I've been in the mood for cleaning products. For me, for my house, clean, clean, white glove squeaky clean. The other day I spent $4.99on countertop spray at TJM. Now, we all know we can buy Fantastik or 409 for about $2.50, but the TJM stuff is *organic*. Whoa. And it has some kind of oil in it to combat odors (won't dust stick to oil?) Well, I'll tell you -- this countertop spray smells divine! That alone is worth the price of admission. It's cleaning effectiveness is so-so, but it sure smells good.

I am also buying new hair products that promise to contol my curl, tame my frizz, and make my hair gleam. I've bought about 10 in the last two weeks. Tonight i combed through the TJM toiletries department looking for hair magic (or countertop spray if no hair magic is to be had). I found some Nioxin gel for $6.99. I put it on when my hair was wet and so far no frizz. Where's the gleam? I'll tell you later when my hair completely dries.

They had this Tahari T-shirt marked down to $20. It was lavender and only had a design in the front. I decided I could live without it and $20 was too much for a casual t-shirt.

Don't you know I was shopping on line and saw similar t's at e-tailers for $$$. So I ran back to get one and they were all gone.

In fact, I was surprised, but they had very few t-shirt type tops. Almost everything was dressy.

I read Lucky Magazine, and I saw something from almost all the trends Lucky identified. Like, Lucky identified clothes with crochet trim. There were lots of tops like that, around $20. They mentioned metallic. There was a Dana Buchman jacket for $249 with a wrap sash that was stunning albeit expensive. And some long-sleeve metalic BCBG shirts (it's gets to be 90 degrees here mighty fast, so I can't see the point of buying anything with long sleeves). Lucky talked about lace as a trend. They had these really cute tops with lace over a background. And artsy prints. They had those too.

I did score something wonderful in the toiletries department. Have you ever smelled Heno de Pravia? It's a lotion/bath gel/powder, etc from Spain. Ooooo it smells wonderful! So fresh and just wonderful. I found a bottle of the hydrating gel at Ross and that's how we were introduced. Well, I've never seen it at Ross (or anywhere else) since. But there, waiting for me at TJM today, was a big huge bottle of Heno de Pravia hydrating gel.

It was a good day after all.

I had to get out today. TJM is my usual destination. I went through the clothes looking for something that "takes my breath away." (remember? that's my buying criterion).

I bought a pair of Jones NY white (washable yaaayy!) linen pants with a sash belt. They looked pretty good. I am in between sizes on them so I bought "up." They are still cut a little shallow in the crotch, resulting in a "V" at the beltline in the back. Oh how I hate that but it seems to be my lot in life.

But I sited some pretty cool high-end pieces. There was a pullover sweater in navy with cream piping by Iceburg. The name "Iceburg" was embroidered in navy and was a little bit of a detraction. Then they had a bunch of some real Emilio Pucci sweaters, blouses, skirts (or wide belts, I couldn't tell, but whatever not for my body), and dresses, all tiny sizes. They also had Missoni jackets and sweaters. All the Missoni stuff was the same price ($249) no matter what it was (wierd...). Some of them were outerwear jackets and were interesting, like a lime neon green anorak with a colorful striped Missoni-style lining.

I rifled through the clearance rack in hopes of discovering that renegade "Runway" piece on ridiculous clearance and in my size. That happens, oh, about once every year. One time I found a pair of $1325 Armani gray satin paperbag pants reduced to $50. They were size 50 (fifty!!!) which I bought even though they are monstrously big. I think paperbag pants are supposed to be big. And my ego got the best of me here - I want something Armani that is big enough for me to get into (a rare find indeed). I found some Vera Wang markdowns but they were damaged and/or too small.

It's a real shame how some of the clothes and merch in TJM gets abused and ruined in the store. Some of those designer things are works of art. And some of the high end pots and pans are heirloom quality, but get scratched from handling on the shelves.

Other designer stuff is really made pretty weak, if you ask me. Paper thin fabric that snags or stretches, unlined jersey showing every bump, and light color stuff that needs to be dry cleaned. What are they thinking? Well, not practically, IMO.

So what do you think? Is the runway stuff worth it?

Here is some more. I got this white Italian patent leather bag with chain hangle at Marshall's. I love love love this bag. I actually got it with TJM reward $$ from using their credit card.

These are going to be my summer shoe wardrobe, two pair from Icon (not at TJM).

Lastly, here is that frothy blouse the cashier gave me grief about. I saw it in another TJM today, not marked down, for $79.99. It had a cami underneath (missing on mine). I *still* like it, no matter what he says!

I really do have fun pulling this all together. My current job lets me work at home a lot, so I probaby don't need all this stuff for work. Oh well, I'm incorrigible,

Hi! Here is some of what I was talking about. First is a Kay Ungar dress that I want the tops to go with (no, I didn't get it at TJM).

Next is the same dress with the yellow cardigan from TJM to make it more work appropriate

Here is a detail of the yellow and white design on the cardigan. It's subtle, and I like how it goes with the yellow and white in the dress.

