Here I am, in one of my favorite stores…

I took a trip to the Muji store to pick up some travel supplies, and by chance, I scored some great deals on their clearance sale, on items I would have bought at full price anyway.  We are so lucky to have 4 Muji stores in Manhattan.  Every time I come into one, I’m tempted to buy everything! It all feels so clean and nice.  It’s a minimalist design dream come true.

I picked up two neck cushions for our travels.  Muji has these special neck cushions with beads inside, that lay open flat, and snap close into a U shape.  I’ve wanted one for a really long time, and it was just my luck they were 50% off!  And if you bought two, which I did, they took an additional 20% off.  Retail they go for $25 each; I got mine for under $10!  Turns out they were on sale because Muji is coming out with a new version, but when I compared mine to the new version, I couldn’t tell the difference except for the color options.  They also jacked up the prices of the new versions to $39 (I don’t see why; they are exactly the same!).

I perused the women’s clothing section too.  I was actually pretty impressed by their new selection.  I never really cared for Muji’s clothes before, but lately they’ve come out with some really refined and simple clothes for women. I ended up buying this organic cotton stole cardigan (which was also on sale).  The shape of this cardigan is very similar to my Mijeong Park one, except this one is thinner, shorter, and has no hoodie.  I absolutely love the extra long sleeves and the rolled edges all around.  The rolled edges give it that extra cozy casual vibe that I’m loving lately.  What perplexed me about this cardigan though, is a tiny piece of cotton fabric that is used to reinforce the seam at the armpit.  The edge of this piece has what feels like melted plastic.  It’s very hard and sharp and scrapes at the inner side of your arm if you’re wearing something sleeveless.  Anyway I didn’t notice it until I got home, and simply fixed the problem by carefully cutting off the plastic with a tiny pair of scissors.  I was so confused by this.  It must have been an oversight in quality control.  Despite this, I still really love it and think it’s gonna be great for those slightly cool summer nights, and for when the AC is blasting on trains and planes.  It will be something easy to throw into a purse when it’s too hot too.  It makes for a good light spring jacket, or light summer jacket now that spring’s over

OK, what else we got here?  So much to talk about.  I’m also wearing my new Black Crane linen boxy top in size small.  I bought it when it was on sale at Need Supply.  It looks like they are now sold out but you can still get it in black.  I love that Black Crane is listening to their customers and is finally making their clothes with 100% natural fibers.  I really love the linen used for this top.  It feels light but has a sort of buttery soft sheen to it.  It’s surprisingly lightweight for something that is almost totally opaque.  The cut tapers in slightly at the bottom so it’s easy to do a faux tuck in at the front, because it likes to stay folded inward without needing to actually get tucked into the pants for a nice drape effect.  Anyway, probably no one really cares or notices about these minuscule details, but I do! (And this is why I have to blog about this stuff.  No one would care in my real life).

Anyway, that’s it for now.  I hope you guys are all staying cool this summer.  The weather here in NYC has been warm, rainy, and humid.  I can’t seem to keep up with laundry!  This is my final week in New York and I’ve been packing like a dog lately.  I’ll probably post one more time before we leave and then I’ll be on a break throughout August.  I’ll miss you guys!

[outfit: Muji organic cotton stole cardigan, Black Crane linen boxy top, Target chino shorts, Eileen Fisher katniss mules, Baggu crossbody]