They also had these great candles for 25% off. I loved the Magnolia Blossom scent, and it was in a yellow jar, which was even better since yellow is my favorite color. ER's birthday is Sunday, and yellow is her favorite color, too. I immediately thought of her, too, for the candle. And Mother's Day is coming up, and since my mom and I are talking again, I might as well get her one, too. So $40 later -- all items on sale -- I left the store.
And went to GAP, which was also having a sale. I had seen a really cute cable-knit, sleeveless
sweater on a girl a few weeks ago, and I wanted to ask her so badly where she got it. And there it was on sale at GAP! So I bought it.In the summer, it's definitely too hot to wear jeans, and shorts these days more often than not are way too short, so I wear skirts every day. GAP had a pretty cute comfy skirt on sale, so I got it, too:
I also got this sweater -- which was not on sale, but is really nice and soft and 15% cashmere, and which will last me for years -- in khaki.
I also bought a really cute V-neck cotton shirt that was a really cute, springy bluish color. When I got home, I realized that I have a V-neck striped shirt from GAP that has stripes that are so small that it looks like it's a solid shirt if you don't look closely. And it looks like the same color.
That's the second time in two weeks that I've bought a shirt and realized I have one pretty similar to it already. I'm pretty sure that's not good. But at least both were summer short-sleeved shirts. I haven't really wore them in a while, so that's a good excuse, right?
I went to Victoria's Secret afterward to buy some more perfume, since I'm almost out of that. I just "stopped by" the clearance rack and found some cute nightgowns for $20, which is good for Victoria's Secret. K and I are approaching one year (Memorial Day weekend!), and we're talking about going somewhere in Texas for the weekend just for a mini-vacation for the long weekend. So I thought it would be a nice surprise to have a cute nightgown for that. And it was only $20, so I bought one.
And then, on my way out, I stopped by the American Greetings store. Mother's Day is coming, and it's always hard to find a basic Mother's Day card for my mom, since most of them say things like, "You're always there," "You're wonderful," "I want to be just like you," "I'm so lucky to have you," "My mother, my cheerleader, my friend," or something along those mushy lines that I can't buy because (a) it's not true, and (b) if I did buy one like that, my mom and I would both no it's not true, so what's the use in pretending? By buying a basic, "Happy Mother's Day, It's your day -- have a good one," card, I'm being honest and not faking feelings that aren't there. Not that I don't love my mom -- I do. She just wasn't the June Cleaver mother who a child buys those cards for. And if I did get her that card, she wouldn't appreciate it and it would actually probably make her feel worse because she would know I walked and bought it without reading it.
For my birthday last year, she got me a card that said:
Dear Daughter of My Heart,
I remember the first time I said 'I love you' to your face. (I meant it for the rest of you as well.) You had just been born, and I thought you were the most beautiful thing on earth. And in that little face of yours, I thought I could see the future. It looked beautiful, too.
Now I know that we're living in that future and that it's very different than I imagined it would be. It hasn't all been beautiful. Some of it has been scary and painful and sad.
But through it all, I've watched you grow and live your life with joy and courage and hope. And although we don't have as much time together as we did when you were little, I can still look into your beautiful face and tell you the same thing I told you back before I even knew who you were -- the same thing I will always tell you, whatever the future brings -- I love you.
That card meant more to me than any other birthday card because it wasn't b.s. It admitted that there have been rough times. Hallmark rocks for making cards like that.
It takes a while of looking through all the cards to find the right one that's not fake. So I started today. I found one that will be from both my brother and me. And I found a birthday card for ER and my friend Rebecca, whose birthday is in May. I also found a great pillow for ER that says "Forever Friends." It's one of those pillows that you put a picture in. It's really cute. So her birthday is done. There also was a great picture frame that says "Laugh" on the side, so I bought that for myself. It was only $8.
I'm still feeling a bit of buyer's remorse, though, because I don't actually need any of those things. But I'll be able to wear or use them for a long time. I'm not in debt buying any of these things, but still. I've decided maybe it'd be a good idea for me to make a budget for myself. And by that, I mean that I'll only allow myself to spend "X" amount of money on clothes a month. But at the same time, I don't go shopping every month, and sometimes there are circumstances where you need to spend more than usual for a special occassion or where you spend more one month and nothing close to the limit another. That is part of a budget, though, planning for those things. Maybe I'll keep track of what I spend and see if it's so bad looking at it that way.
Or maybe I'll just spread my shopping out more so it doesn't hit as hard as when I do it all in one day. :)
2 comments:
I have this urge to total up all your purchases, but I'm not going to. I give myself HUGE guilt trips after shopping like this, but then I have to sit back and realize sometimes it IS ncie to get it all done in one day.
Kick me if I've asked this before, but where in Texas are you?
I'll save you time -- $80 at GAP (all on sale but the cashmere/cotton V-neck), $45 at Victoria's Secret and $40 at American Greetings (and most of that was a gift for ER and three cards). Not too bad, I guess, but still a lot for one day.
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