Musings from the mall

This has been a LONG week for me. In the spring, I signed Ryan up at a nearby church for two VBS weeks (Vacation Bible School) and a morning camp. I spaced them out from each other with the intention of giving him something fun to look forward to since school is on break. I probably won't do this again next summer. I thought I'd have more to DO during his time away, but alas, I do not.

During his first VBS, I spent every day at the gym, then running errands to waste wisely utilize the time with just one child in tow. By the end of the week, I didn't have a single errand or chore left on my to-do list. It wasn't worth the time going all the way home, then out again to pick him up, plus with the cost of gas, I tried to stay in and around the area of the church.

This week it's been the same. I woke up pretty sore from my workout yesterday, but went back to the gym this morning because I couldn't think of anything else better to do! Isn't that sad? I'm out of errands to run again. But afterward, I went to the mall. I've been cut off from spending by Mike because one of our rental houses is currently vacant and we're a hairline fracture away from paying 2 mortgages until we find a decent renter. And since I've hardly been working for my mom recently, that money will come out of our savings. Ouch. We'd love to sell the house and get rid of this mess once and for all, but in this market, we would lose $50-75K of the house's true value because of all of the short-sales on the market right now. (*sigh*) We're feeling pretty stuck.

Wait...I was talking about the mall. Sorry. So I wanted to buy a long white skirt and I had a gift card to buy a new pair of jeans. First, the jeans: I got the gift card for Christmas with the intention of buying a 2nd pair of my favorite $100 jeans, but have gotten away with just wearing my one pair again and again. And again. I want them permanently adhered to my body, I love those things. During our photo shoot last month, I bent down too quickly to pick up one of the kids and tore a hole in one of the very-worn knees. Devastation! Although that hasn't stopped me from wearing them, it was time to get that 2nd pair, for sure.

After sweating profusely at the gym (HELLO humidity today!!! I loved the monsoon last night, but whoa mama...HUMID.) I took my smelly self and Kaylin to the mall. First, I got the jeans (I was considering titling this post, "An ode to Buckle jeans") and am on cloud 9. I love, love, love my jeans. I watched a show on Oprah about jeans once and the What Not to Wear girl said you might have to try on 25-30 pair of jeans to find ones that fit, but once you do, you'll never have to go through that pain again. And she insisted that you should spend the money to get the right fit. Of course, it took me 2 months to tell Mike how much these cost when I found them last fall, but still. After he inhaled all of the air in the room, he admitted how amazing they look and dropped it. (yeah, I know - MY husband!)

No more $30 pair of these-never-fit-me-right jeans from Old Navy ever again. My Buckle jeans fit the same before and after washing and they are the softest, softest denim ever. And I am complimented by complete strangers, not to mention that everyone I know tells me how skinny I look in them. SO worth the $100!!! And if you can't find a style that works perfectly with your body type, Buckle will even alter them for free. How great is that? I don't spend much money on clothes anymore, so I love that I have ONE item that makes me feel this good. Even talking about them makes me happy!!!

Have I mentioned that I love my jeans?

On to the skirt. I am what some might call "fashion challenged." Ever since I was pregnant with Ryan, I discovered just how FEW clothes I need. When I worked, I had work clothes, casual clothes, business casual clothes, fun dresses and dress up clothes for parties and showers and church...but when I had to spend money on 2 seasons of maternity clothes, I found myself with 7 shirts and 2 pair of shorts and I was fine. I had my Monday outfit, my Tuesday outfit...you get the idea. And no one knew but me. Mike didn't even catch on.

Even now I find that I have, again, 2 pair of shorts that I alternate between (one cute and one comfy) and my jeans. I won't go on about the jeans again, I promise. But I am starting to notice the other SAHM that pick their kids up from VBS and camp are cute and sassy. They're wearing a tank and flip flops just like me...but instead of shorts, they're in fun little peasant skirts. Hmmm...I decided I wanted a fun peasant skirt.

The first store I went into had a good selection...until I tried them on. When there's too much poofy-ness, a peasant skirt can quickly turn into a hoe-down, square dancing skirt. Not my style. Store #2 (where I also had some money leftover on a store credit from Christmas '06!) had a 75% off rack with a cute little white skirt. Once I tried it on, I looked like I was trying to be 12 (I didn't realize I was in the Juniors section) but I bought it anyway, because it was $6 - or free with my credit.

Once I bought my jeans and had found a white skirt, I still had 45 minutes to kill until it was time to pick up Ryan. So Kaylin and I strolled the mall together. I got her feet measured at Stride Rite (she jumped from a size 4 a few months ago to a 5.5W on one foot and almost a 6W on the other), we went on the elevator a couple of times, she decided to walk and we practiced having her hold one side of the stroller so she didn't wander off, we gazed longingly at the gumball machines, typical time-wasters.

There were a few things I observed today at the mall:

- Even later in the morning, there are an unusual number of mall-speed-walkers.
- And lots of families shopping together...don't these people have jobs?
- Everyone is having a "huge" sale. Maybe because the economy is bad, maybe they're getting ready to get the new season's stuff in, who knows. But if you need clothes or shoes, now's the time. Seriously, go now...everything's on clearance.
- There are already long sleeved shirts on display. I realize in some northern parts of the world, it might start getting chilly in a month or two, but in Phoenix, we will be holding strong to our 100+ degree temps well into October. How 'bout they keep out some summer clothes for us a little while longer?
- And is it 1977 or are we just coming full circle with the retro prints again? Cute styles, bad patterns people. I don't care how fashion challenged I am, I know ugly when I see it.
- The poor people at Russell Stovers and See's must be bored. Not many frivolous chocolate purchases going on in this economy. I watched as a 1989-banged gal's face lit up when a customer walked up to the counter. Like she hadn't had anything to do ALL day. That poor store.
- Do people really purchase stuff from Spencer's anymore? Have they always been so obsessed with skulls?
- Babies getting their ears pierced at the center kiosk can be heard screaming many, many stores away. Kaylin - "Mommy...baby sad. Baby sad, Mommy!" Again and again.

I can't believe how much I used to love the mall. Maybe because I spend so little on myself these days and most of what's there are wants, not needs. Except my jeans. I love my jeans...