Well, it’s really hard to shop for guys. Seriously. What do you buy a guy for Christmas? Usually I have no clue. Which is why I’m on the hunt, early! Of course, these are gifts for guys in their teens/20′s/early 30′s – considering the store. They’re silly gifts, but guys often do like silly things. Usually I’m baffled because the only things guys like are super expensive things and it’s like – okay, but I can’t buy you a new Wii! Anyway! If you have to buy a present for a teenage boy? This is your go-to store for cheap Christmas gifts.

Ghostbusters Key Caps ($6.00)  are funny and I think they’d be appreciated. Although they are not really a substantial gift on their own.

Album Frames (2 for $20.00) are very cool – let the dude think he’s musically hip even if he isn’t!

Bottle Opener Ring ($8.00) because it’s actually useful!

Bone Foot Socks ($8.00) because he really liked Donnie Darko.

Urban Outfitters has a ‘cheap gifts’ section and I’ve looked around to see what is worth a purchase. Stuff I don’t like? While the Cupcake on a Rope is cute, who really wants to bother with soap on a rope? I’d skip the Lace Pedestal Jewelry stand because whoever you buy that for you’re really dooming to a lifetime of dusting that thing all the time.

Thoughtful gifts! I like the Love and Toast hand cream ($10.00) as a gift because everyone uses lotion (or SHOULD) and it’s not too personal of a gift. Plus, it’s cute! Candles are amazing! And they’re always a great gift. You can never have too many candles. Urban Outfitters has great candles on sale. There’s the Apothecary Candle for modernists & Illume Cylinder Candle for artistic folks ($12.00). Plus Aunt Sadie’s Holiday Candles ($18.00) are great for the traditionalists.

Useful gifts! The Mini Branch Wall Hook ($12.00) is a useful and cute little item. The site has a ton of little knick knacks – most of which you don’t love enough to buy for yourself so why would you give it to a friend? Back to useful things – the Robot Toothbrush Holder ($8.00) is really cute.

How does colorblocking work? Visual magic! It uses blocks of color to shape you. As you know, white looks larger and black makes things look smaller. But more than that, you can actually sculpt the form using wide lines or thin lines of color down the middle of a dress. Be smart: color block!

Colorblock Dress @ Urban Outfit ON SALE $40

Color block Dress @ Dillards $100

A.B.S. peacock jersey colorblock shift dress @ BlueFly.com$95

Colorblock skirt @ Arden B $30

Color block  skirt @ Macys $150 (oops, I went over!)

Urban Outfitters makes great, chic clothing for teens and people in their 20′s. If you aren’t sure of Urban Outfit locations, you can always go to their website Urbn.com. The stores are full of funky jewelry, large leather handbags with fringe, candles that smell like papayas, neon pink alarm clocks shaped like owls, and the kind of clothing that instantly makes you feel more hip. Most urbn outfit dresses are upwards of $60.00, but there is a sale going on right now where tons and tons of dresses are on sale. That seems like a good occasion for shopping – or at least a good occasion to take a look and see what they have.

A lot of these dresses can be worn in the fall as long as you wear some textured tights and a cardigan over them (maybe even a wool hat). Others you may want simply because next Spring similar dresses will be on sale for $60.00 again, and you’ll have missed out on a deal. (Regret sucks, and I feel like I ALWAYS learn this the hard way.)

Clockwise from top left:
Kimchi Blue Foulard Dress ON SALE $39! was $58.00
Mirror/Dash Leopard Dress ON SALE $39! was $58.00
Kimchi Blue ’80s Floral Strapless Dress ON SALE $39! was $58.00
Kimchi Blue Colorblock Tweed Dress ON SALE $39! was $78.00
Kimchi Blue Shortsleeve Seamed Flannel Mini Dress ON SALE $39! was $58.00

Find them all here: Urban Outfitters Sale

Plaid patterns by mukluk on Flickr

Fall makes me think about lots of great things… new school notebooks, apple crisp (which I make myself!) and plaid. When I was younger I had little plaid skirts and wore actual knee socks. During the 90′s, flannel and plaid was popular with the entire 90′s grunge thing – and I remember I had one flannel shirt that I loooved. It was peachy with turquoise and if I knew where it was I swear I would still wear it.

But it’s okay, because right now plaid is so trendy for fall 09 that it’s impossible to find a store that isn’t stocking it. So the chances of me finding a new favorite plaid shirt is good. Plaid shirts for women are major right now. MAJOR!

There are lots of plaid shirts online to shop through. They’re virtual racks that let you think about what color combination for the shirt you might like while walking barefoot to your kitchen to get a bowl of Lucky Charms and think about what it’d be like to kiss Jude Law, and THEN come back and make your final decision.

It’s so much easier than being in a store and trying to make sure have time to make your purchase without being late to your sister’s birthday party. (What, that never happens to you?)

Plaid shirts are like comfort food. Beauty Fool talked about Five Ways to Boost Confidence and I think one of them could also be wearing plaid. Because you’ll look great, but you’ll also feel so comfortable it’ll be craaazy. So, here are four plaid shirts I think you’ll really like:

Plaid Shirts for Women

Plaid Shirts, clockwise from top left:

Elisa Flannel Shirt @ Delias $40

AE Shrunken Bonfire Flannel Shirt @ AE.com $40

Kimchi Blue Plaid Shirt @ Urban Outfitters $60

Plaid Shirts @ The Gap $25

The Budget Babe also loves Plaid for Fall!

Cute little Tater Pots at Urban Outfitters, photo by maveric2003 on Flickr

Urban Outfitters is a great, hip, store. But it’s pricey, too. Ergo, we shop the Urban Outfitters sales! What do I look for when I see the rows of items with an urban outfit discount? That’s easy! Items you can still incorporate to your wardrobe right now, items you’ll wear next season, items drastically marked down, things you’ll always need (you wear a bra daily, yes?) – stuff like that. Good ol’ Urban outfit stocks plenty of great things – like the tater pots you see above! If there’s an Urban Outfit outlet near you, I highly suggest you get thee to it. Make sure you check out urban outfit discount code sites.

Kimchi Blue Pieced Herringbone Dress

Herringbone Dress on sale – $50

Kimchi Blue One Shoulder Ruffle Tank

Ruffle Tank on sale – $20

Calvin Klein Seamless Boyshort

Calin Klein Underwear on sale – $10

Marais USA Prince Wedge shoes on sale – $60 (was $90)

The site won’t let me post these pictures because it’s doing that weird zoomy thing with the mouse pointer, wah!:

Two Tone Crochet Full Foot Tights on sale – $8

Calvin Klein Sleek Perfectly Fit T-Shirt Bra on sale – $30

Silence & Noise Faux Leather-Sleeve Jacket on sale – $80

She’s Smart : Your place for bargain news!