My Secondhand Year

Yesterday was my birthday. (Thanks to all my Facebook friends who sent me virtual cards and good wishes — the BEST thing about Facebook IMO.) Because he’s going abroad this semester, my son happens to be home right now and not away at college (a gift in and of itself), so he suggested we have a birthday lunch. He had some errands to run and I needed a new watch battery, so it made sense to go to a place in the mall.

While I enjoyed the delicious salmon niçoise salad and glass of bubbly (he’s 21 now), seeing as how I was in a restaurant in the middle of Denver’s nicest mall (actually inside a department store, no less), I can’t deny the lunch was more than a little fraught for me. Serious mental shenanigans were going on. Here’s a sampling:

I hardly ever make it to the mall. It’s my birthday. I should at least look through the Nordstrom shoe sale rack. I mean, it’s seriously wack to walk past that and not check it out. Oh man, Aritzia is having a sale; they never have sales. Shouldn’t I get a birthday exception? Oh, and I returned something to Madewell before New Year’s, so I “kinda” have credit there. Just keep walking to the jewelry-repair place, geez what’s wrong with you?

Whew. Clearly the mall is a danger zone. And the thoughts going through my head while I was there made me realize that honestly my Rules are kinda bogus. Loopholes and exceptions are just traps that keep dieters from losing weight, addicts from getting clean, and me from sticking to my goal of changing my shopping habits (and, to be honest, my life). Somewhat unbelievably, I managed to escape of the mall with only a bottle Aveda conditioner, for which I exchanged a color renewal treatment that I’m a little scared to try (and miraculously still had the crumpled up receipt for).

But I see now that gift cards, exchanges, and other work-arounds are really just excuses to go shopping — which is exactly what I’m trying to stop doing. It’s time to get serious and stay away from temptation island.

Oh wait, I have to pick up my watch tomorrow…