Daily Cookie

My friend Nance was laid off from work this week.  We all knew it was pending but the reality of it still hurt. Luckily, we had already planned this girls weekend.  In my opinion, its a great way to cheer anyone up.  Spending time with friends, shopping and some great wine always does the trick for me.  (See picture) But when suggesting my possible remedies to her woes, we realized that now retail therapy (one of my all time favorite excuses) became a question rather than a solution.   Was it a luxury or a necessity?

Let me start by telling you that Nance is also my friend who coined the phrase major purchase.  We do pilates duets every week and most days she would leave the studio saying she needed another MP.  Her last break up she bought a Me and Ro necklace she just had to have (the bracelet to match too) and just told us that ironically enough, she found it when cleaning out her desk at work.  She brought it to the Cape.  It is dull and rusted. Her necklace, like her life, needs a major shine up. 

We have spent the morning munching on a yummy spa breakfast that consists of papaya and mixed berries.  We plan on making egg white omelettes when we return from the fitness center at the club.   Nance and I are lucky enough to belong to a club that feels like we are vacationing at the Four Seasons every weekend.  Sometimes this is taken for granted.  But truth be told, it is a luxury.   

We tried listing all the other “luxuries” in her life that she could possibly eliminate or at least cut back.  We concluded that  most everything from communication (she is thinking of getting the new iPhone) to maintenance (she needs the bod and the clothes to get a great new job) has become a necessity in both of our lives. We are simply babes in medialand.  So funny that I am writing about this again.  It was the title of my thesis in grad school. 

Bottom line, now that we are watching it, is that it is hard to distingiush an “L” from an “N.”  Everything we see, read, watch and absorb tries to persuade us to be better, do more and live in excess. 

My Aunt Jubes (who again ironically enough is on her way to down to join us) always told me that if something made me happy, I should have it.  Of course back then, I applied it to new shoes or a boy.  Now I realize that happiness isn’t about a pair of heels or some guy.  Happiness is a luxury.  And it is a major necessity.