Gina, Thy Name Is...

So as I was opening my birthday gifts from my family this weekend, I realized something.

I am a hypocrite.

And yet somehow, I'm ok with that.

You see, I got some extremely rockin' gifts, and my squeals of delight could most likely be heard down the block. I got an awesome Brighton wallet/purse thingy that is so cute I could just hang it up on the wall and never use it. I got a rather large (for me, anyway) check. I almost swooned upon viewing the Sephora gift card, visions of spending hours at those yummy displays dancing in my head.

I know you are asking yourself, did Gina not, like three posts ago, complain about the rampant consumerism of Americans? That we are too obsessed with things? That we buy things to make us happy, thinking that they actually have that ability?

I'll answer that for you. I certainly did.

But less than two hours ago, I was feverishly looking at the Sephora website for new products in anticipation of my planned visit tomorrow. I was actually placing in order of importance, the things I would buy with my large check.

Do I get a pass because they were gifts?

Allrighty then, I'll just pick up this piece of red fabric I happen to have here and sew it on my shirt right this minute.

So if you happen to be at a Sephora tomorrow and see a woman with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a large scarlet H on her chest trying on the latest Stila lipstick, that would be moi.

Comments

Trabinski said…
i feel your pain! i live in hippie town canada and have been known a time or two to have a similar speech on my own soap box. but hey, when i cross the border back into civilization, i begin to feel that gravitational pull towards shopping - and nearly impossible to stop myself!

Have fun at Sephora!! :)
10:42 PM
Awesome Mom said…
Enjoy your trip and try not to push any old ladies over in your rush to get to the products you want.
6:46 AM
Liz said…
The difference is that it's your birthday. Everybody should have a chance to splurge on their birthday. And it would be rude to not use your gifts ;).

It's the people who spend like that all year round that's the problem.
7:21 AM
blueyedtracy said…
He He,

I'm so the same! Stila lipsticks/lipglosses are the BEST! How close are you to South Coast Plaza?? The ultimate southern calif. shopping mecca. Enjoy the shopping and the gifts!
8:12 AM
Bobita said…
I live in the rural NW...so I haven't much shopping selection...

But I have a friend who lives near Malibu, whom I see once/year. Every time I see her a little green creature rises in my soul...ENVY! Her perfect designer accessories and expensive "cowboy" boots (she explained to me at Christmas, while we were shopping together in Seattle...there is some kind of cowboy boot that is the new "Ug"...to which I'm thinking, "UG?").

So, although my "ideal self" is more anti-consumerism, sometimes that little green creature inside of me...would like a nice pair of flashy jeans!!
9:36 AM
Suzanne said…
I feel the same way -- I decry consumerism but kind of like when I get presents. For the past few Christmases I've asked my family to donate money to a charity instead of buying me a gift. I mostly feel better about doing that than getting more stuff, but then I feel a little left out when everyone around me is tearing open wrapping paper while I smile beatifically when told the charity used for "my" donation...
11:00 AM
chichimama said…
Enjoy! You desperve it! Birthdays come but once a year...
11:49 AM
Piece of Work said…
Hey, those are gifts! It would be rude not to use them! It's okay to have stuff if someone else buys them. Right? Right? hello?
1:51 PM
oshee said…
POW said it exactly. Those were gifts and it is only right for those who gave them for you to enjoy every second of their use. ...There is a difference between a special treat and excessive consumerism. And if the right to treat ourselves well on occasion disappears..then I think we women who devote so much of our lives to caring for others will just run dry of all the giving inside us.
1:57 PM
Suzanne said…
Hey, you look good in red. Hypocrisy rocks.

Suzanne
6:55 PM
Dani said…
You crack me up...Yeah, I feel that pull all the time. You want to focus on the important things in life and not get sucked into a hole of commercialism, but at the same time, it can make you downright giddy to get new stuff. I suppose this is just one more dichotomy that makes up the enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, that is a woman.
11:47 AM
Gina said…
Dear you hippo,

Since this is my blog, I am going to have the last word.

First of all, I don't HAVE any fine lines, speak for yourself.

Second, isn't it "I smoke two joints"? Get your important cultural references straight.

Hmmmm, hippo, you remind me of a certain someone. She's artistic, bright, and articulate. Even though she is from Texas.

Nah, not you for sure....
7:57 AM
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