On consumerism

I spent the entire month of November waiting for a paycheck. After I paid December's rent, I started spending. . .and basically haven't stopped since. A lot of it comes from the fact that there were things I actually needed (food, hairbrush, mascara) that I had been doing without for weeks. And that I was in desperate need of cute winter wear. Buuuuut unfortunately I've been inundated with this cute winter wear. Like I mentioned before, I went to Pimkie like six times in two weeks. And there's this store down the street from me -- this tiny, lavender store. And I'm telling you, I practically drool every time I walk by. The cutest coats on the planet live here. They're not cheap (49 and 59 respectively for the two I'm eyeing), but the other stuff in there is. The dresses, the sweaters, all of it. Honestly I don't even need to scrimp except that I have no idea how much money I'm going to spend on my vacation and so I'm being extra, extra conscious. I definitely have no plans to shop (especially in London, fack), but who knows how much I'll be spending on food and drink during the 11 day period. Pot cupcakes aren't cheap, you know? Haha I'm only sort of kidding. So everyday, I walk by that store and the coats beckon to me. Luckily one of them wasn't available in my size today. And the other one is making me hesitate because it's purple. The other one is black and white, which is a nice change. I have a problem. All of my clothes are black, grey, and purple. It's not entirely my fault -- these colors and little else are prevalent in France. They could really do with some navy here. Or olive perhaps. And I haven't been buying brown stuff cuz I don't really have shoes to go with them. Maybe it would behoove me to buy some brown boots? Let's not talk about shoes. I didn't even wear closed-toed shoes at home, much less all of the amazing boots and flats I've been ogling lately. All in good time. My financial goals this year have been narrowed to two -- travel and buy nice clothes.
This brings me to another obsession as of late. With winter break coming so close, I've started to brainstorm spring break options. I have a couple spring-type breaks, but I think the first one I'll try a shorter, more close-by getaway. But the last week of April and first of May -- I would like to go all-out. At least part of that will include a few days in Rome to visit Lauren. Ideally I'd like to tack on a night or two in Venice just cuz it's on my list of must-see cities. And then there's this amazing hostel (here) in Nice. A few days on the beach in the South of France sounds amaaaaazing.
Another consumerist problem I'm facing. There are few things in life that please me more than full cupboards. I hit up Picard the other day just cuz I'm a sucker for over-priced but excellent quality frozen protein. Hamburgers (-5% fat of course) and chicken breasts were on the order this time. I miss Jennie-O turkey burgers so bad. And Trader Joe's garlic basil sausage --- AHHHH. Anyway, I'm now the proud proprietor of a freezer full of ice cream, delicious little cheese pizzas, frozen shrimp, chicken, and burgers. Mmm. Plus I'm still working on the chocolates and waffles my mom and I brought back from Belgium. Food is so wonderful. Good thing I've got that gym membership.
So in other, less self-obsessed and shallow happenings, I'm about to embark on my last week of teaching and school before break. I've already finished 3/4 of the worksheets I'm handing out with week. Well, one is some matching work for vocab review for the kiddies. Then we'll do some questions out loud and maybe a song if they're lucky. They loved the itsy bitsy spider. But it's a little difficult for them to sing out loud when they're doing hand motions. And during my break I'll work on my homework. I love how I'm getting so on top of things right at the end of the semester. I feel like next semester will be so much better. I feel like I'm about to break even -- I'm settled, I'm clothed, I'm a legal resident, I'm salaried. . .I'm adjusted. It's a nice feeling.
Tomorrow Matt gets in, but I won't see him cuz I'll be working all day and he's going to a Sciences Po party in the evening. Kerstin won't be coming next week anymore, but it's okay. Seeing Kerstin when I first got here was very cool on a few levels. For one, she's been my French education buddy since back in the day. And she was much more freaked out about the mood than I was, so I felt pretty normal haha. But also, I hadn't seen her in about two years -- but we picked up pretty much where we left off. I hope I continue to have friendships like that. Life gets busy and I can get totally tunnel-visioned, anti-social, whatever. But to know that there are some people I can hang out with like no time has passed. . .that's perfect.