Social Bloggers

Question for you bloggers out there: how active are you in the blogging community?

I spend a lot of time reading people's blogs, finding new blogs to read and jumping in on interesting discussions. I comment often - when I have something to say, that is - and wonder about the people who never seem to. Meaning, from a lot of the BIG blogs out there, I never see comments from these bloggers on my blog nor on many other people's blogs. It's like they have zero exposure in the blogging world apart from press clippings and their own blog. I guess it seems fair that not everyone has something to say and if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Also fair to say that these big bloggers probably just stick to their blogs that they know and don't have an inkling (or time) to venture out and read/visit new ones. Being too popular can be a pain sometimes, I'm guessing.

I don't know - I think the blogging world has become very self-centered, as of late. Which is an oxymoron in itself considering that OF COURSE it is self-centered, these are all blogs about ourselves! That irony aside though, I still think it is very important to maintain a sense of community in the blogging world and to be an active member in those communities. Because blogs by nature are all about the blogger (there are exceptions of course!), then maintaining a sense of "sharing" rather than "telling" is very important. I think.

It seems almost sad when you see this popular bloggers who are peppered with all this undying praise from their "fans" that they probably don't have the desire to at least acknowledge the person and where they came from. Occasionally it seems that some just want to brag about their latest expensive purchases (without humilty) and roll around in the comments. It's so impersonal in a way - we blog to connect so you would think it would be a two-way street, to keep the connection going.

But on the other hand, I really appreciate other "big bloggers" who do make the effort to visit other people's blogs and become more involved (such as Krystal, Budget Babe, Maegan and Fashion Chalet, Marian, Clothes Horse, to name a few, you guys are fabulous!).

I know when people comment on my blog, I always make an effort to at least once a week check out the people whose blogs I haven't heard of before or whose blogs aren't on my blogroll. They went through the trouble to read my blog and leave me some feedback, I just like to know a bit more about the person and see what they have to say.

What about you? Is it a hassle to read your reader's blogs? Too exhausting (so many blogs out there!) Or do you like to make the rounds and make sure you know what's going on out there in all these seperate worlds, whether you comment or not?

In other news, I've been stuck on this maddening journey to get a pair of Modern Vintage boots.

The great Budget Babe alerted me to Shopflick and this most awesome sale they were having on a pair of Modern Vintage Butero Booties. I had been looking for a pair of flat leather ankle boots and these were it, with buttery soft leather and ruching details. And what a steal, marked down from $295 to $44, and in my size too!

Only problem was my usual problem with online shopping: they don't ship to Canada. But I was able to provide them with my US post box in Point Roberts, Washington where I could easily go and pick them up on a weekend.

Well, the order went through. Then it took about two weeks for the boots to ship (shopflick's supplier, plumstyle, had problems locating the boots). Then they noticed I had a PO box so they couldn't use UPS. Then it shipped out - finally - by USPS.

I tracked it and saw it arrived at Lopez Island, WA. Now, I know that's not Point Roberts but I assumed that because it is surrounded by the San Juan islands, that it could be like a district name or something.

So after the boots had been there for 5 days, my mom and I went across the border on Saturday to pick them up. We went to the PO box, got the delivery notice and went to the counter with it. The woman at the counter than proceeded to give us a lecture on the package..."We only hold for 14 days, this time is the exception, it won't happen again here, etc"

I wanted to point out that the package had only been there for 5 days, but whatever.

So we get in the car and head towards the grocery store to get some milk and eggs (cheaper in the states) and I notice that the sender on the label says 'Forever 21 Inc.'

That's strange, I think, I guess Forever 21 owns Shopflick/Plumstyle or wherever these boots came from.

Then I open the box, expecting to see my boots but instead I see Forever 21 tissue paper wrapped around all these clothes.

WTF IS THIS? Where are my boots? And why do I have these clothes from Forever 21?

My mom is equally confused and is accusing me of buying more clothes again WHICH I DID NOT. But then it hits me.

A month ago I placed an order on the American Forever 21 site because the Canadian version sucks. They had all this great stuff that we didn't have, plus Twelve by Twelve which I always had a fancy for. Anyhoo, I placed my order and then had F21 email me saying that unless I jumped through all these card verfication hoops, they would not bill me or send me the package. I guess because my credit card was canadian but the address was american they had some issue (even though I did it that way last year) and I had to call my bank, find some code, provide the code, fax a copy of my card and id....no thanks! This was a sign that I was not meant to have the clothes. I remember then ordering stuff on the Canadian site instead (not as nice stuff though) and cancelling the order with the american one. Forget it, I told them.

Anyhoo, I guess the economy is affecting sales because apparently they put my order through anyway and here I am with a box of clothes that I wasn't supposed to have. And yes, they had been sitting in the post office for a month so no wonder the woman gave me a lecture!

But that still didn't solve the mystery of the boots. Where were they?

So we went back to the post office and discovered that Shopflick/Plumstyle shipped my boots TO THE WRONG ADDRESS! The wrong Zip code, in fact. We have no idea where Lopez Island even is! So as soon as I got home (after my mom and I donned all of the clothes from the box in order to fool Canadian customs and have nothing to declare) I looked up my boot order and I did supply them with the right address so obviously someone on their end made a HUGE boo-boo.

Now, I don't mind waiting even LONGER for these damn boots, I'm just afraid that someone else is going to claim them! Could it be, these boots and I are never meant to be?

I'll keep you updated. The people at Plumstyle are on it and being very nice about it so hopefully I can have some info on the missing/possibly abducted boots soon.

Meanwhile, I absolutely fell in love with Twelve by Twelve's stuff! So much better quality and design than original F21. I got this gorgeous nude cardigan with sheer back panels (Sheer + Nude = two 2009 trends right there) and vintage-style buttons and paired that with my sequin forever 21 dress/tunic (from the Muse post, yesterday) to kind of keep a lady-like check on the rock and roll style. The cardigan also went awesome with my new nude leather wedges from manufacture d'essai...







Today I paired the cardigan with a silky, khaki Twelve by Twelve bubble skirt with pockets (love pockets, so slouch-inducing), an olive F21 one tank and cheetah print pony-haired Tory Burch Reva Flats...Safari attempt #2?




Rounding out the rest of my purchases was a gorgeous green cardigan (more pockets, yay!), a yellow linen skirt which bunches in the wrong places, black/navy (I can't tell) wide-leg linen pants with a foldable yogastyle waistband (tres flattering and comfy) and an H81 striped dress that reminds me of that crazy Fruit Stripe Gum.

Quite the score considering it was an accidental purchase, though I admit it did leave me with a sense of guilt. I mean, I felt proud of myself for cancelling the order and not spending more money that I don't have and yet these clothes still found their way to me. I guess if Modern Vintage and I aren't star-crossed lovers, I'll always have Forever 21.