Treat yo self!

Any "Parks and Recreation" fan worthy of a shoeshine from Andy is familiar with the concept of a "treat yo self" day:

While Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and Donna Meagle (Marietta Sirleaf) take treating yo self to an expensive extreme in the show, the idea itself is a great one. As an introvert, my treat yo self days tend to involve healthy doses of alone time - I like to think of it as taking myself on a date. Heck, Tom and Donna's coworker Ann (Rashida Jones) does it this way too!

I had scheduled a SORELY needed haircut and color for yesterday afternoon and ended up making a treat yo self day/weekend of it, thus ending my spring break week on an excellent and well-groomed note. I spent the morning catching up on phone calls with family and friends before bringing my badly home-colored, grown-out mess of hair to my lovely stylist. It took a couple hours of bleaching, dying, and highlighting to get my hair back to an approximation of my natural color and freshen up the cut. It's pretty impressive how restored and clean slate-y I felt after having all those chemicals slapped on my head, though I'm not sure what that says about me.

I had noticed that one of my favorite restaurants moved right next to my stylist's location, so I enjoyed a super-belated lunch there while catching up with a dear out-of-town friend on the phone. Mexican rotisserie chicken, fried yucca, frijoles, and horchata were just the ticket for my grumbly belly!

Next I popped over to the Goodwill across the street because I. LOVE. THRIFTING. I made out like a bandit - around $50 for several really nice pieces of clothing, plus a bunch of quality things for my new house (I'm moving in a few months, woo!). The loot:

~Black, tan, and red chevron maxi dress

~Navy pleated skirt

~Really nice and flattering purple tweed blazer in a lightweight material (regular blazers have me sweating like crazy in the VA summers)

~Brand-new stretchy Nike dri-fit workout capris

~A few fun t-shirts

~Two really pretty red hammered tin panels to hang on the kitchen wall, in accordance with my aqua and red color scheme

~Perfectly tacky gold decorative plate with a hunting scene, to go with some family heirloom horse paintings by my great-grandfather

~Hand-painted Asian china bowl with gold plating all over the outside

~Tiny hand-painted Asian bowl (possibly a little tea cup or egg cup but I'm going to use it for salt on the stovetop, I think)

~Teakwood tray and six cute little glass bottles with wood stoppers that happen to fit perfectly on top of it (I'll probably put this in my kitchen with frequently used spices inside)

~Yoga block for 75 cents (whattt?)

~Tiny white porcelain praying Mary for my religious kitsch collection

~Really lovely carved wood coasters in a floral pattern with brass inlay - because adults tend to own coasters, I hear

Nothing in that list cost more than $6. Damn, secondhand shopping does a tightwad Yankee good. Also, it seems like my design taste is turning more to Asian porcelain and wood - does this mean I am becoming an old man who smokes pipes and is into weirdly objectifying 19th-century Orientalism? Fodder for a future post.

The delicious treat with which I treated myself

Following this material and fiscal triumph I stopped in at Friendly's and enjoyed a scoop of Reese's peanut butter fudge ice cream. Mmm. The remainder of the evening was spent by the fire pit in friends J and R's backyard, with excellent company, gooey roasted marshmallows, freely flowing beer, and hilarious conversation.

Come to think of it, this entire weekend has felt like treat yo self day. Today J and R and I went to the disgusting cheap country diner and had gross/delicious country-fried steak and grits before church. J and I stopped at another thrift store on the way home (at his request) where I scored a dessert set with one big glass serving bowl plus six smaller ones (Mom - Arcoroc. For $1 each! Score!). I made glorious chicken and black bean enchiladas verde for small group tonight, where we had an excellent discussion on Jesus washing the disciples' feet in John 13:1-17, followed by a hippie Christian sing-along led by D on his guitar. Then a bunch of us watched Walking Dead at J and R's place while eating some banana pudding I made. A capital weekend, all in all!

I have to say, though, that while treating yo self clearly has many merits, I am looking forward to getting back to a healthy eating/exercise/schoolwork routine on the morrow...unless this overnight winter snow/sleet storm leads to yet another school cancellation, in which case a Treat Yo Self III will probably be in order and will likely involve omelets, coffee, and bad TV, all in bed. Tom and Donna would most definitely approve.