Top 10 pick-me-ups for girls in rough times

Things I like to do when I am feeling crappy and have no money to spend:

1. Get yourself out of bed! I force myself to go for a good run first thing in the morning, especially when I least feel like doing it. I curse myself for the first 5 minutes but once I get going, I leave all the crap behind.
2. Put on a dress or any other outfit that you would normally leave for a Friday/special work day. I say if you are not smokin' on the inside you should compensate by at least looking absolutely fabulous on the outside.
3. Pick a slow/sad band on your iPod and blast it while you walk to/from work. I usually go for Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve. It does the trick 8 out of 10 times and its free. When in doubt, always go for Radiohead.
4. Take extra minutes from work time to check email, browse Internet, window shop online. Anything to keep you distracted. Yes, it is not the most professional thing to do but it is more efficient than spending an extra 5 minutes in the bathroom holding the tears in. (i.e. This post is written during work hours).
5. Leave work 5 minutes early. Go straight to shopping mecca. Try on a ridiculous expensive (but fabulous) pair of heels. Proceed to the cosmetics department. Sniff on perfumes, try on new eye shadow, discover new lipgloss hues. Pretend you have the money to buy it all and in the end, leave empty handed but with a whole lotta new fashion/beauty knowledge (and a few free samples, of course!).

Things I like to do when I am feeling crappy and have a little money to spend (less than $10):

6. Treat yourself to your favourite sushi for dinner. Who cares about the groceries that will go bad sitting in the fridge? Desperate times call for desperate messures and food is fuel for the soul. Plus if I go after 6:00 pm my sushi lady gives me 50% off.
7. Do not go home before prime time. Kill time and un-wind by spending time in company of one of my favourtie friends: the fashion magazine. Get a tall non fat cappuccino with two splendas and find a quiet corner here and read until your eyes get sore/the caffeine in the cappuccino runs out.
8. If the shopping itch is too big to ignore, get your hands on some disposable fashion from H&M. You should be very ashamed if you cant find anything cool to buy for under $10 bucks.
9. If there is a good chickflick on the theatres, round up the troops and head straight there. If the other soldiers fail to show up, even better! You get the best seat in the house and at least 1.5 hours of pure, high estrogen YOU time. All for less than $10 (unless you pig out and get yourself some treats, but hey, you had sushi for dinner, go for it!).
10. Ok, lets be honest here. I would get a treat even if I didnt have sushi for dinner. We are talking desperate times here! My treat would be either frozen yogurt (if I want to have a little less guilt) or gelatto (if I have been good all day and plan to work my butt off next morning). Hey, I have to walk a few long blocks to get to either of them so at least I am burning some of it in advance.

If all of the above fails:

Skip the window shop thing and go straight for the real deal. Buy a pair of the fabulous heels (not from Holts of couse, unless you have a suggar daddy that I didnt know of), wear your most fabulous going out outfit with the new heels, gather the troops (no shows is not optional, they better show up!) and head out to your fav bar, enjoy a few cocktails and realize things arent that bad after all and your life is fantastic. Embrace the feeling for as long as it lasts (even if its just for that few hours). Wake up the next day and repeat from step 1.