Week of Money: Designer Bag

DAY ONE

5:34 a.m. — I don’t know what is going on, but I am feeling very lackluster and unmotivated to blog as of late. What is it? The dark dreary, cold days outside signalling the end of summer? Just basic malaise? Hunger? Stress? I have no idea, but I feel like I am just floating in a pool of “To Dos” and not doing any of them — getting money stuff organized, doing more investing research, cleaning up my company books and entering expenses (finally) to get paid, blogging… I feel like I ran out of steam or something.

6:17 a.m. — Great! A person bought my book (the physical one). But left no mailing address in Paypal, nothing. O_o…. I try to email her to thank her, and ask for a mailing address.

7:25 a.m. — I made two Chai Matchas today. I find that very cheap, low quality matchas tend to have added flavours — vanilla and the like — and I was suckered into spending $22 more to get 50 grams of free tea (which I used on the second most expensive matcha stuff of course, so it washed out in the end.) I still like this Chai Matcha but I don’t like the added sugar and will not be buying it again. I’m too spoiled by high quality, creamy matcha green teas now.

8:44 a.m. — Little Bun downloads some word playing game app. My belly rumbles. I want to make food but I want to save my appetite for lunch. It looks like my partner is making something elaborate.

9:11 a.m. — Nope. Can’t wait. Need food. I make a small snack of noodles.

10:15 a.m. — Super lackluster today. I finish reading a book that I semi-enjoyed and ended weirdly, so I don’t know how I feel about that yet. Maybe this lack of sleep fatigue is frying my brain.

11:22 a.m. — I pack my dental x-rays to return to the clinic. I keep forgetting to do this but I am getting my teeth cleaned tomorrow, perfect time to do this. I wonder if I should go out for some Mommy Time today. I don’t particularly feel in the mood to shop or anything (GASP!) I just want to walk around and try samples from Sephora… and just be OUT. Alone. We’ll see if I go. I wear my cool new belt which I love, and can be easily DIY’d with a few cuts. I may make a few duplicates of this belt in other colours!

12:30 p.m. — Time for lunch.

1:12 p.m. — I leave, with a sticker bribery. Meaning, I tell him he can have a sticker from Daddy if I can go out. He about faces, and is eagerly waving goodbye to me so he can get his grubby paws on that sticker.

4:43 p.m. — I pick up some baking soda, gummy candy (what? I need a treat…), and search for that elusive, perfect grey coat with slim lapels (looks less bathrobe-y that way), no buttons, and just a tie, in a perfect pearl grey that doesn’t cost $1500 or more. LOL ALL THE LOLZ. $8.03

6:27 p.m. — Time to eat. We eat a light dinner, I drink water, have a tisane (no caffeine), and let Little Bun play math games online because he is really into these Science games now.

8:11 p.m. — Bedtime.

Spent: $8.03

DAY TWO

7:03 a.m. — Little Bun gets dropped off without a tear. I promise him Mommy will come after his lunch and nap, and I WILL come and get him. He nods and repeats it again: Mommy will come and get me after my lunch and my nap.

7:46 a.m. — Still no mailing address from this girl who bought my book. If you reading this, CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER PLEASE!!!!

9:11 a.m. — I head off for my dentist appointment. Turns out I have a cavity. *sigh* I make another appointment, there goes another $300. $165

11:10 a.m. — Back at home, I eat lunch, and vow to make a note to brush and floss SLOWLY and not rush it just to get it done.

3:15 p.m. — I head off to pick up Little Bun from preschool early so I can skip traffic and take him to the park to play. It is so nice today.

4:03 a.m. —

Spent: $165

DAY THREE

4:45 a.m. — I wake up. 4:45 a.m. again. This child…. so cute. smart and lovable but clearly hates to sleep.

6:49 a.m. — I get ready, and head to work. He clings to me like a koala cub and cries on my leg. I manage to shake him off and remind him that he gets a monster sticker for being so good. He perks up, and then hugs and kisses me goodbye, and runs to his father to get his monster sticker RIGHT NOW. Non-food bribery. Look into it.

