Confessions and Other Conversation

You know how hungry you are when you go on a diet?

When you've spent months curbing liquor and hot fudge sundaes and french fries from your eating habits? Exchanging your most decadent seductions for the likes of apple sauce and edamame?

Actually, I eat edamame like it's candy, but that's beside the point.

I spent two and a half months literally starving myself from the art of spending.

No new clothes, eating and drinking on the cheap. Entertainment barely more sophisticated than making puppets out of popsicle sticks.

Now that my car is up and running, I am making up for lost time... and I am grappling with a bit of guilt.

It started last Friday.

I bought a new pair of Ralph sunglasses ($15) at TJ Maxx and two cute shirts at Banana Republic ($30.)

Saturday I drove up to Columbus to see my sweet friend D-Money and her lovely family. I didn't have to spend a dime Saturday night so I thought that justified an excursion to the Jeffersonville outlets Sunday afternoon.

I FINALLY picked up the darling, red and white wedges I mused about last July. Nine West was selling them for $60 - $15 less than what they were asking last summer.

That Nine West was selling the shoes at all meant I had to buy them, right?

I was all set to walk away from the bargain mecca when I was literally lured to a bedding store that had a simple sign scrawled with a fluorescent marker: All Designer Duvets $20.

I could not stop the urge.

I walked in, skimmed through the offerings and found a beautiful, white cotton pleated duvet. Twenty bucks. Total score. I mean, K-Mart doesn't even sell duvets cheaper (if the sell them at all).

Monday and Tuesday were relatively inexpensive days.

Wednesday I was off work so I decided to run some errands downtown. Afterwards, I heard a voice calling my name in the distance. I stopped on the busy streets of Cincinnati to listen. I strained until I realized the Gap Outlet was whispering from far off Hebron.

"Come visit. We've been waiting for you."

I was happy to oblige.

I hit the interstate and popped in some techno music, Destination I-275. I managed to cruise my way to the outlet and was immediately hit by a wave of electricity as I walked in.

Jeans! Dresses! Shoes, oh my!

I picked up a great pair of jeans ($12), a nice, black Banana t-shirt ($5) and a cute GAP cerulean blue polo shirt ($5).

The major score of the trip was this divine, white jacket with brass buttons for 15 bucks.

Ask any chesty broad and she'll tell you how hard it is to find a nice fitting jacket.

I walked out of the Gap outlet with my 40 bucks worth of new duds, ready to return to Cincinnati.

$160 bucks later, I feel way better about my shopping jag and the stuff I bought than if I bought a fancy pair of sunglasses or purse, like I had originally considered.

And I think I finally got my shopping ya-yas out of my system.

Let's hope.