An excursion to the shops on memory lane

A few days ago my husband asked me how long it had been since I bought some new clothing for myself. Not because he thinks I am lacking in personal style or crisp clothing, mind you. But rather, because he knows how much fun finding a sweet little skirt or that perfect shirt is for me. So last night, while he was working late, I found myself perusing the shops around town. I went to three or four stores, pushing my way through racks stuffed with cloth of all colors and shapes.


It was heaven.


Yes, I bought something. Yes, I was able to keep it under thirty bucks. Yes I am blissfully happy today wearing one thing I bought and dreaming about wearing the other thing.

But strangely enough, that is not why it was wonderful.

As I was in the dressing room, trying on piece after piece, I started giggling to myself. Some things I tried on for fun, even though I knew at first sight that I would never buy them. Shall I tell you about them?

Dresses. Not so much a fan of dresses. Give me skirts any day. But on a lark, I decided to peruse the dress racks and pull, oh six or so out to give them a try....And oh my stars, I loved them! They were kooky and hippy and retro fun! Some of them skimmed my tummy with their A line shapes, some had daringly plunging necklines, some were (gasp!) mid calf length! Purple, black, red, and even an apple green one, with various shapes and patterns. It was so much fun to be silly and imagine myself greeting my husband at the door wearing the retro purple one with some 50's hairstyle and a bun in the oven...I couldn't help laughing.

And then, I really got to thinking about how much I used to love to go shopping with my sisters. (Not that I still don't love shopping with them, I just don't get the chance like I used to.) We would all browse the racks together, finding items for ourselves and others. Occasionally one of us would hold up some particularly funny looking article and we would burst into peals of laughter as we threw out raucous complements "Ooohhh, yeah, that is secksy!" and "that mummu is hot!" to each other. We didn't care who was watching or listening and we would cart our items to the dressing rooms and chit-chat while changing, and then let the others inspect each item for fit and fashion. I never worried about buying something horrendous while I was with them, because they would never be shy about giving you the truth and nothing but the truth, good or bad....

And even though I don't get to have them along for my shopping trips very much these days due to the physical distance between us, I still think about those excursions. As I breezed out of the store last night, it was like I had them right beside me, laughing and talking as we headed out to the car. Jami's voice was in my head telling me she loved the white skirt and would definitely be borrowing it sometime soon, Jodi skipped on ahead with her new pairs of jeans, and Kari was very pleased that we had gotten such great deals.

Come shopping with me sometime, will ya? I miss my seesters.