What We Did This Weekend:
Warrenton, MO
We've been lucky enough for the past few years to have been able to attend the temple on a monthly basis. And, until our temple is built in the Kansas City area, going to the temple usually means that we use an entire Saturday to do so; seven hours spent driving between here and St. Louis (or sometimes Omaha), about two hours actually serving in the temple, an hour stopping to eat on the way home, and, quite often, a few hours walking around at various stops along the way.
It was a long time ago that we decided to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. We're no longer breaking sound barriers to get to the temple as soon as possible and to get back home even sooner. If we feel like stopping to check out a Cheese Store in Sweet Springs, MO (highly recommended, by the way), or browsing the merchandise at Nostalgia-ville USA, we just do it.
Sure. Occasionally we need to be home by a certain time because of some prior engagement, but usually we just take the whole day because, well, it takes the whole day. One of our most common stops along the way is at the Outlet Mall in Warrenton, MO, about 45 minutes west of St. Louis.
This Saturday, after eating (by the way, can anyone tell us why Panera Bread is called the St. Louis Bread Co. if it's in St. Louis? Seriously. It's exactly the same restaurant) and on our way back from the temple, we exited at Warrenton and parked in front of the Nike Outlet Store. We were just planning on looking for some new running shoes, and I only thought we'd be there for about 20-30 minutes. But, two hours, three shopping bags, and no running shoes later, we were finally west-bound on I-70 again. Which brings me to this question:
Why is it so hard to buy things for yourself that you know you really need?
Some of you might be thinking, "I wish I (or my significant other) had that problem." You probably do. Unless you really would rather spend your money on new underwear than on a nice pair of cargo pants, or buy a plunger (for its intended use) instead of some shoes that would go perfect with that outfit you have at home. How often do you buy socks? If you're like us, you usually just wait until the next white elephant party rolls around and hope you get lucky.
If you visit our blog regularly, you know that between last Christmas and Independence Day, we lost a combined total of 85 lbs. Needless to say, our clothes didn't really fit anymore. All of the cute skirts Brookie got for Christmas are now laughably too big. The same goes for all of my pants we bought for next-to-nothing from Steve and Barry's when they went out of business. Replacing all of the fun stuff – the shirts, the jeans, the skirts, dresses, jackets – that was fun.
One thing we hadn't replaced yet was my white collared dress shirts. And, it just so happened that Saturday the only clean white shirt I had in my closet was the biggest one I own. It looked like I was wearing a dress shirt I had borrowed from my good friend Hagrid. The neck was a size 17, and, for some reason*, it was a "tall" size. The shirt tails went down past my knees, and there was an absurd amount of space between my neck and my necktie. But, I resisted buying a dress shirt because what fun is it to buy something boring like a white dress shirt?
*If memory serves, this particular shirt was on clearance at the Jordan River Temple Distribution Center for $5. So the price may have been a motivating factor in purchasing a dress shirt meant for Manute Bol.
But, there was a Van Heusen store at the outlets in Warrenton, so we stopped in to see what they had. We found a style of shirt that I liked and I grabbed the 16 and 16 1/2 neck sizes, and tried them on. I tried the 16 first and was shocked that it still too big. We bought a new white dress shirt with a size 15 1/2 neck. 15 1/2? What the...? The last time I could fit into a shirt that size and not pass out from the lack of blood arriving at my brain I was reading Billy Budd in Mr. Frank's junior honors English class.
Now, if only I could bring myself to spend the money on a new suit, or at the very least, alterations...
And that's what we did this weekend!
Go to the board!
It was a long time ago that we decided to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. We're no longer breaking sound barriers to get to the temple as soon as possible and to get back home even sooner. If we feel like stopping to check out a Cheese Store in Sweet Springs, MO (highly recommended, by the way), or browsing the merchandise at Nostalgia-ville USA, we just do it.
Sure. Occasionally we need to be home by a certain time because of some prior engagement, but usually we just take the whole day because, well, it takes the whole day. One of our most common stops along the way is at the Outlet Mall in Warrenton, MO, about 45 minutes west of St. Louis.
This Saturday, after eating (by the way, can anyone tell us why Panera Bread is called the St. Louis Bread Co. if it's in St. Louis? Seriously. It's exactly the same restaurant) and on our way back from the temple, we exited at Warrenton and parked in front of the Nike Outlet Store. We were just planning on looking for some new running shoes, and I only thought we'd be there for about 20-30 minutes. But, two hours, three shopping bags, and no running shoes later, we were finally west-bound on I-70 again. Which brings me to this question:
Why is it so hard to buy things for yourself that you know you really need?
Some of you might be thinking, "I wish I (or my significant other) had that problem." You probably do. Unless you really would rather spend your money on new underwear than on a nice pair of cargo pants, or buy a plunger (for its intended use) instead of some shoes that would go perfect with that outfit you have at home. How often do you buy socks? If you're like us, you usually just wait until the next white elephant party rolls around and hope you get lucky.
If you visit our blog regularly, you know that between last Christmas and Independence Day, we lost a combined total of 85 lbs. Needless to say, our clothes didn't really fit anymore. All of the cute skirts Brookie got for Christmas are now laughably too big. The same goes for all of my pants we bought for next-to-nothing from Steve and Barry's when they went out of business. Replacing all of the fun stuff – the shirts, the jeans, the skirts, dresses, jackets – that was fun.
One thing we hadn't replaced yet was my white collared dress shirts. And, it just so happened that Saturday the only clean white shirt I had in my closet was the biggest one I own. It looked like I was wearing a dress shirt I had borrowed from my good friend Hagrid. The neck was a size 17, and, for some reason*, it was a "tall" size. The shirt tails went down past my knees, and there was an absurd amount of space between my neck and my necktie. But, I resisted buying a dress shirt because what fun is it to buy something boring like a white dress shirt?
*If memory serves, this particular shirt was on clearance at the Jordan River Temple Distribution Center for $5. So the price may have been a motivating factor in purchasing a dress shirt meant for Manute Bol.
But, there was a Van Heusen store at the outlets in Warrenton, so we stopped in to see what they had. We found a style of shirt that I liked and I grabbed the 16 and 16 1/2 neck sizes, and tried them on. I tried the 16 first and was shocked that it still too big. We bought a new white dress shirt with a size 15 1/2 neck. 15 1/2? What the...? The last time I could fit into a shirt that size and not pass out from the lack of blood arriving at my brain I was reading Billy Budd in Mr. Frank's junior honors English class.
Now, if only I could bring myself to spend the money on a new suit, or at the very least, alterations...
And that's what we did this weekend!
Go to the board!
You two crack me up.
ReplyDeleteHow fun!! I need to get Seth a new suit too....but where, indeed, is the fun in that? I'm glad you guys had fun at the temple. What a great goal you have set for yourselves. You guys are great examples! Thanks.
ReplyDelete