Metropolitan Opera Online Store

The Metropolitan Opera online store offers opera lovers a selection of music, apparel, jewelry, and other exclusive products, including pieces inspired by the Met's history, architecture, and productions. All purchases made at http://www.metoperashop.org/ support the Metropolitan Opera. Here's a couple of interesting gifts you may want to pick up this holiday season.

La Bohème (2CD) $34

Opera Singer Tote $32

Purple Mallory Clutch $240

Curtain Design Business Card Holder $35

Mozart Jewelry Box $260

"Das Rheingold" Print $70

Met Lobby Note Cards $20

Lord & Taylor Friends and Family Discount

Get 25% off almost anything in the store this week from Wed 10/21 to Sunday 10/25.

Click here to print the coupon to use in the store. If you are shopping online use the promo code: FRIENDS at checkout.

Use it on something awesome like this Michael by Michael Kors Layton Large Leather Satchel $398

Free DKNY Carryall at Neiman Marcus

Receive a Neiman Marcus Exclusive DKNY carryall with your select Women's Sportswear or Dresses purchase of $400 or more.

The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book 2009

It's here. It's online. And it's waiting for your credit card. While most of the gifts in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book would be considered budget-busters, they do have a category for $250 and under. But who are we kidding? We want to see the good stuff!

Check out some of the "Fantasy Gifts":

Customized Cupcake Car (for real) $25,000

Algonquin Round Table Experience (Dinner and conversation with Christopher Buckley, Roz Chast, Delia Ephron, Nora Ephron, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Gopnik, John Lithgow, Anna Deveare Smith, George Stephanopoulos, Ali Wentworth at the Algonquin Hotel) $200,000 (all the money goes to charity)

His & Hers ICON A5 Sports Aircraft and Pilot Training for Two $250,000

Hall Artisan Wine and Art Experience (includes resort stay, winemaking lessons, make your own personal wine and it will be bottled and delivered to your house) $20,000

Yummy Chocolate, Cute Bag, Good Cause

Ghirardelli has introduced a new premium line of chocolates called LUXE MILK. Starting in September, LUXE MILK will introduce specially marked pink packages of its chocolate that will each contain a unique code. For each person who enters his/her code online, LUXE MILK will donate $1 (up to $50,000) to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This code, once entered at http://www.luxemilk.com/, will automatically enter you into an instant win promotion for a chance to win one of 400 Coach gift cards ($200 each) to put towards the purchase of a pink handbag. Other instant prizes include a variety of free LUXE MILK products.

The promotion started in September and will end at the end of November. For more information, visit http://www.ghirardelli.com/.

Neiman Marcus: Free Alice & Olivia Bag with Purchase

Neiman Marcus is giving a way a free NM Exclusive Alice & Olivia bag when you spend $500 or more on regular-priced Women’s Contemporary Sportswear or Dress Collections. This promotion is running until 9/27 online and 9/26 in the store.

The Fridge That Travels With You

Land's End has launched a line of insulated lunch boxes proven to keep food refrigerator cold (under 40 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to five hours. Temperature testing shows that lunches packed with an ice pack in one of these lunch boxes will stay cold for hours, even in warm school lockers.

The lunch boxes that pass this 5-hour cold test include the ClassMate StudyHaul Lunch Box ($19.50), ClassMate SmallHaul Deluxe Lunch Sack ($14.50), Multitask(TM) Lunch Box ($35.00) and Eco-friendly Lunch Pack ($29.50). All Lands' End lunch boxes are PVC-free and feature easy-to-clean, leak-resistant interiors and easily fasten to coordinating Lands' End backpacks.

New Fall Bags

Never underestimate the power of a new handbag. Here are a few delicious new bags to carry your precious belongings in this season.

Tory Burch Brayden Leather Satchel $595

Rachel Nasvik Phoebe Leather Satchel $575

Foley + Corinna Handbags Classic Mid City Tote $444

Kooba Natasha Suede Shoulder Tote $645

See by Chloé 'Backstage' Drawstring Crossbody Bag $495

B. Makowsky Inverted Zip Horizontal Satchel $278

Steve Madden BQUILT $98

Tano Sass and Crass $199

Botkier Sydney Large Hobo $645

Olivia Harris Three-In-One Bag $295

It's Vera Bradley, and Yes, It's Cool

OK, I hate to admit this but I really like Vera Bradley. I know this company started off catering to soccer moms and older folk but I've noticed lately that Vera Bradley bags are sort of coming into their own in New York City. Of course my cousin Vita would beg to differ with me on this but decide for yourselves.

Cupcakes Pink Large Duffel

Calypso Baby Bag

Blue Rhapsody Vera

Cupcakes Green Weekender

Purple Punch Laptop Portfolio

A Few Words About Coach

I recently visited the Coach website and I just don't understand where Coach is going anymore. It used to be that you could get a decent bag for under $300...so everyone shopped there. And Coach didn't like the fact that their bags were becoming, what's the word? Generic? So they embarked on a mission to become the next Gucci, only with lots of C's instead of G's...and in that effort they decided to raise their prices to astronomical levels to give themselves status.

Take a look at a couple of gems from their more expensive collections:

PARKER PERFORATED OP ART SATCHEL
$598.00















SPECTATOR LEATHER LARGE JULIANNE
$1,000.00














Here's my favorite! LOL!
CANVAS GARDEN TOTE
$6,000.00














Who do they think is really going to buy this? The gardening tools are probably like $20 tops (and I'm sure you can get them at Target). The bag is canvas! Granted, it's got alligator trim but seriously? $6,000!

I guess this whole "raising our prices to make us look cooler" thing didn't really work too well because now Coach is launching a brand new line called Poppy. This is supposedly their budget line. Except it's really not that nice. I think the best word to describe it is um...loud.

Take a look:
New Pop C Spotlight
$268














New Rhinestone XL Spotlight
$548
















OK, some of the bags are not as hideous as these two, but budget-conscious they are not...the prices still range from $200-600. Shop wisely my friends!