Shopping is my achilles heel.

You know that scene from Sex and the City (the series) when Carrie and Aiden break up for the second time and he sends her the thirty-day notice that she can purchase the apartment or vacate? She's walking around a shoe store with Miranda, who is very pregnant and looking for comfortable shoes, and laments, "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."*

That is how I feel when I go shopping these days. I love shopping. That much is very clear. However, having recently taken a pay decrease, and realizing the full ramifications of my decision, I cannot shop as I used to do. The "but it was on sale" adage no longer really applies. Unless I have holes in my clothes or rips in my shirt seams, I have no business buying anything else. Oh, right. I do break that rule. But I feel way more guilty nowadays. Honestly, I don't buy as much.

Case in point: lunch today. Having been cooped up in court and then the office all morning, I needed to get out. There isn't much to do in the loop aside from eat or shop. Being as I had just eaten my packed lunch (frugal, right?), I decided to shop. My rule was this: Unless it's a complete steal, I cannot buy it. Five stores, four items tried on, three items in hand later put down, I walked away with nothing.

Not the cute pair of shorts I found (they were only $10) nor the darling mug from Anthropologie (It was ON SALE. For $4.) Not my favorite $3 earrings from H&M that I rarely resist. Not. A. Thing. Perhaps I should feel victorious. Instead I feel a little down and out.

There was water everywhere, and lots of drops for me to drink, but I chose to make myself thirsty. High five?

* I am fully aware that not everyone in life has seen the entire Sex and the City series thirty-eight times from start to finish. I am further aware that my acknowledgement of having seen the series that many times makes me lame. Ah well. What can I say, I love it.