A Little Shopping

Now that I am employed again (which has done wonders for my finances, surprisingly enough), I can do some cautious amounts of shopping. I'm taking it easy, as I don't want to go overboard and "plastic" myself into more than I can handle, but in little baby steps, I am rejoining the shopping world. Ahh.

One thing I need (not, you know, need like I need to eat food in order to survive, but more like I need to buy spaghetti and pretzels) is at least one more pair of jeans that fits (ahem), since I can wear jeans to work (yay!) but I don't do laundry often enough to make one pair go all the time. After work tonight, I decided I had the energy to stop in TJ Maxx on the way home and see if they could help me out.

And in a way, the answer was no, for though I tried on the two pair that I thought were closest to my size and preferences, they just kind of Didn't Work.

However. Another thing I need is a new winter coat, since the one I have is, #1, getting ratty in ways like pulling away from the pocket zippers and showing lining, and #2, it apparently feels that my recent months of therapeutic ice cream eating have caused me to gain weight in the chest area. I am not disputing that I've gained some weight, but I don't think it's that specialized, and even if it is, to be honest, I don't need my coat popping open when I get in the car, get out of the car, or twist in the seat to check if the road is clear before pulling out. It's annoying, you know? I've gotten five seasons out of this coat, it was on sale to begin with (though if I recall correctly, I had trouble with the idea that $75 was a sale price), and it is time to move on.

And the universe, as if to apologize for the lack of good jeans for me tonight, sent me a nice coat, in a lovely sort of slate blue, soft, plenty big enough, zipper and snaps, detachable hood, machine washable, and it was $20. Thank you!

I tried on one other thing. I wasn't meaning to, but it snagged my hand from the clearance rack, and told me that I looked like the sort of girl who would really appreciate a raspberry-colored cashmere sweater for $36. I told it I shouldn't, but somehow it ended up in the dressing room with me. This doesn't capture the color truly, or the soft. Holy wow, the soft.


This sign was in the dressing room. Yup.


I think we all know how this story ends, right?

Postscript: it's a little known fact that cats are like magnets, and vary between attracting:


and repelling:


Also? Try not to look at that rug too closely. My word, the difference between having two short-haired cats, and having one short hair and one long hair! She doesn't seem to shed too much in the walk by and you're covered way, but there is a lot of fur around somehow or other.

Either I need to inflict feline-vacuum torture far, far more frequently, or I need to find other methods that contain the tumbleweeds. We'll try the carpet sweeper first. Phew!