You know how some people deal with their emotions like adults? They journal, and they cry, and they talk to their friends? Well, that’s not me. When I get sad or stressed, I shop. It doesn’t have to be anything big, it can be nail polish. Make-up. New shoes. Just something. I’m very impulsive that way. A thought pops into my head about something that I may have at some point wanted, and I’m like, “Oh! Let me order that!”

Sometimes I get it from Amazon. Or Belk.com. But my absolute favorite place to impulse shop is Etsy. I’ve heard some people, after making bad decisions, jokingly say, “The devil made me do it.” Now, we all know the devil didn’t make them do anything. An opportunity presented itself and, as my daughter’s kindergarten teacher used to say, “You made a bad choice.” But now I’ve decided maybe I’ll modify that excuse and borrow it for when I need it, and just replace “the devil” with “Etsy.” 

Etsy is like southern girl heaven. You can monogram literally anything. Political correctness means nothing. And, you’re OK with paying a little more because you’re getting something “handmade” and supporting small business owners. And, on top of all that, no one has the same stuff as you because you ordered it from somewhere awesome but obscure.. Most of the things I order from Etsy are funny or themed. I thought I would show you some of my favorites. Be warned: no one needs any of these things. They are purely for the endorphin rush of ordering something awesome on a whim.

I also feel like, if I’m being completely honest, I have to tell you that the endorphin rush doesn’t last, and there is often a lot of guilt associated with the purchase afterwards. But apparently not THAT much guilt, because I still do it. Because Etsy has that effect on me. It’s like this virtual store filled with everything you never knew you ever wanted and could never possibly need, and there are little phrases taunting you all along the way that say things under quantity like “only one left!” Or “14 other people have this in their cart right now.” And then my competitive streak kicks in and I’m like “Haha! All 14 of you can just go be sad because I’m buying it right now!!” Before I even have time to make an educated decision, I click “Buy with Apple Pay” and that’s all she wrote.

The shoes are my most recent. And, I didn’t buy them. They were a birthday present. But I had them on my wish list for 3 solid years because I couldn’t bring myself to spend money on hand-painted tennis shoes. Then, all of the sudden when you’re sad on your first birthday after your mom dies, you decide my favorite motto: “Life is short. Buy the shoes.”  I love Lilo and Stitch. I’m pretty sure Stitch is my spirit animal. There are tons of great one-liners in the movie, and there’s no princess waiting on a man to rescue her. There’s just a kid, admitting her life is falling apart, and saying things like “Leave me alone to die.”

This brings me to my second impulse buy. Stickers. I love stickers. Right now, there are 6 Lilo and Stitch stickers on my MacBook. My Other Half thinks they are ridiculous, but I don’t care. They make me smile. My favorite sticker from Etsy is this Lilo and Stitch one of Lilo, laying in the floor listening to her record player, and it says “Leave me alone to die.” I feel ya sister. I’ve had those days. And really, is spending $3 on a sticker that big of a price to pay for me to smile every time I open my laptop? I think not. 

This Etsy find lets me smile every time I open the bathroom door. Last fall we decided to update the downstairs of our house because we hadn’t done very much with the house since we moved in. So we paint, and we get all this artwork at the Market in Charleston. Everything feels relaxed and laid back now. But when I went on Etsy to look for stuff to decorate the bathroom, I saw this sign, and I had to have it. It’s my favorite thing hanging on our walls anywhere in the house I think. It reminds me not to take life too seriously, and combines my love of all things shabby-chic with my love for sarcasm. Also pictured, the bin I got at the Southern Christmas Show just because I thought it was hilarious. Not from Etsy, but I’m sure it could have been if it wanted to. 

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Since I work in cardiology, I have developed an appreciation for all things with anatomical hearts. I found this art print on Etsy that I got to hang up in my office. I think it’s peaceful. I might have overpaid for this one a little bit, but it was “one of a kind handmade art”. The sticker next to it is on my “Nerd book” which is the little notebook I created when I started my new job 2.5 years ago. Anything I didn’t understand, I would research and then write notes about in this little book. So I decided a plain book was boring, and added the sticker to make it more “me.” 

And then of course I needed a cell phone cover with a heart. This one took forever to get and convinced me to adjust my search filter to show only items available for sale in the US. My endorphins can’t wait for things to ship from Ukraine. 

One of the coolest things I’ve been able to do on Etsy is this Christmas present for my Other Half. He loves The Simpsons. Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to watch The Simpsons because they were crass and I was a good Christian girl. I didn’t see the first episode until after I got married, and I thought it was hilarious. Stupid, but hilarious. Anyway, there’s an artist on Etsy who will create a family portrait, including pets, in the “yellow” style. I ended up getting gifts for two co-workers from the same guy because it was so awesome, and then later on a picture of my Other Half with Benjamin Button and my father-in-law sitting at the Peddler in Gatlinburg. 

Is it healthy to buy things when you feel sad or depressed? Negative. Is it financially responsible? Nope, but as I’ve said before, I have very little respect for the dollar on a good day. No, I don’t think you should stress yourself out and go into major debt just to buy things to feel some big void in your emotions because it won’t work, and you’ll just be sad and then also stressed about money. But, in general, my philosophy is, “Might not make me feel better, but definitely won’t make me feel worse?” Am I the only person who does this? To some people it might sound like a disorder, but to those people I say, “Etsy made me do it.”