Shopping

So IHOP Buddy’s visits to Columbia usually result in the considerable lightening of both of our wallets. I swear, her love of shopping rubs off on me. Plus, she ends up buying stuff she’d never buy with anybody else but me… lol We really just feed off of each other.

However, I’m really trying to be good this year, and save my money for more important things, so I spent a LOT less than usual last night. In fact, she kept bemoaning the fact that she spent so much more than me… and she NEVER spends more than me… lol

However, she DID talk me into a moment of weakness with her, and we bought new purses together at Target. Now, purses DO tend to be one thing that I go through quite a bit… in a quest of the perfect specimen. I think it’s genetic, as I remember Mom going through umpteen million purses when I was growing up. So amway, it didn’t really take TOO much pushing on IHOP Buddy’s part for me to make this particular purchase. Unnecessary as it may be.

However, she DID convince me to buy something completely different than my usual purse. I almost always go with black… it’s universal and goes with everything. But we found a really cute set of purses in the more Summery colors of tan and cream… so we bought a couple. Not EXACTLY alike, though, as I’m well familiar with handbag mix-ups (Mom and I frequently have the same tastes, so my going to school with her purse when I was growing up was not unusual, if a bit inconvenient).

I also did my best to downsize a bit, as my purse was getting heavier and heavier as the night went on, and was even beginning to hurt my arm. Course, I got the thing home, and switched out everything from the old one… and really only left a couple of items out. *sigh* I just can’t do without most of it, really. But at least I think the actual purse itself is lighter, and the few items I left out were pretty heavy (including the wallet… I now have one of those handy li’l pockets on the outside of the purse for my cards and money and stuff… I really missed those), so we’ll see if it’s an improvement.

Amway, the rest of our night was just as nice. We stopped by and tried a relatively new restaurant to Columbia called the Macaroni Grill… mostly Italian food. Oh, and the best bit was getting Italian lessons over the speakers in the bathroom. Nothin like learnin Italian while takin a pee.

Then we spent a ridiculous amount of time in Hobby Lobby. For a change, she was the one with a mission to find something to decorate this that or another portion of her home. We did find quite a bit, and I even assembled a flower arrangement for her (she swears she sucks at that stuff, but really, it’s not that difficult… but then mebbe I’ve just had a ton of practice with it… lol).

Then we made our requisite stop by Barnes and Nobles (at which my good behavior was maintained, and I only picked up books I’d been waiting to come out, rather than looking for new series to read), with a sit-down break at Starbucks for a Cappuccino and Vanilla Bean Latte Cream thingy. Then, as previously mentioned, we hit Target, and even stopped by Wal Mart… though we didn’t stay long as my primary mission there was to make some copies of a few great pictures a friend took of Sweetie and I in England. But the photo department closed just as we got there, so I was shit outta luck. Oh well… I’ll just have to go again later in the week, probly at the same time as my monthly Wal-Mart run.

Amway, we finally rolled back to my place about 11pm, and she headed right home. After another piece of cake… *grin* And it was just as well, as The Bug was kinda lonely, and greeted us a li’l urgently at the door. Poor li’l Bug.

But it was a good night overall… it’s always good to catch up with IHOP Buddy… and she really needed to vent about IHOP Hubby… and I told her about more of Sweetie’s and my joyful experiences with wedding preparations and dealing with the Visa. Though, I feel like such a weight has been lifted off of me… hell, I know I’m officially PMS’ing at the moment, but I’d hardly be able to tell from my emotional state. I really do think stress makes the big difference.