By Tina Davis
After I left the wonderful and welcoming church, I drove to a large outdoor mall in a city to the west, where I planned to shop at several places. My first stop was at Ulta, as I desperately needed new makeup brushes. I found a great travel set of double ended brushes in a carrying case, then looked around for other possibilities. I had used a dab of concealer that morning from my wife’s makeup drawer, so finding a good match with my foundation was the goal. Locating the right shade of concealer took a few minutes, but I felt happy with my choice. I waited in line with other women for the registers, paid for the items, and walked back to the car.
I had parked halfway between Ulta and DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse), so I walked into the latter and headed for the clearance racks in the back. Since I wear a 9.5 in closed toe shoes and can usually fit in a 9 in sandals, I had many choices in front of me. Taking my time, I perused the racks for the best deals and pulled out a pair of denim 3” pumps and a pair of denim high platform sandals.
They both fit, and I was torn over if I should just get both, but when I asked the clerk who was nearby what she thought, she said I should get the sandals. I agreed that they were more fun, and knowing that they were marked down under $20, I was quite happy with the purchase. They didn’t look right with the black hose I had on, so this picture was taken at home later with no hosiery. I also found a rack of MeMoi shapers and hosiery, with the shapers on a big sale. Adding a pair of sheer nude hose and a high waist thigh shaper to my basket, I made my way to the register. The clerk liked the sandals too, now I will have to find somewhere to wear them this summer with painted toenails.
The final store I went to was Nordstrom Rack, where I could have spent hours going through the clothes. I pulled at least 7 items to try and went off to the dressing rooms, easily finding an open room on the women’s side. The dress pants were just okay, but I liked the boucle skirt and the purple sweater dress. The pink dress was cute but a bit tight, and another dress was too small to even zip.
Then I tried on the last dress, from Maggy London, which was marked down to $16 from an original price of almost $150, so I really hoped it would fit. I worked the zipper as best I could, but was having trouble with the lining of the dress bunching up. I ventured out into the aisle and down to the mirrors, where I asked the customer there to finish zipping up the dress. She did so and immediately said how much she liked it on me. Then the clerk walked in and exclaimed, “That looks fantastic!” But she noticed the bunching in the back down toward the rear slit in the dress and was concerned that there was a defect in the stitching.
I went back to my dressing room and unzipped the dress after taking a picture, and I saw the lining released from the zipper. So I tried to zip the dress up again and had the same problem. Somehow the lining was catching – I figured I could fix it easily at home. I reached back and pulled at the lining, and heard a sound as it released from the zipper. At that point, I didn’t want to rip the lining, so I carefully unzipped the dress and returned everything else to the rack, even the skirt.
It was now already close to 2 PM, and I hadn’t had lunch yet. I paid for the dress and returned to the car to head towards home. I stopped at a local restaurant with a large bar and perched myself on a seat to order a drink and a salad. I decided on this pink martini concoction, made with Chambord and pineapple vodka. It was a bit sweet for me, but I did enjoy it, along with the salad. I let the bartender know, as this is one of their signature drinks. The bar TVs had the NCAA college basketball tournament on, and I did engage in a short conversation with two men down the bar.
After I paid the bill, leaving a nice tip for the bartender, I drove home with my purchases and began thinking about what I would do that evening. I looked around for local restaurants that I had wanted to try, and that were open later on a Sunday night.
That will have to wait for part 3 of this very full day.
Hugs, Tina
