shopping!

I used to have a bit of a reputation for shopping. It's totally undeserved, I swear. Ok, maybe a bit deserved.

In my 20s, when we lived in Virginia, there were a lot of malls and I liked to go to them. I was just figuring out the whole 'buying clothes for myself' thing and learning what I liked and what I didn't. What I didn't like were all the clothes my mother had picked out for me all my life so I may have gone a little crazy for a few years.

Then we moved to California and there weren't any good malls near where we lived and I fell out of the habit. We would drive up to San Jose a couple of times a year for me to go to the mall but it seemed like a foreign land, not nearly as fun as I remembered.

I have a weird style, there are so many things out there that I don't like that's it's often hard to find clothes and shopping can be a chore. I hate being trendy, don't like designer clothes but I will admit that when the trends catch up to me, which they always seem to do, it does make it a lot easier for me to find things I love so I stock up.

So, when I walked into a store in Alabama last Friday and found a whole store of things I loved, on clearance no less, I may have fallen into a dream-like state and bought a few things.

Ok, maybe more than a few.

Seriously though, it was incredible! It's a chain store but I've never shopped there before. Why have I not? They had so many things I loved and all of them were under $15 so I could get this and that and that and this! Jeans for $13! Ok, so maybe the $11 pair of jeans was a mistake because it was way too big but it made for a very comfy pair of driving pants on Sunday. Of course, I was a little afraid they'd fall down around my ankles when I got out of the car...at least the $13 pair fit really nicely.

And the bras, so comfy and inexpensive but when I got home I realized they were push up bras. Don't know how much y'all know about brassieres but the push up kind are designed for the less well endowed woman to give her cleavage that she really doesn't have. I, on the other hand, have cleavage for days so a push up bra is not only unnecessary but it looks funny under regular clothes. So that purchase was a bit of a fail although if I'm ever on a date and I want to make an impression I can just wear that bra with a very low cut shirt and I'll be unforgettable. ;-)

I found this t-shirt and sent my sis a picture because I thought it represented her quite well. She snuck back to the store and bought one for each of us. I think she's trying to make a point, not sure what it is.

Not everything in the store spoke to me - I did not get the camouflage vest. That's a little too Alabama for me.

I did, however, get the camo shoes. Everybody needs a little Alabama, I guess. I like to wear things nobody would expect me to wear, to shock people a little bit.

Mostly, it was just fun to indulge myself a little and get a few new things. It was a mindless moment where I didn't have any problems or worries and I was just a girl in a store enjoying herself. Clothes are one way I express my personality and this store was just full of personality. It was so much fun. So I won't be able to get groceries for a week or two, it was worth it!