Sunday, January 07, 2007

Shopping and Surviving

Today I did some much needed clothes shopping. Got some olive suede boots, black ballet flats, a couple pairs of jeans, some cute tops and camis, a dress, black leggings and a skirt. Yes, basically I bought out the stores. Express was having an awesome sale though - couldn't resist. And the rest of the stuff came from H&M, which I love cause it's all fun, trendy clothes that are incredibly cheap. Ok, so they don't hold up that well or last that long, but since skinny jeans and bohemian tops won't be around long either - I can live with that.

Even so, I'm still woefully under wardrobed from last year's house fire. A lot of my summer clothes were saved, cause I was on a two week California/Reno trip when it happened and I'd packed my favorites. But as for winter clothes - I lost everything. Last winter I pretty much lived in Gap t-shirts and jeans and so now I'm trying to stock up with some more fun items.

Speaking of, I must say I feel extremely lucky as I sit here at my computer a year and a half later. Besides being short on a few clothes, I pretty much have everything I could possibly need/want here in my apartment. It's hard to believe such a short time ago I had nothing. It almost doesn't seem real - as if it happened to someone else. I guess as they say time heals everything. But in this case it wasn't just time, it was also the help from good friends and also perfect strangers. I will never forget all that the writer community did for me during that time. It makes me really believe in the goodness of people.

Now, before I get too teary eyed, I must go to bed. But thank you all who helped out. You mean the world to me.

xoxo
Marianne

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. Glad you are okay.
Teri

Anonymous said...

So you had to start over. Wow.

Anonymous said...

yeah, but see, i was one of the people who got something from the auction and many of my friends sent gift cards and no one, none of us, got a thank you from you. sure, you said something in your book, but you have to buy it (more money in your pocket) to see it. did you not send thank you notes to people? so many people i know said you didn't and that really left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths especially since they really felt for you and wanted to help. it was like their effort didn't matter. it just would have been nice after all of that to get a personal thank you.

Mari Mancusi said...

I'm so sorry to hear you say this. But it's true and something I very much regret. I can only explain (though of course NOT excuse) that at the time I was overwhelmed and life was so out of control it was all I could do just to stay afloat, show up at work, and restart my life.

Everything was happening at once and gifts were pouring in daily. It was amazing yet overwhelming for me. I tried to write down everyone who sent me gifts, but I got behind and records got lost.

It's no excuse and I'm not trying to make one, it's just that I feel really bad that I did not get to send everyone a personal thank you. I tried to make up for it by making blanket thank yous in my blog and in the book (not so people would buy it - just so it would be as public as I could make it!) but I know that's not the same.

It's a great regret I have about that whole situation and it devastates me to think that you were to take it that your gift did not matter. It mattered more than I can ever say in a lifetime of thank yous and I love you all.

At this point, now that I have life more together, I can only promise that I will try to pay this all forward and help others when they are in similar situations.