Last  weekend was primed for relaxation after having survived yet another winter storm.

One way to do that was to take off on a shopping spree with my girlfriends. Sigh, but there were many bargains to be had…

So, I ended up with nine pairs of new shoes and let me tell you that they were all mine for the cost of a third of a Jimmy Choo.  They were all great brands too – mid-market but high quality everything from Lauren to Anne Klein. Hard to resist when they are offered up at a fraction of the original price.

The receipt told me that I had saved over $600. In the true American way, to save you have got to spend. 😉 And then there’s always that nice feeling of satisfaction of having done something positive for the American economy.

After all, how could I not have those cute purple suede pumps? I mean, how could I not??!

You think I am kidding? Have you never heard the saying – “if the shoe fits, buy it in every color”?

One of my friends on the expedition told me that I had done very well considering that 9 is a good odd number (what is it with Indians and odd numbers, anyway?) and that this would bring me good luck. See, that’s what good friends are for.

As I was lamenting about where I would put all these shoes, my good friends (they are so good with advice) told me I had to throw away at least that many pairs of old ones from my closet.  Throw away, give away but just get them outta there!

It was really much-needed advice. I am very, very poor at doing this, but I was determined, absolutely resolute about overcoming my weakness this time around. While Saturday was for bringing in the new, Sunday was reserved for throwing away the old.

Instead of putting a band-aid on the wound, I went straight for surgery. The result was that I found thirty (3-0) pairs that I was able to clear out. Major accomplishment!

Lest you think I am Imelda Marcos, let me assure you that these shoes were collected and used over several years. Sure, I do have a kind of low resistance for a good (or cute) pair of shoes but I must inform you that that should not have me relegated to having some type of mental illness. At least, I hope not.

The feeling of lightness and liberation was fantastic once I had bagged all the shoes to be given away (only two pairs were bad enough that they went straight into the dustbin).  The next step is to move the bags from my garage to Salvation Army.

I confess I really want to feel that lightness again. It’s a good thing that I know I have lots more clean-up  – not just shoes but clothes, books (the silly and bad ones), paperwork, other junk I have accumulated…maybe even unpleasant memories. Best to get them out of the way!

So, I have resolved to use at least one band-aid per week, and conduct one major surgery every 4-6 weeks. I can’t wait!

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Photo credit:

Red shoes: By Albi V R (originally posted to Flickr as Good girls go bad) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons