It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life."
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We have two very special weddings to attend later this month – both for children of dear friends. I needed to find a new dress. I haven’t had a new dress in years. I simply haven’t needed one.
The problem is, I really dislike shopping. Seriously.
I take after my father, who only went into stores with a specific list – and he dashed through the store to find these items only. I remember, as a kid, I had to run to catch up with him. Just like him, I do not browse. I do not dawdle. I know what I want, I get in, get what I need, and get out.
Buying a dress is different, though. It is very hard to be quick. I have to try on dresses, see how they fit. Every dress fits a little differently.
It also means I have to go to the mall. I never go to the mall anymore. Honestly, being retired – I just wear the same old, same old, day in day out. [insert whiny voice] Do I really have to go to the mall!?
Well, time to ‘woman up.’
I marked my calendar for the dreaded chore – right after Easter, so that the stores would be less crowded.
I needed a warm up routine of some sort. I worked in the yard for a bit – a little weeding, moving mulch, and simply delighting in the fresh air. This cleared my head, for sure. We are having a wonderful week of weather – bright sunshine, mild temperatures, low humidity. There are so many wonderful flowers in bloom! Tulips, daffodils, bleeding hearts, dogwood, hyacinth, lenten roses . . . .
Oh, can’t I just stay outside all day? [there’s that whiny voice again!] No. No. No. After a quick shower and fresh “easy on/easy off clothes,” I was out the door. I wanted to get in and out of the mall before the high schoolers were dismissed for the day.
It was my lucky day!
I found what I wanted in the very first store, in a little under an hour. I tried on maybe a dozen dresses? All the dresses were on sale, so I dared to buy two. Woohoo!
I am so glad that chore is done. My father would have been very proud.
Now all I need are scissors, so I can cut off those odd little ribbons on the inside shoulder seam . . . .
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Maureen,
I feel your pain. Shopping for bras—well, any clothes, really—-is a major pain these days. I shop when out of town as we have few options, so when we arrived in Las Vegas we went to one of the outlet malls and to the Jockey store so I could buy bras. I found two that fit. Only two in the entire store. Both white. I’d hoped for beige. Oh, well. I bought both. I hadn’t bought bras since retiring and felt like Quinta Brunson when Ava commented on her five-year old bra on Abbot Elementary. Dresses used to be easy to find. Now they’re impossible. If possible, I try things on in the aisle over my street clothes. Sometimes avoiding show and tell is a problem when removing the items. That’s when Ken comes in handy. Anyway, cute dresses. Did you buy new shoes?
I did not buy shoes – no one’s looking at my big ol’ feet, lol – I’ll wear my tried and true, either a low pump or if the weather is nice enough, a sandal that is so comfortable. Laughed at the Abbott Elementary comment – ha! That was so funny; I love that show.
I get this! Once I found a dress style I like & fit me well, I bought 5 (6? 7?) different colors over a period of two years. When I found out the store was closing, I went back to see if there were any more. There is still one dress I haven’t worn yet!
Thank you for sharing a chore that turned out to be not-so-bad after all!
Brilliant! I should have thought of that. I was excited at my finds.
Maureen, we are cut from the same cloth! I, too, would rather be doing most anything else other than shopping – at least for clothes. I’ll shop for bird feeders, browse in Tractor Supply, even read the names of paint colors in Home Depot. But dresses? Aw, heck no! I’d rather have a tooth pulled. It looks like you found some beautiful ones there – I love both of them and should probably ask where you got so lucky that fast – just in case someone comes up engaged. Glad you survived the mall!
I do love knocking about in an antique or flea market, if I’m with a good friend and we’ve got all the time in the world…but that is a very rare pleasure, and seems very different than shopping – more like visiting a museum.
Maureen, congratulations! I’m glad you found them in just an hour. Impressive, and now you have two! I’m like the others, clothes shopping is not a thing I like under any circumstances, so when I have quick success, I’m happy. Enjoy those weddings and weedings. You can get back in the garden tomorrow.