My Month of Shopping

Photo by wearitdotcom, via Flickr

I know, I've been awfully quiet about my no-shopping lately. I've been quite busy during the last month, as I'm now working as the Race and Ethnicity editor at BlogHer, and reading and writing furiously for the HapaMama Summer Reading series. But I have a confession to make: I've been shopping.

Save your breath. It was part of my plan all along. Remember? This is A Year (Almost) Without Shopping. My 40th birthday was last week, and I gave myself grace -- and a budget -- to purchase a few things. Starting in late May, I returned to a few of my old haunts, and tried to zero in on what I really needed, as well as what I really liked.

One thing I've learned over the past few years is that it's really easy to buy a LOT of stuff, if you jump at everything that catches your eye.

Over the past six months, I've learned that it's actually not that hard to buy NOTHING because if you just set some limits and never go to the mall or log on to your favorite websites, the temptation is gone.

Over the past few weeks, I've learned that what's really difficult is to buy JUDICIOUSLY. Not just in terms of price. In fact, searching for bargains can often get in the way of purchasing things you truly love and can wear over and over. Case in point: I wanted to buy a flirty summer dress for my birthday dinner. All along, I intended for it to be a nice piece, from a recognizable name. But then, during one of my sporadic shopping sessions, I saw this grecian maxi-dress in one of my favorite colors: drab olive green. (I know, I know) I had to have it. It was so cheap and cute, I couldn't resist. After all, if I wore it one time, I'd get my money's worth...

By the end of dinner, I realized this was probably going to truly be a one-wear dress.

Lucky for me, I did make several other -- much smarter -- purchases, including a new bathing suit (I've worn it almost every day this week and it's still going strong) and an awesome Knomo purple computer bag that I'll be rocking at the BlogHer Conference in San Diego.

My husband has been joking that I'm "stocking up" for the next six months. But I know all about stocking up, and this ain't stocking up! It's time to wean myself away from the shops again. And move on to another crucial part of developing a better wardrobe: weeding out the stuff that's been lingering around, unworn, waiting for the day I will finally have the occasion to wear the rose-print Victorian jacket (sad but true).