Cute

I did do just a little shopping on vacation. This is a major improvement over previous vacations, when I did my majority shopping of the year while on the trip. See, southern Maine is a bit of a shopper's mecca -- you've got Kittery which is a town made up of outlets (including my most favorite, Hanna Andersson). And then, just a skip further north, you've got Freeport and L.L. Bean. As anyone who knows me could attest, I could do all my clothes shopping (for me, Dean, and Ken) at L.L. Bean and be totally happy. I could probably do all except my craft and food shopping at L.L. Bean. But for all my good reasons -- I'm not buying myself new clothes this year, I'm trying very hard to cut down on all purchases, I'm trying to simplify, and the focus for the vacation was on spending time outdoors -- we really did curtail the shopping big time. Skipped Kittery altogether.

We came across a lovely bookstore that had The Cute Book prominently displayed and so I did treat myself (and am so happy I did). Nothing beats a great Japanese softies book completely translated into English and with crystal-clear patterns/instructions. I made a couple of other purchases along the way that I'll share as we go along, but overall I feel I can give myself credit for coming home with shells and rocks and sea glass but little that was purchased.