Kicking Myself.

I have been kicking myself for days now. All over a silly little coat. But look at it. Isn't it pretty?

Here's the story. A few days ago, I realized that my two oldest children were in need of new snow suits. Normally, I would head out to Target or other such places, but I decided that it would be stupid for me to spend $60 on snow suits that would only be used a handful of times. We just don't get enough snow around here for me to justify that. So, I decided to try out Value Village and see what I could find.

Jake and I made our way in to the store, and within minutes, I had scored two great snow suits for Hannah and Josh for $5 each. Serious score! I actually found Hannah's in the Women's section. They just happened to have an XS, and even though it's a bit big for her, it works. As I was looking for Hannah's suit, I glanced into the coats and saw a red pea coat very similar to the one featured above. It was in great condition, looked almost new, and was exactly my size. The best part is that it was only $15!! I snatched it up, and was already thinking about which dry cleaner I would drop it off at on my way home.

We finished browsing around, and made it up to the front of the store to pay for our finds. When I got to the counter, I began thinking, 'Do I really need this coat? I've got a perfectly good coat right here.' I convinced myself that I didn't need the coat after all, and told the cashier that I wouldn't be including it in my purchases. I paid for the snow suits and we were on our way to finish the rest of our errands.

For the rest of the day I could not stop thinking about that crazy coat. I went to bed thinking about it. I woke up, and it was still on my mind. I decided that I would just go back and get the coat after I dropped Jake off at preschool. I should have known better! I walked in to Value Village naively expecting that pretty little coat to be back in it's place, but to my horror, it was GONE! I searched through all of the red coats just in case it was in the wrong spot, but it was no where to be found.

No, I didn't really NEED the coat, but it was so cute and such a great deal! I'm usually not much of a second hand store shopper, but I've learned two great lessons from this experience.

1. You CAN find some great things in a second hand store.

and

2. When you find a really great deal, buy it!