the need to shop! Now you probably think that every girl feels the need to shop, and while I would generally agree with that statement, I have rarely felt the need in the past year. Let me explain.... When I was living at home with my mom during my year off (I was working at the CDC in between undergrad and grad school), I shopped A LOT. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that I had a real job and thus was making real money (this should be qualified- "real" money as compared to NO money in college), not to mention the fact that I didn't have to pay rent, utilities, groceries, etc. (Now before you get all huffy about me living the "good life", I want to let you know that my money went to a lot of places other than shopping. For instance, I paid off two of my credit cards, and paid off the one I was currently using which had racked up some damage over the year. In addition, I started paying on my student loans, saved several thousand dollars to move across the country for grad school, and even managed a sizeable down payment on to a new car).
Okay, back to shopping. While I was at home, I had the greatest shopping temptation of all... my shopping buddy (a.k.a. Mom)! My mom LOVES to shop! Mention the word "sale," and she's there. Try something on that you even mildly like, and she will convince you to buy it. Needless to say, my wardrobe was greatly expanded by the end of the year. (In my defense, I bought very little during college and I wore my clothes to death!) In addition, I found the most perfect tailor ever! I'm a small girl and very rarely does anything that I try on in the store actually fit. (Cords from The Gap and stuff from Bebe being the exception). This used to be a deterant to shopping, but as my mom oh so skillfully pointed out, things clothes can always be taken in and tailored to fit. With that thought in mind, I went crazy at my new favorite store, The Limited.
The move to California was expensive, and although I had saved money, there was little left over for freelance shopping. Moreover, I had gone from a nice paycheck to a virtually nothing left over once essentials were taken care of (ie. living with a real job to living off a graduate student stipend). Even if I were in the mood to shop, there was no money to do so. And while the financial side of things improved slightly over the subsequent quarters (I was overpaid), the urge to shop did not return. This is quite funny given that my roommate loved to go shopping. (I however, could just not bring myself to shop in a mall where one of the cheapest stores was J.Crew - the nearest mall. Nor could I bring myself to drive 20-30 min to the next nearest mall when gas prices are $3+ a gallon). This does not mean that I did not do ANY shopping this past year. That would be unrealisitic. I did do a small amount of spending at a couple of outlet malls.
After perusing websites, the shopping but has once again bitten. My favorite website of the week is for the REI outlet. How long can I hold out? Waterproof jackets and shoes beckon!...
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