Is it my fault that black Friday fell upon the day before I left for my long awaited trip to surf/yoga camp in Sayulita, Mexico?? No. It IS, however, entirely my fault that I listened to my mom when she told me that my swim suit was tired, baggy and needed to be replaced. I tried to mitigate the damage…I really did.
My old college roommate had a darling suit on on Thanksgiving Day. (Remember, I live in Southern California.) Anywho, it turned out her suit was Lands End so off I trudged to……Sears. I hadn’t been in a Sears since I don’t know when and to go on Black Friday seemed like sacrilege. It was as if I could hear the siren song of Anthropologie calling. Who knew that Lands End had these big sections of Sears devoted to their clothes. (Clearly not me and if couldn’t be Anthropologie, it might as well be Lands End.)
Apparently they produce these things called pants which fit on people who have smallish waists and adult size booties. I found myself pulling pair after pair off of the displays and before I knew it, I was in a dressing room with five pairs of pants and two pairs of shorts. Good God. Almost three solid months of no clothes shopping and now what was I doing? I could feel the guilt and anxiety mounting. I could also hear the rationalizations streaming through my head.
The next thing I knew I was at the counter with two pairs of pants, a pair of shorts, two tank tops and a t shirt. Seriously. That’s the bad news. The good news is that EVERYTHING was on sale and then I got an extra thirty percent off the total so the grand total of my crazed spending spree was just under $100 dollars.
The other good news is that I wore every single thing that I bought on my trip as well as many cute things in my closet. Most things several times. Yes, there were things in my closet that I could have worn in their stead but they didn’t fit quite as well or fit the bill as much as my new things. (Isn’t that what we tell ourselves anyway?) In a bid for full disclosure, I got more compliments on my old items than my new.
I did find some positive in this massive transgression. I am still actively thinking about what I am doing with this diet. I have been digging deep in my closet and my psyche and wearing things that I have been “saving.” I have managed to leave my house every day wearing something socially acceptable and generally with no spandex involved!!
When I signed on to TGAAD, I had given some thought to what I would do with the money I would have otherwise spent shopping. I knew that in addition to having more money in the savings account, perhaps there was something I could be doing for myself and/or my family that would benefit us more than just my feeling fashionably dressed. I believe now that I have found the answer–travelling.
I think I had almost forgotten how much I LOVE to go to new places and meet all of the fascinating, crazy, profound, goofy and wonderful people I usually run into while travelling. My first stop, Mexico, is now a memory but London in April will be here before I know it!! And now I will say four Hail Marys and five Our Fathers and promise to shop no more!
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O.K. well you give a good post so for that you are forgiven. We hadn’t heard from you in a while which had me worried. Good to know your are alive and guilty. Your trip sounds like it was a ball. I am glad you had fun and that your old clothes were the highlight. It reinforcces my thinking that sometimes old is just in our heads. Thanks for the laughs, this was a good one. Now go do your our fathers and hail marys.