Retail Therapy

So today our shopping adventure (I have been joined by my good pal Peggy) took us across two states! We got here to Edinburgh, Indiana, last night and started our little trip on a sour note by having a big problem with Travelocity (who we had used to book our hotel for two nights). To make a long story short, we booked a non-smoking room with two beds and the hotel offered us a smoking room with two beds or a non-smoking room with one bed -- and neither of those choices would work! I called Travelocity in the hotel lobby and after an hour and a half on the phone, we finally got some resolution -- Travelocity moved us to a hotel in Columbus, IN, about 9 miles away (apparently, there is a volleyball tourn. in town and all the hotels in the area are full). Even though we probably ended up in a better hotel by the end of this little debacle, I am still p.o'd at Travelocity for making me work so hard to get a resolution to THEIR mistake (I brought written proof that we reserved a non-smoking room with two beds!). After talking to the original customer service go over the phone, I had to insist on talking to the supervisor -- and I had lots of language issues because neither person spoke English very well and the hotel lobby was noisy to boot. BUT -- Travelocity finally came through after I reminded them that I thought the gnome had a guarentee. And, like I said, we probably ended up at a nicer hotel anyway!

We shopped at the Edinburgh Preminum Oulets for a few hours last night and then this morning we drive into KY so we could get to the Zappos Warehouse -- what a place! After getting lost, we finally walked into, what I will call, the "mothership"! Shoes everywhere! Everything under $100 was 50% off and things above that varied from 60-70%. We were there for hours; the place is a bit disorganized but that is because of the nature of the outlet business (people everywhere too!). I walked row and row with one of my shoes tucked in my bag because I was getting tired leaning over all the time, throwing shoes on and off (I wasn't the only person walking around with only one shoe on!). Toward the end, I froze because there were so many shoes in my "maybe" pile (including a pair for Jim -- see, I was thinking of him too!). And then I saw "the bag"! A Fossil leather bag (in red!) that was originally $300 -- after discounts, only $64. Let's just say that the bag is no longer hanging in the store (and quite possibly it now lives with me!).

We drove back to Edinburgh afterwards and hit more of the outlet shops that we missed yesterday. I didn't mean to buy more BUT ... things happen. In the Columbia store, I happened to run across (OK, maybe Peggy pointed it out to me) a green rain jacket (sort of like something from REI) that was originally $100 and now was $21. So what else would I consider the highlights of this trip?

* A $17 dress at Coldwater Creek that I would have never tried on without some prodding and ended up LOVING once I tried it on;
* A pair of white jeans from Ann Taylor that cost $11;
* Two more small leather bags from Wilson Leather that were both $14 each;
* 6 pairs of shoes from Zappos ... and that fabulous leather bag!

So do I feel just a wee bit guilty at how selfish (and let's face it, materialistic) I was today? Maybe. But I think I bought items that (1) replace items I already have that are getting to the point of maybe needing replacement, and (2) a few frivilous items that make me feel good. But I have made a personal promise to myself to not go this crazy again. I still feel incredibly guilty :D