6:59 a.m. — My outfit is super cute today too. I love it.. Culottes and a turtleneck. Classic with a twist.

7:34 a.m. — At work, I just start. My brain is in slo-mo. A project I have been on was halted until next year (YAY! I GET EXTENDED!)… but the other projects I am on are giving my brain a run for its money. I cannot figure out what is going on, there is no documentation, there is no process, everyone is pointing at each other about what to do when I ask pointed questions. Most people find this frustrating. I see it like a huge jumbled up puzzle to untangle, kind of like when you get all your necklaces on the bed in a huge pile and your baby boy decides it is time to “mix them all up” and they all turn into one metallic yarn ball that you have to spend hours picking out and separating carefully? Yeah, like that. But every day. My brain was made for this.

8:57 a.m. — No one is giving this interim project manager a send off, and he is a nice guy, so I invite him out for a lunch just the two of us away from everything. *shrug* It pays to be nice to people, and I would feel bad not getting some sort of send off!

10:13 a.m. — Hmm. My new interim manager (my former manager has been on extended sick leave) is at home and did not inform any of us, and yet she always hassles us and gives us #%@$ for not emailing when we are away or at home. You know, you lead by example. She isn’t doing a good job in my opinion and irks me (though I keep a tight lid on how I feel these days).

11:05 a.m. — My colleague in a meeting squeezes my arm gently and says: “Top right drawer!”…. and I immediately know he brought cookies for me. OMG. I run to his desk after the meeting and snag both of them. I’m shameless. He and his wife make the best coconut macaroons (not the French macarons, these are macarOOns.. or little coconut cookie cake things).

2:27 p.m. — I clean up my mailbox. I have stuff to do and I don’t want to do it. I’m being very lazy right now.

3:21 p.m. — I bolt early. A colleague who hates me with a passion gives me the side eye. I flounce out, ignoring her.

4:27 p.m. — At home, Little Bun runs into my arms squealing happily. I cuddle him, then try to unload my stuff and breathe, amidst his eager squeals: “MOMMY! MOMMY! Come here! Come here and play with me. I want to do more math drills. MOMMY!!!”… ugh. Give Mommy a break. I need like 15 minutes to destress when I come home.

5:08 p.m. — I wrangle him into the shower with me (he protests and then I remind him about bubbles in the bath and how much fun he has with foam), and he comes to me eagerly.

5:24 p.m. — After our bath / shower, I clean up, and do all the dishes, then make a small comforting bowl of noodles – my go to dinner…

6:27 p.m. — I log in, check my emails, keep hunting for the PERFECT grey lapelled wrap wool or wool-blend coat that is knee-length, in the right shade of dove grey, and come up empty-handed. Why are there so many black options but none in light, chic grey?

7:09 p.m. — I almost get suckered into buying this J. Crew tipped wool jacket (The Markle Effect), and resist hard. It is too bathrobe-y for me, and if I get a coat, I want it to be grey. I could buy this coat eventually but secondhand only.

7:40 p.m. — We get ready for bed, I convince my partner to keep working a few more months (he needs at least 2 years from his estimations but he is ITCHING TO RETIRE TODAY), and remind him that I won’t hesitate to throw him back into the working pool if he doesn’t pay his half and our quality of life dips because he is being cheap.

8:18 p.m. — Bedtime (we do night time chats in the dark as we are all settling down, and sometimes and this is nice).

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

5:47 a.m. — I wake up. 5:47 a.m. I guess this is an improvement. Little Bun is squealing softly beside me: Mommy. I don’t want to go to preschool today. No preschool. NO PRESCHOOL.

6:09 a.m. — Hmm. Some deep cysts are forming on my nose. Must be from my sunglasses. I have to wipe them regularly but I forget until I start getting acne. I dab some coverup on there and give up.

6:25 a.m. — I decide on a very pretty Avalon floral skirt from Kate Spade ($598 USD originally, but I paid $100 CAD, and in a flash of inspiration, pick out the MM Lafleur Fey top in Jungle Green (the top half of this two piece I wear on repeat), and the colours match perfectly. The dark jungle green picks up the graphic deep green-y tones of the poppy leaves, and this is as perfect of a pairing as I can get. I know I’ll wear booties with this, not heels because it needs to be less Stepford Wife / 50s HouseWife, and more modern. Booties do that.

