A Moment in the Frozen Food Aisle

I went shopping for a total of four hours today! My purchases: Stride Rite shoes for Abby, Shiseido compact, Shiseido shimmering lipstick, Shiseido blemish concealer, gift for Abby's friend's birthday, two pajamas for Abby, khaki blazer for me, a make-up/toiletry bag, dulce de leche latte, a petite vanilla scone, jacket for Abby, robe for Abby plus slippers, sippy cups for Abby, reclining chair for the floor, and pink leggings for Abby.

A true shopping spree!

Those of you who know me know that I take FOREVER purchasing an item. I have to research it, look at it up close, weigh all the pros and cons, and then do the "love test," which is to leave it behind for said number of hours/days, and then finally buy it.

Today, I put Abby in daycare, and decided it was time to go to the mall and buy something. Over the past one and a half years I've collected gift cards, always tentative about using them because I needed to make the perfect purchase. Having so many gift cards in my purse was driving me crazy! So I had to take action. And I took it.

Out of all the items I bought today, I spent a total of $36 out-of-pocket. Everything else was through gift cards and/or exchange. This is totally unheard of. The make up and blazer alone would total about $200! Wow. Thank you to all who have given me a gift card in previous years to Nordstrom, Gymboree, GAP, Starbucks, Target, Sephora, American Express Giftcard, and Macy's. I've used up everything except for the Gymboree giftcard and the Starbucks giftcard. Whew.

I had a lot of fun! I took my time. I compared prices. I returned items and adjusted prices so that I could get the maximum out of all my purchases.