Economizing

I have been trying to save, not because of the economy, but because there are things I want to do in life that may involve big expenditures: having children, buying an apartment. If I do the former (which I hope I do, and I hope it will be soon), I want to be able to work, but not feel that I have to take on every talk or every opportunity to bring in just a few more dollars. Work is erratic here, and I want something more stable--but things are not looking great. None of this has anything to do with the economy. Rather, it is related to those fads that grab academia and place certain areas on a pedestal at the expense of everything else, including ability. In my area, new media and Asian film/TV are the fetishes. The fact that few scholars work in these areas and maybe few students want to study them is irrelevant. Deans want these areas and they aren't specialties of mine, so like many others, I am up against this crazy wall.

Of course, this would happen at the same time as Jane Mayle's final collection is in stores. I am doing what I did last fall, in the hopes that the results will be the same. I am staying away from her boutique while monitoring sales of her clothing online. One pet rant--and somewhat irrelevant point here--is that online boutiques--like Jake, LaGarconne, Totokaelo, Hush--all resolutely refuse to stock over size 8 (at least online), so even when they have deals, they are in sizes that my 5' 10" frame would only fit if my bones were surgically removed. Eluxury and Net-a-Porter are the exceptions, but the latter has no current Mayle and refuses to reduce year old stock to a price point that would make me buy.

Returning to my point, my favorite items at Eluxury are still available, save one coat that I hoped had my name on it, so I am hoping for a good score at Mayle this winter. It's the end so I will go into savings if necessary. But after that, I feel that it will be a lean period for me. Time to return to my closet, to scour for those last sale pieces of Mayle and to hunker up for the lean period that follows. Although I hope, in my case, to be in a situation that leaves my body far from lean.

I'm actually really good at not spending money. Oatmeal, eggs, cheap fruit, beans, tortillas and rice can feed me well, while other than clothing, I have no major extravagance (of course, if I add up what I spent there, I'd be horrified). I don't need or want the cabs, spa treatments, alcohol that consume so many New Yorkers' budgets and I bring my own lunches and make coffee at home. Evan is the same. We're not so much cheap as we just don't want to waste money--we were both raised that way. There is actually something perversely easy about living on a tight budget--it's the middle range that kills me because then I do splurge. This way isn't always fun, but I can do it for a while. Especially if it brings me something greater, like a child.

Maybe it's the fall weather, but I feel right now that there are more important things in life than shopping/fashion. Family, hopefully babies, friends, pets, and finishing the book. I think the recent years have taught me a lesson in attitude adjustment. And with my dear Peeps mewling and crawling on my lap, it is time to return to writing while hugging a particularly fine and soft kitten (pictured above).