Generic girl - XX

Tomorrow is "casual day" at work as there is a national partners meeting so all the associates have no one to answer to tomorrow. HOORAY. Except for email. And voicemail. And our incessantly buzzing blackberries - but that can be a good thing. Oh wait. Sorry wrong personal assistant.

So while I'm sitting here working on documents for a closing, someone pops her head in and announces that she is excited because she's going to wear her new Seven for All Mankind jeans to work tomorrow. O.k. well good for you. Congratu-fucking-lations.

I'm not much of a "casual day" kind of girl. I've always liked skirts better than pants (and yes, I realize that pants can be more considerate at times ... but the lapping thing doesn't happen for me so much). I look much better in skirts than I do pants, and they fit me better. Unfortunately when God decided to give me the most enormous hips on the planet [I must be destined for twins - as I can balance a three year old on each of these mothers without tipping at all] he neglected to give me much in the backside department. Michael laughs and says that he's going to lease me out to Clear Channel because I've got plenty of prime flat space for them to advertise on.

Anyway, back to the jeans. There are some things that I have no problem shelling out a lot of money for - like good coffee. There are others, however that I find utterly ridiculous. Such as emptying out $140+ of my hard earned money for jeans. Um. no. I don't think so. I love good clothes, and shoes, but even now - with the ginormous salary - I still thrift shop. I almost always buy off clearance racks only. I'm a fan of Marshalls. I even have clothes from the Salvation Army in my closet (granted you can get Chanel, Armani, etc. in the thrift stores here).

But it's funny that way... how we allocate some things as being worth our funds and some not. For me there are some things that I would never buy the generic version of and they include:

• Lactaid. I'm lactose intolerant and addicted to all things dairy. It's cruel really. Trust me - the cheapo stuff just doesn't work as well.
• Perfume. The real stuff (Chance by Chanel is my new "signature" scent for the last few years - wow I feel pretentious saying that). No impostors. I remember when I was a kid my mom used to use this aerosol spray perfume and it said something to the effect of "If you like ... you'll love...." It smelled like bug spray. The perfume I wear is expensive but one bottle lasts far longer than a year.
• Coffee. I love good coffee. I drink so much coffee I probably have pure caffeine in my veins. Bad coffee is doable, but not desirable.
• Name brand frozen vegetables. I am really afraid of canned vegetables (they're so mushy), and only eat fresh or frozen. Generic brand frozen vegetables are always sort of freezer burned and blah. I miss H-E-B grocery stores though - theirs weren't so bad.
• Most cosmetics. I'm pretty loyal to Estee Lauder (which yes, I realize most of the cosmetics places are owned by the same conglomerates). Good quality products - I buy when there's a special - and it lasts forever. Sephora's house products are also pretty good - and I love Benefit products as well. I painted my nails today at work, an oddity for me, with the Estee Pure Color in Amethyst and it actually looks like my noncoordinated ass got a manicure. Very impressed.
• Saltines. I maybe eat saltines once every four months (with chili or something) and the crappy brands just suck.
• Peanut butter. I can't even remember the last time I ate it - but it has to be a certain brand, and crunchy. Creamy peanut butter is like glue.
• Beer. I'm an admitted beer snob. I can enjoy a cold budweiser but if the choice is there, I'd rather it be something else. Something dark and frothy... and creamy goodness... Oh wait. Where was I?

Things which I feel no guilt scrimping on:

• Cat food. I love my cats, but I swear the Wal-mart Chicken & Rice cat food has made their coats softer and silkier than the Science Diet I was shelling out cashola for.
• Gasoline. I fill up at Race Track because it's cheaper. And my car is just fine on regular unleaded gasoline. Granted, I'm not one of those freaks who drives across town just to get $.02 cheaper a gallon, but still.
• Car washes. I balk at how much people spend to wash their cars on a weekly or even monthly basis. Hello - soap, chamois, waterhose & bucket. Once a year or so get it detailed. Not high on my priority list, which drives my father insane.
• Pens. I'm amazed at how much $$ the people at work spend on pens. Dude -it writes ink. So what if it's 14 karat gold??? My papermates work just fine.

So what is it that you feel must be "branded" - what is it you feel is worth your money?