economy stimulatin'

Well we're back from NYC and it was absolutely fantastic. Everything went without a hitch, which is a wonder considering that all of our plans involved 4-10 people. The weather was beautiful and I actually caught some sunburn. I won't belabor the details, but even the little things were great. For example, walking around downtown and the village aimlessly and people watching. We just don't have that vibrant, diverse, fashion-oriented sidewalk culture here.

Anyway, I got back to my apartment this evening and I've really been hankerin' for a shopping trip. I'm not talking my standard excursion that produces one shirt or two items from the thrift store (which usually end up back at the thrift store anyway). I've been dying to inject my wardrobe with a shot of spring, I haven't bought new jeans in two years, and my rotation of work pants is pathetic.

Let me say that I'm not the best shopper. I like shopping, but it has to be the perfect storm before laying out my debit card (I paid my credit cards off entirely last month). I'm prone to breaking out in a sweat at the thought of J. Crew prices. If all my bills are paid and there is real legitimacy to buying something, I do. But I'm a pretty anxious shopper and my wardrobe suffers. (I have a friend Jess, who has killer clothes/shoes/hair. Whenever I am on the fence approaching the cash register, I think What Would Jess Do? Then I usually buy.)

Like a fairy godsend, just in time for my Shopping Trip of Desperation, I received the Bush tax refund of $600 and hopped in my car to University Village to splurge accordingly. I so don't care that saving the money is better. I wanted clothes, and I went to town at Anthropologie. I feel like a kitten on catnip in that store. It's a little overwhelming (both the cuteness and the price tags). I got clothes and feel pretty great that I'll have new threads to rock...er I mean that I'm supporting our flagging economy.

That's what it's for, right?