retail therapy

i know i said no unnecessary shopping during lent. however, while i've been very good with keeping my promise to attend daily masses, i've been pretty bad at staying away from the mall. horrible, i admit. i think since lent began, i've been passing by national bookstore at least once a week to get an armload of books.



i tell myself it's cause i commute these days. and it's cause having lots of books to read means that i stay at home more cause there's something else to do aside from watching television. i also try to convince myself that books are goods for one's soul (and i believe that they really are) and they expand one's horizon beyond the here and now (and they really do).

but since i have last week's armful of books still left unread, i'm beginning to think it's cause i just cannot pass up a good sale.

i mean, these books are cheap.



dirt cheap.



and anyone who loves reading as much as i do, and reads as fast as i do, especially on lazy weekends when i'd rather go hungry than go out, these things are manna from heaven.

i just try to think that easter came early for me.

of course it doesn't help that my room now smells like cherry pie, thanks to betty crocker. i got this from the S&R sale where a lot of things were buy one take one. i wasn't too excited at first since a lot of candles nowadays smell nice on the bottle but does very little to perfume the room (yes, i know it's cause i buy cheap candles. hahaha!) but these are just lovely!!!



anyway, last of my stash happens to be mint 3 musketeers from my not-so-favorite store, the dollar store. got the tip from tita ethel who said they were being sold there for around a hundred bucks for 8 pieces (P109 actually! that's a little over P13 per piece. not bad to satisfy a mint craving!)



i know i said i'll never go back to the dollar store after i got "tricked" into buying disposable razor thinking it was cheaper there only to discover that pcx has it for 2/3 of the price. hateful, hateful, hateful, considering that sometimes, i think stuff's been in the dollar store for ages judging from the thin layer of dust over everything they're selling. plus, the staff's not too nice. it's like you owe them for punching in the stuff you bought. still, the desire for mint chocolate comes before pride (sad to say) and so i still bought.

i was actually thinking of buying 10 packs (80 pieces of mint goodness) but i stopped myself and said that's too much.

after all, it's just in alabang and i can pass by anytime.

this is soooooo not right.

i tell myself, you're saving up for a bag (yes, another bag. bad bad bad). and there's the "plan" to get a bag when you turn 35. so stop buying, start saving. after all, i still haven't saved up for vietnam (much less paid for the tickets!!! sorry!!!). but sometimes, retail therapy is just sooooo good.

and, as i always tell myself, so much cheaper than going insane.