Miracles on West 74th Street: I like my money where I can see it

Hi, my name is Denise and I have a shopping problem. There, I said it.

Since moving to New York, I have been a little shopaholic. Seriously. I have discovered the boutiques in SoHo and I love them...LOVE them. My favorite, Olive & Bettes.

Yesterday, we went to brunch at Dom Caminos. I love brunch. Brunch to me means lunch with alcohol. Post brunch, we went to have a glass of wine before hitting up the shops. Worst. Idea. Ever. After having 3 glasses or so, I was turned lose in SoHo, just rearing to use my credit cards and not having a care in the world as to what anything costs. My first stop, Olive and Bettes.

Man, these girls are good. They can spot a real sucker when they see them. I went to the fitting room with only 2 dresses. They however, bring me back jeans, sweaters, vests, belts - and I loved everything. I left with a new cashmere sweater vest thing, skinny gray Citizen Jeans (that I LOVE) and a pair of cargo pants. I am not even going to mention the total cost. Sober Denise today hates Drunk Denise of yesterday.

I then made it across the street where the whole store was 60% off. I bought 3 tanks, a scarf, sweater, shirt and shoes. Again...with everything 60% off, one would think the total damage would not be that bad. Wrong. Fail Denise...fail.

I then decided it would be great to get yet another pair of shoes. I had just purchased a nude pair of heels at the previous store, but I thought why not get another? They are different styles after all. And then I see a pair of boots I "just had to have." Boot season is right around the corner and I purged most of my boots before the big move. Therefore, I had to get them. Plus my friend Kim in Chicago had a similar pair and I loved them...this just added to my justification. They rang up the total and I thought, "wow, that is cheaper than I thought." I sign away my name and leave the store. Then, the sales lady runs after me down the street. She forgot to charge me for the boots. Of course. That's why it was $100 less than what I thought, but drunk Denise just thought her math was off or something was on sale. I went back in and swiped the card yet again.

Post shoe indulgence, I made my way to the MAC store. I have never left MAC shy of $100. My one success today - $40! This made me happy, so on this note, I called it a day.

Nathan and Sam said they are going to have monthly meetings and review my finances. Little do they know, I will hide shopping bags and lie about everything. This should work out just fine.