6:36 a.m. — I make up a story about how my nephew (his cousin) cried and cried about going to preschool but then he realized that there were stickers, colouring, math, puzzles and toys to play with there and that it was SO MUCH FUN, so he never cried again to his Mommy and Daddy and went to preschool happily to try and see if I could make a new friend. Little Bun interrupts me and says: “I don’t want a new friend. I want my old friend. I’m too shy to make new friends.” .. I told him that she already started real school (she was one year older) and he has to make new friends. Not a lot of them, just one is enough. He listens seriously to me, and gives me this look. I remind him that Mommy was also shy but she overcame it by making just a few good friends, and how she didn’t need SO many friends to be happy as long as she had one or two to rely on. He looks at me again and doesn’t say anything. Hope it sticks. It is also okay if he feels like he wants to be a loner. I was the same until I turned 19. Kids will change.

7:35 a.m. — Dropped off at preschool, he proudly tells them all the squares of the numbers from 1 to 12. He has been obsessed with squares, and I explained to him what a square number was and now he likes reciting the list. They’re amazed.

7:44 a.m. — At work, my eyes feel dry and red. I need to sleep more, take a break from contacts.. I should take them out when I get home and let my eyes rest.

10:21 a.m. — I FINALLY FINALLY SOLVE SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR SO LONG. Oh…… I take a break for early lunch and some yoghurt as a treat.

12:21 p.m. — I hang out in the lobby (forgot my e-reader) and browse coats. One #%(&#% eBay seller had a listing at $120, ended it early when I asked him a question, and re-listed it for $198 USD. F#T% you. I delete his listing off my Watch List.

1:35 p.m. — I nibble on a coconut macaroon. Mmmm.. After this cookie, I’m going to brush my teeth and then no more snacking for the day.

2:21 p.m. — Okay, so it turns out I DID use over 4GB but my current plan had about 6GB in it, not 4GB because I started a bit earlier than half a month left in the billing cycle. It pro-rated it. I leave it at the upgrade of 10GB a month though. I want to see how it does.

2:30 p.m. — I spied a grey coat in the store the other day that looked like the perfect cut, but the minute I put it on, it felt like a 10 pound WEIGHT. It was SO HEAVY. That’s the thing, natural fibers are light and beautiful as-is and keep their shape nicely without adding weight or bulk. Cheaper coats need to have very heavy or thick polyester to make it look expensive, which adds a heck of a lot of bulk and weight. Too bad.

2:57 p.m. — I also did see a very pretty long wool coat but for $850, I backed away slowly and then started noting what the name was, the brand, and seeing if I could find it used online.

2:57 p.m. — I go up for a meeting, try and squeeze estimates out of these people and get nowhere. This is what managing a project feels like, even though I am technically NOT a project manager, I feel like one.

3:28 p.m. — I grab Little Bun and head home early. OOOOO!! PACKAGES!!!!

5:26 p.m. — I feed him his vegetable soup and pasta, then he eats MY pasta dinner, so I have to make noodles….. for myself.

6:33 p.m. — I try on everything. OMG. The Dolce & Gabbana coat is stunning. I cannot believe I scored it for so cheap, $150 CAD??? It is still in stores for $4000!!!!

8:31 p.m. — LATE bedtime. Some little someone doesn’t want to go to sleep and keeps knocking his head against mine.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

5:01 a.m. — I wake up again before the crack of dawn. I try to convince Little Bun it is night time still and he obediently goes to lie down but doesn’t sleep (obviously). I get up and grab his milk, and blearily make tea.

5:22 a.m. — We sit around and chat about the outside – it is unusually dark!! And then we cuddle and I give him kisses, and we do some math problems. He is getting quicker at adding up and subtracting even double digits and loves being quizzed.

