1.
I have had the work version of cabin fever for the past week, so fooled myself into thinking I want to go to Brooklyn Mall and shop. Luckily, neither kid was interested in joining me, and Craig had errands to run so it was just me. Let’s just give you the TL;DR version: didn’t buy a thing.
I think my aversion to shopping was enhanced by the Kondo philosophy of only surrounding yourself with things that bring you joy. This manifested itself properly last December, when I got a bee in my bonnet and chucked out/donated half of all my (and the kids’) possessions. I am not exaggerating here…we got rid of tons and tons of things. And all I could think of was how much money I had wasted but how much “free-er” I feel by giving all the junk away.
And now, it takes a LOT to convince me to add anything to the contents of my house, or my wardrobe or even my bookshelf. I’m still a sucker for stationery and magazines (but not women’s magazines!). Usually I take the approach of …if I love it, I put it back and see if I love it enough to make a conscious effort to come and buy it the next day. So there were a coupe of things like that today:
- A round cutting board from Boardman’s, marked down to R100 which is basically free. I jumped at it, but then after spending five minutes in the store I wasn’t sure if I was buying it because of the price, or because I really needed it. So I left it, and …we’ll see tomorrow.
- A summer scarf at Poetry. I love scarves, because I like the option of covering my neck because that is where I usually feel the cold, even on a summery day. And this scarf had gorgeous colours, and I really loved it. So I will probably go back to buy it.
- Apple Watch casings. I didn’t know these existed! Basically, they change the color of the case, which really appeals to me because mine is black, which is just too harsh sometimes. I would definitely have bought these on the spot, but today was the one day I did NOT wear my watch, and I wasn’t sure if I had the 38mm or the 42mm one. (Later, I realised I could have just checked on my iPhone Watch app). So I asked the salesguy to keep it for me, and I will def be back tomorrow to buy them! (Cheap too! R350 for 3 covers).
2.
I didn’t want to waste the opportunity of me-time, so I went to Tashas and had their divine custard slice (available only on weekends at Brooklyn) and a coffee shake. Yum yum!!!
3.
Starbucks opened in Brooklyn! This looks like a seriously awesome place to work when I don’t want to be at home or in the office. I suspect I am going to make it a daily “coffee-after-school-drop-off” thing. I will take 90 minutes to drink a coffee and catch up on emails and stuff. Maybe have some coffee meets too.
I didn’t actually go to the Starbucks today (Tashas, above!) so will probably take Micole there this evening. She loves it.
4.
Since Craig dropped me off at the mall, I decided to Uber back (I could just walk, it’s about 1.5km! But I had some Woolies groceries). To cut a long story short: I really struggled with pick-up because a)the app does not allow you to determine where in the Mall you want to be picked up and b)their designated pick up point is just opposite the metered taxis, so the driver refused to even consider stopping! It was a royal pain in the butt, and once again raises the issue of …WHERE IS THE POLICE???? Or the Uber intelligence, for that matter. Sigh.
