My Best Purchase: Non-Fashion Related

I know this is a fashion blog and I am supposed to talk strictly fashion. But I like to ramble. Since the blog is titled “Purchases of a Shopaholic” I feel like I need to tell you about a variety of purchases.

Let me start by saying that I am a true shopaholic. I will spend my money anywhere- from Louis Vuitton, to Walgreens, to Starbucks, to Anthropologie, to Nordstrom, to Harris Teeter, to PetSmart. So you get my point. I will find something to buy within a foot of me. And if I can’t physically see or touch it, I resort to online shopping. With that being said, note that I AM NOT proud of this little addiction of mine. However, I recognize that shopping- of any sort- makes me happy. I have made extreme and outrageous purchases and petty purchases. Some I eventually regret, but I really lack shopper’s remorse. 

.... I remember this day vividly. It was a Friday night of my senior year in high school. We had an open football weekend- not that I played. I was a cheerleader, of course.  Erin (who I mentioned in Day 9) asked me to go to Outback with her in Hendersonville. For those of you who don’t know where I’m from, Hendersonville is about 25 minutes up the mountain from Polk. Erin and I could eat whatever we wanted and never gain weight. So at this point in my life, I rarely passed up a bloomin’ onion or a nice steak :P After we ate, Erin mentioned about going to a pet store. I told her absolutely not because pet stores broke my little heart. (I cry every time Sarah McLaughlin’s Angel plays on the humane society commercials). I have this tendency to think that I can save everything and everyone. And the ones I can’t save, I would just rather not know about. Erin has this way of... getting her way! So she convinced me to go to the pet store. The moment we both walked into the pet store was the moment we BOTH fell in love with the same male-- the cutest we had ever seen. In front of us was a blonde chihuahua- pekingese mixed. He was so round and he fit in the palms of our hands. I knew I just had to have him. We stayed maybe 10 minutes before I got the salesman to “ring me up” for that pup. (It should be noted that my parents had just given me my 1st credit card. So far, I hadn’t put a cent on it. I was very proud of that.) I paid the few hundred dollars it was for that little boy :) 

... I was in high school. I lived with my parents obviously and within less than a year I would be going away to UT. Maybe a good child would have ok’d this decision with their parents. But not me! I turned toward Erin and said “he’s the one.” She held him on the way down the mountain. We had just gotten half way down the Saluda grade when she asked what I would name him. Even though I desperately wanted a girl pup, and he was a boy, I told Erin that we would call him “Baby.” And he was my baby. He was precious. After I named Baby, the thought about HOW I was going to tell mom and dad then occurred to me. I knew if Erin was with me they wouldn’t yell at me as much. So I pranced in the house holding the cutest little pup. (There was a rule in our house-- once you got the animal into the house it was there to stay. Mom is such a sucker for animals). As soon as mother saw Baby, she could not even yell at me. She was too in love with the pup, too. Dad’s first question was: how much did he cost? I answered cleverly that Erin and I had picked Baby up from a shelter and he was free. That shows how much Dad is in touch with reality. To this day, Dad thinks Baby was free. Oh what he doesn’t know won’t kill him! 

... Baby died from a seizure the summer after my 1st in college. He was a month away from being 2 years old. He was the result of a puppy mill. I strongly encourage everyone to advocate against those horrible places. I like to think that I saved Baby-- for his little time I had him. He slept in the bed with mom and he was the Prince of this House. (Our older shitzu Gizmo was referred to as the “King”). I miss that little pup. He was the sweetest Baby. 

So the point is... I consider Baby to be one of the best purchases I ever made. No he wasn’t the Prada of dogs -- he was just a mix-- but he captured my heart. And that is hard to do!