Spring & Me: BFF

Posted on April 3, 2007 7 Comments

Spring is always a spendy season for me. After months of being cooped up every weekend, frozen under layers of clothing and covers while sipping tea to stay warm and swearing off the outdoors, Spring arrives like a best friend from out of town, beckoning me off the couch, into stores, bars, parties and restaurants with al fresco dining. Spring is exciting and fun, because every second she’s around is fleeting. A 65-degree day is to be lovingly cherished, celebrated by staying out until my eyes feel heavy and my legs can no longer stand. Spring is never here to stay; the old grumps Rain and Snow are never very far from invading my life again. Therefore I breathlessly attempt to take in every minute of it – from the absolute perfection of long nighttime outdoor runs to the simple glory of open-toed pumps.

With this rosy-cheeked, devil-may-care attitude, you can see how I get myself into trouble. Every night out becomes an event worthy of a new outfit and a $60 bar tab. No invitation is too small to warrant a gift-bearing appearance.

And make no mistake, a Chicagoan’s Spring calendar is stacked. Reunions with old friends, pub crawls, the first all-you-can-drink birthday parties of the year, off-site lunches (cause it’s finally warm enough to walk out of the building), baseball games, final four gatherings, the opening of our precious beer gardens and general get-togethers dominate the social scene. It’s also wedding season, which means showers, bachelorette parties and girls-only gatherings galore. Family life brings Easter parties, communions and graduations. About the only presence in my life that’s feeling neglected lately is my laundry!

So, it’s been a little crazy. Luckily, I just went through my checkbook, paid all my credit cards and tallied up my savings. I am where I need to be this month. Still, I can’t help but feel guilty about the new Spring shoes I bought for the latest bachelorette party and the “Ooach” purse I bought at a friend’s purse party. The St. Patty’s day pub crawl would have been horrifying if I didn’t pay for it all with Super Bowl winnings. And I still have to get my hair done this month in order to look decent for my 10-year high school reunion and the wedding I’m standing up in.

I think I could probably save more if I really tried hard. But I might have to wait until the dog days of summer to sit down with my budgeting spreadsheet and figure out where to squeeze it from.

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