I think I'm supposed to write a long analysis of Christmas, followed by the usual end-of-year treatise and the looking-ahead-to-2005 list of goals and dreams. But quite frankly, I don't feel like it right now. So maybe I will later.
Currently I am grouchy, because I spent the entire day shopping. I hate shopping. It is the weirdest thing, because you would think that most normal females my age, free money in hand, would be more than willing to go waste it on frivolous updates to their wardrobes. But that just isn't me, I guess. I am too frugal and too picky. I have $100 and I want to make sure I can pick up the most possible awesome stuff with that $100. And I have a hard time buying things I don't actually need.
Today I headed out armed with a mental list and my gift card from work. I wanted to buy some new dressy clothes, specifically a new black skirt because on Christmas Eve I decided that my old black skirt is too short. (Yes I suppose I am a prude, but I prefer to call myself "modest" and "not a whore".) I was hoping to find something 'wintery' because most of my dressy stuff is spring/summer. *shrug* Okay, so I really had no idea what I was after, which may have been the problem (and here I thought I was doing myself a favor by leaving it open-ended to "whatever strikes my fancy").
I spent the first 4 hours or so wandering aimlessly through a bunch of stores looking for a birthday present and not finding anything. Probably 2 entire hours of it were actually spent at the Hallmark store picking out a birthday card. Isn't it nice having so much time to completely waste? :P I also stopped by Fashion Bug and NY&Co amongst my travels and found nothing in the way of "basic black skirt". Oh well.
Then at last I went to the mall, where my first stop was JC Penney. I got a turtleneck from Joe's parents for Christmas and I like it so much that I thought I'd pick up a couple more, to layer under sweaters and such. And joy of joys, Penney's had them on sale for under $5... but not in my size. :P Then I tried on a straight black skirt (I think a suit skirt?) and a pink sweater, but the top was a little too big and the skirt looked made me look short. So I left JC Penney.
Then I went to Kaufmann's and I actually did find a skirt, although it was in the Junior's department. Most of the Junior stuff is too young and/or whore-ish, such that I usually avoid it in my shopping now, preferring to think of myself as having grown out of the Junior's stuff. But to my surprise, among the micro-minis they had one knee-length, non-jagged-hemline, no-weird-seams, dainty and flowy black skirt. Pretty. I very thoroughly went through the table of cashmere sweaters that were on sale, but naturally the least expensive ones were all XL's and the only Medium I came across was hot pink and $60. I tried it on but didn't like it THAT much. Although it would have been a quick way to get rid of all the money on this silly card. :P But anyway, I did buy the skirt. And it turned out to be on sale so I saved about 10 bucks, which is always nice.
I peeked in on the sales at Vicky's but I think underwear will be much more fun to shop for when someone other than me and the cat will get to see it. :D Oddly enough I have already started pondering what I will wear on my wedding night. I have no idea why I just told you that. But yeah. Prudish (modest, non-whore) me whose above-the-knee skirt is too short, actually DOES have a sex drive.
Whatever.
Also, I hate my legs. And my feet. Especially in combination. This is part of why I don't wear shorts or short skirts anymore. That, and short stuff is just not very modest. :P
So since I actually did manage to come up with a black skirt, the next item on my list was shoes, because my dressiest black shoes are really scuffed and need replacing. So, to Payless. (I don't mind going El Cheapo for dress shoes because I hardly ever wear them anyway.) Wouldn't you know I found the PERFECT ones! Well, as close as I can get anyway -- closed-toe, ankle strap, not-too-high heel, and the heel is wide enough to manage my not-quite-centered center of gravity. Best of all they were on sale for $7.99. But... THEY DID NOT HAVE THEM IN MY SIZE!!!!! Moreover, NONE of the local Payless shops have them in my size. YARG.
Then I went to Famous Footwear but they had nothing, and it was all too expensive anyway. I hate shoe shopping more than any other kind of shopping, because I like shoes. I was cursed with my one grandmother's love of shoes, and my other grandmother's feet. C'est la vie, I suppose. Anyway, now I am mad at Payless because they suck, having just the right shoes in not the right size. I am half-tempted to just buy the 7 1/2's (I wear a 7). They didn't seem THAT big and after all, it's not like I would wear them much anyway. We shall see. :P
After that I forced myself not to buy a tin of cookies at Mrs Field's (even though the tins were only $3!) and instead got in my car and drove to Wal-Mart, where I rebelled against my wonderful, caring, well-intentioned boyfriend by buying cheap sweatpants for exercising. He has been insisting that I get a good-quality warm-up suit, and was even so kind as to bring me to Dick's in search of one, but as it turns out Dick's didn't sell the one he thought I should get. So I didn't have anything. But the truth is, now that it's the dead of winter and Curves is too cheap to turn their heat up higher than 57 degrees Fahrenheit, I HAD to get pants of some kind to work out in (up to now I was wearing shorts for exercising). Otherwise I don't get warm enough to sweat, I can't feel my legs, and I spend my entire workout thinking about how cold I am. Which does not make for a good working out experience. ANYWAY... I really needed some pants, so I picked up two pairs at Wal-Mart for under $20. And oddly enough I think they are my favorite purchases of the day.
Then, because it was so late, I decided to forgo grocery shopping, because I'd been shopping for 6 hours already and was grouchy and hungry and tired.
So I finally got home around 9pm, starving, with a skirt, but no shoes, and no birthday present, and no groceries, and still about $40 left to spend on this card, to a messy house that I was going to clean, after which I was going to spend the rest of the evening playing the Sims and daydreaming about my cute. And instead I decided to write in here for an hour about nothing that is even remotely interesting to anyone, including me.
Oy. I hate shopping.
I think the best idea for all involved, would be for me to just completely overhaul my wardrobe, and hire someone to set me up with a new one full of complementary pieces that all mix and match and look great and won't be outdated in a year.
I promise I'll try and write about something more interesting next time.