Apr 29, 2010

Temptation resisted! For now...

I am less than a week into my shop-free journey and I have already faced my first temptation. Yesterday, my all-time favorite UK basketball player, Patrick Patterson, was at the Towne Mall in Etown signing autographs. Normally, I would scoff at the idea of waiting in line for hours with other UK fans just to get some person's signature, a quick picture and then get pushed along the line, my two minutes with the player long forgotten. But this was Patrick. Patterson. Do you understand this? The man that rose to team leadership as the "senior" of the team. The man that helped his freshmen teammates to mature as basketball players. The quiet, but intellegent, leader of last year's amazing basketball team. He is, by far, my favorite Kentucky player ever (and that's saying a lot, considering I was born watching Kentucky basketball). I had to go. Two hours in line and a dinky $25 picture would be a small price to pay to actually meet THE Patrick Patterson. When closing time arrived at work, I quickly gathered my things and ran out to my car, where my little sister was waiting for me to drive her towards a few hours of greatness. One and half hours, two basketball players autographs and one very shaky picture later, we are through the line and absolutely glowing with basketball enthusiasm. I file the moment away as one of my favorite Kentucky basketball memories. On our way out of the mall, I remembered a stop I needed to make: to Payless. Given my recent swearing off shopping, I was nervous to step foot in a shoe store. But I had a specific reason: buy shoes for an upcoming wedding that I'm in. I knew exactly which pair I needed. All I would have to do would be to quickly walk in the store, find the shoe, try them on, check out and leave. After giving myself a mini pep talk, I rushed into the store. I can do this. I can buy the required pair of shoes without taking a glance at any other shoes or being tempted. After all, I just met Patrick Patterson. I can do anything at this moment. I quickly walk into the section labeled "size 7." Without much searching, I find the shoes that I'm looking for. I slip them on my feet, make sure the size I have will work and make my way to the sales clerk. Silently, I congratulate myself for not even considering another pair of shoes. Maybe the next 3 months won't be as difficult as I had expected! I hand the shoes to the cashier, who looks at the shoes and sweetly says "Are you going to get another pair for half off? It includes anything in the store, including half priced items and accessories." Crap. I am the biggest sucker for a sale. Especially half priced shoes. Taking an extremely deep (and probably longer than necessary) breath, I announce "No thank you. I'm trying not to buy myself anything and these shoes are for a wedding I'm in." The cashier looks surprised...how many people turn down a half priced pair of shoes?? She rings up my single item, I pay and leave. Crisis averted. I know it hasn't even been a week, but I think I can do this for 3 more months. Maybe......

Apr 24, 2010

Embarking on a shopping detox. Pray for me.

While reading my "What Would Audrey Do?" book, I had a mini-revelation. I am slighty materialistic. Audrey, according to many different testimonials, was very down-to-earth and extremely simplistic despite her movie star status and obvious glamour. Of course, she wore the name brand designers and always looked ridiculously stylish, but I wonder if she was a shopaholic. Let me start off by saying, I am not, in any way, a shopaholic. I do not go on shopping binges, spend more money than I make on clothing or shop several days a week. However, I do indulge in cute clothing on sale, ballet flats of any shape or color and all types of purses. But why? Why do I have 5 pairs of black ballet flats? Granted, they are all different--patent, square toed, decorated with a large flower--but still black. Why do I have a purse collection that is starting to hit the 50-60+ items range? Why on earth do I have garments hanging in my closet still sporting their department store tags?? Something in those articles of clothing spoke to me and suggested they'd make a good outfit, so why haven't they been worn? These questions led me to take action. Are you ready? ***takes deep breath*** I will be going on a 3 month, absolutley no clothing, shoes or purses of any kind NO shopping spree. I am going to go home and rotate my clothing. I am going to move lesser worn items up to the front and rediscover why I liked them in the first place. I am going to learn how to dress outfits up and make them different by using accessories. I am going to take those tags off my shirts and wear them and make people think I am wearing something new. Think of how great this will be for me. I will learn that I don't need new clothes whenever I see the large red CLEARANCE sign. My bank account (and my husband) will be so much happier. Instead of focusing on things for myself, I can focus on other people. At the end of the 3 months, I am hoping to feel renewed and good about myself, knowing that I resisted the urge to shop for myself. I'll keep you posted on my progress as a "fewer" materials girl. :)

Apr 14, 2010

I'd do a lot of things different.....or would I?

