feathers

Yesterday Meggers and I girded our loins and sold a little bit of our souls to consumerism...that is, hit the mall for some much-needed apparel -- she for work clothes (maternity ones -- yes, folks, she's going to be a mom, and I'm going to be an auntie!!!), I for something to wear to my sister's wedding in the Caribbean in November.

We both hate shopping. I learned to be more okay with it during my stint as a retail associate three years ago (summer is a season of anniversaries for me -- three years ago on August 14 I first rolled into the Bend to call it home), but it's still not my first choice of Fun Things to Do, and we both grew considerably grouchier as the day wore on. But we powered through and we made it, rather productively, I thought, and something about doing something mutually hateful together bolstered our determination.

The best part of my experience was finding dresses for the Cayman Islands. Of course my first stop was at Ann Taylor -- I found my bridesmaid dress for my (woopee!!) maid of honor status on their website (it's beauuuutiful) and I wanted to see how their sizes are running these days, so I tried on a few and found one to add to the wardrobe, insanely, deliciously on sale, pretty as a pin, and I remembered my dictum for dress buying when I was an associate: Buy the dress that makes you dance.

I also found one at Old Navy for six bucks, and a fun pair of hempy sandals to go with both at DSW.

Now all I need are the appropriate undergarments, shoes for the bridesmaid dress (already picked out online, but again, I need to see how Ann Taylor's sizes are running, so it's another trip back to the store), and jewelry. And it isn't even close to the last minute yet. I'm somewhere between pleased and surprised with myself. But maybe it's the Scots find-that-sale-and-save-that-penny streak rearing up in me at last.