09.16.02 - 4:40 p.m.

And I have a confession to make.

I am a closet Kate Spade freak. I can't abide shelling out $300 for one of her boxy nylon jobbies, but I'll go to pieces over any of the more well-constructed leather bags. I loathe the perfect preppy snotty sorority freaks who carry said bags, but I adore Kate's perfect bouffant flip, her sweet A-line skirts and her red lipstick. I hate her overexposure, but I love the combination of pink and kelly green.

I guess the point is that I love Kate herself, but I hate the girls who love her too. So I don't buy anything from her, no matter how much I covet it - my stubborn nature gets in the way. Of course, the fact that rarely, if ever, is there a decent sale on her stuff helps keep me away. I resisted the bags. The shoes. The Filofax. The sunglasses. The stationery. But then she created the fragrance line. Which smells like heaven. Like Marc Jacobs (another fragrance obsession which I may or may not have detailed here) but lighter. And then I saw the little travel set with free gift at Bloomie's this weekend. And I broke.

Sigh. All the trendy girls will be wearing it soon enough, but I SMELL SO GOOD. (It's honeysuckle, jasmine and gardenia with violet and neroli oil. Marc Jacobs is almost all gardenia with hints of cedar and ginger, if you must know. Nice for layering - but I don't want to smell any of you in the same combination.)