10 Ways for the Fabulous Woman to FEEL Rich!- As inspired by Natalie Wood and "The Fabulous woman", my mom Lorraine who taught me all that I know!
No matter where I am at financial, educationally, or career wise, I love to feel pampered and have a sense of luxury. I tend to crave the feeling especially when I'm
*Go to an elegant restaurant…for lunch or "just" dessert. I’ll never forget the time a couple of my friends and I went to a French restaurant called, Ver Mae'a (in Muncie of all places!!). I had been thinking about paying a visit but as a high schooler on a Part Time, $8.00 an hour salary, it was little (LOT) pricey. The restaurant was tucked between a tavern and a hippie store near Main Street. Inside, tall windows surrounded the front dining room and was decorated with scattered dark wooded tables. We enjoyed the bread basket, drank a carafe of the house "lemonade", and I ate Baked Brie, with AMAZING baked cinnamon pecans. We shared dessert, something chocolatey as I recall (Triple Chocolate Bevarian Cream), and sat for a long while. To this day it was one of the best $20 I ever spent at a restaurant!
*Step into a high-end boutique. I went to get my hair cut (from my awesome friend Vicki at the Bubbles on Lancaster Ave), and there are really cute high end shops scattered all along Lancaster and I decided that it might be a neat experience to walk into a boutique since I NEVER give myself permission to walk into one. Oh goodness gracious. Just to touch the clothes, appreciate the craftsmanship, or try on whatever you like. Be pampered with the excellent customer service from the shop manager... And then... breeze right out, unscathed.
*Fill up your virtual shopping cart…and then close your browser. For me personally, this works much better than actually going into a store which will somehow inevitably make me feel bad about myself and angry at life. I hit up Anthropologie, ShopBop, ModCloth, Nordstrom, or Sephora and load my shopping basket full of everything I want. Then I look at the total — so glad I won’t be adding all those digits to my card — and close the computer. The end feeling is one that I got whatever I wanted and didn’t have to suffer the consequences. I read about this little exercise for those that have an addiction to shopping. Either way, I feel satisfied and I don't have to pay for it in the end.
*Take yourself out for tea or hot chocolate. And I don’t mean the nasty kind from Giant, or Shop Rite or at Dunkin Donuts. Go to a cute cafe where they will serve you in proper china with an adorable little spoon! Seat yourself at a table. Enjoy the ritual of the experience. Don’t read; just sit back and enjoy the aroma of your beverage, the hot cup in your hands, and the luxury of doing absolutely nothing!! There are so many times where I want to sit and enjoy the moment. Well... take that moment! Seize the tea!
*Experience abundance. Have you ever gone to a store with just lots and lots of one thing? Plastic boxes deep with buttons that you can sink your hands into, a room ringed with bolts of colorful fabrics, shelves lined with bottles of wine, a flower shop filled with fragrant blooms. Sometimes just experiencing abundance — even of something as unassuming as a ball of yarn — can give you a sense of abundance, and if you’re lucky, maybe even a bit of wonder.
*Pick up perfume/makeup samples. This is why I HEART Sephora! It's the samples, samples, samples!!
I am experiencing a new obsession with makeup and perfume. Within the last two years, I have really gone from Walmart only makeup to many samples of Korrs, Benefit, Bare Essentials, Bliss, Lorac, Urban Decay, and more. I have experience much luxury in FREE samples. I love how the owner of Sephora, Louis Vuitton has taken it to heart in making sure that everyone is satisfied with their purchase. And in the spirit of claiming satisfaction, I have taken advantage of visiting my local Sephora and obtaining many a samples and almost never having to buy eyeshadow, hair product, mascara, and other products ever again.... but I still purchase what I want though (which is another story for another day).
*Buy a new lipstick. Walk away with a new lipstick and you may just feel like a new woman! Is there anything more glamorous than a bare face, a shock of red lipstick, and big sunglasses? Think: Gwen Stefani, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Dita Von Teese, Scarlett Johansson. All of these celebrities beauties have some kind of lip service going on. Even if you go for the bare lip/chapstick only look, you can still get a pretty shimmer to spice up your look! So, do yourself some Lip Service!
*Get culturally rich. There are so many free programs on PBS (yes, I said PBS people), your local libraries, Barnes and Nobles, and museums. You might be listening to a lecture about something a little (or a lot) esoteric —like, 15th century Provençal literary traditions or how printmaking has changed through the ages — but you’ll walk out with your knowledge base broadened and your experience of life enriched. Reading is key everyone, reading is key!... Which is why I thank my momma for teaching me to enrich my life with daily reading, "bonnet" movies, trips to The Chicago Institute of Art, and etc.
*Get pampered on the cheap. There may not be an Aveda Institute near you, but there are certainly other beauty/spa schools near you with students at serious discounted prices. Also, keep your eyes peeled for no-frills bodywork and reflexology places in your area! Luckily I'm not far from Philly and there are more resources here than somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. Or you could even do what the thriftiest of us do when they're in need of pampering: take some beauty products to your gym (an exfoliating treatment, a thick body butter, a facial mask) and turn the locker room into your own mini-spa... Everyone does it differently.
*Count your many blessings! You knew this one was coming... Or you should have at least. The surest way to remember the embarrassment of riches already at your feet, for free. It's sad that it takes me many reminders to keep it in mind that all of my riches cannot come from Sephora, the Aveda Salon, the French Restaurant, or even a local boutique. I have my husband, my puppy, family, a few family missionaries that are out serving, I get to go to school, and the list is endless. I feel grateful and rich.
If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears
No comments:
Post a Comment