Bad Shopping Days

You walk into a store hopeful and excited about the new clothes that just came in. You've been scoping them out online but the pictures don't do justice and your just so excited to finally see them in person. You do a lap around the store and by the time you commit to a dressing room, your arms are full of clothes. 

The first thing you try on, in my case, a cute navy and white striped wrap around romper, looks not as good as you thought it would. Still hopeful, you move onto the next item. A white lace cold shoulder crop top that would look adorable with high waisted jeans. It does absolutely nothing for your body and you move on to the next thing. High waisted jeans that say I'm a mom from the 70's more than they say boho chic. At this point your disgusted with yourself and decide its time to lose 30 pounds.

You leave everything in the dressing room and walk out of the store upset and disgusted. Feeling defeated, you go home and eat a whole pizza by yourself to eat your feelings.  

Shopping

I love shopping; I mean really that’s an understatement. But I’ve gotten so addicted to it, that I get a high just from swiping a credit card. Sometimes I get the urge just to spend money, I don’t even care what it’s on. Is that an addiction? Oops. I honestly can’t help it; I just really love the feeling of bags full of new clothes, new outfits, a magic plastic card and 7-hour trips to the mall. Shopping is a full day experience with me and you usually start preparing a few days ahead of time just to get an idea in your mind of the items you must buy. Now when I get to the mall its kind of like when I go to a party, you take a lap before committing to a location. So I take a lap around the mall before committing to one store. Committing to a store is really based on shop windows or something I saw online that I had to have right away. If I’m going to make a big purchase I might also put the item on hold just to shop around a little bit more before so that I don’t have buyers remorse.

I Actually Saved Money?

I like the big glass double doors that are opened for me. I like the overpriced clothes. I like the pretentious attitudes of the people who work at the stores I shop at and how we instantly bond when I decide to purchase one of their items, as if we have this special bond because we both will dish out $300.00 for a pair of ballet flats. I like that they offer me Diet Coke when I try things on. Not only do I love what they have to offer but; I love the attitudes of these stores, the atmosphere.

So you can see how when I walked into TjMaxx (easily since the doors were mechanic) I was bewildered at the low prices and polyester pants (I’m still cringing, ew). The fluorescent lighting made me look washed out and when I went to try something on, the woman handed me a number, not a Diet Coke, as if I was some commoner.

Then I started to look, really dig deep (like really deep) in those hangers of label-less clothes. I felt something that was far from polyester. It was WOOL. I pulled out the garment, barley containing my excitement. I looked at the tag, as I always do, to see a little pink whale, my favorite brand, Vineyard Vines. It was almost too good to be true, and it got even better. This red, white and navy wool fair-isle printed sweater that was originally $225.00 was now only $80.00! I couldn’t even remember the last time I spent less than $100 on any piece of clothing I own.

Sure the sweater was from last years Christmas collection, but like any good Vineyard Vines item, the style is timeless. I couldn’t even believe it was still there, people really don’t know a good deal when they see it.

            I triumphantly walked to the register and paid for my sweater in all cash, I didn’t even need a few credit cards to split up the price!

            My first experience at TjMaxx was definitely a success. Even though I didn’t get a Diet Coke (yes I have a Diet Coke problem) and no doors were held open for me, I saved money, which was actually a good feeling. I’m excited to go back and see what I can find next. 

Yesterday was a great day to shop for 7 hours, and that's exactly what I did. We started our trip at one of my favorite gift stores in Cheshire, Red Owl Jewelry and Gifts.

I saw these lobster cuff links and thought they were the cutest things ever. They are so different than what you normally see and can add a little bit of New England to any formal outfit. Paired with the silk sailboat tie and you have a classic preppy look.

This Daniel Wellington watch is a newer piece of jewelry that is going to be super popular. It is seen a lot on Instagram and Pinterest. The watch is modeled after the oldest Rolex in the world. These timeless watches are guaranteed to be flying off the shelves.

No shopping trip is complete without dining at one of my favorite post-mall restaurants. Brio is a great restaurant inside the Westfarms mall that offers amazing food and service. Its the perfect way to replenish all those calories after hours of shopping.

You can never leave the mall with empty hands of course.