Madewell and an AWESOME giveaway!!!

If you're a fan of J. Crew, then perhaps you've heard of its sister brand, Madewell. Madewell has a more casual look than J. Crew, and while it does many things well, it is probably best know for its denim. Lucky for  us Clevelanders, the Madewell stores opened at Beachwood Place on August 1st, and I stopped by a few days after the grand opening in the name of, umm, research (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

The store is on the second floor, sorta close to J. Crew. I can't remember what store used to be there, but I think it used to be Metropark.

I walked in the store and immediately spotted at least 10 things that I wanted. Top on the list are the black boots pictured in the window above. They retail for about $300 and are the most sumptuous leather I have ever felt in a boot. They're made it Italy, naturally...

I also fell totally in love with a couple of necklaces, a few adorable scarves, and a silver sparkly cardi.

I walked through the store taking mental notes of all the things I was going to add to my Amazon wishlist (which, btw, you can use for things not sold on Amazon as well- highly recommend you use it and keep it updated for anyone looking to gift you something LOL), and yet resisted buying anything (I was trying to be disciplined). This worked pretty well, until I brushed my hand across a pair of jeans. One touch of the blue, soft, rail-straight fabric and my resolve FELL TO PIECES!!! I'm only human, and those jeans were just waaaaayyyy to much temptation. AND, with a price point of $98.50, they were just too good a deal to pass up!!!

Madewell:1; My resolve: 0

Here comes my favorite part of this post-- Not wanting to leave my readers out of the experience of these jeans (which I have worn almost every day over the past week), thanks to Madewell, I'm giving away a $100 giftcard to Madewell, to use on whatever you like at the store!!!!

Here's how you enter (each gets you 1 entry):
1. Leave me a comment letting me know of your one must-have item for fall
2. Tweet about the contest and link back to this post (please make sure you mention me @cleshopaholic in the post)-- you can do this once a day for more entries
3. Post a link to this post on your facebook page (and please leave me a comment saying you did so)-- you can do this once a day for more entries as well

Contest ends at 9:00 pm on Sunday August 19th, with a random winner picked and announced August 20th.

Madewell is also hosting an in-store event on Thursday August 16th, featuring a Madewell stylist to help you pick your outfit!! AND, if you bring in a pair of gently worn jeans for donation, you will receive 20% off a new pair of jeans!!!! But wait, there's more: starting at 6 pm, if you're one of the first 100 guests to stop by guest services at Beachwood Place, you will receive a $10 giftcard to Madewell.

You know where I'll be (donating my old jeans) on the 16th, I hope I see you there too!!! Good luck to all who enter!!!

Disclosure: Madewell is providing the $100 gift card for the giveaway. All other opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own!!