Five on Friday: Things I have too many of

Random, I know. But there are just some things that I just find myself spending dollar after dollar on, now that I have children and can/need to shop for them I have cut back quite a bit, but I still find myself drooling over certain things in stores...and these are things that you can use multiple of, but at one point in my life I needed to have a chat with myself about my obsessions, and I had to admit that I just had too many.

1) Lip Gloss - whether its fancy schmancy lip gloss or just regular ol' chapstick. I have an affinity to lip products.  I would have to say that Burts Bees is my favorite cheapstick brand out there, but believe you me, I have tried my fair share.

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2) Markers or Special Pens - I would marry a Sharpie if I could. I love me some colorful markers. I would much rather write a thank you note in a special marker than a boring ol' Bic Pen. My most recent marker purchase was the Stabilo set shown above. I read about them on a blog and I procured them around the time that I bought my Life Planner from Erin Condren and they complimented each other PERFECTLY.

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3) Calendars or Planners - this one used to be far worse than it is now, actually these days I have tried to stick to a main calendar in the morning room to visually track family plans, a written weekly pad near the phone, my Outlook calendar for work and then of course my Life Planner, but back in the day I used to have a calendar in every single room, a desk planner on every flat surface in our home and I would transfer all plans and birthdays into each and every one - it was so small task, I would spend hours doing it. Now I try and keep as much as I can in my Outlook Calendar at work, and I use my Life Planner to keep me organized week to week. The other two are just visually nice, but don't serve a huge purpose, but my Mom sure does love to snoop on our wall calendar, she is always asking me about our plans several months in advance, sneaky lady.

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4) Purses & Tote Bags- I know, I know, a girl can't have too many purses, but I have found a way to cut back just a little bit, I used to pick up every cute purse I saw at TJ Maxx or Marshalls, in college I had more Polo Sport purses than bras and these days my purse tastes are a little different, so I rarely procure my handbags from the TJ Maxx, but don't you fret, I sure do stroll through the aisles in the hopes I will find a gem in the rough.  On top of purses I just love bags, all sizes, tote bags, beach bags, laptop bags, heck, I even love grocery bags.  I could probably order the Lands End/LL Bean Canvas Totes in every combination they offer, and I would find a way to monogram them all differently and they would be the key to organization in my home...that is if my husband wouldn't leave me. I believe the following phrase has come out of his mouth on more than one occasion "Babe, if you bring another tote bag into this house we are going to have a serious conversation about whether this house is big enough for both me and the bags". In my defense, for a wedding present he gave me a tote bag from J.Crew with my new monogram on it- sweet huh? These days I am digging the bags from Vineyard Vines, but holy smokes they are a tad pricey, but classy nontheless.

5) Flats & Flip Flops - I haven't done a good job on cutting back in this space just yet. I did however find myself purging several pairs of flip flops over the summer that I haven't worn since moving to Richmond almost 7 years ago, so while I have a few less pairs cluttering my closet, I have done a bang up job in the last week filling their void with some adorable $14 flats from the Target in a variety of colors.  I seem to think that flip flops and flats aren't huge shoe committments, they are generally on the afforable side of the price scale and therefor I rationalize having several pairs, however I am starting to think that it might be time to invest in a solid pair of black flats. One of my friends at work has a pair of Tory Burch and I adore them, but I just haven't found the courage to bite the bullet on a purchase like that. The most I have ever spent on a pair of shoes is $138 (shown above), and actually I didn't spend it, they were a present from Brad one year for Christmas.  I adore these shoes, I get compliments on them all the time, but the white stripes got white and they are starting to stain and the backs are starting to fray a bit.  My favorite flip flops happen to be Rainbows, but I love all the cute ones from Lands End,  Eliza B or Vineyard Vines.