Torture!

Yesterday, my friend, Sarah, who I work with in Alaska had a layover at the SeaTac Airport and I took the train down to meet up with her. On my way back through Seattle, I decided to stay downtown and go visit a few accessories I had been researching for myself. This was a big mistake!

Jenna (inside zip) by Frye

The first thing I went to see were a pair of boots that I have been looking at for literally years! But Sunday night I went to a movie, and one of the actresses was wearing them. I hadn't really thought of them in awhile, but now they were in the forefront of my mind. Unfortunately (for me at least) Macy's now sells the brand and I thought I'd head in to check them out. I figured I'd at least just try them on and hope that they were the world's most uncomfortable boots ever!

Luckily for me, Macy's did not have the style I want, but I tried on another pair, just to see if I could get them on. I could not, and they were out of the size bigger. Woohoo! It didn't really matter because these boots are $348 which means they are probably made out of the skin of some adorable baby of a rare breed of cow, bred and raised specifically by this company to become future boots. So no matter what, this was a dream. Not to mention, they are by far the furthest thing from a necessity. When you're unemployed, living at a friends' house, on the verge of a Ramen noodle diet, you barely can afford to even window shop let alone purchase something that is of no use to your existence at all. At least that's what I'm telling myself these days.

Next was the real torture.

I've never really had a good camera. I mean, my parents bought me a nice digital camera for my 30th birthday, and it took amazing pictures. But it had some major limitations and then decided it wasn't going to work anymore. I bought a brand new point and shoot over the summer and it was stolen 3 weeks after I got it. I went to Hawaii with a borrowed, 5 year old point and shoot, that takes one good picture for every four taken. I'm tired of not having a decent camera and need to just bite the bullet and finance one or something (another reason to have a job...you can buy things!).

I would, ideally, LOVE to have a DSLR camera, but they are outrageously expensive, and quite honestly HUGE in both weight and bulk! For the amount of traveling I do, I'm not sure that a monster camera is the best route for me. And the point and shoots are way too small and easy to either lose or have stolen. Not to mention, I want some of the aspects of the DSLR like manual settings and interchangeable lenses. And a few weeks ago, I stumbled (online) onto the camera, I think, that's for me.

Olympus PEN series E-PM1--my future camera

The Olympus Pen series E-PM1. (Actually, I liked the E-PL1, but after visiting them yesterday, the PM1 is better for me). It's compact in size and has many of the preset shooting modes of a point and shoot, with the interchangeable lenses, manual shooting modes and closer image quality to a DSLR. Plus there are optional accessories you can buy like a digital viewfinder (which is a must for me and does not exist on point and shoots anymore) and detachable microphone for better movie audio. And it doesn't cost nearly what the big cameras cost. Again...I was hoping to hate it!

in a hand to show the size...isn't it cute?

Guess what! I didn't hate it. I mean, I didn't hate the PL1, but I definitely liked the PM1 better. It's faster and even lighter. And the salesman was pretty great at pointing out all the bells and whistles and reading what was holding me back from the sale (little did he know, it was the lack of a financial provider in my life...like, I don't know...a JOB). He made it outright painful for me to walk out of that store. But then again, I was the one who walked in to begin with. I would say that the biggest downfalls I can see are that the viewfinder and the flash attach to the same spot, so I can't have both on at the same time. And the fact that the lenses are all so expensive. The camera with kit lens was $499, the viewfinder $179, the telephoto lens $199 at time of camera purchase ($299 separately). Yikes! That's almost $1000! And that didn't include the 5 year "insurance he was trying to sell me, a camera bag or the nifty dandy tripod that was also super lightweight and compact. UGH! Torture! That's ok, I'll have it someday. To me, I do look at it as a necessity, but not one I can afford right now. Patience is a virtue, right?

The last item on my list of torturing myself is another luxury. A cell phone. This little ditty just came out and I have to say that I am ready to get rid of my iPhone, for many reasons. It still works, and I'll probably keep it for as long as...well, until this phones price comes down to $0 from $300, but I just really think this phone is great for me! This is going to sound retarded, but my biggest reason is because of the pen and the ability to write and draw notes.

Samsung Galaxy Note

A lot of people know this about me, that I am a list and note girl. I carry little tiny notebooks around with me in case I need to write something down. When I got my iPhone, one of the first apps I downloaded was a notebook app, and I have to say that it's also my most frequently used app. But it still drives me crazy to have to type everything up when I just want to write a quick note, so I still carry my little notebooks with me. Now, I barely ever know where I have any of those little notes (I know, BIG dilemma, right?). But with this phone, you can actually write on it, and it can turn it into digital text later if you want. Dilemma fixed! Yea right! For a mere $300, fixed! Yet one more thing on my wishful list of material goods.