I've got a question for all you former brides out there.....when does the remorse and depression of having your wedding over with and the overwhelming want to plan another one pass? I can't watch bridal shows like Say Yes to the Dress without being jealous that those ladies are still in the midst of wedding planning. Still getting to make decisions about bridesmaid dresses and table linens and cocktail napkins. I know I sound crazy, but I loved (almost) every single minute of wedding planning. I loved browsing page after page of the latest bridal magazines. I loved looking at pictures of other people's weddings, silently stealing ideas and putting my own twist on them. Now I look at wedding pictures and I sigh with longing. I glance at bridal magazines and see ideas that I never thought about for my own wedding. I guess that's my biggest issue--wanting to go back and change things that I did. For example, I am obsessed with all things black and white (I guess it's my inner Audrey wannabe). My wardrobe consists of 90% black and white, 10% every other color in the spectrum. When it came time to plan my wedding, it seemed absolutely natural that I should plan a black and white wedding. But I didn't want my bridesmaids to wear black. I don't know why....I've seen it in weddings and I LOVE it, but for some reason, the idea freaked me out when I was planning my own wedding. So I decided on eggplant purple and champagne accents. It was very vintage and very me, but not as "me" as a black and white wedding would have been. Looking back, I see that I could have picked out black and white printed dresses for my maids to wear....or a really cute black cocktail dress like my best friend Holli is doing for her wedding. But the second guessing extends to all aspects of my wedding....did we choose the right cake design? Since I only went to one bridal store and my dress was the 4th one I tried on, did I miss out on getting "the perfect dress???" Should I have included more songs in the ceremony for people to enjoy? Was our food selection diverse enough for everyone to get something they wanted??? And then I realize.....what's the point? My whole life, I have been a second guesser. I walk away from a situation immediately wondering how I could have done something differently. And what does that achieve? I can't go back and change things....so why make myself miserable? Our wedding was almost a year ago (wow, that's hard to believe) and it was beautiful. Yes, I would have loved a black and white wedding, but my girls looked beautiful in purple. Our florist picked the most gorgeous seasonal purple shades. My dress couldn't have been more perfect for me if I had designed it myself---lace, vintage, everything I wanted. I even had a wedding guest ask me if I was wearing my grandmother's wedding gown. Perfect! And even if we didn't have a big enough food spread or the right amount of songs in the preceremony..........who cares?!?! Why should I be looking back on my big day and wondering "what if?" Instead, I'm going to remember how handsome my future husband was in his tuxedo. How proud I was to be a member of my family---did you see how good my mom and dad looked?? How the church was packed full of every single person I wanted to spend my special day with. And that's all that matters, right? So, all you girls on Say Yes to the Dress: enjoy your day. Because I wouldn't trade mine for anything. :)




Apr 7, 2010

Temptations come in many forms.....mine have heels and are super cute :)

It's inevitable. Any time we have a slow day at work and I have nothing loan-related to do, I surf the Internet until I am celebrity news-ed, depressing news-ed and facebook-ed out. And then I shop. I just can't help myself. I know I don't have the money. But to the clothing websites I go. I browse the dresses, accessories, shoes and tops until I can literally feel myself drooling. Scrolling through the pictures, I click on the items to add them to my cart, slowly accruing a ridiculous amount of clothing that I will never be able to afford. Reluctantly, I exit out of the site, leaving my wish list and potential closet additions behind. My current obsession is shoes. I have never been a fan of sandals or flip-flops, always opting for the closed toed, ballet flat kind of look. You see, I HATE feet. It goes beyond thinking that feet are ugly--I flat out, cannot stand feet. Anyone's feet. Even my own. So I have boycotted any type of shoe that will show them off. This season, I've had a revelation. I don't care if people think I have ugly feet. I really don't even care that I think I have ugly feet (I just won't look at them). I am going to wear sandals this year. Every shoe store I've been in has an adorable line of sandals and new summer footwear that I have decided I need.