This is an Akris dress (also not from TJM) with the warm orange cardigan. I think I could easily wear the yellow cardigan with this as well.

This is another of my new spring additions, which could be worn with either cardigan.

Last time I went to TJM I didn't have time to try anything on, so I bought 5 things right off the rack. I used my TJM credit card, so if/when I spend enough, I get 5% back. Whooo hooo. Anyway, back went the yellow and white AK Anne Klein blouse and the one with the funny tie. I still can't bring myself to part with the yellow AK cardigan or the orange short sleeve cardigan. They fit so well, and I think I have a bunch of things to wear both with. I only need one, but it's too hard to decide which.

BTW, I follow makeupalley.com. Someone on the Perfume Board found Balmya by Balmain at TJM for $7.99! Others have scored Jolie Madame. I haven't found them at mine : - [ I love Balmain perfumes.

I shop by the theory of breathlessness. If it takes my breath away, it's meant for me. I know right away when I see the perfect thing. The thing that fits well, is versatile, good quality, relatively easy to take care of and well priced. But more than that - it has something different and interesting about it. Maybe it's the shape or the color, or the detail in the seams, or the buttons. Whatever that unusual thing is, I always know it when I see it. But how many times do I go shopping and settle for less because I cannot find something that takes my breath away?

I've been looking for a yellow sweater. Well, not really a sweater, a cardigan that is more like a jacket. But not like a jacket because that will be too hot and bulky. Something like a shirt. But a shirt that looks like a jacket. With short sleeves. But it needs to be washable and not need ironing, like a sweater. A sweater that looks like a jacket.

In yellow.

Why is that so hard to find?

I want to wear it over some dresses when I wear them to work so that they are more office-appropriate. But I want it to have color pop. Thus yellow. White is nice, but obvious. Cream is, well, blah. Royal is too dark. Orange is good, probably will look good with my coloring. But Summer 2008 is yellow. I want yellow.

Today I yanked five tops off the racks at TJM without even trying them on: a yellow round-neck cardigan (with white print) by AK Anne Klein for $39.99. Eh. It doesn't really look like a jacket, it looks like a prim and proper cardigan. I probably won't keep it. I also bought an AK Anne Klein chiffon shirt with puff sleeves and ruffles in the same yellow and white print. If it looks jacket-y when I try it on, I'll consider it. Maybe a belt will make it look jacket-y. I also bought the perfect sweater, just what I've been looking for, but in orange. Will orange suffice or will I spend all spring hunting for a yellow sweater? It looked like a crochet weave with a single button on the neck, and was only $19.99.

I also made two impulse buys. One is a brightly colorful short sleeve polyester blouse with a matching tie. I think it's a tie. It's not immediately obvious what to do with the two pieces of fabric attached to the blouse.

The second is a designer silk chiffon blouse, totally transparent with beading and chiffon frills and froth around the neckline. Absolutely gorgeous, marked down from $129 to $29. I have no occasion to wear it and I totally don't need it. But it took my breath away. It's mine.

The cashier was a man, and he actually asked me why I was buying it. You can see through it. It has no label in it (thus no designer value). It is totally impractical. Mid scan he stopped and asked me if I was sure I want to buy it. I started to wonder myself.

But I bought them. Another thing I like about TJM is their return policy. I didn't have time to try them on, so I'll try them in the comfort of my home and easily return the ones I don't want.

What a wierd cashier.

I might as well blog because TJM is a regular part of my life. Whatever kick I'm on, I seem to find something for it there. Between TJM, Marshall's, and Home Goods, I'm stocked. For example, when I am on a jewelry kick, whether high end, silver, or costume, it's there. Well, not that high end, but if you know your stuff, you can find some designer stuff there like Scott Kay and Lagos. When I was on a cooking kick, I got EVOO, balsamic vinegar, and All-Clad and Calphalon pots and pans there. When I want a bag, they have about the best selection of Italian imports anywhere, even department stores (which tend to carry brand names rather than the no-name but very well made and gorgeous Italian imports). And for clothes, well, it's about the only place I can find a selection of anything in Size 14 (most designers don't want their stuff seen on anyone who wears bigger than size 12). So there.

Some things I wish were better there: Their bras. They have a thousand bras, all hastily thrown up on the rack in no particular order. I wear an uncommon size, and I have to rifle through hundreds of disorganized bras to find anything in my size, let alone decide whether it's something I like or want. Bottom line - I stopped looking. I get my bras from stores where it's easy to see the selection in my size. Another complaint - I would buy the runway stuff but it is in TINY TINY sizes, size 2s to 8s could look like a million bucks, but us 12-14s are OOL.

I never understood that either. When you look at the clearance racks, the sizes with the most markdowns are the small ones. That suggests that there are not many larger sizes left to mark down. I'm not talking about plus size, which there is a decent selection of. I'm talking about "Large," and 14-16, 14 in particular. And there's a *lot* of small size clothing that goes unsold at full price. Hello? Anyone notice this?

OK, so what are your favorite things about TJM? What are your gripes?