Breaking down and just doing it makes me happy.
For years, there is something I have wanted. Something that I have always felt costs far too much money to ever justify.
I was on vacation this weekend, and part of my vacation was to include a visit to a spa with some of my girlfriends. Having waited far too long to make appointments, and having one of the girls drop out of the trip completely, prompted us to skip the spa and go shopping instead.
We went to the Tanger Outlet, and there I saw it. No, her... at a store I very deliberately visited. I fell in love. I looked at the price tag. I was horrified. I looked at the sign that said 40% off. I hemmed and hawed. I looked for something more "economical" (in quotes because that word is generally not synonymous with the brand). I found out that a simple $1.00 cash donation to breast cancer research would get me an additional 25% off, on top of the already-significant 40% savings, and I started to waver.
My friends who were with me certainly gave me enough encouragement to go for it. I work hard. I'm not one for expensive gadgets. Wiis and Xboxes and Playstations don't thrill me. The only thing I need my cell phone to do is make and receive calls and texts. I don't buy CDs or DVDs. I don't play any online MMORPGs, don't pay for any online subscriptions, and the priciest thing I've purchased for myself this year is some makeup that not only looks good but has the added benefit of giving me healthier skin. Oh, and I've had my hair cut once this year. The only thing I really spend any significant amount of money on is scrapbooking supplies, and I've been on a purchasing hiatus for most of this year. My husband and I have (albeit very rarely) dropped that amount on a nice dinner out without a second thought, so why not on a quality piece of merchandise? I had the money to do it since we didn't go to the spa. I would have spent that money at the spa without feeling guilty about it, so why not use it to buy something tangible? After all, we'd been very diligent in saving up for this trip, and the spa was part of my reward. Skipping the spa didn't mean I was any less deserving of my reward.
One of them even went so far as to have me give it... um, her... a name, so I would feel extra guilty leaving her at the store.
The website says her name is Sophie, but I'd called her Gabby in the store, and Gabby she shall remain. She really is everything I've looked for in a purse for so long. She has my ideal number of interior non-zippered pouches (two - one for my cell phone, one for my camera) and my ideal number of zippered pouches (one, for sentimental stuff and other things I don't want floating around). The rest is just open space, just the way I like it. She is virtually unadorned on the outside, just the way I like it. She has enough room for a small makeup bag, my wallet, a planner, something to read, and my keys, all without being comically gigantic, just the way I like it. She is a luscious chocolate brown pebbled patent leather with a beautiful cotton candy pink lining - I love the combination of brown and pink and am amazed at how quickly I fell for a non-black purse. She has that "quality brand-new leather purse" smell, which is so much more intoxicating than new car smell.
I totally caved, and I couldn't be more pleased. So I guess you could say that my new Coach bag makes me VERY happy.
5 comments:
Ohhhh - I've wanted a Coach bag forever but like you, don't splurge or spend like that. Sounds like you got a wicked deal! Awesome!
My SO got one for Christmas last year (not from me, so I get no credit on this one). She loves it, too.
I jokingly referred to it (I don't remember why) as "something that starts with C and ends with OACH PURSE," so we've taken to calling it her Oach purse.
That is so pretty! Congrats on your purchase. I am not into Coach bags, but I love Vera Bradley. I want a new one. :-)
@VM: Go for it! If for no other reason than the crap you deal with from those shitty PTA moms. And yes, I got a wicked deal. None of the other rationales would have been worth a damn if I hadn't. ;)
@Renee: one of my best friends has a Vera Bradley duffel, and she loves it. Not my style, but I think it's adorable just the same.
@Kyle: did your SO have any problems adjusting to carrying it? Granted, I wear things on my person on a daily basis that are more expensive (i.e., glasses, wedding jewelry), but they're not as easily snatched as a purse.
She says she's more concerned about where she sets/hangs it at a restaurant, store, and what have you. Forces her to be more mindful.
She's telling me now she wants the regular-sized plum leather Carly and the new Madison hobo bag in bronze-metallic leather, because her Oach purse is like a tattoo; as soon as you get one, you want more.
It also helped her to take a flyer on her own dime on an Orla Kiely bag she'd been eying for a long time. She's got three now, and she got all of them on sale. : )
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