Saturday, October 22, 2011

Theme of the Day? Waste of Time!

Today started out well enough. I was out of bed around 8:15, rip-roaring ready to start the day. Tired of messing with my skirt, I wanted to go shopping. I had plans to hit up TJMaxx, Macys, Dillards, Kohls, and maybe JCP all before hitting Walmart for groceries. But first Alex and I went to lunch at Applebee's and then went our separate ways. Him to hang out. Me to shop.

Since Shoe Carnival is in the same shopping plaza as TJMaxx, I hit there first. I was having a grand time trying on shoes. And then my phone rang, and it was Alex calling to tell me there was a problem with the mustang. What seemed to be a HUGE problem, since water was pouring into the passenger's footbed area *inside* the car. Well, I already had 2 pairs of shoes picked out (buy 1 get 1 half off), so I bought those and then drove to meet Alex.

Yep. Hot, rusty water pouring in. But absolutely NO water leaking under the hood or under the car. Weird, right? The car has no A/C, but I forgot about the heater. A 1965 heater, with a little mini radiator inside the car above the passenger's feet. Which was now leaking like nobody's business.

Luckily, Alex's friend's dad came to the rescue and fixed it up by simply disconnecting the hoses to the heater and re-routing them onto themselves to close the system. A 1965 heater doesn't provide much heat anyway, so it won't really be missed. If it ever even worked since we got the car. I distinctly remember freezing my butt off in the car on the drive with Tyler to bring it home to Florida from New Jersey in the middle of winter the year we bought it.

While I'm eternally grateful for the free and quick-turnaround fix, it did kind of put a damper in my shopping plans. But I headed back out after we were done dealing with the car around 4 PM.

First stop, TJMaxx. I was in and out of there in 5 minutes. I decided I wanted a real department store with pretty racks and organized clothes not a scavenger hunt. So THAT was a waste of time.

Next, Macys at the mall. Where I found absolutely NOTHING I liked enough to try on. It was all either too casual or too dressy. I didn't find career clothes. Waste of time #2.

Back in the car and around to the other side of the mall, to Dillards. (It's not that I'm lazy, but I didn't want to walk from one end of the mall to the other. I hate malls.) I always find things at Dillards, and I did today. I tried on a lot. But again, nothing really did it for me. I'm kind of in between size ranges right now. Not quite all the way plus anymore, but not NOT plus, if you know what I mean. So everything was either too big or too small. Waste of time #3. By this time, it was after 6 PM and I still had the groceries to get. So, clothes shopping was done and I was off to Walmart and then back home to unload.

Discouraged by my shopping failures, I decided to have another go at my skirt. Waste of time #4. While I fixed the tummy pooching problem by ripping off the waist facing and taking an inch off the top of the skirt front, I royally screwed up how the facing would fit by doing that. So now it's all puckered and weird. ARghhhh. I knew better but tried it anyway. Here is its present state:


Since walking away, I've decided that I can probably save it by using petersham for the waist (almost typed waste — hah!) facing. I think I have some. I'll look later. In the meantime and as soon as I finish typing this, I'll rip off the now-understitched facing one more time while watching some TV before calling it a night.

To end on a good note, my new shoes. I'm going a little crazy in the shoe department, but I love it. The last time I worked outside my home I was also a shoe fiend. Looks like old habits die hard (or not at all).

Aren't these GORGEOUS?? This is the way for me to do Mary Janes. And that color -- oooo, I've died and gone to heaven Oz. (There's no place like home, there's no place like home!!)



And one casual pair, since all I have is either flip flops or 15 years old. Not that I need an excuse to buy shoes. But I do need to clear out some of the 15-year old dust collectors.


19 comments:

  1. Terrific buys with the shoes,Debbie! The red ones solve the 'not near the ankle' strap problem (I have it!)as well as the shoes that have such a low cut that it takes serious toe clenching to keep them on! I wear shoes like the other pair, and they are my go-to shoes for a lot of the year-I wear jeans/pants mostly.You deserved them both after that sort of day!!
    Aless

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  2. Love, love, love the red shoes. Absolutely fab-u-lous!

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  3. Diane from Sydney2:55 AM, October 23, 2011

    Great shoes. I use orthotics and it is so hard to find a pretty shoe that takes an orthotic and fits well. I am also between clothing sizes and it is so frustrating!

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  4. Those red shoes are scrumptious and the others look great with the jeans.

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  5. Debbie, as someone deprived of the mall shopping experience, I shop vicariously through you. Nice shoes!

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  6. When it rains, it pours. Suddenly, you have all kinds of water problems. Isn't that jus the way? Cute shoes!

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  7. Oh, I hate days like that! But console yourself by looking at your cute shoes!

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  8. To echo Gwen, first you have not enough water, then you have too much water! Murphy get around, eh?

    I agree that TJMaxx is too much of a scavenger hunt. And I LOVE your shoes! Click-click! And, yes, shopping between sizes is a drudge.

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  9. Love your ruby red slippers!

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  10. I'm in love with your red shoes! *steals them and runs off* They are so cute and spunky!

    I hear you on the waste of time. I stopped shopping on a regular basis when I realized how many times I came home empty-handed and how I could be using that time to sew instead. One of the main reasons I've never done TJ Maxx or Ross or Marshall's is because it takes me far too long to find anything and I get frustrated.

    Hope you can get the car heater fixed. Even a little bit of heat is better than none (says the perpetually cold person, ha).

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  11. Shopping like this is why I sew. People say they don't have time to sew. But I don't have time to spend entire days in malls, and end up with nothing, or not the right size or not the color I like or whatever. Hang in there, you've been doing really well with clothes, a little hiccup won't stop you :-).

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  12. Aw I don't think your shopping day was a total disaster, you got the gorgeous red shoes!

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  13. Ah! The ruby "slippers" make all the pain go away, don't they?

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  14. Love the shoes and your blog! I have been reading for awhile and look forward to hearing about your life. Wishing you all the best!

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  15. I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds TJ Maxx (and Marshall's) a grand disorganized waste of time. But at least you got shoes. And the Mustang heater's fixed. It's not as necessary in Florida as New Jersey, anyway.

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  16. Thank goodness you found those shoes so your day wasn't a complete loss! I love both of them!

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  17. I love the red shoes! Here's something else you accomplished today: you taught this beginner something new. I had never heard of petersham fabric before I saw it on your blog just now. When I googled the term, I discovered an online fabric store I've never seen before. Thank you for teaching me something new!

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  18. Ummm, so Debbie, do tell us the brand of the ruby red shoes and where you bought them. Some of us NEED them!

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Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

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