It's January 2, 2010 - a new year, new decade, new day is dawning. Time for fresh starts. Recommit to those new/old goals. Re institute the chronic New Year's Resolution. CHANGE YOUR LIFE!! All that jazz. Well, this year I am going to attempt to do the impossible - at least, what I perceive is the impossible. Stop buying new. Stop buying. Stop shopping. YIKES!
I am an accomplished, veteran shopper. And, I must say am very, very good at shopping. I can find a cool bargain anywhere. I think back on some shopping coups - black, patent leather Coach heels - regular price $250.0, snagged at T.J. Maxx clearance for $49.00. Never mind that with the three inch heel height, I get altitude sickness when wearing them. After all, I already stand nearly six feet tall in my stocking feet. And, have to cling to the bench in the courtroom to keep from staggering over. (I am an attorney and frankly a large part of my shopping in recent years has been designed around outfitting me as the best dressed female attorney in the Northern Illinois area. Which, given the pool of fashionista talent in this town, is not really a big challenge.) But, they are beautiful shoes and have a red, white and black plaid lining. How could I resist? I recall a beautiful, light blue cardigan with a net back, embroidered with peacocks (again a snag from T. J. Maxx) that became a niece's Christmas present one year. Within my family and close friends, stories of my shopping glories are legend. But, all good things must come to an end.
I have taken this idea of buying nothing new from a book that was published several years ago. A woman and her husband chronicled their own year of buying nothing new. Some definition is required and clarification will occur as the year progresses. What exactly is not going to be bought new? Obviously, we will need food and toiletries and those things will need to be bought new. So, what are the categories in which new purchases will be allowed and what are verboten?
Verboten categories :
Category #1 - Clothing for myself.
My eldest daughter, hereinafter Daughter #1, was home for the Christmas holiday and organized my closet(s) for me. It was an act of charity. My stuff was a mess. An absolute horror story. With work demands, life demands, the holidays, I could barely do life - work, work, home, work, work, - much less do life maintence. I knew I owed.....so many things I just couldn't find. So Daughter #1 spend a whole day organizing my closets. I am lucky enough to have two closets. Part of the reason I live in the house I live in is that the master bedroom has great closets. One, a large walk in with a window in it !! The window is such a cute idea. I love it! Great shelving and space for hanging clothes on both sides of the closet. Then, there is a big closet with just shelves in it. For a while this closet was used for sweaters, but has become exclusively a shoe closet.
So Daughter #1 got to work. Her skills lie in clutter removal, chaos eliminator and organizer of the highest order. She was the perfect woman for this job. And, at the end, after counting over 80 pairs of shoes, mutliple white t-shirts, 29 pairs of pajamas, seven (seven!!) bathrobes, pairs of slippers, sweaters with cabling galore, her comment? " Mom, I know what I am NOT buying you for a present ever - clothes! There is no clothing item you need." My response? "But, I don't have any yellow shoes." She: "Yeah, and you don't need them, either."
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