My Weakness

I spent more than half of my savings on Christmas gifts last December. So it was with firm resolve that I declared "No more exorbitant shopping!" - for the months of January, February and March 2005, at least. I have dreams of converting my hard-earned pesos into U.S. dollars come April 2005, so that I can do some "exorbitant shopping" in the States during our vacation.

Only 2 weeks into the new year, I have already broken that resolve. After the holidays, you acquire something that I call the "After-Christmas-shopping-itch": You spend almost 2 months buying really nice stuff for other people, and you pass up the chance to own that really nice khaki jacket at U2 just so you can *pay* for these really nice stuff. Your shopping urges are begging for compensation, and as a result, you feel as if you need to reward yourself by buying everything you've always wanted (as long as they're within your salary range, of course).

This is the moment where I am experiencing the contradicting emotions that one feels when one has a credit card: Exhiliration from total freedom and the despair of being caged in (as caused by the credit limit).

So what have I been buying (at the rate I'm going, though, "stocking up" seems like a more appropriate term)? What are the things that I think are worth going bankrupt for?

BOOKS.

Some girls have weaknesses for shoes. Others cannot live without make-up. I, for one, am a sucker for books. Leave me alone at a Powerbooks outlet, or set me loose inside Page One, and I will die a happy girl. When I saw the huge Borders store in Singapore, I felt my heart literally drop when my parents told me that we didn't have time to visit it.

When I get married and have kids, I dream of giving them a nice house in the suburbs, with a nice airy kitchen, a garden they can play in, and a private library where they can spend all day in and emerge as geniuses. :D

I am currently trying to complete 4 sets of books, all of which are made up of several volumes, and of which each volume is quite expensive: A Series of Unfortunate Events (what with the recent production of its movie caused the books' prices to rise somewhat), The Chronicles of Narnia (a definite classic), The Shopaholic Series (which is the "chick-lit" I've been referring to in my last entry), and the Griffin & Sabine Series (I've been trying to collect Nick Bantock books ever since college, but his books cost so much that I have to walk around Powerbooks for an hour with the book in my hand, just to convince myself that Nick Bantock books are an investment and that it's ok to spend a week's worth of my salary on just one freakin' book because my future children will benefit from it too - assuming that they'll love books as much as I do...).

So I have revealed my Achilles' heel: Give me a book on my birthday (*hint hint*), and I will honor you forever. ;) Lock me inside a bookstore and I will not protest (especially if it's Powerbooks Megamall, since there is a cafe inside as well as music to read by). Hit me with a bunch of good books and I will drop down immediately and read. :)

January hasn't even ended yet and I am at the peak of my After-Christmas-shopping-itch. May I have mercy on my bank account.