Things I Should Stop Buying: Magazines

I've always been a big magazine reader. As a teenager I got all the big ones: Teen, Seventeen, YM, Teen People, and Cosmo Girl. Then I picked up Entertainment Weekly and kept it until a few years ago when I also had Vanity Fair, Time, and Glamour. But I wasn't reading them so I cancelled them all. However, being such a voracious 'zine reader for so long, I started to miss them, and got a few subscriptions for Christmas last year. And then I added a few more and that bring us to this dilemma. (I couldn't find my ruler but my foot is about 11 inches long.)

That's about two and a half feet of unread magazines. Yikes. So I sat down last weekend and attempted to read as many as possible. It's slow going but I only have the top row left. I think I'm caught up on cultural references from six months ago, and expect to be caught up on today's references in another month. Hopefully.

Things I Should Stop Buying: Chapstick

For as long as I can remember, I’ve needed chapstick. There’s just no way around it. I NEED chapstick. But do I really NEED all the ones I have?

Once I gathered all the ones around my room and in my purse, and placed them in my designated chapstick jar, I couldn’t get the lid on. Time to clean house.

   

And this doesn’t include any lip glosses or lip sticks, of which I probably only own about 10. It also doesn’t include the 6-10 chapsticks in my desk drawer. Oops.

All of them laid out, nice and pretty. I think there’s about 40 here, though I tossed a few more after taking this picture.

I’m definitely missing some Burt’s Bees, as my favorite is the pomegranate and that is mysteriously missing. I used to use Softlips exclusively in high school, and I still purchase them occasionally for nostalgic reasons. But, my absolute favorite, are the three at bottom center, my Bebe from Germany. My friend got me hooked on these and when I went to Germany I bought probably 10. They lasted for awhile but I have since had to have other friends procure the goods for me when they go.

All cleaned up, with the lid on. Which just means I can go buy more!

Some people call this an addiction, and that’s fine. When you consider all the things I could be addicted too, especially considering how all or nothing I am in general, I think an addiction to chapstick is perfectly ok.

Things I Should Stop Buying: Argyle Socks (and maybe all socks)

While organizing my winter clothes last week, I had to tackle the issue of my sock drawer. And it is an issue because there is an entire drawer and a half just for my socks and tights. The thing is, I get really attached to my socks. In a borderline mental institution patient type way. As in, I: 

• "Darn" holes so I can continue wearing them.
• Have a pair of blue plaid socks from the SEVENTH GRADE that I can't bring myself to throw away.
• Hold on to a single sock for years, assuming its mate will eventually turn up.
• Must buy any that have argyle on them.

On that last point, I have 10 pairs so far.

 

I actually thought there would be more. Let's face it, I'm a preppy Southern girl, argyle is in my blood. (I also have two cardigans, two sweaters, one sweater vest, and one pair of tights featuring those classic diamonds.) But maybe the argyle is only part of the problem as the rest of my sock drawer looks like this:

Is that a lot of socks? I'm not sure I'm the best judge at this point.

Things I Should Stop Buying: Belts

A few weeks ago, my roommate mentioned she needed a belt to wear with a new dress. I have a few and told her she could see if any would work. She said that would be good since she only has two belts. Cue the sound of a record scratching. Because I have...more than two belts. A lot more than two.

Like, 33. But, the thing is, unlike the cardigans and flats, I will probably not stop buying them. They are all very different and serve different purposes. Some are better in spring/summer and some in winter/fall. Some are skinny and some are wide. Some go around my stomach and some go around my waist. Some keep my pants from falling down and some prevent me from looking like a boy since most tops are too big on account of my barely-there chest. All are most definitely necessary. And now I need to go donate to charity because I'm feeling a wee bit excessive.

Things I Should Stop Buying: Flats

I previously wrote about my cardigan problem. (Which I have not stopped buying, by the way.) Now let me introduce my flats problem.

That's 7 pairs of black flats and 12 pairs of other flats. At this point, it qualifies as an addiction. But an addiction that came about for a few good reasons because I:

1. Like them.
2. Can't walk in heels.
3. Need to make up for lost time. When Sam & Libby flats were all the rage in the early 90s, my high arches prevented me from wearing them. The effects of not being able to wear what I wanted, when I wanted, still linger. (Though Mom did eventually find me a pair that worked. But they weren't Sam & Libby and the actual name escapes me as Daddy always called them Fred & Barney.)

So, really, blame my childhood and genetics (height, poor balance, high arches) on the fact that at 27 I now own almost 20 pairs of the same kind of shoes.

Things I Should Stop Buying: Cardigans

At the mall tonite, Banana Republic was having a nice sale and I bought a tank top and a cardigan. Once home, I realized that this makes the 13th cardigan hanging in my closet. (Not counting any spring/summer cardigans under the bed in storage. Or the two sweaters I cut up the center to make cardigans. Or the open front sweaters may also be cardigans. But don't cardigans technically need to have buttons? Should I type cardigan one more time?)

To be fair, this one was originally $60 marked down to $22 and in a pretty apple green color. It was also a petite, but still fit me. The cashier, however, also noted it was a petite and pointed it out. Just trying to be helpful, I guess? Though I really did want to scream, "This is a bulky coat! It's very cold up here and I have a little winter weight! I can be petite!"

Instead, I took my purchases, nicely wrapped in tissue, and left the store. To go down to the food court and buy some Taco Bell*. Which was the reason for having them wrap the clothes in tissue anyway: To put the taco bag in with the clothes and only have one bag. Classy, right?



*I know it's bad for me and they've proven something about the meat not being real meat, but it's so good!