My Love for Accessories

I love accessories! I have necklaces draped on french bulletin boards in my closet, a drawer full of earrings and bracelets and a closet for my purses (yes, I have a space dedicated to my purses. It's fabulous! Totes on one shelf, clutches on another.). I have about 15 belts that just hang limply in the closet longing for me to wear them once again. (I went through a phase where I belted just about every top I wore.) I couldn't leave a store without browsing through the accessory section. I felt like I died and went to heaven when I discovered Forever 21's accessory store for love at the Beverly Center.

Thankfully, with all of the accessory binges in my past (those days when I would mindlessly pull out my credit card and haphazardly charge my purchases) I have built up quite the collection. Lately, I have only needed to add an item here or there to coordinate with a specific outfit. I also decided that it is way better to invest in a designer purse once a year instead of buying several less expensive bags. You end up spending about the same anyways. Keep you fingers crossed I find a way to own a Gucci bag this year. Needless to say, my accessory shopping in the fashion world has dwindled. (Probably a good thing considering one of my goals is to pay down credit card debt).

A scary thing happened over the weekend. Instead of shopping in a mall, I found myself in a running store. Yikes! It is not a good idea to go to a running store after a run (Like they say don't go to the grocery store hungry!). All of those endorphins pumping through your body block your ability to think logically (who am I kidding? Being logical is not one of my strengths!) and you end up with things that you don't truly need. I ended up with a new pair of shoes (absolutely necessary purchase), a new pair of socks (I have tons of running socks, but most don't even have enough elastic left to stay in place on my feet. Arguable if these were necessary!), packets of vanilla bean Gu (I'm up to 10 miles in my training schedule. I needed something more substantial than Gatordae to prevent bonking) and a new watch (a running accessory). I left the store with the Garmin Forerunner. It's gray and pink (my favorite color), so how could I not? I'll admit this accessory was a splurge and not necessary. I could have eased my way into running watches with a Nike or Timex. It was just so tempting! Now that I am actually concerned about my time while running, don't I need the best? I got a work out this weekend and so did my credit card (sigh...maybe I'll do better next month).

It's scary that my love for accessories now extends beyond the fashion world. I guess at least now I'll look like a fashionable runner. Maybe I need a new hat to match my new white, orange and gray shoes?

On Top Of The World
Yesterday I was on top of the world, both figuratively and literally. I went to Runyon Canyon (my new obsession in LA) and the views from the top of the hill are breathtaking and totally worth the effort to hike to the top. I took full advantage of being away from the city streets and ran on the trails throughout the canyon. When I conquered a giant hill (took me two techno songs to climb to the top) without stopping I felt like I was on top of the world. What is it about running that makes you feel incredible? Nothing beats a good run. An hour of cardio at the gym is just not the same as being out on the open road (or trail). I need to incorporate more running into my weekly workouts to cleanse my soul and reach my half marathon goal. Yesterday’s workout was definitely a win (and a good one for the legs considering it hurts to get up and down from my chair)! Score 1 for me working towards a 2010 goal.

I am sucking at achieving my less credit card debt goal. Why was I cursed with the gene that makes me love shopping? Why couldn’t I have been one of the girls who actually hates shopping? I am going to be the old lady who has no retirement savings, but a damn good collection of shoes and purses. Last weekend I gave my Express credit card a workout. I needed some new work pants (Yes, this was a real need and not a want. I realize I often confuse the two and try to justify my wants as needs. However, when you are left with two pairs of dress pants that actually fit, you have a need to either lose weight or buy more pants. Considering the fact that I can’t seem to control my eating and drinking habits lately, I was stuck buying new pants. I am going to argue that I deserve a slight break. The last time I bought new dress pants was after I graduated Grad School and that was 2 ½ years ago. I spent hours at the gym instead of hours at a desk in Grad School, so I am kind of letting myself off the weight loss hook.).

I guess I didn’t need the scarf or cute going out clutch from Express. Last time I checked, those items are not required at the office. Minus 1 for me working towards a 2010 goal. (I should probably subtract another point for wandering aimlessly into the Nike store after my run yesterday and hap hazardously buying a new hot pink hat, running shorts and t-shirt with the best slogan -“You can’t finish, unless you start”. Definitely not needed items. I’m blaming this one on the endorphins running through my system after my run at Runyon Canyon.) Minus 2 for unnecessary shopping.

I’m giving myself ½ a point for starting my February business book. I am reading Drive by Daniel Pink. I am excited to learn more about motivation; however, I can’t seem to find the motivation to continue reading the book. I am too tempted by red wine, chocolate and sitting on the couch watching American Idol with my Pugs. (Wonder why I needed to buy new pants!). It doesn’t help that a great chick lit book is sitting on my nightstand. I would much rather read Candace Bushnell.

Not quite on top of the world with my 2010 goals. I am doing an average job of working towards my 2010 goals. The good news is that I have not gotten completely off track. I’ll just need to keep the credit cards locked up for a while and log some extra minutes at the gym on the bike to read and I’ll be back in action. (So much easier said than done!).

I Blew It!

February 28th

Joe and I hung out in Laguna Beach today. I tried to spot the MTV reality show stars, but no luck. While in Laguna I did spot sale signs at my favorite boutique (LF)…oh no! Joe even encouraged me to go into the store…TROUBLE! I failed miserably on my goal to not shop in February. I blew it on the last day of the month. A wild animal took over and I soon had a dressing room full of clothing. I narrowed my desired pieces down to 2 dresses, a sweater, pair of jeans and 2 scarves…OPPS! Everything in the store was 60% off. I would have been a fool to not to advantage of the sale. (I will be regretting my splurge when the wedding bills start to roll in). At least I will look fabulous!

Opps I Cheated!

February 21st

When you move, you realize how much stuff you actually own. After unpacking tons of boxes filled with clothes, shoes, purses and accessories I decided to not shop for the entire month of February (of course I picked the shortest month of the year!).

I proclaimed to my friends that I would not shop in February unless it was for a pair of black pumps for work (no woman ever got to the top of a career ladder wearing scuffed up black pumps!). I am proud to say that I have not been anywhere near a mall this month, and I still don't have the pumps (but I just saw online that they have been marked down!). SCORE.

I did cheat a little and purchase a different pair of shoes this morning. I had to get some gold heels. I am a bridesmaid in a sorority sister's wedding this May. I have gold heels that are fantastic, but I kind of ruined them in Florida. When attending a beach wedding, one should not assume that there will be any concrete walking surfaces. I wore a bright blue bubble dress that looks fabulous with gold heels. I assumed I could take off my heels to walk in the sand for the ceremony and then just put them on for the reception and be fine. I sacrificed a pair of perfectly good shoes to look stylish...tear! The dance floor was wood, but the rest of the reception area was sand. I did not realize that the sand was completely stripping the finish off the heel of my shoes (perhaps the vodka clouded my judgement). What a wicked mess, both the shoes and me! Since I planned to wear these heels in the wedding, I had to replace them. Let's just hope I love my new ones that will be delivered in 4-5 days as much as the old ones. Zappos.com is offering free shipping right now!

Yes...I should have waited until March 1st to purchase these shoes, but I was getting a little shaky from not clothing shopping. I needed a shopping fix and I figured I might as well buy something I have to get anyways.

I just wanted to confess. I suck at not shopping. At least I did not eat ice cream yesterday, but I did have the most amazing fortune cookies ever! They were dipped in white chocolate...AMAZING! Off to the gym NOW.

How Much Stuff Do I Own?

January 27th

Joe and I have a lot of stuff! The moving truck arrived today and I can not even begin to describe to you the madness in our apartment right now. I am excited to have a couch (I ate two meals sitting on the fluffy piece of heaven today) and a bed (I totally took a cat nap this afternoon. What can I say, watching the movers is exhausting. I had to check off boxes on the inventory sheet and I had a lot of boxes to check off. I got tired). My day has been consumed with unpacking, cutting up boxes and moving things around in cabinets. I had maintenance come and check out our smoking oven, of course it didn't smoke much when Danny was here. I was a bit afraid of the appliance acting up again, so I just had a Lean Cuisine for dinner. Man, frozen dinners have really come along way since I was a kid. I used to get those kids dinners with chicken nuggets, corn and a small brownie. Tonight, I indulged in butternut squash ravioli. Yum!

Unpacking is a very funny process. Not only do you realize how much crap you own, but you start to wonder why you kept the things you did. I found a binder from grad school with articles organized in alphabetical order...NERD! Did I really think I was ever going to reference these again? How many throw blankets can one person have? I think I got a blanket for every club I belonged to in high school and college. Don't even get me started on the numerous candles I have unpacked. I love all of the kitchen gadgets we have. People I only cook two things, pizza or pasta. You would think I could be the next contestant on Top Chef with the amount of slicers and dicers we have.

If anyone wants to get out of STL book your ticket to LA stat. We could drink martinis out of my 12 different glasses and then take shots from one of the 12 shot glasses we own. Not a liquor fan, don't worry we have beer glasses and we don't even drink beer. More of a wino? Do you prefer large stem glasses or short glasses with no stem? Or perhaps a souvenir glass from Crowne Valley...my point is why do we have some many adult beverage containers? Please don't buy us any glassware for wedding gifts.