I never thought I'd buy that

How many times have you seen something for sale and thought to yourself, "Who would ever buy that?" I have. And I may have spoken too soon.

Take for instance, aviator glasses. When I inherited my dad's truck, he left not one, but two pair of aviator sunglasses in the glove compartment (see left photo). Man, did my passengers and I get such a kick out of those! I remember driving down to St. George with a friend once, wearing them and making clever remarks (Ma'am, do you know how fast you were going?) thewhole way down. Fast forward to two weeks ago. There I was browsing the sunglasses section looking for a pair to replace the others I'd lost on a recent hike. "These aviator's don't look too bad," I thought to myself. And I bought them.

It happened again with skinny jeans. "Hideous!" I thought, "who can actually pull those off?" They reminded me of when I was in grade school and pegged my pants. Then a few months ago I secretly went into a store (although I don't really know who I was keeping the secret from, possibly myself?), tried some on and bought them. I needed a little pick-me-up and this was the adventure I was looking for.

So as I went on a long drive in my jeans and sunglasses I got to thinking about how many things I've purchased that I never thought I would ever, absolutely never, buy. One thing that came to mind was my Martha Stewart Living subscription. We ended up getting a year for free because of a furniture purchase. I picked up the first issue laughing to myself that there couldn't be anything in there worth reading. I ended up dog-earring several pages and I've used a brownie recipe from that very issue many times now. This past month I re-upped the subscription.

Then I remembered my knitting needles. Never thought I'd knit. Never really had much interest in it. But after a friend offered to give me some lessons, I took her up on it. She's created so many neat things for her friends and family, I couldn't pass up her offer. And now I like knitting. I'm certainly not a pro, but I've bought needles and yarn and I'm pondering my next project.

There have also been several car designs that I've really disliked as they were unveiled to the public. "Do you like that look?" I'd ask Jess. "Is that going to sell?" I'd ask my brother. "Of course," he'd answer, "every 30-something will love that." And he was right, as time has gone on, I've come to like the look (think past models like the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Volkswagon Jetta). That's why I'm not a designer and my brother is.

And on the subject of cars, mini-vans are now considered to be "in-the-mix" if we ever have a need for a 6+ passenger vehicle (something smaller than the Sprinter on right). Try to convince my 19-year-old self that I'd be typing that nearly ten years later.

Of course I realize that I'm eating my words a lot and that's okay. Maybe the problem is that I'm not a big fan of change. Just take a look at many of the things I own. Most items date pre-2007, some even from before 2001 (think stereo, watch, a pair of running shorts - yes they have holes). I stick with the things I know I like; for instance, a black turtleneck, it can do no wrong in my eyes, or wishing someday I could own a Z3 before a van.

So with this newfound knowledge, I will try to tone down the declarations of, "I will never buy that," except, that is, while perusing the SkyMall catalog.