I slipped, ever so slightly, off the hiatus wagon (or, off my hiatus horse to use a painful punny metaphor).
But I must preface.
On the 6th January I wrote, hurriedly & rashly, that I would purchase No More until 14th April.
As I was writing the caveats our dinner dates arrived and I hit publish, sent a tweet, and thought more of it later.
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But because I am (all too) rational, I knew that I would find a complete dearth of shopping difficult to maintain, and so my rushed caveats were amended thusly:
x No clothes. Unless repairing or replacing.
x No books. None at all. Seriously. Use a damn library darling covetous self.
x If a purchase is desired, it must be run past my moral compass (aka Craig).
x If a purchase is made without approval penance must be paid*.
x Penance is to be decided by said darling Moral Compass.
x Charity is exempt.
And so, I have a confession. I have slipped.
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1. This beautiful beautiful top which I had coveted from afar, then found at a reduced price. Darling Craig approved of a 10 day cooling off period & if it was still available? then it would be mine.
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2. Wendy Brandes, my second favourite jewellery designer (sorry WendyB! NZ designers Meadowlark hold my number one, but you are still have the foulest mouth!) is donating a significant portion of the proceeds of her Teeny Genie necklaces to Janet, a blogger who lost her husband suddenly & unexpectedly to suicide. The thought of that terrifies me (Love you Craig!) and this was perfect. Charity, for someone I truly want to help** , & a reminder of the larger WendyB piece for which I am (still) fervently saving.
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3. A lovely lovely bag, on sale from $219 to $80. In a fit of low blood sugar and high caffeine, I purchased it. Without running it past Monsieur MC. When I got back to the office we had the following email exchange:
To: Craig
From: Sarah-Rose
I bought a bag. A pretty bag which was down to $80 from $219.
Please consider my penance. Covering dinner for your nights for two weeks? a week without V? something nefarious you decide? no penance as that was a really good deal?
I wait with bated breath.
To: Sarah-Rose
From: Craig
Penance must be paid, I will take your comments under advisement and pass my judgment in due course.
xxx
He deemed that covering 3 of his cooking nights was sufficient. That'll be just annoying enough.
Sigh. Overall? I have to admit that, for me, I have done pretty well. I have four boxes of clothes, shoes, jewellery, ephemera to donate to siblings & charity, my wardrobe doesn't bulge, my drawers are half empty, and I am getting through my "to read" mountain.
It feels good. Much like this confession. Cathartic.
I feel hopeful for the next seventy days.
And I certainly hope I have far fewer (0??) confessions to make.
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* I did take holy communion at an early age and it seems something stuck. Ack!
** By the way, I do want to help many people & support many causes & donate donate donate, but this one involves the purchase of jewellery & as such, is a grey area under the Charity exemption.