Retail Therapy Part 1

There have to be parts..because I've been quite bad with the spending. Hey, my husband's away, the household chores are falling hard on my shoulders, I have out of control cats, trash to drag to the end of the drive way...and I've come to the point where my single friends are like..hey lady..I do that stuff all the time! I admire you...because I'm having a hard time keeping up!

In my defense...I've worked my butt off this past 13 months or so. After we got married, Mr. Allan gave me a couple buffer months and then it was game over with financial matters. He is the man who dares to use a credit card and the balance is paid off within 4 days of the purchase. Maybe normal people do this..but I wasn't taught this until I became Mrs. Allan. My game over was when Mr. Allan took away every credit card. Since I had balances, I wasn't allowed to use them. It might sound like a case of me being treated like a 5 year old, but it was honestly the best thing he could have done. After about 13 months, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we're almost credit card debt free. So, after buying no new suits for work this past year, no new shoes with the exception of a pair of sandals for Mexico, and only one new pocketbook in the past 12 months (my shopaholic friends are probably GASPING at how good I've been)...I needed to get out of my I miss Mr. Allan funk...and knew some retail therapy would do the trick....

In grand Mrs. Allan style...I bartered with myself last night as I sat on the couch watching Dr. Phil's Housewives (seriously Dr. Phil...let the housewives stay on Bravo..we don't need them on your stupid has been show). I have my first 5k of the year this Saturday. I said to myself...if you get off this couch, get your gym clothes on, go to the bike path and run 3 miles, you may reward yourself with a trip to Marshalls. But, you may only purchase items you really think you need....

So, I got off my butt, threw on some yoga pants, grabbed my Ipod, hopped in the car and off to the bike path where I ran 3 miles...maybe a little slow, but hey, most Americans were probably on their couch eating snacky cakes watching the same bad Dr. Phil show I was.

So then came my reward. The cats were fed, there was no Mr. Allan waiting for me to go home and cook dinner, so I got to peruse Marshalls in a relaxed, slow and thorough manner. At first I thought I needed a new trench coat, which I really do by the way, but the $150 BCBG one wasn't really a bargain, but it was super cute. Then, I thought I needed new shoes...which again, my black heels I wear all the time are getting beat but I do have about 14 other pairs in a milk crate under my desk...and nothing was really calling me and I knew a shoe purchase would be a whim I just feel like I need these type buy.

My slow thorough manner of shopping paid off. Normally I get bored and don't like to shuffle through all the racks of clothes at places like TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Since I had this relaxed mojo going on...I combed through racks of dresses. There's absolutely nothing better than landing a nice, designer dress at Marshall's that fits you well and flatters your figure and is under $50 and adds a little something different to your work wardrobe.

So..voila...my find...please ignore the stupid look on my face...man, it's really hard to take a picture of yourself in your workplace bathroom mirror...it's not like I can ask one of the cats to do it at home.. But while you're not checking out my dumb look on my face you can notice that arm full of Alex and Ani bracelets! I LOVE them and I need to stop buying them!

my other find...a new work bag. I like to think myself as the stylish lawyer..not the one who's wearing her mom's old and ill fitting grandma suits that have pants that button on the side and come up to your boobs. So, I don't like to carry a briefcase either. A briefcase is a very practical item...to put my files in, but seriously, there's no room for my shoes, water or mid morning snack. I've purchased many bags at Marshalls that have that modern looking briefcase/bag look and every time the handles fall off. I've been sporting this Old Navy $6 deal for the past year ..but it's pink faux snake skin..I'm trying to rack my brain and remember when I thought this was in style or cool.

So...the $100 DKNY bag was screaming my name...but it was almost too lovely to plop on the floor of the nasty courthouse floor...so the steve madden won. I'm not sorry to say that the snake skin Old Navy will meet it's maker soon.

Other retail feats I have coming up....I went on a great make up remodel...I'm giving some products another week or so to shine or get the boot...but there might be a plethora of product reviews coming up!