The Reward I Bought Myself For Almost Burning My Face Off...

This time of year is fruitful...

Full...

A time for giving...

To oneself apparently.

Every year, as I stroll through both the "real world" and the secondary market (that's fancy talk for Thriftin' It...a.k.a. Resale) at this time of year, I find things. Things upon things...heaps of things...piles, puddles, and bucket fulls...Tis' the Season, to clean out the house...get rid of the things that you aren't using or wearing...before you open the pile of gifts that collect under your tree (or wherever you may put them) in hope that you will use or wear those things instead. A time to give-up worn out things...or indulge in the latest technology (at screaming great deals from retail stores) often upgrading the things you've just put up with for the year, in hopes that you'll get whatever magical thing you want for Christmas that will make your life that much better, thus more bearable...

And wouldn't you know it? I forget from year to year what that translates into. This cleaning out brings people into Snap Snap by the droves...hauling and dragging in armloads, boxes and garbage bags full of clothes they need to get rid of...and often they leave behind the things I don't buy for the shop, which I then put on the $1 rack, or donate them to any other various charities around town (I've got 6 garbage bags full so far) This drive to clean out, also translates into people taking their own things by the thrifts...Which in turn translates into me buying myself things (that's a lot of translating isn't it? No wonder I'm worn out by the time the holidays are over) Things I don't normally find during the year...and at a time when I feel like I should be spending any extra money I may have on gifts for other people...

Tis the Season...

To be very good to me too...damn. I found myself struggling with this very concept yesterday early in the Thrift...and to be fair, my morning started out a little haphazardly...I was washing my face with a sample of an organic "wrinkle reducer" soap, toner, and moisturizer trio...and it started giving me a chemical burn...So, I suppose I won't have any wrinkles indeed...because there is no longer any skin on my face at all...No skin = No wrinkles...interesting yet painful concept...beauty hurts. I was hopping around the bathroom in pain, screaming "it burns! it burns!" (the cat did not even get up off the chair where she was resting...after just moving her warm fuzzy butt from my bed, she is getting use to my antics) trying to rinse and then cover up all the redness that was now my raw face...when I decided to do something to reward myself...you know? To forget the pain...I just got a new SoniCare toothbrush in the mail to test out for a company, so I have been brushing my teeth every spare chance I get, because it feels so good...and I love it so much!! There's a timer to alert you to when you need to switch quadrants of your mouth it massages your gums...and then it automatically shuts off when you're done...plus, it sterilizes your tooth brush head...oh joy! (Brushing my teeth almost wiped out the horrible memory of burning all of my skin off...how many times can you say that?) Then, later that morning, I found myself standing at the thrift store gazing at a duvet set:

• 1 Heavy Duty Duvet Cover (probably a queen, who can tell when it's all folded?)
• 2 Matching Shams
• 2 Quilted Shams
• 1 Shower Curtain (which always brings out my fantasy that I am a cool jet setter living in an apartment in Manhattan, then again, my house isn't that big)

The reproduction vintage floral print and the sheer weight combined with the quality of the linen cotton fabric blend made me realize that I was not looking at some cheapo knock off...and I was right. On closer inspection, I turned up several Pottery Barn tags. So, what's the problem right? Well...

• It had a $30 price tag on it (for all 7 pieces)
• I don't in any way shape or form have any need for a new duvet cover or shower curtain
• I just cleaned out half the living room and took a ton of stuff out of the house for resale and donating
• It is Christmas time and I don't need to be spending my money on myself
• BUT, it was from Pottery Barn and it was only $30
• I didn't have the luxury of standing and trying to decided if I wanted to buy it, because someone else would immediately come by and snatch it right up...and I was going to be late to work if I kept standing there

Do you see my dilemma here? This is often the dilemma that presents itself while thrifting...should I? shouldn't I? Usually it's a should sort of thing, as whatever it is that you pass up eventually becomes some epic thing that will grow into some legend in your head of the thing that got away...

"Do you remember that one time _____?!?!?! When I saw that/those ______?!?! Do you remember how ______ that/they were?!?!? Why didn't I buy it/them?!?!?!"

Luckily, owning my own resale clothing store, that also has room for vintage and wonderful linens affords me a place to put the "left over" things that I don't use anymore in my home...so, I don't usually go too wrong in not buying various things...someone somewhere will eventually find their way to my corner of the world and snatch the things up...After all, I watch it happen every day.

So, I bought the set...I pieced it out on the Internet and realized that new from the Pottery Barn, it probably would have cost me around $315.00...which is often how I justify hauling this stuff home...the money I save by not buying it new (not that I would have bought it new, but it looks like something I would if I was to spend my money on things like that) We will now be referring to this as: The Reward I Bought Myself For Almost Burning My Face Off (giving something a title is another way of justifying the purchase of things...cause' you know it took the sting right away...and erases the worry that I won't be able to afford to eat, but hey...the bed looks great!!)

The Question is now...Do I wait until the spring to put it on the bed, Or shall I do it after I take the Christmas Quilt off?

Things I am Thankful For:

I woke up to actual water falling from the sky...YAY for rain!!

A beautifully wrapped gift from this most talented of photographers...filled with a pile of original postcard photo images and a lovely handmade holiday card...I had a hard time opening the gift because of the beauty of the wrapping...but, my excitement for the postcards won out...

This is the last day of NaBloPoMo...I posted every day in November. It wasn't as hard as I thought, and then again...it was a little bit (although, I did not stop and have a baby during the middle and keep on going...good job Suz!) I learned:

• I like taking the weekends off from blogging
• Sometimes my life just isn't that interesting
• I am not thankful on the weekends (I kept forgetting to post any thankful things then for some reason...perhaps I am out enjoying myself too much?)

SO...enjoy your weekend...I will be praying for snow/rain, and washing my new duvet set.

I will return on Monday...