I remembered something today that I generally take for granted. It’s so easy to get discouraged when you are out shopping for material or whatever you need to make that perfect something. You go to one store and what they have isn’t perfect. You say to yourself, “Okay, the next store will have it.” Then by the fourth store you begin to doubt yourself and your idea/style and question every idea or thought you have.You convince yourself that this only happens to you because you look around and there’s that one person who is always dressed perfectly or you see a designer you like and since you love their work then they MUST know something you don’t. You are the one that sucks.

When this happens- STOP. Nothing is wrong with you. Shopping is tough. I have my favorite real life stores and my favorite cyber stores. But it can take me days of shopping to nail down the perfect patterns for a bag. I never, and I mean NEVER, walk into one shop and walk out of that one shop with everything I need to make a bag in fifteen minutes. I sometimes spend 2 to 3 hours in one store and will walk out with only one swatch, and sometimes I walk in and am there 30 minutes and have bought several pieces of fabric. It depends on the bag and the day. 

I needed to pick up a little happy for my dearest sis-in-law today. I wanted to get her one of those light stretch knit summer dresses that feel like air. Being in the south this is a MUST HAVE summer item. I thought I could whizz bang through Target and get a great cheap gorge outfit but it didn’t happen that way. I didn’t want to spend $30 regular price at Target for a dress. I needed a deal! So I went to TJMAXX and then Steinmart and then Wish and then Anthropologie (the sale room!) and then Gap and then finally to a local boutique Francesca’s. And there it was! I found the cutest bright pink knit dress on clearance for $9.98. I found 10 other dresses I liked before that one but none were the right price. I got the most beautiful of all the dresses I found for $20 cheaper than the cheapest of the others.

It’s easy to give in and get discouraged and either give up or settle for something you didn’t think you really liked in the first place. I encourage you to instead suck it up and press through. Even if it takes longer than you wanted it too you will be so much more pleased with the end result if you are patient and hold out for what you really wanted!

So next time you are out and about and you start to get down on yourself, take a moment and breathe and tell your brain to “shut up!- You got this!”