Lol, as you can see this is not my insta-story though it might have been.  I had set aside some money to perhaps purchase an Hermes Birkin or Kelly during my trip to Paris (as an early bday present to myself).  Every basic blogger's dream, right?  But when it came down to it I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money for a bag (we're talking about $10k+ here).  With all the good $10k can do, it felt irresponsible and possibly even morally wrong to spend it on a bag (though I really don't want to bring ethics/morals into this because who am I to judge).  Anyway in the end I just realized it's not me.  Sure I can spend several thousands on a used Hermes bag (my Lindy from Fashionphile!)  but 10K for a new Hermes? Nope (or maybe I need to move out of a trailer first for that to be something I can bring myself to do >.< lol).  I also realized that by buying a brand new Birkin in Paris I might be trying to compete with insta-famous bloggers like Chiara (who's the owner of that orange Birkin) and I am not in that league nor do I want to be.  Like what am I trying to prove?

So instead I ended up buying all this *facepalm*

Clockwise from top: Gerard Darel sweater (Paris), SmaakAmsterdam Blake Purse (Amsterdam), Longchamp Le Pliage Cosmetics Case (Paris), Celine small Cabas Phantom tote {authentic used ones here, here and here for really good prices} (Paris), prints and key chain (Amsterdam), Chanel navy caviar crossbody {sorry don't know the name} (Heathrow), Celine Medium Strap Wallet (Amsterdam), Net bag from Le Bon Marche's Le Grande Epicerie (Paris), Haribo {aak the plastic} (London), small dish from Spiegen (Amsterdam) 

I may not be buying brand new Birkins, but I'm not above wasting money on Chanel >.<.  This is also a lot of new stuff at once for me, especially coming off a shopping ban {side note: even though I pretty much failed at the shopping ban, I was clearly trying since this is what happens when I'm not trying}.

I also realized that with all this new stuff, comes the responsibility as a conscious consumer to use it well and dispose of it well.  Most of this stuff I'm pretty sure I can eventually resell so when it comes to disposing that's no problemo (but sorry world for more plastic in the landfill).  To be honest though, with all this new stuff I'm afraid I won't really be able to use it well.  Especially since I still have a lot of old things that I really love (like my used Celine wallet and Celine Sangle both from Fashionphile).  It reminds me of Grechen's recent post about diluting your wardrobe with too many new pieces.  That's how I feel right now.  I'm not sure how I'll be able to use and love the new stuff and the old stuff all at the same time (this is also a realization as I continue to use the StyleBook app since I can only reduce my cost per wear overall if I stop getting new things and keep using the old stuff).  First world problems, eh?  I guess I'll just count my blessings and continue to cull my wardrobe (since I'm trying to follow the one-in-one-out rule).  My lovely stuff will be listed on my closet sale page.  And I'll also need to cool-it in the spending department so that I can fully appreciate what I have now (but I'm not calling it a shopping ban).