THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!

Drum roll please!

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Mom and Dad

My 90 day shopping detox is coming to an end. Yep, can you even believe that it has been three months?

Did I survive? Well, I lived to write another blog post, so I guess you know the answer to that. But what about my soul? My friends? My family? Did they all feel the repercussions of my shopping withdrawal? Did I gain weight from feeding my shopping soul? Was I always a bad mood lady knowing that I was neglecting my boyfriends Louis (Vuitton) and Christian (Louboutin)? So many questions.

The truth: I did more than survive, I thrived!

I suddenly had all this time to concentrate on unfinished projects which made me feel so fulfilled and accomplished that the people around me couldn’t help but feel my new good juju. I started by re-committing myself to the list of things I had put on the back burner because I was too busy shopping. 
 
The first thing I did was re-double my efforts to become a plant-based certified chef. Rouxbe is this amazing online program, but I lost my mojo after the first few months because I had to study, cook, and photograph the recipe at every stage. Who has time for that?! I do! With less time shopping, and tons of energy, I was able knock that off my list! It only took me a year, but better late than never.
 
That got me thinking: if I managed to knock that off the list what other things could I do? 
 
Voice lessons? Check.
Latin Ballroom Dancing with Maksim Chmerkovskiy from Dancing with the Stars? Don’t mind if I do.
Reorganizing my home? A cinch
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1900’s fabulous dress

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1900’s fabulous dress

I suddenly felt like I could take on anything. I was Super Woman, Wonder Woman, and Bat Girl all rolled into one. Nothing could stop this roll of positivity I was on, which is when I decided it was time for me to to face organizing and cleaning out my mother’s home in Newport Beach. I have been avoiding it for years because I just didn’t want to go through every closet, every cabinet, every momento, and say goodbye to her all over again. As I started to tackle the problem I began discovering such treasures. I found so many gloves. Gloves! As if that weren’t enough, I discovered gads of gorgeous vintage hats. Ah, those were the days when women wore hats and gloves and dressed for every occasion. Going through her things, an act I was dreading, was suddenly becoming fun. I was getting such incredible insight into the woman she was, and will always be, in my memory: a picture of style and grace. She was always the most glamorous of all of my friends parents in Wichita Falls. I, of course, found a handful of treasures that I am taking home with me. One of them is a hat box brimming with love letters my parents wrote to each other in 1949 before they got married. Being in that house brought back so many wonderful memories of my mother and I going out for a day of shopping, returning home, and doing a fashion show for my father who always had the last word on whether we kept the dress or returned it. I can feel their presence, and I am beyond grateful for my shopping moratorium because otherwise I would not have “found” the time to do this, and I am feeling closer to them than I have in a long time.
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I can’t get enough of these hats

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Mom’s beautiful gloves

 

Did I grow from this shopping detox? Yes. 
Was it always easy? Absolutely not. 
Did I fall off the wagon? … I did, but only twice and I bought a one of a kind leather jacket at the J. Mendel sample sale, and a necklace form a bespoke jewelry designer at cost. But! Those two little hiccups in my 3 month shopping break didn’t wet my appetite and send me down the path of shopping destruction.
Am I better for this experiment? Absolutely. 
Would I do it again? I hope I don’t have to, but if I do, I know that I can not only do it, but that I can also handle it with great aplomb.
 
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My niece and I trying on mom’s hats

Now bring on the spring collections!!!!