if you've been reading this blog for a while, you'd know i make a big deal out of my birthday.

a huge deal.

so, considering that i'm turning 30 (gasp!) this march 2, i'm making huge plans this year for myself. nothing's final though but it's nice to have a LOT of options, right?

the best possible option came this morning in the form of a text message from my favorite cousin ian who asked if i would like to join them in hong kong from february 28 to march 3 for only US$350. that roughly amounts to PhP16,800. plus pocket money and other expenses (and very minimal shopping), i figured i'd need at least PhP25,000.

now i know i have PhP25k but would i be willing to spend that much for a couple of days of bliss? and if i spent that much money on four days of vacation, how long would it take before i am able to save that much again?

all of a sudden i thought of the money that came my way during the christmas season, the bonuses and what not and i asked myself where all of it went and i realized that had i not shopped like crazy at kamiseta and maldita when it went on sale a couple of weeks ago, and had i not bought all those random things while at the mall, and had i not indulged in too much coffee and dinners out and what-nots during the christmas season, i might actually have PhP25k to spare. but, since i did, i am clearly not going to be spending my 30th birthday in hongkong.

now, with that thought bugging me the entire day, you'd think i'd make a 180 degree change with regards to my spending habit.

let's just say i tried.

cause after work today, i had coffee and dinner with friends from lingkod (there i go spending too much money on food which just makes me really fat and, as a result, really sad). then g and i went around the mall and i ended up spying this gorgeous denim jacket on sale (only PhP999!) at rustan's. it looked absolutely gorgeous, absolutely fabulous, absolutely perfect on me. i imagined myself bringing it with me next time i watch a movie with the boy or next time we go out and me slipping on gorgeous denim jacket to ward off the cold and him just thinking "what did i do to deserve to be with this amazing person?"

for today, though, self-restraint won and jacket remained at rustan's.

tomorrow, however, is a different matter altogether.