I have found this pair of shoes at payless.com that I absolutely ADORE. They combine both worlds of sandal and flat. My perfect shoe. I can have the breathability of a sandal with the toe-hiding ability of a flat. I want them. They'll even deliver them to your nearest Payless store for free! Problem: they are $22.99. Problem: my husband would kill me if I brought home another pair of shoes (and he's extremely observant when it comes to my purse and shoe count). Problem: I'm an in-betweener, so I wouldn't know whether I needed a 6 1/2 or a 7. Sigh. During my quest to find the perfect sandal, I found myself wandering over to the dress shoes....and I find these:




I've never been a huge fan of Mary Jane's...I think they remind me of the shoes I would wear with my Christmas dress when I was 5. But there's something about these shoes. They've got a 1920s, flapper feel to them that I love. And they're only $14.99! Problem: they only come in a 7 wide. Problem: please see above where my husband would freak out. Sigh again. Maybe Marty will suddenly win the lottery. Or maybe he'll decide that my shoe count is frighteningly low and send me out to replenish my stock. Not likely, but I can dream, can't I?? I wonder if I can request our I/T department to block all shopping websites to avoid all temptation........

Apr 3, 2010

Spring has sprung...and surprisingly, I like it.

Is there anything better than the beginning of Spring?? People slowly start crawling out of hibernation, jackets and coats go to the back of the closet and (my favorite part) dresses start making their seasonal debut. I already have several Spring-ish outfits planned for work the next couple of weeks (as soon as I get rid of the farmer's tan I picked up when walking the Seaside 5K in Florida. Sigh.). However, I have not always been a fan of springtime. In fact, in the not too distant past, Spring and I were pretty much hated enemies. The arrival of spring meant flowers blooming, bees pollinating everything in sight, grass growing. To any normal human being, these changes would be enjoyable. For me they meant one thing: allergies. In my world, the coming of Spring usually means Zyrtec, Kleenexes and breathing inhalers. I never welcomed the beginning of this season and usually watched the new life emerge from behind closed windows and doors. Yes, I appreciate that Spring comes and gives us a break from the frigid winter weather we've been experiencing for months. But, until now, that was the only positive I could find. However, my attitude completely changed yesterday whenever I got home. Pulling into the driveway, I saw the most beautiful thing:
Our weeping cherry tree has started blooming! Now, being my asthmatic, allergy-prone self, I never cared when the flowers bloomed at my parent's house. My mom would mark the beginning of spring by taking her gardening tools outside and would weed, trim, prune and clip until her heart's content. I never saw the appeal. Getting dirt between my fingernails and watching flowers bloom for a couple of months did not interest me in the least. Things have changed. Now I have my own home. Marty and I personally picked out the flowers and shrubs that would be placed in our landscaping. I guess that makes it more personal now. I want to see the flowers bloom and the bushes grow. When I saw that our tree was blooming, my eyes were opened to things that I never cared to notice before: the shoddy job our builders did on our lawn, the two or three weeds popping up in the flower bed, how nice landscaping would look around our mailbox, the fact that our front porch is devoid of any furniture or window boxes. Shew. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do. I think I hear a flat bed cart at Lowe's just calling my name and flowers just waiting to be planted. This is a brand new side of me that I never knew existed....and I think I'm going to like it (and don't worry Audrey...I'll clean the dirt out of my fingernails before I ever step in public).

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