Shopping! Yippee!

First, a disclaimer; If you are not a woman or a gay man interested in fashion, you probably should skip this blog entry.

Okay, so the shopping in Bogota is tooooooo good, and Georgia and I are verrrrrrry bad. We're not bad, we're just both shop-aholic enablers, and neither of us can pass up a good deal. There is this neighborhood here in Bogota called the Zona Rosa, which has a lot of really nice restaurants, several great shopping malls, and a plethora of interesting designer boutiques. And those nice designer shops and boutiques have high quality merchandise at much cheaper prices than we would find in the U.S. There are several things that are particularly specialized here in Colombia, and the thing that has Georgia and I reeling is all the leather boots and handbags. Every other store has an amazing selection of leather shoes and boots and interesting and different purses and bags. And since almost every woman I know is a sucker for a good pair of shoes or a beautiful bag, you can imagine that the two of us are like kids in a candy store.

The first problem is that if one of us were here alone, we would maybe find someone to go shopping with once or twice, but we probably wouldn't be taking taxis to this area of the city alone. But since we are together, and we seem to share this weakness for "acquisition therapy" we somehow find ourselves going together to this very fun neighborhood on each of our days off. We'll tell ourselves that we just want to have lunch at our favorite asian restaurant over there and maybe do a little window shopping, but inevitably, something too good to pass up will appear before our eyes and one or both of us will NEED NEED NEED that thing.

The second problem is that neither of us could really be labeled as the "sensible one" when it comes to shopping. I certainly have friends who are very frugal with their income, and who scoff at those who love to buy clothes. Both Georgia and I are the opposite of that. I mean, neither of us is going to squander our rent on buying a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses or anything, but we both REALLY love fashion and REALLY love to shop. It's a problem. We freely admit it. And yet we seek no help.

The third problem is that both of us are addicted to finding bargains. We like to buy things, but we ESPECIALLY like to buy things that are somehow on sale or discounted or just plain inexpensive. And that's a problem here in Bogota because almost everything is less expensive than what we would pay in the States, and it kind of makes everything therefore completely irresistible. I mean, if you find a gorgeous pair of really well made leather boots, and they cost HALF of what you would pay at home, you would HAVE to buy them, right? I mean, they are this beautiful dark brown shade of leather, and they go up OVER THE KNEE! And they are NOT EXPENSIVE! How could a human mortal resist these? You would have to be superwoman to try them on and walk away empty handed (or should I say empty-footed). And ladies and gentlemen, I am NOT superwoman, and I succumbed to their power. But actually, wearing them kind of makes me feel like a super-hero, so it all balances out in the end. Right? RIGHT???