Hi there my lovely, lovely readers. I don’t suppose you recall a little something called Wijvenweek that I decided to join a few weeks ago and then pretty much fell through on due to a combination of travel misadventures, illness and spending time with my family in Pittsburgh? Well, I said I would do it, I wanted very much to do it, so guess what, I am doing it, albeit somewhat delayed and likely spaced out over the next week or two. I realize that not keeping up with a blogging topic isn’t exactly failing or letting anyone down, but it feels that way to me when I take on something and don’t manage to follow through on it, so just run with me on this one, ok? The topic that came after “my body” was “shopping”. What can I say about shopping?

Well…

Three years ago I was out drinking almost every night; now I average maybe three drinks a month.

Two years ago this upcoming June I quit biting my nails; I started when I was 7 and used to bite till they bled.

One year ago this upcoming August I smoked my last (hopefully…this is still a bit shaky) cigarette; I started when I was 16 and was up to 2 packs a day when I quit.

Next Saturday will mark my fourth month living in Belgium with Cabana Boy and as of this morning I’ve lost about 24 pounds (I think I’m at a plateau right now and it’s very frustrating…moral support or advice is appreciated if you have any to give).

So what exactly do I do to fill the void left behind by almost all of my vices (almost because I refuse to completely give up coffee)? Well I’ll tell you what I do…I go shopping!

Yes! Do I go out and buy a variety of pretty and highly intoxicating beverages with highly oversexed names (blow job, buttery nipple, wet pussy…are you blushing yet? )…no, not really, although once in a while those are fun…cigarettes…no, not anymore…um, fun junkfood made mostly from brightly colored carnuba wax and additives….no, not that either.

Well crap, if I’m not buying any of those things anymore, what is it that I crave?

Books! I liiike me some books. I had a huge collection in Pittsburgh and I had to give most of them to the library when I emmigrated:huge bummer. I’ve started rebuilding my collection though, slowly but surely. I typically read one to two a week although that started to get pretty expensive so I got some real thick books in Pittsburgh that should last me a few months.

Lotion/Perfume! To all of you smokers out there, you’d be amazed at how good things can smell when they aren’t tainted by the smell of smoke! And as soon as I found the Body Shop here in Gent I went as crazy on it as our budget would allow. Hand lotion, hand milk, eau de toilette, lip balm yummy yummy yummy smelling stuff and it makes my hands so soft and pretty! Beats the hell out of yellow and nicotine stained and/or crusted with daycare droppings.

Technology! I’m not huge on technology but I finally replaced my destroyed X-Box version of Sid Meier’s Pirates with the PC version and I also got an iPod Nano which now blesses my ears with the lovely gift of music every morning and afternoon while I make the sojourn to and from class.

Hair Care Products! This isn’t as big of a deal…mostly I got excited over replenishing my supply of Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Conditioner. It’s got orchid and coconut milk in it and ohmygoodness it smells soooo good I just wanna ensconce myself in it’s sweet scented loveliness. Mmmmmmmand okay, I’m back.

And if you think that’s exciting, get this: you can see all of my new, favorite purchases right over there to the right in that widget called Treasurelicious. What is Treasurelicious? you ask. I’ll tell you! Treasurelicious is the brainchild (I like that word a lot…hopefully we’ll have some super smart kids so that I can brag about my legion of real, actual brain children muah!)of the lovely and oh so wisdom-ful Missburrows. You get yourself an account at Treasurelicious and then you can add all of your treasures to your list. With pictures. That get bigger when you hover over them! In all honesty, when I first heard about this I was sort of unenthused. I was all, “big deal, so I get stuff that I love and then, what, list it? Pfeh!” But then I started using it and it’s fun! I love shopping even more now because all of you lovely readers out there get to see what I buy and my favorite stuff. Hooray for Treasurelicious and a huge hooray for shopping!

Hoera!