One of my new favorite things!

So I have come to learn that marketing and advertising works beautifully on me. I realize this. If a Braum’s commercial comes on with their sensual display of how a sundae is made with all that gooey chocolate, I MUST HAVE ONE IMMEDIATELY OR I SHALL DIE. I didn’t want an iphone til I saw what all you could do with the mini-computer and started saving for one. And don’t even get me started on what Target ads do to me around the holidays.

So when I was reading a magazine yesterday and saw an ad for a new AFFORDABLE (yes, they do exist) organic shampoo/conditioner, I found out where I could purchase said product here in OKC. I was dreading a trip to the mall but was pleased to learn that I could go right up to Target to buy it. Oh, Target. I know, I know. But I have not had shiny, pretty hair that got complimented on since I was in college, when I used Pantene. I used Pantene until my hairdresser freaked and said it was pretty much the worst thing I could do to my hair. But it made my hair so shiny, so smooth! I haven’t found something I love and stick with since then.

Until yesterday. Today I am sporting smooth, shiny, manageable hair (and its about to tornado outside so you know the humidity is up). I have fallen in love with Organix products- it smells great, its organic (better for the environment and my body) and its only about a dollar more than the evil Pantene. At $6 a bottle, I have to say thank-you, Marie Claire, for giving me my hair back.

                                                       

I HATE SWEAT! (so why did I just join a gym?)

Well after about 6 months of playing the “I just had a baby” card, I decided to put the cookies down and purchase some Slim Fast. That’s okay with me bc Slim Fast kind of tastes like cookies. But seriously, since I had Aubrey I have been thinking a lot about the future, the values I’d like to instill in her, and the example I will set for her. I started to care about things like the environment and what kind of world she is going to get handed as an adult. I started to care about eating organic food (as much as I can afford, anyway) and planting my own garden. I started recycling anything and everything that is recyclable, and I got my office to go along with it.

                                        

One thing that I completely ignored, however, was the whole exercise, get-off-your-rump thing. I’m not so great at that. I absolutely HATE to sweat. HATE IT. I will do anything to avoid it, including running the AC (not environmentally friendly, I know. I’m a woman of contradictions) while I blow dry my hair in the middle of January. I get so irritated in the summer when I shower, spend an hour doing my hair and makeup only to step outside and my scalp immediately undoes all the product and blow-drying and clean feeling that I have infused into my hair. I get so irritated when I get my makeup to cover every blemish that I inevitably get in the summer due to SWEAT and my big ugly pores and as soon as I step outside my forehead gets shiny and oh how I hate it when my upper lip sweats. GAH!

                             

Needless to say, when a local gym made a deal with my employer for a discount membership, I promptly deleted the email and told myself that Slim Fast and Special K would do the trick. Ryan, however, had a different idea. He mentioned that we should do it together (its like $30/mo for both of us) and that it went along with my whole “wellness living” kick. I agreed, almost even got excited about it, and then for a few weeks we forgot about it. Until Wednesday, when Ryan said, “Hey, let’s go up to the gym at lunch and sign up” to which I said, “Okay but I want to eat first” which, I know it was lunchtime and its appropriate to eat at lunchtime, but I felt guilty. Whatever, I ate the food and then we went.

                             

I actually like the facility, the childcare is clean and I would feel comfortable leaving Aubrey there for an hour. So I kind of started to get pumped, remember that I used to be able to look forward to bathing suit season instead of dreading it, and that before the baby I could shop for a size that didn’t make me wonder if I am technically obese.

Today I am going for the first time (Ryan has been every day, punk) when I get off work since we get off early on Fridays, and I have already conjured up a massive headache and major fatigue. I don’t wanna go! I wanna go home and take a nap! But I will go, and after a week of hating it, I know I will actually look forward to it. At least I have a workout buddy.

Plus, doesn’t this mean I get to run over to Target and get workout clothes? I think it does!

                                      

Alcoholics have bars… I have Target

I think (and my husband would shout a resounding YES!) that when it comes to shopping, I have a problem. I don’t know what it is about those bright white linoleum floors or the red plastic shopping carts (an atrocious amount of non-decomposable matter but that is a whole other blog), but my shopping list suddenly looks too short and I begin to panic that I might run out of toilet paper. And “oh look, the toilet paper is on sale AND THIS WEEK ONLY if you buy a box of Huggies along with a 24 pack of Cottonelle toilet paper, you get a $5 gift card-which, omg I need a new candle for my desk so that would totally pay for a soy blended candle and hey, didn’t someone tell me they sell those Immaculate Baking Company organic cookies here?” You see the trend, I won’t even begin to tell you what runs through my mind when I walk down the baby aisle, but today it had to do with Aubrey’s bottle nipples beginning to turn a suspicious shade of murky and “I should probably buy some new ones and hey, its about time to introduce the sippy cup I wonder if they have transition spouts and I would really prefer to buy glass instead of plastic b/c plastic takes like 500 years to biodegrade and glass is recyclable and hey, I wonder if they sell biodegradable trash bags here”. You get the idea.

It’s so weird to me that I am like this now, because when I wasn’t working I became very enlightened as to what I could live without. Staying home with Aubrey was much more important than getting a good deal on toothpicks or making sure I have a certain brand of cheese. Of course I have always loved to shop, but I turned that switch off when we were living on one paycheck.

And then, this job falls into my lap and all of the sudden our income is doubled and before I know it, not only have I spent all my allotted spending money on picture frames, but I have opened up a Target credit card to pay for all that other stuff that I truly didn’t need… seriously, I didn’t need it, it was mother’s day gifts for my MIL, mom and grandma. Isn’t mother’s day still a month away? Oh but it was on SALE and I HAD to get it bc its SUCH a cute idea!

                                             

I eventually confessed my sin to Ryan, who rolled his eyes and gave a very exasperated, “Oh, Kitty”. I get called Kitty when I do something really cool or I do something really stupid. I am inclined to believe the latter choice applied here. And rightfully so, I mean hello who uses a 24% interest rate card when I have an 11% one sitting at home for emergencies that we can get miles for? To hide it, that’s why. I binged.

So, to recap, the basic signs of addiction are there: binging, remorse, enabling my habit… but hey. I got a swift kick in the pants and I am back on track. I paid off that Target beast on my lunch break AND bought the stuff I needed with CASH. Now if only I could get myself to shred it…