The post-birthday splurge

Well, yesterday I was a little down in the dumps about turning 40. Today I feel much better. First of all, when I got to work this morning, my assistant, Tenita, surprised me with a champagne cake from a swanky bakery. I don't think I've ever gotten a cake from a bakery in the white box and all before. I haven't tried it yet.........the boys and DH and I will have some later tonight. But it was such a special treat to start the day with. Below is a photo of it before we dig into it.



Although I've said before that I don't like shopping, I do manage to pull together some enthusiasm for it if I have a gift card. Saturday night we all went to Applebee's for my birthday, then we went to Kohl's afterwards. I had a gift certificate from Christmas to spend. I was looking for a winter coat on sale but I didn't like any of them, even though there were great bargains. Instead I bought a new spring coat..........bright red. I LOVE bright colors. It is pictured below.



I also tried on some super-cute shoes. The display shoe was the only one in my size; however, I could NOT find the match to it. The salesperson looked and looked and he couldn't find it either. So..........I didn't get the shoes. I was really bummed.

HOWEVER..............today after I taught preschool in the AM, I went up to the "big city" to meet DH for lunch. His university is on spring break this week. We met at Panera and had lunch. I also had a leftover gift card from Christmas to use........so it was a free lunch. Gotta love that. Afterwards we went to Borders bookstore, then to Kohl's. I had some birthday money from my parents and decided to buy some jewelry I had seen on sale Saturday night. We went to a different Kohl's store than the one we went to on Saturday, however. When we walked in the DH reminded me that I should check to see if they had the SUPERCUTE shoes in my size in that store. And........they did! YAY!! I couldn't believe he remembered it and I didn't. He's awesome! The shoes are pictured below. Aren't they so cute? And they'll go with so many things. Love the denim!



I had also admired (drooled over) another pair of shoes on Saturday night but couldn't bring myself to buy them even though they were on sale. I looked at and tried them on again today and the DH told me to go for it, so I did!! They are pictured below. They had these shoes in brown and black also, but I couldn't pass up the hot pink. Maybe there's hope for me to develop a sense of style in my 40s after all.



I also bought some new pairs of pants (to bring into the rotation of 3 or 4 pairs that I've worn all fall and winter) and some cute jackets that were on sale. After all, they are always pushing jackets on TLC's What Not to Wear. I got one jacket for $8.40. It is really cute. The others were on sale, but not that cheap.

AND............I bought three necklaces that were on sale. I paid less than $6 for each of them and two were less than $5. I took photos of them which are shown below.

So tonight I'm dragging everything out of my closet and going through things. There's not that much to go through because I have kind of a pathetic little wardrobe. I'm going to get rid of a few things and take an inventory to see what else I can add (inexpensively) to flesh out a great spring and summer wardrobe. I think with 2 new pairs of heels and 3 necklaces, I'm doing pretty well with my turning 40 list........remember the "wear more jewelry" and "wear more heels" goals?

DH DID slightly question the practicality of wearing heels as a preschool teacher since I spend lots of time on the floor and supervising recess on a playground (unpaved) every day. I may have to change into "recess" shoes on the days I wear heels. But I can guarantee this: my little preschool girls will be LOVING those pink shoes if I ever wear them to school. They are quite savvy about noticing my fashion, or lack thereof.

Amazingly, my turning 40 doldrums disappeared quite completely after my shopping spree. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm