Last night was supposed to be the meeting of my writers' group, but at the last minute no one but me could make it. I'd been with my kids all day and even survived a four-year-old playdate at our house (although my house didn't survive quite as well. You should see the carnage of Batman action figures and fire trucks strewn everywhere). I'd been counting on getting out that night for a mental break. So I called a friend to go have a glass of wine. She couldn't go. She suggested, "Why don't you go to the mall? Oh wait. No. Don't go to the mall."
But I did - just to get out of the house. I wandered the home stores. Restoration Hardware. Anthropologie. Macy's and Bloomie's. I didn't even look at clothes. What's the point? But the whole experience was a downer. I haven't been to the mall since Aug. 1. I probably won't go again. Shopping as a fun, social experience, a way to get out and relax, is not part of my lifestyle right now. That's a tough revelation to have. First, it's a little scary to realize that shopping was that kind of outlet in the first place. And second, it's tough to know that the outlet is now gone.
Over at YLF, they're talking about AT Loft looking great this fall. No AT Loft for me :( It's only been one month, there are four left, and I have no idea how I'm going to make it.
Sigh.
Next time- try a movie (even alone that works). Don't give up your downtime just because you're not shopping. Look at it this way- you're 1/5 of the way done!
ReplyDeleteA movie! That would have been smart. I'm reading "Never Let Me Go" right now because the movie is coming out soon. I always like to read the book first - and that movie is next on my list.
ReplyDeleteDays later I arrive with pithy wisdom! :)
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, I think you would have had a frustrating shopping trip even if you had been able to buy anything; it was your third choice of activities that you ended up doing after your first choices bailed out. That's not a recipe for fun, you know?
Also, when I am shopping alone I don't think of it as a social activity. It's business then; I am there to try on as much as I can, hit more stores than I would with others, cross things off my list, or even wander through for ideas of what is coming. It's only when I shop with friends that it is social and/or relaxing. But maybe that's just me!