Meet Madeline

Madeline and I bonded at the Coach Factory Outlet store this afternoon. That store is a scary place to be and is way to close for a girl like me who knows no self-control upon entering any type of Coach store. Yes, scary, I know.

You see, all summer long, Madeline (we'll call her Maddie for short) sat on the sweet shelves of the CFO (not to be mistaken for the CFO of a company) at a bold price of $428. To think I would ever spend that much money on a purse is absurd. Absolutely absurd.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I entered the store this afternoon to find this purse to be alarmingly cheap.

Enter Lindsee: frugal girl at it's best. Yes, I love to shop. Yes, yes, yes, but y'all, I am a bargain shopper. I try to stay below the $10 mark if at all possible and most times I succeed. (This takes patience, folks, not only do you have to wait for a certain item to go on sale, but you also have to be a digger. My mom and I are queen diggers. Hence why we shop so well together.)

As you've probably guessed, there was a toss up in the middle of CFO.

I have loved this purse for months, but would never spend that much money on it. And to be completely honest, who wants to spend a big chunk of their own money anyway? However, I was going to buy one for myself after graduation with some of the money I got, but I never got around to doing it. What to do?

And, I think I forgot to mention that normally I skip right over this store. It's not good for my soul to be so tempted, but tonight I couldn't resist.

So, after some numerous phone calls to friends and family, some photo texts to the BFF, the nice worker lady who was so very honest with me about every purse I picked up, and a new BFF that I met at the store because she and Maddie bonded also...

Maddie and I became one, on a complete whim, and I have never been so satisfied with a decision.

For your peace of mind, please know that I paid so much less that $428. So much less it's not even funny.

For your other peace of mind, please know that I had my mother's blessing, as she told me probably the 397th time I called her.

Please also note my major co-dependency issues, as I could not for the life of me make this decision alone. I had to rally in the troops.

So, in the spirit of Christmas...

Merry Christmas to me. From me and for me!