Anna's post on practical purchases vs beautiful ones really got me thinking. I can't remember any time when I bought something purely for practical reasons where that item came to fill me with delight. However, I still remember the one purchase I didn't buy because it was impractical and, do you know, I wish I had bought it even 30 yr later. It was a Guess varsity style bomber jacket. I was a gorgeous deep forest green - the deep green of the old MG roadsters or the limited edition mazda miata and it had had a gorgeous floral embroidered logo on the back. But it was light weight. It was beautiful and it was cool and I was 17. It was not warm enough for a winter jacket and it was spendy. So I did not buy it. I bought something practical and warm and I hated every minute of wearing it. I still dream of that jacket and the girl I might have been in that jacket. It taught me that you can't discount how an item makes you feel and once in a while the practical purchase may not be the best one. For me, it's still the one that got away. Any one else still carrying a torch for the impossible, impractical, wonderful thing they didn't buy, but wish they had?