Last night at Danier Leather I came across a stunning cobalt blue, down filled, leather winter coat (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....--in-store). IMHO, it was fabulous. And marked down from $546 to $99, it was a steal.

But Anna very rightly pointed out that I have been doing a lot of shopping lately and Suz wondered about me sticking with my budget. Love when Fabbers tell me what I need to hear.

So I looked at my budget again and did some girl math: I did buy white jeans and baroque patterned jeans but returned both due to poor fit. I have ordered a smaller size in the black watch plaid trousers which was an additional expense I wasn't expecting but at the fabulous sale price, the two pairs of trousers are still within the one-pair-of-trousers budget. And adding a pair of trousers to my winter wardrobe was on my Shopping List from the get-go.

I have purchased a cranberry cashmere blend long dressy winter coat but as some have pointed out, in a long Winnipeg winter, you can never have too many winter coats and you need a variety in warmth factor, color, length and style - everything from casual to dressy and light weight to -40 warmth. I am in a winter coat from basically mid November through to March/April. I have had winters where I have only worn one coat the whole time and believe me, by the time spring rolled around I was sick to death of that coat!

I have decided to return the blush Theory jacket despite many positive comments on it. Although the quality of the jacket is fabulous, I realize the color is not as versatile as I would like and doesn't play with my existing wardrobe that well. I'm not going to go purchase a bunch of things to just go with that jacket, you know? Plus I've decided the shoulders are a bit too big (measured against the shoulders of the Lanai jacket and they are 1/2 inch wider on each shoulder) and the fit isn't perfect. This is why I only buy from eBay sellers with excellent return policies. I've contacted the seller and it's all packed up and ready to ship back today for a full refund.

Where am I going with this rambling tale of shopping and returns? I'm going to call Danier Leather today and see if the cobalt leather coat is still available. I think this would be an excellent addition to my winter coat capsule and provide me with a stylish but very warm casual weekend option. Plus the bright and cheery color will help with those winter blues. The cost will be covered by my returns plus I will still have money back from the returns.

After getting home from Danier last night and thinking about this, I again went through my closet and reminded myself of how fortunate I am with what I have. There are many things in my closet however that I no longer care for (older items for example) and I had that "I hate everything in my closet" moment. But I don't. I truly love many of my items but will be removing those that I don't. I'd rather have a smaller number of things that I really enjoy wearing and repeat often than more things and have to wear something that makes me feel "meh".

Good grief - this really has been quite the novella, hasn't it? My apologies. I hope this all makes some sort of sense. I'm not entirely sure why I'm sharing all of this except that it helps me to keep me accountable and realize I'm doing ok.

Anna and Suz - you keep me on the straight and narrow ok?