Last Friday I went down into San Diego for my every-eight-weeks hair appointment (see photo, the bangs are new). Since I was allll the way down there, I decided, as usual, to go to my happy place, my nirvana, a little slice of heaven on earth:


Fashion Valley Mall. Sigh. I love that mall. It's so full of shopping promise. Granted, pretty soon I'll only be able to shop in the JC Penney wing (we're getting an H&M!!) because of all the high end stores that are coming (Jimmy Choo! Kate Spade!) but I don't care.

I can happily browse for hours surrounded by all the pretty things. Add a piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory and it really is like a drug high for me (although, never having done drugs I'm not sure I can really say that, but you know what I mean). And despite me saying to myself, "No more spending! Budget! Budget! Budget!" I didn't leave empty handed.


In my defense, Bath and Body Works is having a massive sale (the sugar scrub? 75% off!). AND I needed the hand soaps for tomorrow's Works for Me Wednesday. AND my current MAC face powder is so old it's making me break out. (Are you buying it? No? Well it's the truth, so there!)

I have zero impulse control! Zero! Why can't I not control myself when it comes to green leafy veggies? Or housecleaning? Or spontaneous s*x with Drama Dad? Any of those would be much better financially (and make DD really happy!) than my secret shopping. Sigh.

I HAVE to get better at not spending. Which means I'll be at home. A lot. To minimize the temptation.

On another note, I realize I haven't posted my food journal in a few days. I saw a neighbor friend over the weekend. She said I look a little thinner. Yeah! I have to say, the food journal at least makes me pause a little because I know I'll have to write down whatever I'm about to eat AND post it here. So, here's what I've eaten since Monday 6/9:

Monday
Banana
Strawberry smoothie from Panera Bakery (love that place!)
Bagel with peanut butter
Lean Cuisine
Tazo Apple tea
Grande Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte
100 Calorie Oreo pack
100 Calorie Chips Ahoy pack

Tuesday
Banana
Steak
Rice (2 helpings, I'd rather eat all the sides than the main)
Corn
Mike's Hard Lemonade (the redder the better!)
1 piece of Godiva

Wednesday
Chai tea latte
Banana
Peanut butter cracker
Small cake sample at Costco
15 Goldfish pretzels
Bottled water with Lipton To Go
3 Hershey's Bliss chocolates
4 Gummy Bears
Pasta with marinara sauce
Peas

Thursday
1 bowl of Cornflakes
My smoothie
Chick fil A (free fried food rocks!)

Friday
Granola bar
Jamba Juice breakfast meal
Hamburger Helper with ground turkey (won't do that again!)
Bottled water with Lipton to Go
Skinny Cow Vanilla Caramel cone

Saturday
Odwalla bar
Mini cheese pizza from Trader Joe's
2 bowls of cereal (Capn' Crunch with Crunchberries and Golden Grahams)
Bottled water with Lipton To Go

Sunday (Father's Day, hubby made breakfast)
Sausage
Pancakes
Steak
Baked potato
Corn on the cob
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie with vanilla ice cream (thanks Bakearella, it was really good!)

Monday
2 bowls of Golden Grahams
Jamba Juice breakfast meal
Chicken mini tacos from Costco (SO good!)
Refried beans with shredded cheese
3 Redvines
1 package lemon creme cookies
Chai tea latte

Is anyone else keeping a food journal? How's it working for you?

*Don't forget to enter my contest before Friday!

In the Dressing Room with a 5 Year Old

My search for the tankini was a bust. I settled on this instead: board shorts and a bikini top. I've got the butt and stretch mark coverage I need, and I don't have to worry about the bottoms creeping into no man's land.

Mervyn's has all swim stuff on sale 50% off this week so very little guilt involved. In the dressing room, my son had an "out of the mouth of babes" moment while I tried on the bikini top:

Drama Kid: [hee hee hee]

Me: What's so funny?

DK: You have two nip*les.

Me: No I don't, there's just the one.

DK: [pointing] Well, what are those, straws?

Me: [trying not to laugh] No honey. Those are ni*ples, but babies can drink from them. We talked about this before, remember? (I could have explained the nip*le vs. areola but didn't want to go there)

DK: Well, whatever they are they're embarrassing me. You need to cover those things up.

Me: [gave up on not laughing] Would it help you if I turn around?

DK: Yes, thanks Mommy.

OMG! It was hilarious. We've had the body parts talk and he knows the proper names so where he came up with straws, I don't know.

I told Drama Dad this story and his reaction was that DK is getting too old to be around me when I'm in the buff or topless.

At what age do we stop taking little boys into the dressing room? When are they old enough to wait outside (and more to the point, stay put!)?

Have you started to cover up more at home? Discuss.

*Don't forget to enter my contest before Friday!