I’m going to fill you all in with a *real* BlogHer post a little bit later, and then shower you with gifts tomorrow, but I thought that in an effort to shorten that post I would fill you in on just one of the awesome things I was able to do while in New York City this past weekend.

First though, a word of advice: follow your favorite companies on Facebook and Twitter!  You never know what little gems you may come across!  As proof of this, I was sitting on Facebook a few weeks ago when I saw that cash back shopping site ShopAtHome.com was running a contest where you could apply to go on a $150 Garment District Shopping Spree in New York City.  Truthfully, I don’t enter very many contests, but I thought “why not?” when I saw this one.  I write about sample sale sites all the time and it would be fun to see some *real* sample sales and do some inexpensive {ahem, free} shopping in NYC at the same time.

In the first of three very lucky events during this trip, I ended up winning one of the shopping sprees!  Woot!  {Good thing, too, as this tour was the deciding factor in whether or not I would attend BlogHer this year.  Leading up to the conference I wasn’t really feeling it, but who am I to turn down a free shopping spree?!}  As an added bonus to the shopping, before the tour began it was fun to meet three bloggers that I’ve been reading for a good long while in person – Jaime from Denim Debutante, Brandie from Free Sample Freak and Mary from The Recessionista.

Our tour was lead by Pamela Parisi, otherwise known as The Elegant Tightwad.  We went on the Garment District Diva Trek, which for us included two hours of shopping with a personal tour guide and $150 in cold hard cash.

There were approximately 30 bloggers that were treated to shopping sprees, though we were broken down into smaller groups.  My group went to five different private showrooms, which without this tour are not available to the public.  It was all kinds of awesome.  I’d love to tell you where we went, but to tell you the truth, I have absolutely no idea.  Stick a wad of cash in my hand and I’m likely to forget all of the details of what happens next.

I can tell you that before the tour I didn’t know what to expect.  I didn’t know anything about the brands we would be shopping or the clothes that would be available to us, or the discounts we would receive, though between you and me I was really hoping to spot some Diane von Furstenberg!  Yep, I’m obsessed.

Once we got to the shopping I was a little surprised with what I saw.

The shopping area in some of the showrooms was teensy tiny!  Here’s a small peek at one such location:

{No. That is not Ed Hardy you see on that rack.  Gross!}  We were able to dig through just a few racks in each of the locations we visited.  Though the racks were few, once you started digging there were many treasures to be found!  If I’m not mistaken, the way these showrooms work is that each is filled with items from various designers, and then buyers from different stores come around and choose what they would like to sell.  At one of our stops we were shown a sweater that is currently flying off the racks at Anthropologie.  Sadly, we couldn’t buy that one.  While I certainly love shopping, by the end I was almost more interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect of how it all works.  {Perhaps from so many seasons of watching Project Runway?  We were in the Garment District, after all.  I kept an eye out for Mood.}

The two hour shopping adventure was exhausting!  I rarely go on too many in-real-life shopping adventures at this point {I love you internet!}, so it was fun to get out there and actually touch and try items on before purchasing.  Some showrooms carried styles I would never ever consider wearing, so it was fun to see those styles up close and personal.  Also, our tour guide, was a little spitfire of energy.  She made shopping fun and even bought the most beautiful coat I’ve ever seen herself.  {I’m not sure I could lead shopping tours.  I wouldn’t be making a paycheck at that point.}

Overall, while I was more than excited to get to attend this shopping excursion for free, I would definitely pay to do a similar trek out of my own pocket.  The Elegant Tightwad really knows what she’s doing and I would recommend this tour to anyone that loves shopping.  I had a blast and the company of my fellow bloggers was stellar.  I spent my entire $150, which I probably would have spent even if the money had been my own.  Two thumbs up, for sure.  {Though I do I think that next time I’ll do the East Village Bargainista Trek.  I really can’t say no to anything with the word bargainista in the title, you know?}

Curious about what I picked up?  Here are the goods:

Two colorful and super soft scarves.  I know, I know.  They’re scarves.  Here’s the thing – while I love wearing scarves I refuse to pay money for them.  So when I could purchase two scarves for very little money I had to jump.  Yay for accessorizing!

Black Yoga Pants.  Oh boy, are you getting excited by my purchases yet?!  I know these aren’t very exciting either but they are super duper soft.  And the waist isn’t as funny looking as the picture implies.  I’m not sure what’s going on up there.

Sadly, the above item is not for me.  But when we were lead to a rack filled with $5 CASHMERE sweaters I couldn’t resist snagging one as a gift.  Five Dollars.  Cashmere.  Crazy!

Along the same line as the scarves, jewelry isn’t something that I usually buy for myself.  In fact, the necklace you’ll catch me in the most often is something I picked up for $2 at Forever 21.  The two amethyst and gold items you see above cost way more than I would ever pay for something myself, but I think they were a quality investment because I am obsessed with both.  Amethyst isn’t my birthstone but it is my stone of choice, and recently I’ve really been digging the gold jewelry.

Finally, my favorite item, though my picture taking skills were less than stellar the other night so you can’t really see how lovely this sweater actually is.  The sweater goes down to mid-thigh and there’s extra fabric in front which drapes in a fab way.  It’s soft and comfy and come October we are going to be BFF for sure.

Thanks again, ShopatHome.com and The Elegant Tightwad, for such a great start to the BlogHer weekend!