6:05 a.m. — I get ready to go to work (total time for face washing and prep is 5 minutes and makeup takes 15 at the MOST..). Little Bun starts sobbing for me. I tell him I have to go to work to make money to pay for these apps. He tells me he wants 100 of them (and obviously even though I can afford it), I firmly tell him NO, Mommy doesn’t have the budget for 100 apps. He gets what he gets and that’s it. He falls silent and contemplates this.

6:51 a.m. — My outfit is on point today though.

6:50 a.m. — His father scoops him up and shows him the activity of the morning — baking bread!! I kiss him goodbye again and leave. No tears.

9:25 a.m. — At work, I solve another problem but more issues come up. Meh.

10:55 a.m. — Work Drama: I have a discussion with that ornery co-worker and at the end I say: I am only here to help. I don’t want to tell you what to do but you had a problem and I wanted to help solve it. That’s all. — she thinks I’m a know it all probably (I just happen to have more experience even though I’m younger and I do know far more than she does… truth be told), and she feels threatened. Plus she LOVES complaining and having a problem — I didn’t realize that until today when she was screaming at me saying: I don’t think you UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!… (No I got it, you’re the one who doesn’t see what I am saying) …. she is rude AF. She can burn the next time, I was offering to help to be nice but from now on, I’m a mute.

12:31 p.m. — I head upstairs for the pizza lunch we are all having as colleagues (paid $21 with tip in) and I’m disappointed in the pizza. The dough was great but the toppings were subpar so it ruined the pizza. It was too greasy (over melted cheese) and it was not worth the money.

1:10 p.m. — I spend the rest of the hour chatting with my friend recounting how she was screaming at me during our “discussion”. At least I had witnesses. They all saw what happened and I’m glad. Not only that, I kept it cool but the next time she goes off on me I’m going to say: “This is a discussion. I don’t appreciate your tone of voice and the way you’re speaking to me right now. I’m only trying to help.” But I’m just going to avoid her sour $&@$..

3:22 p.m. — I get ready to leave and then just go after I set up an important series of meetings with a client next week.

4:17 p.m. — At home my partner heads out to grab milk and groceries (he does some of the errands Friday night if I come home early) and I play with Little Bun.

5:28 p.m. — OMG. Why does the government think I didn’t send them a cheque for my taxes?!?!? I mailed it two weeks ago! Is the post office on strike?? I check my account and see they deposited the cheque. Oh. Must have been an automated letter to remind me to pay on time.

6:15 p.m. — I also get my packages from Banana Republic and I am half happy and half upset that the gorgeous suede trenches didn’t work out ($500 CAD). I’m an inverted triangle so the padded shoulders look HUGE on me even in the XS. The small fit better for my shoulders though. The cashmere sweater is also not as good as the Todd and Duncan ones and for $180 it better be great. I only end up keeping the trench dresses in black (which actually looks more like a midnight navy!!) and the khaki green. Womp womp. Returns for almost everything.

7:09 p.m. — My partner comes home, I finish making noodles and feeding pears to Little Bun and then we do math, read 5 books and go to sleep.

7:24 p.m. — We have a ‘late’ dinner (8 p.m. is bedtime remember), and then we all go to sleep after I leave the dishes for tomorrow. Can’t be bothered. Will do the linens tomorrow too.

Returned: $267.75

Spent: $351.95

DAY SIX

5:24 a.m. — I wake up early again, and make tea. I cuddle Little Bun who is hassling me for more math drills. I promise to buy him books today when I’m out for my pedicure.

5:50 a.m. — I make another cup of tea and then I get my returns ready (3 huge boxes).

7:10 a.m. — My partner heads out for groceries. I do emails, the dishes, the kitchen laundry and clean up the closet a bit.

7:24 a.m. — I love Modern Family!! I’m eagerly watching the new episodes.

11:33 a.m. — My partner comes home and makes a great Niçoise salad and we gobble that down as he tells me the bridges are all closed. Great. I have to leave early then.

12:40 p.m. — I head out for my pedicure and Little Bun whimpers but I promise to bring back Math Drills for him.

12:56 p.m. — I drop by a store and try on this pretty Harris Wharf grey coat but it is too long and flared for what I wanted. Still, very pretty and pricey at $1000-ish CAD before taxes.

