Lunch time confessions

I have a tiny little problem. If you must know, it is that I like to shop... I like to shop a lot....okay I LOVE to shop. I am taking a moment to blog as I am making back ups of my hard drive and preference folders. My husband's computer freakishly had a melt down last week causing him to loose all his data, and making me realize that I couldn't remember the last time I archived my work. So, as I am performing the boring work of backing up, I am turning my blog into a lunch time confessional.

I admit it. I like to shop for trendy and pretty clothes and shoes. However, my saving grace is that, as much as I like to shop, I am an avid fiend for a bargain. I will never purchase a stitch at department stores like Macey's, or Nieman Marcus or glitzy, pricey boutiques where cotton skirts are marked up about 500%. No. I am a true lover of discount and the thrill that comes with purchasing something that I know I could find elsewhere at four times the price. That being said, it makes it so much easier for me to justify my random, unplanned purchases. Oh, I still enjoy perusing the designer shops. Take for instance Anthropology, a store I walk by on my way to Italian class in the heart of San Francisco. If my train is early and I have a few moments to waste before meeting with Pia at Italingua for an hour of conversation, I will slip into Anthropology and admire the beautiful clothes. I will take a moment to enjoy the unique and lovely fabrics, the styles with a distinctly European flair, and the sweaters with fun sequin details. I might even take a moment to try something on. But, then I look at the price and the fun of purchasing something simply vanishes. I speed on out the door and into the Flood building next door, to keep my appointment with Pia on the seventh floor.

However, on the train ride home, something that I saw at Anthropology inevitably stays with me. I definitely liked some of the styles and patterns that I saw artfully hung on hangers and stylishly displayed about the store. I look at my watch and realize that I have forty extra minutes before the kids arrive at home and I think to myself..."self, maybe it wouldn't hurt to stop by the mall on the way home". Now, when I say mall, I really mean only one place and that would be my fav store - T.J. Max. You have heard the commercials...brand names for less - you should go! Well, I do go, and I go often! However, when I enter T.J. Max it is simply impossible to enter with a totally preconceived, set in stone, idea of finding a specific blouse, shoe or dress. I go with an open mind and if some interesting item separates itself from the tumultuous hodge podge of clothes crammed together on a rack, then I go with the moment. Part of the fun is the hunt; quite a different experience from sorting through the elegant displays at Anthropology, however, much more rewarding for me in the end. If I am lucky, I will find something very similar to what I was gazing at in San Francisco only hours before; with a dramatic spot light display and a higher price tag, no one would know the difference. I chuckle to myself at my brilliance and give myself a pat on the back as I sidle up to the cashier.

It makes me happy to wear fun and unusual things. I treat myself to mini shopping sprees and chalk it up to yet another form of self expression. After all, what you choose to wear is just another little calling card to the world that states who you are. I have a new favorite skirt, one that I purchased just last week. I am wearing it at this very moment. It is made of soft cotton, with a drop waist and has pleats. It has a swashy peachy/orangey watercolor-like pattern of domes and a cityscape reminiscent of Rome. There is a double border of rick rack around the hem. It is comfortable and makes me feel great. Feeling good, paying less, expressing myself... what could better than that? There, I've convinced myself. A little bit of a shop-aholic...not such a problem after all! I knew these blogs could be therapeutic!