Brightly colored treasures

Here's the thing: I hate shopping. Maybe it's the crowds or the fact that I am spending money, but I rarely shop. In fact, I've only been shopping twice in the last couple of months, and both times included my mother. See, when she comes into town, I am suddenly willing to shop. And our favorite places are the outlets in Williamsburg, mostly because they tend to be on the cheaper side.

This go around I found many things I absolutely loved but couldn't afford and a few things I liked the price and look enough to purchase. Since everything I was drawn to during the trip featured bright colors, I'd say I'm definitely looking forward to the arrival of spring.

Here's a rundown of why I bought what I bought and what I would have purchased if I had more disposable income than I could ever need.

Because I need more than one

I currently have one belt and I love it. It's a white Star Wars belt with black graphics depicting the Battle of Endor.

But the bright colors and comfortable, flexible knit on this one from Eddie Bauer was just too much to say no to, plus the price was affordable.

Because of the irony

When I got my first checking account, I bought a wallet from Walmart specifically to hold my checkbook. 10 years later I'm still using the same wallet, but it's stuffed to the brim with junk I've been collecting since high school. Yet, I haven't purchased a new one because I couldn't take the hit a brand new wallet might have on my... well, you get the idea.

But a recent trip through the Fossil outlet revealed a sale on the wallets I've been drooling over since I found them there several years ago.

What I can't afford and really don't need

And here's a look at my favorite things that I couldn't bring myself to buy, all of which were found at the Le Creuset outlet. Despite the outlet discounts, everything there is still sadly overpriced. I've wanted a tagine since my trip to Morocco. Unfortunately the quality examples are ridiculously expensive. Like this gorgeous kiwi green one, priced at $120:

And while this piece wasn't really expensive, it is a waste of money considering I don't really need a honeypot. But I still love it:

And here are a few more items that I didn't take pictures of because the salesladies were giving me weird looks. Plus, I've never really taken pictures in a store, so I'm not used to the guilty feelings I was having, as if I was breaking some sort of law.The Zen style is so me, but since I get so much use out of my electric kettle, this might be more of a decoration than anything. I definitely couldn't spend money on something I would likely never use.
As for these pepper and salt mills, I know I could snag similar ones for at least half the price of Le Creuset. But they really are gorgeous. Sigh. My aversion to spending money on a whim sure gets to me some times.

By the way, being Le Creuset items, everything in my didn't-buy category comes in pretty much any of their colors, except that sweet honeypot (forgive the pun). That only comes in the gorgeous sunny yellow that such an item should be. Pooh, at least, would be proud.