1:12 p.m. — I pick up these very fun math books for Little Bun. $10.95

1:30 p.m. — I go to my pedicure and do the laser removal again on my underarms and legs. They grew back in a bit more after two months (much slower but still…) so I’ll do a few more sessions to be sure it’s gone. $456.66

3:20 p.m. — I drop by the post office and return all of the items. At least $2500 coming back.

3:24 p.m. — I pick up a gift card for my friend who just had a baby. Maybe gift cards are tacky but they are practical and the kid doesn’t need another $30 stuffed toy to chew on and forget about in a minute. $25

4:08 p.m. — I drop by Winners to browse and end up finding MY GREY COAT. $150 from Avec les Filles but it is missing the hoodie part. I go and ask for a discount.

4:11 p.m. — I wait in line and some guy tries to pretend he is with me to skip the line but the guy behind him politely tells him the line is back there if he isn’t with me. I confirm he isn’t and the line jumper tries to intimidate the father with two small kids with a really mean, menacing stare like: “Are you sure?”… Listen man, the line is back there. You can clearly see all of them WAITING. Why would you even pretend you’re not in the wrong? Jacka$$. The father doesn’t back down and says: Yeah. I’m sure. Line is there. Look at all the people. Line Jumper leaves. Good riddance to rude folk. The coat was on sale for $150 and she will give me $40 off. $110? Fine. It retails for £122 which is $209 CAD .. half off sounds fine to me. I wouldn’t have even wanted or worn it with the terry hoodie zippered thing anyway so this feels like kismet. $125.32

5:19 p.m. — At home, Little Bun snatches the Place Value Grade 1 book out of my hand and insists on doing them. We do thirteen pages of exercises before I cry uncle and make some noodles.

6:30 p.m. — After I eat my noodles, he asks for more math and I do more pages while he eats his stew and pasta.

7:32 p.m. — Little Bun does math and we all go to bed.

Spent: $617.93

DAY SEVEN

5:40 a.m. — Up early AF again.

6:00 p.m. —I make tea, my partner starts cooking because we are going apple picking.

8:12 a.m. — I do math problems with Little Bun (more Place Value exercises) and then we head out to go apple picking. I think my partner needs the apples for a birthday cake coming up that he makes called the Tarte Tatin.

8:59 a.m. — Little Bun falls asleep in the car. I KNEW IT. He was so grumpy and contrary that I knew he was super tired. We get to the orchard and my partner goes alone to get Golden Delicious while I wait in the car. Thank goodness I have a phone with a data plan now. I’m not bored. Should have brought my book (am re-reading Crazy Rich Asians.)

9:20 a.m. — He’s up! We go to the Honeycrisp section and out of all the trees I only find one sad apple.

10:05 a.m. — We only fill one bag of apples. Little Bun does a lot of whining about how his shoes are wet (I forgot his boots and they weren’t soaked, just a bit misted from the morning dew), while my partner fills the bag. $15

11:30 a.m. — We head home. It is nicer to eat at home.

12:45 p.m. — Afterwards my partner tries to get Little Bun down for a nap. I’m reading. He won’t nap because he already napped this morning before the orchard!!!!

1:55 p.m. — We all get up and my partner heads out for some errands. I do all the pots and pans. I wanted to leave them for tomorrow but my OCD won’t let me.

5:34 p.m. — My partner comes back and we have a nice light dinner of salad and a few tapas — bread with stuff on top like cheese and candied salmon.

6:37 p.m. — I do Math Drills with Little Bun — he is obsessed with Math now, and he finishes the entire book and happily takes the stickers to plaster them on his favourite exercises.

7:13 p.m. — “Quiz me!! Quiz me on my times tables Mommy!!” —- common refrain in my house now. Now I have to re-learn them too. LOL.

8:04 p.m. — We get ready for bed, and he doesn’t want to sleep so I explain how sleep makes us grow bigger and stronger (his latest obsession to be as gargantuan as possible — his words.) He listens and I explain how the body heals and repairs itself during sleep.

8:12 p.m. — Bedtime.