Today’s title is the German word for guilty (BTW, did you guys check out the German lady on Fox 9’s morning news on Thursday? She was making spaetzle, and I totally chatted her up auf Deutch whilst snacking on fresh noods.). Why guilty? Because that’s how I felt yesterday, shopping at Old Navy.
And here is the cause of my guilt:
Aren’t they perfect? YES, YES THEY ARE. They are the perfect summer sandal for me – the best shade of tan for my skin tone, a sturdy yet curvy wedge, and my favorite detail on a shoe, T-straps! I’ve been looking for these for months. Best of all, these babies make my legs look forever long, and boost me up an extra 4+ inches:
(The classic personal-style fashion blogger pose.)
Granted, I know I already have scary-long legs (sometimes I feel like my shin bones are as long as Michael Jordan’s… and twice as scrawny), and at 5’7 ½”, I’m not exactly short. And yet. I’m obsessed with making my legs longer and my height higher. Plus, these shoes have the added benefit of not making my feet look huge and clunky – a problem I often have with wedge-y, platform-y shoes. See?
(The classic shoe model pose.)
However. Houston, we had a problem with these shoes. I grabbed them from the Clearance section, convinced they’d be super-reduced-in-price, glanced at the price tag, and then… the guilt set in. $25.99. 99 whole cents over my $25 limit. GAH!
First, I cursed Old Navy for such a pathetic mark down – $29.99 to $25.99. Then, I cursed myself for falling in love with a shoe that clearly cost too much. Then, I just plain cursed for a bit. But THEN, I decided, “To hell with it, I’m getting them anyway. I’ll confess to the Empire, and hopefully, they’ll forgive me.”
So I scooped up the rest of the shoes I’d tried on in the dressing room (Why did I go to the dressing room to try on shoes? BECAUSE OLD NAVY LACKS ANY OTHER MIRRORS.) and brought them back to the Clearance rack. Yes, I’m one of those people who put back their own items. So sue me.
But wait! My OCD compulsive need to tidy up saved the day! I looked more closely at the signage on the rack and read, “30% off already marked down prices.” Woot! That meant my shoes weren’t really $25.99, they were $25.99 minus 30%! Which meant that this day, I would not overspend. I would stick to my Shopping May-hem Challenge.
I then looked a wee bit more closely at the shoes I loved. As it turns out, my pair was priced incorrectly – all the other shoes were just $22.99. I grabbed a pair of 7s in the proper price and high-tailed it to the cash register. Final toll for my new, AWESOME sandals? $17.49.
But you guys, honestly? I still feel a bit guilty. I totally would have spent 99 cents over my limit on an item that was NOT on the Caveat list of freebies. I’m so sorry, and I promise I will do better.
Now let’s have some fun. Remember today’s post title? Schuldig (guilty in German)? In the Comments, share with us your imaginary back-of-the-book description of this imaginary book. I envision the cover to be a stark white background, with “Shuldig” written across in harsh black lettering. A spy novel, perhaps? German horror? Naughty erotica? You pick it, and describe it below. Trust me, THIS IS FUN.
7 Comments
Those are really cute. I may be off to Old Navy to grab some sandals. I haven’t been sandal shopping yet. I need cute shoes for work. And I have no guilt in getting the same fabu shoes someone else has.
World War 2 story. Two young lovers are parted when soldier boyfriend ships off to Europe. Girlfriend finds a job at a manufacturing plant in the meantime, hoping to earn a few bucks every now and then, and to try and forget about her man fighting the bad guys. Yet, she finds out that not all battles she need worry about are overseas, and discovers her own chaos at the plant named “Shuldig”. She thinks about quitting and getting a better job, but her beloved writes from afar that she should stay put. Unbeknownst to her, he’s got a stake in the plant she never knew about, and he’s hoping she never finds out, even after he returns home. If he ever does. Keeping the secret — and making it home — are going to be two big hills to climb.
Btw, Erin, CUTE shoes!!
Even considering going over by $0.99? You’re dead to me.
Greta thought she had moved on. She had put the past behind her and willed herself to forget the details of the whole sordid affair and its tragic conclusion. Until a handsome stranger appeared in town, a stranger who knew her secret. Now she is struggling to survive long enough to exonerate herself and save the man she loves. But deep down she knows, she is GUILTY.
@Probie, WAH!!!!! So sad.
Schuldig – Not every man gets to live forever (there can be only one), but Gustav Schmidt was that man. Destined to live for eternity, outliving his loved ones one by one, Gustav was a haunted man. A desolate man. A man for whom living had ceased to have any meaning. And yet the whole thing was of Gustav’s own making – he had wished to live forever in order to outlive his lifelong enemy – Hans Hummel, the evil watchmaker to the stars. The result of his wishing on a lucky piece of spaetzel, he found himself impervious to pain, and unable to die. And when he had to tell his beloved Gretel that he would be, as Rod Stewart tells us, “Forever Young.”
And because of this tragedy that he had created for himself, he was forever filled with…. Schuldig.
Buy it at a Barnes and Noble near you!
“I couldn’t put it down! It was RIVETING.” – Stephen King.