A Challenging Moment….That lead to “Buying Something New”!
My (Nina) husband had booked and planned a family getaway to Blue Mountain for a week of fun and ski, leaving Boxing Day afternoon. Knowing the ultimate Christmas craze was tight behind the trip, we frantically packed up the morning of departure, entertained some visitors for late breakfast, and hit the road by 2pm that day. Loaded the kids into the vehicle, sandwiching them in with all the luggage, snacks, and gear, boxing them in. Fully knowing that my husband was grinding his teeth in frustration because I have been telling him we do NOT need to purchase any kind of roof carrier to hold our luggage or gear…did I mention I had no leg room and sat with my knees up to my chest, and the kids couldn’t see anything but the little space that was directly in front of them!?!. Oops! Anyways, we drove through the snow squalls and awful visibility of the roads, and finally made it to the hotel to check in, and move all our belongings into the room. It was approximately 8pm when we had unloaded, got the kids ready for bed, and I realized we had forgotten 2 VERRRRY important items at home! I was in full panic mode knowing we had the kids booked for full day ski camp the next morning…did I mention it was Boxing Day… shops in the Village closed at 9pm and we had to make a decision fast! We had forgotten the kids’ winter coats!!! Following through with our best practice, to throw the kids into the car without the added bulk of their coats, we had forgotten to grab the coats in mid hast of loading everything else! What a kicker!!
Luckily, we had friends arriving the next day later in the afternoon, so that could possibly help… However, since we just recently moved into a new house (30 years old), there wasn’t anyone who had a key to our new place, therefore, no access to get into our home! We contacted those friends in that moment, to see if perhaps they had anything smaller (than their 10 year old child) that they could bring up with them, the following day. Checking the forecast of a face chapping –28, with wind chill, we knew we needed something warm, fitting and not just working with what many layers we packed and throw on them. Mike (my hubby), was fully prepared to drive back home to get them….but that didn’t make sense, or sound safe. We also had another set of friends with a small child that was up that week, so we called them to see if they had anything extra. Luckily, their young daughter snowboards in a one piece snowsuit, so they did have a coat we borrowed for the day, until our other friends arrived. One coat was taken care of… we still needed a second. So, I set out to the Village to purchase something warm, wind breaking…..and new (insert very sad face here)! It felt, unbelievably wrong and foreign to be actually SHOPPING for an item!!! I felt guilty, and defeated, and disappointed in myself that we so foolishly messed up on something so preventable! I was beating myself up for forgetting their flippin winter coats and now was costing myself this failure and financial cost of over $100 for a new child’s coat! So, yes my readers, I bought a NEW coat! I felt like I had exhausted all options, even called a few friends to see if they had any smaller sized coats that could possibly get them to our friends visiting the next day….but no luck! We had called the Kids Ski Camp to see if we could change their camp day to the following day, but they were already closed… and found out that we would be charged to change the lesson! So, I promise you… we had no other option, but to buy new. With these limitations… I have to be ok with making this exception.
I too (Sam) bought something "new" over the holidays, that i'd like to confess.... sigh. A new Lululemon winter jacket, with a whopping retail price of $395 dollars, ouch. But my situation was more of a "trade" if you will, than a deliberately went out to buy something new, lol, sorry Nina! haha.
My 8 year old Lululemon jacket, that my husband bought me as a "treat" when we actually had money for ourselves, was finally done. The zipper was broken, the hood had fallen off and died somewhere, and the insides were ratty and old. I thought, this company's clothes cost a small fortune, they must have some kind of policy. I'd also remembered, Nina brought back a pair of 1980's yoga pants for the 2017's version at no cost, so I figured why not give them a ring. Who am kidding, I hate talking to people, so I used their customer "online chat service" on their website. The agent quickly responded, asked for the label number/version of my coat, and immediately e-mailed me a FREE shipping label to send my winter jacket to Vancouver. I was impressed, I was offered a gift card towards a NEW winter jacket after my old jacket arrived. With in 5 days, I had a gift card in my inbox. Not only was I trading in my old worn jacket for a new one, but the gift card was online and no paper or plastic was required. GENIUS LULU, freakin genius!
Anyway, although, i was buying a NEW jacket, I feel confident that I will have this for another 8+ years. I am choosing a product that I can wear for a LONG time, not as a fast fashion item that will be replaced next winter. And, as we said before, sometimes it makes sense to pay more for quality and commitment to products vs. quantity. SO that $400 jacket over 8+ years, ain't so bad.
The moral of the story, sometimes there are exceptions to the rule, you can only try your best, and always buy quality vs. quantity.
Happy New Year!!! We hope 2018 brings health, happiness and greener choices.
Simply Green Mums
xo