going big

Before I start, we need to discuss the latest obnoxious issue Blogger is evidently having: the search widgets. Ummmm...they used to work. I'm talking about the little search box (on this particular blog it's on the left-hand sidebar and says "Search My Blog" above it) that used to be the HANDIEST THING EVER because if I were, say, wondering whether I'd already used a particular blog title before...or wanted to find the post where I showed my most embarrassing middle school pictures, but couldn't remember when I shared it or what the title was...well, it was so handy to just type in a few words in the box, hit 'enter,' and VOILA-- Google magic once again gives me exactly what I'm looking for. Or well...it used to. For the last few weeks it hasn't been working. Not mine. Not yours. I mean, probably not yours. I've made a point to test it out whenever I see another blogger using the same (standard-issue, not fancy) widget. None of them are working. Anyone know why or if there's another one I can get in its place? Because I'm fairly dependent on it and rather panicking that I've already used the title 'going big' before and HOW CAN LIFE GO ON IF I HAVE TWO POSTS WITH THE SAME TITLE??! Exactly. I'm glad you understand the seriousness of the situation here.

So I've probably mentioned this before, but I can't exactly tell you when or where *ahem*, but I seriously lack self-control when it comes to my birthday and Christmas money. I'm a great budgeter and responsible spender of income. I'm a reckless teenager when I get an unearned dime in my paws. It's just who I am and I'm mostly okay with it at this point in my life. However, the fact remains that since my birthday and Christmas are so close together, this means I go all year long being Fiscally Responsible Erika and then I have this two week SPEND ALL THE MONIES!!!! orgy in late December. So guess what this past weekend was??

(I should note that Matt still has Christmas money from LAST CHRISTMAS. And it's not like he (or I) started with like...thousands of dollars. It was a very moderate sum, but for some reason his genes don't compel him to spend it as quickly as possible, so he actually still has some. One of these days he's going to wise up and learn to spend it faster because eventually he's going to get tired of me bugging him to buy me stuff with it when I have no Christmas money left (which is by December 28, typically).)

(Actually, I think he holds onto it just to bug me. It's not that he's particularly thrifty or that he doesn't want anything. I think he just likes being able to make statements like 'oh, maybe I'll get ____ with my Christmas money' in July, when I'm stuck living on a boring ol' budget with no hope of free money for six more long, hot months.)

On Thursday I mentioned that I was contemplating getting some new shoes. You guys weighed in and seemed generally supportive of both the idea in general and both pairs of shoes I was considering.

On Friday I convinced Matt that we should wander over to a local shoe store during our lunch break so that I could try on the Toms wedges. You know, to see if they were as comfy as everyone said. For research purposes, you understand?

But there was Christmas money (technically half-Christmas, half-birthday...but I call it all Christmas Money) in my pocket, and Christmas money leads to greatly accelerated decision making. Whereas I would normally contemplate a Major Shoe Purchase (meaning anything that costs more than $30) for months (Exhibit A: running shoes)...when Christmas money is involved...it goes a little bit differently.

Obviously, I bought the shoes on the spot and wore them out the door. And then gleefully ran into every single co-worker's office and squealed "LOOOOOOOKKKK!!!! I GOT NEW SHOES AT LUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!" and forced them all to ooooooh and aaaahhhhh over my purchase (which they did just beautifully). And took pictures and put them on Facebook. And I am really quite obnoxious when it comes to Christmas money-fueled shoe choices, apparently. I don't think I knew this about myself before...apparently with advancing age comes great self-awareness.

I will not be wearing socks like that with these shoes in general-- it's just that they were the socks I was already wearing on Friday and the choice was either to keep them on with the new shoes or go back to wearing my OLD SHOES for the rest of the day, and Option B was obviously unacceptable. Or I could have bought new (shorter) socks, I guess, but my Christmas money is reckless-- not insane.

So the Toms wedge booties (I cringe to call them 'booties' because there are so many hideous booties out there and I hate to put these in the same category, but...it is what it is) were the first Christmas money casualty. I was so excited. I went home and tried on a million outfits, excited by how new shoes suddenly make your whole wardrobe more glamorous. If you'd seen me and my little fashion show in my bedroom, you would have thought it'd be months before I would get bored of my new shoes and start thinking about more new shoes. And normally you would be right. But then you need to take into account the Power of the Christmas Money.

You see, it wasn't gone yet. 

And by Saturday afternoon...less than 24 hours after purchasing the new wedge booties...I had made TWO MORE SHOE PURCHASES.

Apparently the idea of Minnetonkas was still embedded in my brain somewhere. And then I came across awesome sales (at two different stores!). I mean....really awesome. I ended up getting the next two pairs of shoes for less than half of what the Toms cost (partially due to the fact that I had a gift card that helped significantly with one pair, but still!). So you can see that this really wasn't reckless at all...you'd be silly to pass up such legit deals, right?

Someone (my mom? Matt? Don't remember who, actually) commented that they didn't realize I liked moccasins so much. Neither did I. But apparently on Saturday, between the sales and the free money in my pocket...apparently I became a huge fan.

So this is the true story of how I spent almost all of my Christmas money on shoes in a 24 hour period. I tell it to you now so that in March...or July...or September...when I'm whining and complaining about having to save my spending money for six weeks to buy a lousy clearance-rack tank top, you will say remember that time you blew all your money on winter shoes and you were really excited about it? and hopefully it will ease my pain. And hopefully moccasins and Toms wedge booties stay in style for at least another year or two. 

When my parents came this weekend, they came bearing gifts. We had lots of fun having a second Christmas and birthday celebration (on two separate nights, of course, because I'm nothing if not angsty about people lumping my birthday and Christmas together). My sister gave me a really fun blue dress. I love when she picks out clothes for me because they're typically nothing I'd ever pick myself-- but they almost always end up being super fun! This one has an exposed area in the back. I'm sure that's really fun if you're 22 and super skinny, but I am neither of those things. Since I can safely assume no one wants their retinas scarred by seeing my back fat squishing out of a blue dress, I put a black cami on underneath it for church yesterday. With my new moccasin boots and some leggings...I gotta admit...I felt cute.  

Mom was trying to take pictures of the back of it so that she could show Sarah. It was a little hard to capture the gap thing, but it's right beneath the lace you can see across the back.

This is probably going to become my new go-to outfit for the rest of the winter, so get used to seeing it in pictures (or real life, if you happen to see me there).

This will be another weird, broken-up work week with two vacation days in the middle. I have big plans to take down the Christmas decorations (and a very crispy Fred Roger...may he rest in peace in our fire pit for the remainder of his days). Other than that, I'll probably just be spending agonizing hours debating which shoes to wear every day...so thanks for keeping me in your prayers. Have a great week!