I don’t know why I bother packing for these short road trips. Guaranteed that, on the second day, I’ll wear all my shopping spoils from day 1. I’m just that impatient. So, hey, check out my new shorts, belt and clutch.

Altogether, these set me back about $35, which is the chocolate sauce on top of this sundae of an outfit. (I’m trying to say that I really like how this outfit came together. Basic? Yes. Cute? I stand by it.)

I even splurged on some joolz; the ring cost more than all the other new pieces combined, but it was still under $50, so yay. More chocolate sauce. This is an awesome sundae.

Road trips to Calgary are not normally something over which I’d lose my damn mind, except when they come with the following disclaimer: kids-free. Yeeeeee-hawww! Yep, we left the kids behind (with the grandparents and not, like, by the side of the road or anything) and blew out of town for 36 blissful hours of adults-only fun. Does my excitement appear rather unseemly? Eh, maybe. I’d probably go with “gleeful, leaning towards the obnoxious”.

(But, guys, here’s the thing I’m almost embarrassed to admit, but which other parents already know: there is no such thing as a kid-free weekend. Even if they’re not physically present, they’re still there. On your mind. Any time there’s a quiet moment. Kids (your own, to be precise) might be the ultimate can’t-live-with-them/can’t-live-without-them proposition.)

So, yes, as you might have surmised, this is what I wore on the trip down to C-town. Comfort, y’all – it’s where it’s at. I was going to go with one of my practical MbMJ bags – because this is a road trip after all – but then I got to thinking. A day without kids and their sticky messes? It might just be a road trip, but it’s also a great opportunity to bust out a “nice” handbag for once. I went back and forth for a while (because I have a few nice bags that have been collecting dust for a year), and eventually landed on the Bayswater. It’s just so damn nice and versatile. Over the top? Yes. But in Calgary, that’s kind of par for the course.

There is a reason I don’t really do travel posts. Lots of reasons, actually, but one big one. We don’t really do exciting things when we travel. If we’re traveling with the kids (95% of the time), it’s basically all playgrounds, cheapie diners, aquariums and zoos, and mall trips (to visit the mannequins, natch). When it’s just us, it’s even less interesting. Our yearly road trips are all about 3 things: eating, sleeping, shopping. In peace and quiet. But just because we’re boring folks, I won’t assume you are too. So, no travel tips from Adina. Trust me, you’re happy about that.

Here’s a look at my mani-pedi combo – doesn’t it just scream summer road-trip?

Let me start with a disclaimer: this post is not really about confessions, at least not in the common sense of that word. It’s more about … unexpected things I have learned or realized, and are style-related.

1. Getting My Dream Bag Did Not Change My Life

I mean, duh. I wasn’t really expecting it to, but I did think that the walking-on-air feeling I experienced when I first got my dream (Chanel) bag would last forever.

Nope.

Two years on, it’s just another bag. It’s not even – gasp! – my favourite. I do wear it regularly (when I’m working), but not enough to justify its price. And I don’t feel any different when I do wear it. It’s. Just. Another. Bag.

If you’re currently lusting over some unattainable sartorial object of desire, I know this will probably not help in the slightest, but I’ll say it anyway. Console yourself with the thought that the pleasure you get from thinking about owning it is about as intense – but far more long-lasting – as the pleasure you’ll get from actually owning it.

2. I Don’t Really Care What Size I Am, As Long As I Have Cute Clothes That Fit

It only took 34 years.

Listen, do I wish I still had the body I did at 30? Yes. Much in the same nostalgic, but-not-really way that I miss my pre-kids weekends. Let’s face it: if I was serious about it, I could probably do something about getting back to that body, or something more closely resembling it (unlike my kids-free weekends, which are not coming back anytime soon, le sigh). But I’m not, and I don’t, because I have way better clothes now, and none of them would fit if I lost 20 lbs.

Priorities, people.

3. Fashion Magazines Are Boring

Along with the eleventy billion fashion blogs that try to imitate them.

Ok, playing the what-would-I-buy-if-I-had-a-million-bucks-to-spend game is still fun. Never gonna be not fun, because I’ll never not enjoy spending imaginary lottery winnings. But that consideration aside, I much prefer looking at what the woman next door (figuratively speaking) is wearing as she goes about a day that resembles mine more than Gisele Bundchen’s. (Bonus points if she’s wicked funny, because you can never have too much of that in your life.)

The funny thing is that I used to be a huge fashion mag addict. I have years’ worth of scrapbooks full of collages I made from fashion mag clippings. (I’m positively prehistoric, you guys, and believe it or not this is what we ancient ones did before Pinterest.) But, now, the real fun of fashion, for me, is a participatory one, not a purely voyeuristic one. I might enjoy ogling pretty clothes, but it ain’t a real thang unless I can realistically picture myself wearing them.

4. I Have Price Set Points, Good Luck Changing Them, J. Crew

… well, 99% of the time.

I’ve been meticulously tracking my clothing spending for over 5 years now, and one thing is clear: no matter how much I spend overall, the amount I spend on individual things doesn’t really change. My income might have gone up by 50% in the interim, but I still shop like it’s 2009 up in here. (Just … more.) I can count on one hand the pieces of clothing on which I’ve spent over $100.

That 1%? Bags and shoes, man. Always the bags and the shoes. Five years ago, I damn near hyperventilated when I bought my first $200+ bag. Nowadays, a $500 bag seems perfectly reasonable. (Provided it retails for at least twice that, because I ain’t taking that “new off the lot” depreciation hit if I can help it.) Lifestyle inflation, I guess.

OK, your turn: hit me up with your confessions in the comments.