I was on the phone with a close friend the other day. He was telling me about his manic depression, and when he told me that he was in the middle of a pretty low point, I felt bad for him. He stopped me, letting me know that he gladly suffers through his low points because the highs are so good, so productive.

While I can’t pretend to fully understand the complexity of what he’s feeling, I think I can see a glimpse of it through my own eyes, and it makes a bit more sense to me now. [...]

jacketed, originally uploaded by Luana Arrrr.

My plan was to save the bulk of my budget for June for things like future trips and whatnot. Then I saw this coat.

It was in the clearance racks at Macy’s. I mean, sure, it doesn’t look like anything extraordinary in the photo, but it’s really sublime — the cuffs have these cute cross-stitchy details and the lapels and bottom hems are rounded, giving it a soft, approachable look. The best part was that it was originally $166 and was marked down to $55. I carried it around with me for about twenty minutes before saying “fuck it” and setting it down before the sales clerk.

(The best best part about the coat? It’s a large and fits me like a glove.)

I thought I was done there. Ha!

Meet my new shoes. They were originally $50, but after half-off (plus my mother’s discount from using her Macy’s card, which I got on the coat as well), I paid about $23.50. The shoes actually go quite well with the coat, and I’m already excited to pair them with other things in my closet.

Then I bought Nick’s birthday present, went out for drinks with Jeb, and impulse bought two more pairs of shoes online (I can return them at the local Macy’s if they don’t fit — the shipping was free!). Let’s not even take into account the fact that I’m going to Portland in mid-June to visit Jen, to Seattle at the end of the month for a probable Talking Time meetup, and that Patrick’s going to be in town and ready for some drunken catching up, and that I’ve got a baby shower and a christening on the first and last weekends of the month…

… I was doing really well for the last few months (Austin expenses don’t count — spending while traveling isn’t real spending), but I kind of went crazy all in the span of twenty-four hours. Oh, I hope that one of these jobs I’m applying for pulls through.