This Weekend: Baby Shower & a Busted Shoe

This weekend I went to my parents' house on Friday night after work, then to New York for my cousin's baby shower on Saturday; it's amazing to think that the next time I see her, she'll have a sweet little baby boy in tow. I can't wait! I did spend a little more on the gift than I'd budgeted (about $15 more), but that's okay. C and I don't really exchange Valentine's Day gifts, so I'm not anticipating taking any more money out of my fun fund this month.

The shower was nice, and it was fun to spend time with the extended family. The day was pretty exhausting, though, since my mom and I left her house pretty early in the morning to drive there, and I didn't get to sleep until almost 1. Staying up late is a challenge for me even on a Saturday night, but it was definitely worth it to stay up talking to my cousin and her husband, and watching several episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, one of quite a few shows they've gotten me into over the years.

On the way home today, mom and I stopped at the outlets. Knowing that we'll be doing quite a bit of outlet shopping in Florida later this month, we had no plans to even enter any of the stores we walked by in our search for the bathroom. However, as I exited the restroom, I noticed that my shoe's heel was loose.

Uh oh.

My shoe collection is pretty basic, when it comes to work-appropriate footwear: one pair of black pointed-toe heels, one pair of brown heels, and a few cheap pairs of ballet flats. That's it. I don't really do the whole shoe-crazy girl thing. I bought this particular pair of black shoes by Nine West at Marshall's in the spring of 2007, and they have served me well, but I think it might be time to replace them. Mom & I stopped in the Kenneth Cole Reaction store briefly on our way out, since I've always had good luck with their shoes, but the prices were insane. A pair of shoes I'd almost purchased in Florida last February (they didn't have my size or I would've bought them) was double the price they'd been a year ago. What on earth kind of business model is that - wait until there's a recession, then double your prices? Because we all have so much disposable income right now?? They had my size, too, but there was no way I was shelling out $80 for these shoes. Maybe I can pick them up in Florida for the "old" price. Weird.