Spring state of mind

A beautiful weekend just passed here in Michigan. It was sunny and warm and the breeze was cool and I totally blew off school work to spend time outside. Yes, I even spent time cleaning up dog crap - just so I could stay outside (and avoid blogger which was having fits of gigantic proportions).

I took Big Boy for a walk around the neighborhood and it was lovely. We weren't in a rush so I was able to let him stop and smell every blade of grass, tree, and pebble that struck his fancy. He LOVED his walk - it was the first time in a long time I'd taken him out alone. We were totally bonding. What a fantastic way to spend part of a sunny Sunday morning.

I think I've mentioned before that I planted bulbs last fall that they were already starting to come up. Here's a few of 'em:


And this one is the grand pooh-bah of bulbs-planted-last-fall (I don't remember if these are the daffodils or the other type of bulb I planted):


I must confess, before you see the next picture, that I hate paying retail for clothes/shoes/light bulbs/books/anything. Hate.It. So I shop sales, buy end-of-season clearance, scour the racks at Salvation Army, and buy "new" stuff at the Reuse and Recycle Center. I haven't always been such a tight-wad, but buying a house rearranged my priorities quickly. Also, since going back to school, I've not had time to get a part-time job which would allow me to buy things without worrying about price. So, for the past few years, "cheap" is a label that I've readily applied to myself.

That being said, when I was younger, I was a shoe junkie. I'd buy tons of shoes. I'd buy cute shoes and wouldn't think twice about paying full price for them. But now I avoid shoe shopping like the plague because those shoes I bought weren't very GOOD shoes and my feet now protest no matter what shoes I wear. Usually, I try to only buy shoes that will give support and will last a long time. Except for these shoes which were SO DISCOUNTED and SO CUTE and SO THE RIGHT SIZE that I snapped them right up and gave the stink-eye to anyone who even looked in my direction once I had these beauties in my cart (here's where I admit I got them at Salvation Army. But they were brand new! Never worn! Because really? Buying used shoes grosses me out.):


Talk about an impractical purchase! My feet hurt just LOOKING at these shoes. But I cherish them. I have no clue when I'll EVER wear them but when I do I'll take ibuprophin BEFORE I even put these torture devices on my feet. But PEOPLE! Aren't they FANTASTIC? I shall suffer gladly when wearing these shoes. (Bonus: they make me taller than DB.) I will have to come up with an excuse to wear them soon because they're just too cute to sit in the closet. (The cute little bag just screamed 'spring' at me so I couldn't pass it up.)

Another of my oh-my-God-I'm-so-cheap purchases this weekend:

I needed some bookends for my new library shelves, and while I don't have a thing for horses, I have a thing for these glass bookends. They glow quite prettily when a light is shined on them. Oh God. I'm going to have to dust these damn things all the time.

Why didn't I think of that when I bought them?