Ain't That America?

Def Leppard t-shirt in the girls' section at Target in Easton, PA. Who is the target audience for this supposed to be? The band peaked by 1990 at the latest, so a nostalgic mom of a school aged girl would have been, what...tops 10 years old when "Hysteria" was on the charts?

Thanksgiving Chugs Along

Holidays are for sleeping on the couch with your favorite pet. Here are TR and Valentino, enjoying an early evening nap.

Earlier today TR and I hit Wegman's and Target. For your typical suburbanite these trips are mundane, but for city slickers such as ourselves they were adventures in consumerism.

Me, in Wegman's, in awe of the size of the place.


Wegman's has a section of "international foods" and so they included tea in the British section. No stereotypes there!


Last time I checked Tazo tea wasn't from England. Isn't it from Starbucks?


We just don't have in-store displays like this in NYC


Just seeing these made me feel 30% more Christmas-y.


After Wegman's we hit Target, where I actually got some gifts for some relatives and some goodies for myself. Target is the most fun you can have in discount shopping.

And if anyone's been looking for me, either over e-mail or phone, please know that since I'm out of town, I'm not answering much in the way of e-mail. Like my two beasts, Peppe and Valentino, I am enjoying a few long naps. I'll deal with you all in a few days.

And this? This is the piece of flourless chocolate cake that wouldn't leave me alone all afternoon. It's so good I could wear it.

Some Observation's About Target Clothing

Target Department Store, originally uploaded by Tortuga One.

Today I made the mistake of going to the Target in Stamford, CT. Under normal circumstances I love Target, because you can literally buy everything you need under one roof without suffering the shame of shopping at WalMart.

One of the biggest draws to Target, especially for a city gal such as myself, is all the Isaac Mitzrahi clothing on offer. A few years ago Isaac came out of left field with his designs for the chain, and now he even does wedding dresses for them.

I've walked out of Target with some great clothes from their women's deaprtment, things that I get compliments on every time I wear them. I am, however, wondering if Target is becoming a victim of its own success. Target, as I mentioned before, is a wonderland of finds for women who really like clothes and accessories. Almost all of my fashionista friend in NYC often say things like, "I have to go to the 'burbs this weekend, but at least I can go to Target."

Today, though, I realized that Target has gotten to a point where they're pretty much throwing the Isaac name on anything and calling it art. The thing is, for people such as myself who follows trends, we see that Target has reached a new low. Today the Stamford store was riddled with bad trapeeze dresses and poorly constructed babydoll shirts, which make everyone look pregnent and are very last year.

I realize that I shouldn't have high hopes for a place like Target, since it is, at its core, a discount chain, but I'm wondering where in the marketing/corporate machine did someone make a decision to start putting out sub-par clothes, even if they are made in China? Marketers are smart to put a designer's name on an inexpensive line (I'm looking at you, H&M) but consumers are also smart enough to realize when a garment is just cheap, and even not worth the $20 price tag.

That's all I have to say about that. On my way home I stopped by Anthropologie, which leans towards overpriced, but at least their fabrics are of higher quality and won't give me a rash.