Christmas Shopping in New York

I don't actually enjoy shopping at all, which is probably surprising seeing as i contribute to a fashion blog. While I love clothes, I find buying them to be extremely stressful. I think my anxiety stems from two factors: (1) I don't enjoy spending money, and (2) I refuse to make returns (the latter is due to the emotional scars I still carry 15 years after my dad chastised me for spending $200 on cosmetic brushes and subsequently made me return them to the very intimidating Saks -- my high school me was mortified).  The result of these two traits is that I painstakingly analyze each purchase; in fact, I have a series of questions I ask before each purchase: (1) Can I think of at least three occasions within the next year when I will wear this piece, (2) does this piece fill a niche that I don't already have clothes filling, and (3) does my husband approve (it's not that I need my husband's constant approval, but I often find clothes he doesn't like mysteriously missing after he's conducted his seasonal purge of our closets). I perform this routine because I need to be 100% certain that I really want the article of clothing since I know I won't return it.  Unfortunately for the sales people, I also verbalize these thoughts and force them to witness my entire analysis -- I once had a saleswoman tell me as I was leaving that she hoped I would enjoy wearing the dress to the wedding in California, the cocktail party I planned to attend later that week and the engagement party. She had actually recalled all three of my requisite events, though I'm pretty sure she was mocking me. 

I went Christmas shopping this weekend in Soho and purchased the ivory coat featured below. I listed the three occasions I would wear it, mentally surveyed my closet and noted that I did not have an ivory/cream/tan/oatmeal colored coat that filled the same niche, and finally, I received my husband's very enthusiastic encouragement (he does not suffer my aforementioned anxieties over shopping).  The whole ordeal only took an hour.  I wore the coat the very next day to church and holiday sightseeing on the Upper East Side.