don't spend it all in one place

For our anniversary Jason bought me the complete series of I Love Lucy. Needless to say I've been in Lucy heaven! Doing house work, blogging, doing my nails--she's on in the background. It's been wonderful. It's allowed me to study her outfits, no wait, the details of her outfits on a daily basis. What shoes does wear? What types of earrings? It's helping me immerse myself into the era.

Another way I'm doing this? Hubbs has put me on the allowance system. Well, I put myself on it (not that he put up much resistance--he wholeheartedly agreed), but only to help control my crazy spending ways! I figure that most housewives would have been on some sort of allowance back then (Lucy was). I'm hoping this will make me appreciate the value of a dollar, force me to be more thrifty and frugal (Donna--I may have to start sewing yet!), and it will make me consider what things I truly want to own. If I want something expensive (hel-lo reproduction clothing lines!) I have save up my hard earned money to get it. Now, if it's something for the house (vintage dishes, milk bottles, furniture, decor), then I don't have to pay for it out of my allowance.

I get $50 per week, to which BFF Stephanie exclaimed, "Wow! That's more than I make in a week!" I figured it was the equivalent to $10 per "working" day of the week, since Hubbs chips in on the weekends. When I bought a pair of brown shoes from eBay to go with my WWII-era dress (more in a minute), they totaled out to $22 with shipping and I thought to myself, "That's half of my weekly allowance!" I can see this is going to be interesting.

I'm so sad to say that the dress does not fit. I've put it up for sale on The Fedora Lounge (link in left side bar at the very top) for $45 or best offer. I'm going to start crying if I say too much more, so I'll end this topic by saying I thought I was thinner than I am. {{sniffle}}

But, to end this post on a happy note, this morning I had a brilliant idea when I was making Jason's oatmeal (he's home again this morning for a while). I love oatmeal, but truth be told when I fill it up with brown sugar and butter it loses some of its nutritional quality. So today instead of making it with 1-cup of regualr milk, I topped off a 1/4 of the cup with Coffee-mate French Vanilla creamer (the refrigerated kind). It gave the oatmeal a very creamy finish and flavored it subtly with a hint of sweet vanilla. Hubbs liked it, and I thought it was very good! I may try it with a few other flavors as well (the cinnamon vanilla would be good on a cold winter morning). If you try it, let me know how you like it!