My Second Quarter Inventory of New Items Purchased

The year is zooming by; we're already halfway through! Financially speaking, that is.
Last week I made my second quarter payment for 2012 to the IRS, which means it's time once again to take inventory of the new items I purchased during my year of nothing new (you can review my Q1 inventory here).

Hey, why were there only 2 months between Q1 and Q2?

Anyway, here's the skinny:

New items* I have purchased as of the closing of Q2 2012 are:

• TOMS shoes
• Sunglasses
• Necklace

At first glance it seems I was a bit more frivolous this quarter, even though I bought fewer things and spent less money.

TOMS in action. Kind of.

TOMS are definitely not sturdy walking shoes, but they are incredibly gentle on my little toes (meaning the pinky toes... I'm not trying to be cute here), where other shoes almost without exception rub me to the point of blisters. So I'm actually able to wear them for more than 20 minutes, which I think makes them well worth the money and the cheat. I might even buy another pair! These ones were also on clearance, so bonus.

A sunny day at DCA.

My new sunglasses are way better than the last pair; I don't know how I put up with those for so long. I'll probably still look at darker ones next time I'm at the eye doctor, but these were a legitimate and much-needed start.

My new peacock necklace.

Ok, you got me. The necklace was frivolous. Not only was it frivolous, it was from Disney. The horror! But I really liked it, and I was having a terrible day. And sometimes you just have to say, what the heck.

What do you think about that?

*Material items only; does not include expendable supplies.

Nothing New, Black Tie Edition Part 1: The Dress

I told you about my complete and utter failure mature decision to give up making myself a dress to wear to my awards dinner last Saturday, but I didn't tell you about what I was going to do instead.

Enter Rent the Runway:

What, you can't tell what that means? It's basically like a Netflix for dresses and accessories:

(click to enlarge)

Perfect for someone who, perhaps, isn't buying anything new for a year.

Habit Heroes Down for the Count

Did you hear about this?

An exhibit at Disney World's Epcot center, designed to "convey a positive message about healthy lifestyles in a fun and empowering way," was recently closed for redesign.

The exhibit, called Habit Heroes, was attacked for being insensitive, and for portraying overweight people as lazy and lacking will-power. Critics argued that obesity is a much more complex issue.

You can read about it here.

I can see both sides. Of course we do not want to teach our children to see all overweight people as villains. But I do think that teaching our children to do more physical activities, eat more healthy foods, and recognize that gaining weight can be directly related to our habits is a good thing.

But maybe start by evaluating the nutritional value of the different lunch options available at the park? Or perhaps opening more rides like the Huff and Puff at Knott's Berry Farm?

Disney is set to redesign the exhibit, hopefully the new version will still have poignancy without offending the masses.

What do you think? Should Disney have taken down the exhibit? Should they have put it up in the first place? What's the best way to provide constructive commentary on destructive lifestyles?