retail therapy

When I'm on call, I like to be closer to the hospital than on the East Side, so sometimes I'll find a coffee shop in BayView, or go to the mall...today was the mall :) And let's be honest, it's been a sad past 2 days for me, so I was due for a little of my favorite therapy--the kind with no couches unless I'm buying one, no middle-aged white men in cowboy boots forgetting my name [true story], and absolutely, positively NO talking about "how it makes me feel."

I know I shouldn't have, but I did. My first mistake was going to Half Price Books. Oh.my.god.I love that store. I got 5 books--The Color Purple by Alice Walker; Atonement by Ian McEwan; One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi; and Manifesta by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards. Oh drool!

Then I went to Pier One where I found a brown rug on clearance that matches my new bedroom, and some super cute eco-friendly coasters. And then the salesperson talked me into signing up for the Pier One credit card, so I got $15 more off the rug...it doesn't count as splurging if you find the bargains, right? And if you don't use the credit card later ;)

My next stop was World Market. There is always so much fun stuff to find between Pier One and World Market. Besides restocking my wine and tea supplies [I don't drink them together], I found some cute pillows for my bedroom. One even has birdies on it--my new obsession! I had to drag myself out of the spice aisle, managing to limit myself to the small bottle of curry powder.

After dashing through the downpour to the car [and thinking about poor Mr. Tux hiding under the futon during the thunderstorm], I headed over to Old Navy to use a gift card I had. I finally found a pair of jeans THAT FIT. This, people, is a cause for celebration. I mean, of course, they're too long, but they fit otherwise--they don't feel like they're spray-painted on, I can sit in them without giving anyone behind me a free show, and they don't have any of those stupid pre-made rips in them [I can destroy my clothes on my own, thank you very much]. I also got a pair of ballet flats that match my dress for Uncle Wolf's funeral.

That brings me to my other actual objective [besides pillows] of the day: some sort of shawl or sweater for the funeral. I wanted something simple and white to go with my navy blue dress. I can't tell you how hard it was to find it. I went in stores that I never go in, from the tween-dressing-like-a-hooker Wet Seal to the salesperson-gives-me-a-dirty-look Lane Bryant [womens' sizes if you don't know, and let's just say I'm not "woman sized"]. Guess where I finally found "the one." You're never going to get it. I'm embarrassed to say I was in there. Okay, it was Vanity, and while it's not quite up to Wet Seal's WTF-factor, it's pretty darn close. By the way, I was so tempted in Wet Seal...they had these metallic swimsuits...they looked so practical and appropriate... The first time I browsed through Vanity, the salesperson tried to get me to go for a...crap, what are those things called? The half-my-sweater-disappeared thingy...a shrug! There we go. I told her, "I don't think I should wear that." How else do you say that you think it looks like a mistake?

Finally, I found some cute jewelry at Kohl's.

Wow, I'm exhausted, are you?

peace and love,
m