DownEast Basics Mixer at Irvine Spectrum

On November 30th, local bloggers were invited to a holiday mixer at a women's and girl's clothing store in the Irvine Spectrum - DownEast Basics. It was an evening of shopping and mingling with other SoCal blogger chicks, which is always makes for a great time!

I met up with Alma from Field Trip Mom, Amy from The Mom Bot, Leila from Don't Speak Whinese and several other awesome bloggers I met for the first time.

Roundabout Cardi

I bought an adorable burnt-orange (otherwise known as ginger spice) 'Roundabout Cardi'. It is a flowing cardigan that is very thin, soft and comfy - but also very stylish and flattering.  It cost $31 on sale.  I wore it the first week of getting it and received a lot of compliments (mainly from daughters, my main audience, but that's beside the point.)

DownEast Basics is all about guilt-free shopping: offering boutique looks at bargain basement prices. You can see the fun new holiday trends infused in their clothing line from their designer Andrea Updike.  They just opened shop in Irvine in July and are trying to spread the excitement and buzz. 

It is conveniently located near H&M and Anthropologie and the best place to park is near the Target store.  I thought it was very easy to get to, a very inviting store, with warm, friendly employees.  It makes for a very pleasant shopping experience.  There were also a lot of opportunities for savings with buying promotion and sales.  There are a lot of various clothing and accessories styles, not just one type, which is good for every-BODY.

Here are some of the pictures from the mixer on DownEast’s Facebook page. 
See if you recognize anyone.

Although the attire is adorable and affordable, at this season in my life, I can't justify shopping for myself or the l'il chickadees at this price point.  I am really down to the necessities these days since my unemployment check is spread so thin with all the fundraisers, babysitters, Christmas shopping...

Spreading a little PR love: DownEast Basics is offering to donate $5K to families in need via the nonprofit The Road Home. If they get 5K new Facebook fans by Christmas Eve.  Please share the message with your social network. ‘Like’ DownEast Basics on Facebook (and tell your friends too!). If they get 5K new fans by 12/24/11 – they’ll donate $5K worth of clothes to families in need through The Road Home.

(Copy and paste the previous sentence on Facebook, Twitter and your other social sites.)

Disclaimer: I was provided a $25 DownEast Basics gift card to facilitate writing a review of the store.