Just seeing this lovely photo puts my mind at ease. Spring will be here soon, time for cute handbags and peep toe heels. Lots of outdoor time, colorful flowers, the smell of freshly cut grass. I think every year I want Spring so badly because I was born on the first day of Spring and find it such a beautiful season and a fresh new starting point for many things from our wardrobe to the natural world around us. If Winter means self reflection, going inward, and preparation Spring means it’s show and tell time! It’s a season of hope and beauty.

I love these scarf scene totes at Anthropologie and bonus, they’re not quite as expensive as most of their handbags so $78 is something I can see myself buying without feeling to much pain afterwards. I’m asking myself more and more though, do I want it or do I need it? I’m trying to think more before I shop, I was thoughtful before the recession but now I weigh and measure a lot more. I am making better choices as a result. But it’s not just about consumers being smarter, it’s also about retailers thinking about their approach and perhaps giving us some incentives.

I hope that stores like Anthropologie will do something to show their customers that they truly care about us and our contributions to making them who they are today by offering a few more affordable goods or better yet, customer appreciation coupons or select discount coupons for email list subscribers. I appreciate their sale sections in their stores and online, but I’d like to have choices for items I actually like and want, not items that either did not sell, unpopular sizes, or were returned, damaged, etc. In the end I want to see some of my favorite stores reach back and show us they care, I think it would make me a lot more loyal to a larger retailer if I genuinely felt that way.

(image from anthropologie)