Last night my daughter and I settled in and watched the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic. For those of you not familiar with Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series of books, you should make yourself acquainted. The movie was disappointing as most movies turn out to be when you have adored the book it is associated with but it's a fun movie to watch on a snowy Sunday evening, drinking coffee and hanging out with your best girl.
Our heroine, Rebecca Bloomwood, is in denial about her debt, has debt collectors stalking her at home and at work, is close to financial ruin and cannot curb her urge to shop. In a bizarre twist of luck, she lands a job as a financial columnist at a magazine, Successful Saving, wherein she writes an advice column on how young women like herself can live debt free lives and have fun doing it ... obviously, the exact opposite of how Rebecca lives her own life. Rebecca uses the byline "The Girl in the Green Scarf," in order to protect her identity ... lest the debt collectors find her and/or she is called out for being a fraud.
Over the course of the movie, Rebecca finds herself in some ridiculous predicaments ... her excuses as to why she cannot meet with one particular debt collector are quite ingenious ... and eventually, must come to terms with the fact that she is indeed a "shopaholic" and needs to focus less on shopping and more on what is important in life. The End. All wrapped up neat and pretty ... much unlike my favorite Shopaholic book series, but cest la vie.
To say that I have a passion for scarves would be an understatement. I have never counted how many hang in my closet (and some in my husband's because I ran out of room in mine) ... but I would say close to 50 ... perhaps even more (I'm being pretty conservative with that number). My collection of scarves range from long to short, silk to knit, black and white to every color of the rainbow ... and then some. I tie them to the straps of my neutral colored handbags to give them a splash of color, I tie them around my waist and wear them as belts and wear them around my neck tied in different styles ... when I was a teenager, I used to tie them around my ponytail. I find scarves to be very chic and very French. And I love, love, love all things French.
When you love scarves as much as I do ... an Hermes scarf is the holy grail. And I have one. Only one. And it's gorgeous. It is silk ... dyed in an orange, purple and cream design ... and it is divine. And it rests in its original Hermes box along with a lovely thank you note from the French woman who sold it to me ... who told me to cherish this scarf and wear it with love. Which probably sounds quite ridiculous to those of you who only own scarves knitted by your grandmothers. But to me, it is ...
I don't even know how to describe it. My Hermes scarf is the most luxurious item I have ever bought for myself. And I bought it shortly after a visit to Paris. I could have bought one while I was actually in Paris but I just couldn't justify the purchase at the time ... you know, with my husband constantly lurking around. I did, however, have a change of heart after arriving home to the US of A ... and my husband was safely back at work. Don't get me wrong ... I had purchased a delicious cream-colored scarf while in Paris, as well as one for all of my peeps, but none of them were Hermes.
And now I have this beautiful scarf, nestled in it's beautiful box and I have never worn it outside of the house. Never. And I don't have any idea why. I have tried it on of course. Tried it in a different variety of ways ... and it's gorgeous. But I just cannot bring myself to allow it out of it's box for more than an hour or two. And, please, before you call the gentleman in white coats to come and carry me away, I am fully aware of the fact that this is crazy. That treating this scarf, which to me was expensive but to some is just another item in their closet, as if it were the Queen's jewels and should be locked away in a vault is insane. But tucked away in it's box, taking up space on my dresser, is where it remains to this day ... never to be seen by the outside world.
And it got me to thinking ... all of the words I can use to describe my Hermes scarf ... valuable ... beautiful ... vibrant ... sexy ... worth showing off ... is how I really feel on the inside. I have all of these wonderful, vibrant qualities hiding beneath the cover of a non-descript box ... or in this case, under layers and rolls of fat. And I have yet been able to lift the cover and show myself to the world.
One of the best greeting cards I ever received had a drawing of a woman on the front and written above her it said, "Inside me is a skinny girl just screaming to come out ..." Open it and it says " ... I ate her."
But isn't that the truth? If you are now or ever were struggling with your weight ... is/was there not a skinny woman inside of you just screaming to be set free? And just like my gorgeous Hermes scarf ... does she not deserve to be freed from her box and shown off to the world? I think so.
So now back to my story about the precocious Rebecca Bloomwood. What does this have to do with her story as the "Girl in the Green Scarf?" Aha ...
Because dear readers, much like Ms. Bloomwood's aptitude to give good advice and motivation to her readers on how to save money and live happily on a budget while her personal debt was shooting higher than fireworks on the Fourth of July ... I find myself willing and able to share my stories and my life experiences with you along my journey to becoming a more fabulous self in my 40th year ... all the while not having much success in achieving my goals.
Since I began this journey I have lost a grand total of 3 pounds. I have actually lost more than that ... but that is the total that I have been able to keep off. And I am finding even that to be a struggle. Much like Ms. Bloomwood, I am full of excuses as to why this has happened ... but, again just like Ms. Bloomwood, my excuses are nothing but fairy tales conjured up in my truly overactive imagination. I have just become lazy. Perhaps even lazier than before ... and I feel that if I continue down this road of insomnia when it comes to my journey ... I no longer have the right to write my beloved blog.
So, what to do ... what to do? Um ... quit whining about it and get busy, of course! Because the Divine Mrs. M loves to write her blog ... loves to hear your feedback and truth be told, hopes that if you continue to follow me along this roller coaster ride of failures and success you may be inspired at some point along the way.
And while my byline is still the Divine Mrs M ... I want to give thanks to the fictional Becky Bloomwood, i.e., "The Girl in the Green Scarf," for showing me the error of my ways ... and perhaps someday ... my journey will actually be published and I will hence be forever known as "The Girl in the Hermes Scarf ..."
© 2010-2011 Melanie L. Miller All Rights Reserved
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