I grew up shopping in thrift stores and that thrill of digging through racks of clothing to find that one great item has never gotten old. While I still love thrifting, I also love hitting up stores like Marshall’s where you can get really cute brand new items at low prices. They have a relatively new section called The Cube which is stocked with lots of trendy and cute items.

I recently decided to go look for some Summer Fashions at Marshall’s The Cube and was quite surprised with what I found. The location near me had a lot of higher end brands in stock. Juicy Couture, J Brand Jeans, Paige Premium Denim, Paper Denim & Cloth, Roxy, House of Dereon, American Eagle, and Hollister Co. where all over the racks. In the footwear department, there were a lot of cute styles from Jessica Simpson, Chinese Laundry, Coach, and Steve Madden.

I ended up walking out with a pair of rinse wash jeans from Hollister Co. because, really, can you ever have enough dark wash denim? I have pairs in every cut and I think it’s always an important closet staple. The pair that I got retail in Hollister for $49.50, but I paid only $21.00 at Marshall’s. You really can’t beat that price. Even the higher end items were at affordable prices. The J Brand, Paper Denim & Cloth and Paige Premium Denim jeans were all under $100. The Juicy Couture velour zip ups were around $50. My biggest complaint about the location that I visited was their lack of size selection. There were less than 10 pairs of pants, no skirts, no shorts, and no dresses available in a size 0 or 2. I had my eye on these really cute Jessica Simpson sandals but, sadly, they didn’t have my size in stock. I’m just really glad that I found a great pair of jeans! I was very very tempted by a Lucky Brand Jeans handbag, but it was out of my price range. So, I also walked out with a bottle of BigSexyHair hairspray. Who can say no to any product from that line? Especially when it’s priced at $9.99.

Check out the The Cube website for locations near you. You never know what you’re going to find. Also, check out The Cube on Facebook for videos of Kelly from “OMG Shoes” featuring Marshall’s The Cube, pictures, and more.

Have you gone shopping at Marshall’s or their The Cube section before? What items did you pick up?

We all know that I’m a sucker for finding bargain prices on great items. With the economy in it’s current state, who isn’t? One place that I’ve found some great items at in the past is Marshalls, where I scored some very cute Coach flats in their Shoe Mega Shop for a steal of a price. On my last trip, I noticed a new clothing section called The Cube.

What I noticed right off about The Cube was that it was full of a lot of really trendy items and brands. A lot of times, you have to really dig to find these items, so it was great to have them all together in one area. They had current styles, like menswear items featured on the left, and really great prices. I’m not much into urban wear, but they had items from Baby Phat, House of Dereon, Apple Bottoms, and Ecko. They had skate and surf brands like Hurley, Volcom, Roxy, and Element. They also carried items by Betsey Johnson, American Eagle, Seven, and more. The selection was really great because it catered to all kinds of styles.

If you’re interested in checking out some great deals, definitely hit up The Cube at Marshalls. You can check for locations near you on their website. Read on to hear more about my shopping trip!

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Online shopping can be one of the most budget friendly ways to shop. You can compare prices, find reviews at ratings of a sites service, look for discount codes, and shop often better and bigger selections.

Some of my favorite sites out there for online shopping on a budget are Forever 21, Fred Flare, GoJane, Plastic Land, Sephora, and Urban Outfitters. At Forever 21, 21 random items are placed on sale for 20% off each day. Fred Flare offers unique items and they also have seasonal gift idea lists for all kinds of holidays and events. GoJane is great for those looking for of-the-minute trends at very hard to beat prices. Plastic Land offers a lot of vintage inspired items at low prices. Urban Outfitters carries lots of the sale items long after they have left the stores. While Sephora has a lot of perks that give you more for your buck.

Learn more about possible IT jobs in your area.

Over the past week I realized that it’s been just over a year since I turned a once much neglected personal blog into what it is now. In that time, I’ve invested a lot of energy into the site and learned a lot of new things. Since I’ve started writing for Sparkle Shelf, I know I’ve been a bit neglectful of this blog but, I promise that things will change. While I realize it’s a couple of weeks late, here’s my list of The Best of Logical Harmony in 2008. I’ve also included posts from Sparkle Shelf since they are in tune with the content here. Let me know what you think of these posts!

Make Up, Skin Care, & Hair
+ Beauty Trends from Alberta Ferrettis Fall Runway
+ Five Beauty Habits to Start Now
+ Four Products For Simple & Flawless Beach Beauty
+ Hair Styling In a Hurry
+ How To Get The Most From Your Eyelash Curler
+ How To Keep Your Skin Youthful
+ Jewel Tones For Eyeshadows and Eyeliners
+ Mascara Tips Part One
+ Nail Care Tips
+ Tips For a Flawless Safe & Sunless Tan
+ Tips For Flawless Natural Make Up

Fashion & Shopping
+ Clothing Quality Tips
+ Fashion Tips : Wardrobe Staples
+ How To Care For Your Handbag
+ How To Find Deals At Thrift Stores
+ How To Wear Fringe Boots
+ How To Wear Tall Boots
+ One Outfit : From Preppy to Edgy
+ Six Shopping Tips to Stay in Your Budget

Celebrity Style
+ Get The Look : Sophia Bush Lilac Eye Make Up Pt. 1
+ Get The Look : Sophia Bush Lilac Eye Make Up Pt. 2
+ Kim Kardashian : Flawless Nude Makeup For Fall
+ Nicole Richie’s Red Carpet Style
+ One Outfit : Inspired by Ashley Tisdale
+ One Outfit : Inspired by Courtney Love
+ One Outfit : Inspired by Pete Wentz
+ Star Style: How To Wear Wellies
+ The Best Casual Plaids For Fall : Inspired by Lauren Conrad
+ The Little Black Dress Two Ways With Jennifer Aniston & Jenny McCarthy

Networking & Other
+ The Best LiveJournal Communities for Beauty, Fashion & Life

With the holiday season up, gift giving is just around the corner. Getting a start now can save you some stress and money right now, too. While hitting up stores to shop can lead to a fun day, don’t forget that you can easily find a lot of great items and decent prices at your fingertips. Here is a list of some of my favorite Unique Online Retailers on the web.

