Questions:

How tall is your wife?
Where do you live? That affects pricing and gearing.
Did you do all your own work on your Fondriest Megachrome (sp?)?

For the posts pooping on the blue Peugeot Mixte price, the loop frame mixtes carry a steep price premium as there are not a whole lot of them around.

Also, in the large metropolitan markets and research university communities, mixtes command significantly higher prices than equivalent diamond frame mens models.