We went to Cost Plus tonight, ostensibly because I needed to add something to the Christmas gift I haven't yet sent to my friend Jen in Colorado.

(Actually, I haven't sent her last year's gift either, but that's because I ran out of time and had FTD deliver something instead.)

You know you are a True Shopaholic when, even though you have a perfectly good unsent gift (it's bath stuff in freesia, her favorite), you feel obligated to go buy something else.

The problem is that Cost Plus, which is a dangerous store any time of year, is doubly dangerous in the first week of January. Example: all the glass Christmas ornaments are on sale. I collect glass Christmas ornaments.

You know you are a True Shopaholic when you buy ten new glass ornaments (I especailly like the Zeppelin and the Typewriter) despite the fact that you didn't put a tree up this year, and may be travelling next year as well. But they were half price, and therefore you were obligated to buy them.

We won't discuss the martini set (a glass shaker/pitcher and four glasses for $20) that I passed up despite the fact that I really need martini glasses, because I don't own any.

But we will feel as though I redeemed myself by waiting until after dinner to buy groceries (because when you go while hungry, really odd things end up in the cart), although now I'm all giddy because not only is Claritin finally available in Safeway, over the counter, it's also available in it's GENERIC FORM, which is about half as expensive.

You know you're a True Shopaholic when you get giddy over sales at the grocery store, and use said specials to justify buying a fluffy magazine, just because. (It's Marie Claire, if you must know).

We'll conveniently overlook the nifty glass bottles full of Aveda products that somehow managed to come home with me yesterday, because everyone knows that since they don't put price tags on the bottles they don't count, and even if they did have price tags they still wouldn't count because health and beauty aids are only purchased a few times a year, and are, like clothing, necessities.

You know you are a True Shopaholic when you can rationalize any purchase.