You know whoever coined the phrase "retail therapy" had to be in marketing. That concept totally caught on. I bumped into a co-worker leaving the other day and she told me that she wanted to go shopping and that it was an indication of what kind of day she had. I can relate because that used to be my coping mechanism back in college. I was lonely when I first went to Louisiana and spent lots of time at the mall. I ended up taking lots of things back because I clearly did not need them. After discussions with my mom it turns out I might have gotten this from her. She also was a feel better shopper at one point in her life.
I have found two ways to shop this week. One that has all of the fun and costs no money and one that has all of the fun and costs lots of money but it's okay. The first one is creating a registry. Mine happens to be a wedding one but a lot of retailers allow you to create them for any occasion. So you can go through lots of wonderful products and items and click them onto your list and review them and have the excitement of new stuff without spending a cent. I actually fantasize about occasions when we can use the items. Ultimately you hope someone buys them. But I have made just gift registries before that serve as a reminder for when I get extra cash or people are looking for gift ideas for me. It is so much more beyond Am*zon now.
The second is picking out the details of our new house. We spent four hours in the showroom making selections and we have three more hours to go this weekend. I love home design. I wouldn't do it as a profession but I love doing it for myself. Jeff and I have almost the same taste so it was a fun experience. And surreal because we're picking things and asking for prices and at that point it doesn't seem like real money. But we are staying inside our budget and rolled into a mortgage it all ends up being pennies on the dollar. The key is finding that balance between what you must have, what you'd love to have and what people will actually care about on resale. So we have hardwood throughout the first floor with carpet in the livingroom, cherry cabinets in the kitchen, tile in all of the bathrooms, paint colors picked, lighting and a custom fireplace. It's hard to imagine there is more left to do. We were madly petting all of the carpet samples and came to the most expensive. Jeff told me he was sorry but he wanted to marry that carpet. Silly boy. So if you love carpet that much why not put it in your livingroom?