So I did manage to block off all of last Friday for some R&R. And by rest and recuperation I mean a hunt for a few things on my wish list. Now I should preface by saying I’d already been calling around for stock check at the various Chanel boutiques in Europe. It’s hit or miss, and some boutiques will hold things while most others do not. It’s almost impossible to time the visit to the boutiques, while they supposedly have what I want on hand, with my own schedule and the ebb and flow of tourists, so I’ve told myself to dump the OCD gal at home and just leave a lot of this to chance. Isn’t that part of the fun of the chase anyway? And worst case scenario I can always get them when I come back to the States. So off to the train station…

with my new favorite jacket and very handy Bal bag (isn’t the anthra color just TDF?!) (and yes, those are M&Ms and not some horse pills for my A.D.D.)…

I barely finish reading a white paper related to the project I’m working on, and I’ve already arrived.

Trains are just the best way to commute for multi-taskers like me!

Let’s see what we can find at our boutique no. 1 in Brussels today. I’m here first because they supposedly have the red timeless clutch in stock.

I’m giddy when i pop out of the Louise metro stop. There are already five outfits dancing in my head with that aforementioned clutch.

But now, now, let’s not do any cartwheels through the front door just yet. We’ll save that for when the clutch is in my hot little hands!

I think I’d mentioned before that this is a very compact boutique, with a proportionally small inventory. But I’d found a few goodies here before so you just never know. I’m greeted by a ton of clutches! Green patent, beige caviar, red lambskin. Tons of Just Mademoiselle bags in the perfect shade of apple red. But alas, the red caviar clutch is nowhere to be found.

But they do have this in all its gorgeous 3D self, which looks tons better than this stock photo from my list:

Egad, what was I here for again?!? So I flip out my phone and do some number crunching for this bag and a stunning tweed jacket I hadn’t yet seen in the US.

My head is spinning at this point, because the lovely monsieur also shows me a patent 2.55 bag in a beguiling shade of bronzy olive. So swoonworthy. Must. Get. Air.

So I take their business card and leave them my info in case they can locate the jacket in my size. They tell me if the jacket can’t be found, one of the two olive bags would make a perfect consolation prize. Love that Belgian logic!

Still no red clutch, but now I’m flummoxed. Which makes more sense, the brown 2.55 that matches the boots or the olive one that probably won’t match much but is a huge crush on my part? I’m still debating back and forth while I walk down to the Hermes boutique…God help me if they have a grey ostrich Birkin there!

It’s a lovely boutique but, as with my usual luck at the H stores, nothing from my list. While I’m looking around, I overhear the saleslady speaking in English to a phone customer looking for bags…please leave your contact info, but there’s no Birkin or Kelly available right now. We’re all in the same boat.

I walk around this fashionable shopping area for a few more hours. Found some books at a cool bookstore nearby and worked out my legs some more by skipping over to one of the best lookout points in Brussels:

I need to digest what I’ve seen today and see what else is out there at the next few boutiques before committing. The elusive clutch is still a priority find for me, so I’m trying to not get too sidetracked.

Let’s see if Paris will be more productive…