Shopping!!!

I was going to try and think of a suitably witty title for this post, but I'm afraid what I've chosen is a pretty accurate expression of my feelings right now so you're going to have to settle for that.

So why the excitement?

The last time I went shopping to buy clothes that I really wanted and didn't need was back in December, before I started saving up all my pennies for my holiday. Since then I've bought socks, gym clothes, shampoo etc, but I haven't been on a single big shopping spree with the aim of trying on clothes and bringing lovely things home. Brilliantly, however, some of my saved money is assigned to buying clothes for a basic capsule travelling wardrobe, and since the sun came out today for the first time in about a month I declared it Holiday Shopping Day and set out for the town centre armed with my strawberry patterned credit card and the extreme desire to spend. And ladies, it was a goooooood trip.

The prize for the best shop of the day has to go without question to Next. Here I managed to find the holy grail of clothing: the perfect pair of jeans. I needed jeans for when I get down to south New Zealand and it gets a bit nippy, and I also wanted them for occasional nights out, plane journeys etc. They therefore had to be both smart and comfy, affordable, well fitting and suitable for a girl with, shall we say, thighs that are on the larger side. Now our branch of Next is probably the smallest in the country, with hardly any stock compared to the lovely big Bullring one, but occasionally it throws up a gem. I found a pair in dark denim (my favourite), which sit on the waist and not the hips and are stretchy and comfy but tailored and smart. Not only did they have them in my size, but, miraculously, they had them in long. I would have bought them regardless of the price. However, just to put the cherry on the icing on the cake, they were half price. A mere £15 has bought me the perfect jeans.

Following this I headed to M&S where I picked up three cheap plain tshirts to complete my collection of tops, and also found some nice white cut-offs in a linen mix. I then explored the Monsoon sale and bought some gorgeous red cut-offs which were half price and therefore cost what I'd expect to pay in a normal shop. My final stop was Faith, where I was idly browsing for sandals, more in hope than expectation, and came across a gorgeous black and white polkadot pair that were (you guessed it) half price and in my size. This was truly a golden day for shopping, for lurking just behind them was an identical pair in pink and white, also half price, also in my size. Two pairs of beautiful shoes for £20 when they should have been £20 each completed my haul of goodies.

I've only bought things I need and I've managed to avoid trying on countless non-essential or expensive items, yet I've come home with some fabulous new clothes at bargain prices. It turns out that guilt free shopping is possible! Fantastic.