Excuses and Regrets

The great thing about doing a photo shoot for a magazine is that it gives you a perfect excuse to buy flowers...sometimes lots of flowers.

And this time of year, fresh flowers are a perfect pick me up for very little money.

It also makes you take a long hard look at what you "want" to see in an image, which often leads to editing down to the bare essentials...something I'm striving for these days anyway.

This past weekend I bit the bullet and ordered the boots I wanted...the boots that had spoken to me for so long.  It's a rare thing for me to spend a lot of money on clothes or shoes, I'm way too much of a bargain/clearance shopper for that.  I love the thrill of the chase, and am rarely regretful if something slips through my fingers as I stalk the manufacturer waiting for their bottom basement price, but this time they won out.

I love nice things, I just don't love paying a high price for them.  I think this harkens back to the days when I was a sales rep for high end children's clothing and accessories.  I did clothing shows in New York, Charlotte N.C., and the DC metro area, and so I knew the cost of manufacturing verses retail and I was never really able to go back to full retail after that eye opening experience.

But at the same time, I can appreciate the cost of some things...furniture, antiques, jewelry, and apparently boots in the perfect shade of saddle brown!  They were on sale after all, and I justified my purchase by telling myself that I will wear them every day, of every week, of every month...hah!

Just as I rarely regret losing the clearance tug of war from time to time, I have no regrets when I put my money on the table in other instances.  The pie safe pictured above is one such example.  It was purchased when we were young, didn't have 2 nickles to rub together, and I had to pay for it over time.  It has been with us for 25 years now, traveling from home to home, room to room, and I still love it just as much as when I first saw it in a local antique store.

My father used to always say, and my mother too, that if you really want it, you better go ahead and get it or it might not be there later...something a wise reader reminded me of in her comment on my last post.  I guess from time to time we have to splurge a little, on those special things that speak to us and which we can't get out of our heads.  I doubt I will ever lose my cheapskate ways, but I'm betting I also won't regret strutting around in my new boots either!

What do you splurge on?!...do tell!