Plasticland : Full of all kinds of fun, fresh, and unique items, Plasticland has something for everyone. As stated on the site, the online boutique was created as “an alternative to the super trendy, cookie-cutter fashions found at the mall. Both of us being artists, we craved a much more unique selection of products that would allow us to express our own individual style.” It would be the perfect place to find something for your offbeat but trendy friend. Some of the brands carried are Rock Steady Clothing, Kenzie Girl, Seychelles, Lux de Ville, and BC Footwear.

The Giant Peach : Music and fashion seem to go hand in hand. Especially now days when many top selling recording artists have their own clothing lines. In it’s own words, “The Giant Peach was created as a means for independent labels (with an emphasis on hip hop) and artists to produce their own line of garments and distribute it to the masses”. Any kind of urban wear that you are looking for, you can find here. Some of the brands carried are Harajuku Lovers, Hello Kitty, Zoo York, Toms, Upper Playground, Tokidoki, Eden by Element, and Hysteric Glamour.

80s Purple : What I love most about 80s Purple is the wide range of brands and styles they carry. In their own words, “80s Purple is known for its large spectrum of clothing, accessories, and sunglasses for men and women”. Again, lots of urban wear, but mixed with a wide variety of other currently hot styles. Some of the brands carried are Puella, Obey, Disney Couture, Kidrobot, Diesel and Converse by John Varvatos.

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One of the biggest trends this summer are T-Strap Sandals, like those pictured on the left. I’ve been searching for the perfect pair for months now. It seemed like everything I found was either too cheaply made, too cheap looking, or gorgeous and far too expensive. While out shopping in San Francisco, and on a mission to find some sandals, I decided to stop into a Marshalls to see if they had anything good. I’m a big fan of bargain shopping and think that checking clearance racks and discount stores is always a smart option. After all, shoes really can make or break an outfit. Being able to save a few bucks here and there by shopping smartly allows for you to expand your closet a bit more.

I was very surprised and happy to find out that this Marshalls was a Marshalls Megashoe Shop location. The shoe department was huge and featured a lot of really cute styles and lots of brands. Steve Madden, Roxy, Jessica Simpson, Rocket Dog, Ralph Lauren, Kenneth Cole, Guess, New Balance… The list goes on. The prices were amazing too. There was a pair of Jessica Simpson tan round toe pumps that I was seriously tempted by. Especially after seeing that they were only $39.99! There was also a pair of great looking oxford heels and summery wedges. However, I decided to not get distracted by all the awesome deals on high heels until I had checked out everything. After browsing the racks, I found not just one, but two pairs of sandals that were exactly what I was looking for. One is a basic patent braided gladiator t-strap style by Steve Madden, and the other are silver flip flop style Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes embellished with shells. Best of all, both were only $24.99 a pair! I just looked up the Steve Madden sandals online and saw that they retail for $69.95 in stores. They are both perfect paired with jeans, shorts, skirts, or dresses as both are casual enough for day time wear and chic enough for going out at night.

I got the Steve Madden Synapse sandals in Black Patent and the Kenneth Cole Reaction Sand Rings sandals in Silver.

I was looking online and they are having a contest right now. Match up the pairs of shoes (while browsing what the department actually does look like) and you have a chance to win a $250.00 Shopping Spree. If these cute sandals were only $24.99 a pair, I can only imagine what $250.00 would allow me to find there.

After recently purchasing a pair of Michael Kors slip-on sneakers, I have to say that I am currently infatuated with his work. The shoes surprised me by being not only incredibly cute (I can’t even count the number of compliments I’ve received), but also incredibly comfortable. Seeing as I am currently infatuated with his designs, I wanted to share news of the Michael Kors VIP Shopper Private Sale. This sale includes ready to wear clothing items, handbags, shoes, and accessories. Selected items are up to 50% off!

Pictured above are my three favorite items from the Ready To Wear section. They are all going to be great looks for the summer and even into the transition to fall. From left to right, these outfits are the : Michael Kors Safari Jacket & Flared Trousers, Michael Kors Long Cashmere Cardigan & Silk Pleated Skirt, and the Michael Kors Cropped Jacket & Audrey Skirt.

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across the blog of a girl embarking on opening her own boutique and blogging about the process. Since that is something that I want to do in the future, I was immediately intrigued. The boutique, Ooh La Luxe is now open for business and full of cute items. The boutique carries a variety of clothing from the labels Cohen Camden, Egoist, Jae Basilio, Plastic Island, Va Va Voom and Voom. Some of my favorite pieces are the Voom by Joy Han Luxe Babydoll Dress, Egoist Double Top, and the Plastic Island Twist Back Dress, which are pictured above from left to right.

Kim, who is a FIDM graduate, was kind enough to answer some questions for me about her boutique, the process of going from student to business owner, her summer must haves, and fashion in general.

Logical Harmony : Have you always been interested in fashion, or did the interest start at a particular point in your life?
Kim : It’s always been there. When I was really young, used to make costumes out of grocery bags (paper and plastic). And then when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade I started outlining barbie dolls on paper so I could make fashion “sketches”. I did go back and forth between which path in fashion I wanted to take, but it’s always been there.

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