Shopping :)

Let me say up front, here and now, that I don't like shopping. I really don't. It's just one of those areas in my life that I try to weasel out of whenever possible (and even when not possible.) But sometimes, it becomes absolutely necessary, and by that I mean when your gift cards from relatives are piling up, sometimes you've just got to tough up and spend them. That's what I did this evening.

My sister Jessica and our friend Arielle (picture :) ) and I met this afternoon, around 4:00, and walked into JC Penney. (Question: I've always said it "Penneys," but there is no "s" in the name. So what is the proper way to say it? "I went to Penneys?" or "I went to Penney?" Is it possessive, because it's his last name: Penney's?). Then we looked at each other and asked ourselves what it was that we had come here to buy. I had a gift card. But what should I buy with it? That is the sequence that all [female] shoppers go through. Sometimes they have no money or gift card, just an overpowering urge to shop. (I've never felt that way, but I have observed others acting that way.) At any rate, we decided that I needed a black skirt. Guess what? Penney(s) is fresh out of nice black skirts. (My apologies to those of you who consider their selection of black skirts to be 'nice.' They are, but they're not quite what I was looking for.)

So we moved on to Plan B....which was...well, look for anything, basically. (That Plan took some time to come up with, so I expect you all to be impressed with its intricacy.) I found a couple of cute things, and Arielle did as well. However, I now needed a black shirt to go with the two skirts (not the black one I had wanted, but nice nevertheless) I got. How hard can it be to find a black shirt? Not very hard? Guess again... Penney(s) didn't have one. Well, I mean, it did, but they weren't the right kind. (I feel that any guys reading this blog are rolling their eyes. For their sake, I say: "There are certainly different kinds of black shirts out there, and you have to wear the right kind. Ask a girl for help.")

So we went to Maurices. I think the girl Dave Barry wrote about was there. I can't find the article he wrote, but he describes what happens when ladies walk into a women's clothing store (such as Maurices) : you are attended by a female clerk who appears to be roughly 68 pounds, and who enters and leaves the store via the mail slot. If you ask her if they have a certain article in your size, she will look at you while one corner of her mouth lifts smirkily. "We don't have that in your size," she says, "but you might try across the street at Big Bertha's Duds for Whales." Then you will leave. Jessica bought something, but they didn't have any of the right black shirts. So, off we went again.

This time, we went to TJ Maxx. And there, within roughly 24 seconds of entering the store, I spotted and grabbed a black shirt. Of course, we then walked around the store to see if they had anything else, but they didn't, so we made for the dressing rooms. Side note: they have really nice dressing rooms. At least for the ladies. And there, we settled on The Black Shirt. Then we bought it. And then we had to find out where Arielle's family was. They were at Walmart, and Arielle's mom was buying baby things for a baby shower (so I heard). This meant that Arielle's dad and brother were sitting, very bored, in the little Subway that is as Walmart. After we girls had bought Jessica's socks, we were hungry and decided to eat at Subway. Some of you may know that I have a thing for meatballs...and the rest of you probably know that Subway has a meatball sub. But did you know that those things are explosive? Seriously...if our country ever runs out of bombs, we could just drop Subway's meatball subs.

After the adventure with subs and a drink (yes, just one. Three girls, one drink. Yes.) (and we paid the guy with about 4 dollars in change, and he probably thought we were really weird, and he would have been correct), we talked and walked around a bit. Then we dropped Arielle off at McDonald's where her family was, and went home.

Total time: 5 hours.
Cost: Over $100, combined.
Results: Multiple articles of clothing, fun time, etc.