Raindrops on roses....

and whiskers on kittens...these are a few of my favorite things.  We all know most girls love to shop (with the exception of my sister, Jessica).  I count myself within that number.  However, I'm not crazy about clothes shopping.  I have trouble finding styles I'm comfortable with in shapes and sizes that work for me.  But....things that always work for everyone are shoes, bags, coats, and containers. 

For shoes, I love to dream about all the tennis shoes I would purchase, or the sandals and flip flops, or the dressy shoes, or the casual weekend shoes.  I love to look at kids shoes and imagine all the kinds I would buy for my two little monkeys.  I look at shoes at Target and Rack Room.  I don't actually purchase many shoes - I survive with one pair of tennis shoes, two pairs of work shoes (one flat and one with a heel), many flip flops, and a pair of winter casual shoes.  But a girl can dream, right?

Bags includes mainly purses and totes for me.  If I had the money, I would have a room full of these things.  Lately I've been on a Vera Bradley kick.  I was at a yard sale helping Logan's Cub Scout group when I was informed there was a lady selling Vera Bradley bags cheap.  I hustled my way down to her table and scored a blue purse and matching wallet, and a big black tote bag for $12 total - all in like new condition.  The wallet is the kind that zips up so you don't lose stuff and it has a little strap to carry it with - perfect!  I wasn't sure why I needed the black tote, but at $5 I wasn't passing it up.  This inspired me to check eBay for more VB items and I ended up with a small blue purse that hangs across the body, a small pink hobo purse, a small pink wallet, and a new hard case for my glasses.  I told myself Happy Mother's Day as I paid for my loot. 

Another kind of bag I'm diggin' are the reusable shopping bags.  Weird, right?  I figure - they're cheap (most cost $1), they can be used for anything and bought almost anywhere, and I'm helping the environment.  I'm slowly building up my stock - I have 3 from Wal-Mart, 2 from Aldi (they're mega huge though - and pretty heavy when full), and one from Old Navy.  It has a picture of a bumblebee and says "Bee green."

The next thing I love to dream about are coats.  Rain coats, winter coats, plain, patterned, with a hood, light jacket, whatever.  For some reason coats just catch my eye.  There are so many different types to have, in so many colors.  And they're usually pretty friendly to all body types. (jacket from Lands End).

Finally, I love containers.  I love baskets, I love plastic tubs, I love little boxes to sit on dressers, I love storage pieces.  I love it all.  I thing it's the organizer in me coming out.  I see a cute basket and try desperately to think of somewhere to put it in my house.  I see a mail sorter and try to figure out if I have counter space for it (I don't).  I see a mess of baby doll accessories and Matchbox cars on my living room table and mentally go through the house to locate something to put all the stuff in.  I just love having a designated place to put things.  It makes picking up so much easier.

So those are the things I love, for real and in dreams.

*Jacket from Lands End, container from The Container Store, shoes from shoes.com, bag from Vera Bradley, reusable bag from Envirosax.