It's October and the mid-semester blahs have officially kicked into place.

Shopping seems like a good idea to cure your blues but really walking College Avenue was so freshman year.

Not to fear. Walk off last night's cranberry and vodka and discover the undiscovered-- the fabulous boutiques hidden in State College.

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For the trendy girl: Sydney Mac Boutique, 115 E. Beaver Ave.

Employee Rebecca Fink (senior-science/accounting) said Sydney Mac Boutique carries smaller labels instead of the bigger brands. Generally the store tries to have their own lines that no other competitors in State College carry. The store has cute dresses and fun stuff to go out in, Fink said.

Mostly, the store sells a lot of formal dresses and accessories. Fink said generally the average formal dress in the store ranges from $60-$70.

"We don't really have many things over $100 in the store," Fink said.

Sydney Mac also specializes in accessories, especially jewelry.

"We do carry some vintage jewelry, but we also have a lot of nice handmade jewelry," Fink said.

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For the miscellaneous purchase: Uncle Eli's, 129 E. Beaver Ave.

While Uncle Eli's mostly carries arts supplies, (it is the main arts store for students on campus) don't be fooled by appearances. Manager Lynn Pellas said the store has a hodgepodge of everything ranging from gag gifts like banana slugs to dorm/apartment decorations.

In particular Pellas said the store carries a lot of art prints.

"We have a huge range of posters that you wouldn't find anywhere else," Pellas said.

Assistant manager Carrie Klimek agreed.

"Basically any style you have, we'd be able to fit," Klimek said.

Uncle Eli's also has a wide price range. Items sell from 99 cents to hundreds of dollars.

"I think we have a price range for everybody," Pellas said.

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For the perfect T-shirt: House of Kashmir 130 Calder Way.

Owner Saghir Ahmad said the House of Kashmir has the largest variety of T-shirts in State College and called the store "the T-shirt headquarters."

Although the store mainly focuses on T-shirts, the store also carries various tapestries, posters, international clothes and a large selection of international phone cards.

The T-shirt designs range from movies to cartoons.

"We have from Led Zeppelin to Eminem [and] Tupac," Ahmad said.

Ahmad said his prices are generally low. The average T-shirt sells for approximately $16.99 and there are buy two T-shirt deals for $25-$30.

In particular, Ahmad stressed the variety of T-shirts in his stores.

"Anybody need any T-shirt, no matter what it is, come here," Ahmad said.

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For the early holiday shopper: Home Reflections, 236 E. Calder Way.

Home Reflections carries a plethora of merchandise such as mirrors, wine accessories, bags and clocks. In addition, the store also carries the pottery and quilts of local and Arts Fest artists.

"The store is everything but Penn State, but we carry things PSU students are looking for," Owner Jan Sawhney said.

Sawhney said students should come in for unique, colorful family gifts at a reasonable price. The price range of items vary from $10- $150. Quilts, she said, are priced higher than other items because of the time and effort they take to create.

Sawhney said she tends to carry things that no one else carries, such as Vera Bradley and April Cornell.