The Chronic Consumer

Sigh. I think I need a new laptop soon. Mine is nearly four years old at this point, and isn’t able to keep up with some of the video service subscriptions that I’m paying for. Now everything is available in HD, but my machine is so old that it can’t accommodate the better technology. Maybe if I knew anything about swapping out video cards, I’d be able to salvage my current laptop and save some money, but I don’t. So getting a brand-new laptop is just the easiest solution for me at this point.

Any recommendations?

Our 10-year anniversary is about a year away. We usually don’t do anything too special for our anniversaries, but we’ll try to celebrate this one in style since it’s sort of a milestone (particularly in this day and age). I’m not the kind of woman who needs jewelry or flowers or big, romantic gestures for these occasions, so instead of something like that, we’re thinking of taking a trip. The list of destinations is pretty short because we can’t really afford anything completely exotic. The finalists at this point are Hawaii, where we got married, and Las Vegas, a place that neither of us has been to yet.

We’re leaning towards Vegas because we’re not the kind of people who like to go to the same place over and over again. Sure, Hawaii is awesome, but we sort of feel that it would be a waste of money to go there again. As a result, we’ll probably end up in Vegas, which is fine by me.

I’m already checking into different las vegas deals to see how much a vacation might cost us. We wouldn’t necessarily have to gamble the whole time, but would like to take in the Hoover Dam, a few shows, and of course a buffet every day. I’m sure this sort of anniversary trip would have some people rolling their eyes because of how commonplace it seems, but whatever. It sounds like a blast to us!

I’m going to keep looking for some good deals. Who knows, maybe I’ll even end up booking a trip well before our anniversary. That would be cool too!

If you look at my entries for the past few months, you’ll see that I’ve purchased quite a few Missouri Tigers items. The reason for this is that I love wearing sports-related clothing, and am excited about being in grad school at Mizzou. I never went to a school with a big sports program before, so I want to show off my Tiger pride whenever I can. Mizzou happens to sell a wide range of branded items — everything from hats and jackets to home decor and dog supplies — so I’ve spent quite a bit of money on their products this year. One of my most recent purchases was this Tiger Head Tee.

This is a very cool basic t-shirt that features the Missouri tiger head logo and the words Missouri Tigers across the front. It’s got a kind of distressed look going on, making the shirt appear to be something that’s been in my collection for a long time, instead of something I just added a little while back. Plus, it’s made from 100% cotton, making it very soft and comfortable.

This is the third Missouri t-shirt I’ve bought in the past three months, and I love it! I’ll continue supporting my school in this way until I graduate — at which time I can start buying “alum” items!!

Now that the weather is turning cooler by the day, I’m looking forward to breaking out the winter gear that I purchased along with my fall semester books back in August. I needed some new gloves, so I decided on this Columbia Sportswear pair.

The gloves are black and are made of very soft fleece. They feature a Tiger head logo on the back, as well as the Columbia name and logo. In addition, the left glove has the word “Missouri” stitched into the index finger and the right glove has the word “Tigers” stitched into the index finger. There is also a patch of faux leather across the palm and thumb of each glove in order to improve your grip when you’re carrying books or shoveling snow or whatever. And finally, there’s a clip on one glove and a hook on the other so they can be attached together when you’re not wearing them.

I don’t know how warm these gloves are because it hasn’t been cold enough to wear them yet, but I’ve tried them on and love the way they fit. They’re very soft and comfortable, and though they’re not the kind of gloves to use in a snowball fight, I think they’ll be perfect for me. The only thing I don’t like about them so far is that they had HUGE tags sewn into them. There’s no way I could have been comfortable with those things poking at me, so I had to cut them off straightaway.

Actually, another thing I didn’t like about the gloves was the price. They set me back $25, which is quite a bit for fleece. Plus, I recently checked the store where I bought them from and saw that they’re now on sale for $18-something — which didn’t improve my mood at all. I hate when that happens!

I also bought this matching fleece headband, which is also made by Columbia. The headband is black and gold with the word “Mizzou” stitched at an angle across the front. I’m not much of a knit cap/beanie kind of person, so I’m hoping this headband will serve to keep my ears warm when I go out for my daily walk in the winter.

I know I’ll look like a total Mizzou rah-rah girl, but I don’t care. I’m excited to be part of this great institution and want to show off my affiliation!

I’m going back to school tomorrow, which is kind of a weird feeling since I’m in my mid-thirties and all my classmates are likely in their early twenties. Still, despite the fact that I put wrinkle cream on my face before bed every night while they reach for zit cream, I’m planning on enjoying my time as a graduate student.

I even bought this School of Education tee to keep me motivated while studying. I realize it’s not as prestigious as the Harvard Law sweatshirt that Ally McBeal wears during her downtime, but I still like it. It’s a Russell “NuBlend” shirt (58% polyester, 42% cotton) and is very soft and comfortable. It fits perfectly too, even after a couple of trips through the washer and dryer already.

I can already tell this is going to end up being one of my favorite shirts ever. I’m tempted to order another just to have a backup!

Since I didn’t go to a big school during my undergrad days, I feel strangely compelled to show off my colors now that I’m going to Missouri for graduate school. That’s why I ordered a bunch of apparel and accessories to coincide with the beginning of the new school year, including this Tiger head decal.

This is one of those static cling deals that are both easy to put up and take down. It’s a nice, big 4×9 oval shape, with the Missouri tiger head in the middle and the word “Mizzou” underneath. The oval contains black and gold swirls to further highlight the school’s colors. The decal goes on the inside of a window or windshield, thus protecting it from the weather and so forth.

At just $2.99, this Tiger Static Cling Decal was a great purchase. It’s already up in my car, and now everyone knows where my loyalties lie!

When I bought my textbooks for the upcoming semester (which begins in two and a half weeks), I also decided to stock up on college apparel so I could show my school colors during football season. After searching through the approximately 4396841 t-shirt choices, I settled on this “Property of Missouri Tigers” tee.

This shirt appealed to me for a number of reasons. First, I think it looks good. I like the old-school style lettering (especially the “Tigers” in script), as well as the way the screenprinted graphics look cracked and worn already. Plus, this is a football shirt, so it’s a great way to show off my allegiance this fall.

Another thing I like about this shirt is that it’s made from 100% preshrunk cotton. That means it’ll stay the same size no matter how many times I put it through the washer and dryer. I’ve already tested this out, and the shirt came through looking as good as new.

And finally, the shirt is just comfortable. Nothing beats a cotton t-shirt, and since I spend almost every day wearing either tees and shorts or tees and sweats (depending on the season), I’m sure this “Property of” shirt will become one of my favorites.

Go Tigers!

I have never been on a cruise before (riverboat gambling doesn’t count!), but have always dreamed of going on one. I think it would be amazing to travel across the ocean to an exotic, fun-filled destination — all while being treated like a queen on board the ship, of course.

My ideal cruise vacation would span at least one week, and would take me through the eastern Caribbean to places like the Bahamas, Half Moon Cay, and Grand Turk. While on board the ship, I would spend time shopping, playing blackjack, relaxing on the deck with a book, or treating myself to a massage at the spa. At the various ports of call, I would go sightseeing, snorkeling, and shopping, and just have a fabulous time all around!

I would love to take one of Carnival’s Caribbean cruises in the near future. I’ll be starting grad school soon, and know I’ll be too swamped with work to do anything fun, so if I could somehow manage to book a cruise in the next month and a half, I’d be set. Or, I could save up and give myself this dream cruise as a graduation present. Yes, that sounds like the right idea! Think I can make this happen??