If the Shoe Fits

Whew. That was a weekend.

I'd say I wrapped up about 75% of my Christmas shopping. My new goal is the end of November.

I have one very important thing to share: NEVER sacrifice comfort for fashion when shopping. I had the brilliant idea of wearing the only pair of brown-not-flip-flop-and-look-good-with-jeans shoes that I own with my Friday outfit for shopping. The problem with this idea is that these shoes are a half size too small. My grand scheme was to buy a pair of much cuter brown shoes that fit once my shopping began. Bad, bad plan.


Friday began with those unfortunate pumpkin pancakes. We then went to SuperTarget for two hours. The tile floor of the SuperTarget caused all sorts of growing pain like symptoms behind my knees and in my calves. I kind of wanted to have a temper tantrum by the end of the two hour tour.

I thought maybe buying a temporary pair of brown-ish shoes while dwelling in SupertTarget might tide me over until I could by the ultimate brown shoes later in the day. Huge mistake. Huge. Never buy a pair of $14 shoes to deal with podiatric issues. Now I was dealing with the new shoe blister forming on my left heel.

On to Ikea. Seriously, Ikea is not a store. It is an event. I was in no way prepared for the stamina I would need to call upon to survive FOUR hours in Ikea. In ridiculous shoes. That will perhaps be another post for another day.

It is now 3 p.m. and we make our way to a jewelry warehouse kind of place. Have I mentioned that my idea of shopping is going into the mall to go to the store to get the specific item that I need? Not aimless wandering. I am pushing all my boundaries. Needless to say, the jewelry warehouse kind of place wore me out.

Off to the mall. We wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. Yum. I had been dreaming of Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes all day.

Do y'all remember the movie The Birds? Well, this particular mall has been inundated with black birds. We noticed the creepy birds as we dashed into the mall covering our heads. For some reason, however, when The Cheesecake Factory person asked if we would want to sit outside, I said, "Sure!!"

My mother-in-law immediately gives me a look. She said she'll be cold and miserable. I told her it would be nice with the heat lamps. Pretty much I just wanted to sit as fast as possible to get off my throbbing feet.

So we sit. We gaze at the 56 page menu. The birds are screeching overhead and it is a little freaky. I look at The Princess who is looking at the table. Bird poop. On the table. Sick. The waitress cleans it. Still sick. Not wanting to put an ounce of pressure on my poor tootsies, I stay at the table putting my child at risk of bird flu.

I ask the waitress if people are ever pooped on by the birds. Her response? "It is really really rare." Translation? Yes.

In my most bizarre move of the trip, I ordered pumpkin cheesecake after the earlier pancake incident.

We eat. We shop at the mall. I find incredible brown shoes. Not in my size. I find brown shoes plan B...not in my size. We go to the hotel.

Saturday begins with a much better breakfast of French Toast. Yum. We are at the most fabulous mall from 10 until 7. I'm in better shoes, but I am having aftershocks from the day before.

We made a wonderful stop in the hallowed ground of Anthropologie. I lose my head in that place. My breathing becomes much more shallow and my hands get all clammy. I try on 46 pieces of wonderfulness and leave with only four. This dress that I really wanted to be the best dress that I've ever worn did not work out. So much so, that when I asked the salesperson what she thought, she said, "Um...I'm kind of indifferent". Translation? Keep trying, thunder thighs.

We watched the best movie I've seen in a long time. August Rush. It was the sneak preview and at the end the entire audience erupted in applause. After obsessing over it all night, though, I'm left with lots of questions. I really need to talk with others who have seen it. So many questions...

It was a great trip but I am so glad to be back at The Palace. Except for my modem died. So I am at The King's place of business. Hopefully it will be working tomorrow...if not, I think I'll go buy myself a pair of shoes.