right after Thanksgiving I'll be lighting anther favorite-- NEST New York's 3 wick Holiday scented candle. This candle really does bring good vibes during the holiday season.

Do you have a favorite home fragrance? What is it? I'd love to hear your recommendations.

Shopping at Bloomingdale's-The Ups And Downs

In my last post I explained my pleasure with the attentive service of an associate at an optician, Robert Marc, NYC. I didn't make a purchase there and noted when I do need prescription glasses, that would be the first place I'd visit to buy them. A shopping outing at another retail outlet turned out to be the opposite experience.

A few weeks ago I went shopping at Bloomingdale's on 59th Street in Manhattan. I was on a mission to buy clothes for the office, where for months I've been working three days a week. Oh boy! My experience with a few of the sales associates left me exhausted and perplexed.

On the second floor I was pestered by a sales associate wanting to hold the items I selected. No, thank you I told her. And said it again. I wanted to hold on to the few pieces until I decided I really wanted to try them on. When finally opting to try on I fled to another part of the floor as I didn't want to be bothered while in the fitting room. Yet, another sales associate appeared. Though, happily she stepped back once she knew I wanted to be left on my own. I selected a dress and brought it to this sales associate to ring up the sale. Mission accomplished.

On the third floor I was greeted by a sales associate standing around the escalator. She then followed me through parts of the third floor. I felt uncomfortable and didn't want her to keep following me so I did not try on anything on and left the floor. See you later Lafayette 148 NEW YORK.

My next stop was the fifth floor, the shoe department. This department is hit or miss when interacting with a sales associate. Sometimes I circle the area for five to ten minutes trying to find someone to help me and at other times two to three sales associates in quick order ask me if I need help. Oddly, this does not matter how many customers are on the floor. I recall times when there were just a handful of people shopping and I couldn't find help; while at other times the floor could be full of shoppers and there were plenty of sales associates asking me if I needed help. This time nobody asked if I needed help and I didn't find anything I want to try on. I was let down there weren't enough solid black high heel pumps. (Especially those with pointy toes). Perhaps Bloomingdale's views these as commodity items and focuses selling them on the website. I hope not and if so, it should reconsider.

About a week or so after this store visit, via email I received a questionnaire about my store visit. The ratings I listed in the questionnaire were quite low. When asked for written comments, for the most part, I filled in what I described above. A few days later a Business Manager at the 59th Street store sent me an email. In addition to apologizing for my unsatisfactory experience, she competently addressed each of the points I brought up. Also, she nicely asked for some more information. I provided more input and again she promptly and professionally responded.

The above listed some irksome points about Bloomingdale's. However, in a number of ways I'm a big fan of the Bloomingdale's. Of course, that happens when not followed by sales associates. I like: (1) The merchandise assortment, breadth and depth is a big plus. (Yet not enough of this in the physical store) (2) The Bloomingdale's senior leadership and the store level management are responsive, upbeat and always seeking ways to improve anything that involves the customer.

As a special note, Tony Spring, the Chairman and CEO, quickly responded (on a Saturday!) to several of my emails. One of them concerned the extensive problem I had with using e-gift cards in the store. And back in 2013, when he was the President of Bloomingdale's he personally and rapidly responded when I notified him to complain the sales associate was unaware of a promotion on certain merchandise lines. Others in "lower" positions were as speedy in being in touch with points that needed attention.

My impressions of #Bloomingdale's outlined above included a few ups and downs. What are your impressions of Bloomingdale's and have they changed recently?