Shrinking?

Ever since coming back from Malaysia, I seem to have been losing a little bit of weight. Shocking! Even more shocking because I have not put forth any concerted to try and lose weight, but when I have tried (with little consistency) it hasn't worked.

I didn't even notice until I tried on these jeans, which before used to suffocate my thighs and calves, and found that they were loose!



I've got several hypotheses about this sudden weight loss. It must be that food here is so off-putting compared to the delicious and superior food I had for nearly a month that I haven't eaten as much as I used to. Plus, I don't force myself to finish everything anymore; I realize that portions in America are simply too big for my body. Lastly, without getting too graphic, I take a dump way more than I used to--like once a day or every other day. It must be a good thing, right? I've usually only gone once every couple of days, and that is when I presume I was eating more! On that same note, I think I am going a lot more because I just drink, drink, drink--a lot.

Thanks to my trusty new Stanley thermos cup, I have been taking advantage of the green tea supplies at work and and end up drinking all shift. As a result, I unwittingly skip what usually would be a cafeteria dinner and hold off on eating until I get home every night!

I hope these habits keep up, because I am horrible at achieving my goals and give up too easily.

To Be a Consumer Whore

Thankfully, I accomplished my first major round of Christmas shopping last night. I've been eager to ship out my gifts for the girls in New York, and to avoid the catastrophe that was last year--my shipment to the UK cousins arrived on or after Christmas.

I am just happy and relieved that the gifts have been wrapped and are ready for shipment (though I need to get their address first). I even wrote all the cards last night. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully they will like the gifts. Now that I've taken care of that, I can take my time with the presents I don't have to ship. 

This topic of gift giving inevitably leads to my not-so-aggressive avoidance of acquiring things. This frugality of mine, per se, does not seem to apply to clothes. Ever. Most times I see something affordable or cheap (nearly always on sale) which I like, and that fits well. That's fine, I suppose--the accumulation of random articles of clothing whose cost you barely even feel every month when it's time to pay off the credit card bill. But then oftentimes this piece is unique--it's got a different color palette from the rest of your wardrobe or just an out-of-this-world fit (OK, maybe not that unique)--so that you then have to shop for another piece to go with that thing. When adding pieces to my closet I typically think of the frequency of wear. Higher frequency = bigger love. 

Now, I'm not saying that I buy crazy, loud clothing. That's not what makes the new individual pieces stand out from the rest of  my clothes. For example, right now I have got a brand new skirt still in its shopping bag and with tag attached. It consists of black, grey, and light grey--shouldn't be a challenge at all to find matching pieces. However, it's got a unique fit. Even if I do have a solid colored shirts--white, red, electric blue, black, whatever--they wouldn't necessarily work (and they don't) because of fit. The skirt hits a few inches above the knee and tapers there, but it's not quite a balloon skirt. The taper is very subtle, and the skirt has a higher waist, hits maybe just below the belly button.

Anyway, long story short, I whored out on Target.com again yesterday, as I saw a light grey long-sleeved shirt with bright red cuffs that might work with the skirt. Otherwise, I'll return both of them. I also bought a whole host of other things to take advantage of free shipping on orders over $50. (Those will, more likely than not, be returned to the store.) Don't want to pay more than $4 for shipping considering that's how much the shirt cost, do I? Note: I was browsing the racks at the physical Target store last week and found the skirt for $6.

After last night, I promised myself that I won't buy any more clothing for a long while. I am not going to set that goal at six months. I say this because while I was buying gifts for friends, I constantly wandered away to look at things for myself, and by things I mean clothes. I am frugal about everything else otherwise.