Earned: $0 Spent: $250 Saved: $0
It’s my last morning in San Francisco, and I’m enjoying a leisurely lie-in before facing the airport. The conference was good; I ran into my old mentor and several friends from graduate school. I also heard some interesting papers and have good ideas for my academic writing this summer. More importantly, I had a wonderful time with my friend. It was like traveling back to my 20s. No household responsibilities, no daily grind. Instead, we shopped, had lovely long lunches, and two wonderful dinners. We both love San Francisco, so we’ve decided to make this conference a bi-annual event. In graduate school, I never really understood academic conferences. Why travel all that way to some event where you don’t know anyone just to read a paper? Now, I get it. After being isolated on your campus all year, it’s great to talk to peers who love the same intellectual work you do. Also, it’s a wonderful way to reconnect with all your friends from graduate school!
On the spending front, I was amazing, if I do say so myself. 🙂 I’m right on budget, but, I’ll have to go a little bit over for parking and today’s travel. However, I could have easily lost my mind. There were the darling kate spade pumps on sale at Nordstrom, a lovely going-out-to-dinner top at a little boutique, and silver Miu-Miu flats that would have been perfect for the wedding. Since we’re probably going with a student photographer for the wedding, I have an extra $300 or so in my budget. Once I remembered that, I asked to try on the flats. I could have been sucked in on our shopping high, but they didn’t have the flats in my size. That little hiccup was enough to regain my sanity.
My new strategy for this shopping trip was not to buy anything on the first pass. If I liked something, I told myself that I could go back the next day or at the end of the day. I also kept focused on a few items that could be justified for the wedding or as sensible summer purchases. That way, I didn’t feel like the poor relation who couldn’t buy anything while shopping. I tried some things on, was tempted as you have seen, but by the end of the day or the next day, I wasn’t so enamored that I wanted to go back. The only thing I bought was a very cute market bag from the Ferry Street Farmers Market. For the family, I bought dried mushrooms, goat cheese, fresh artichokes, cherries, and apriplums. It’s going to be a challenge getting them on the plane, but I can’t think of a better gift than fresh fruit, especially because we’ve gone the whole winter with preserves and supermarket apples.
I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule tomorrow with more about the farmers market. If you love food and get to San Francisco, this should be at the top of your itinerary!
My Daily Dollars 