Caution: Women Shopping!

Well, I went to not one but TWO sample/warehouse sales this morning.

The first stop was the Athleta warehouse sale. If you are not familiar with Athleta, they are a women's athletic wear catalog. Beautiful clothing but really expensive. So I jumped the chance to hit their warehouse sale at the local VFW. I was not prepared. I thought I would waltz in and leisurely shop. How naive! There were women shoulder-to-shoulder down every aisle. They were digging through piles of clothing on tables as if someone had told them a diamond ring was hidden somewhere inside of the mess. I started to get scared. There was no way to retreat. I had to press forward. I clutched my plastic shopping bag to my chest and hoped for the best. After a few minutes, I started to panic. Maybe these women were getting in on deals that I was missing! I started shoving random things into my sack. Bright pink board shorts! Absolutely! Ski pants for all the "skiing" that I do in California. Perfect! It was a tough journey but I finally made my way to the cashier. I told the lady, "I'm so excited to see what I ended up with!" I got a ski jacket, ski pants, a sweater cardigan and four pairs of shorts. And they all actually fit. A miracle.

I went home and changed clothes to prepare myself for the next sale. (I had sweated through my other clothes through a mixture of anxiety and close proximity to other humans) It was time to hit Mrs. Grossman's. If you are not familiar with Mrs. Grossman's, it is a wonderful sticker company that started in the 1980's. I was a huge fan as a child. When I heard they were having a one-day warehouse sale...well, as my mother would say, it was "Katie, bar the door." (a Texas expression) This one was a lot less stressful than the Athleta. However, I was caught up in the frenzy yet again. Albums for $5. Count me in! Strips of stickers for 25 cents! Get me a shovel! So, if any of you do any crafty swapping with me in the next few months, get ready for lots of Mrs. Grossman stickers on your things.

All in all, I did pretty well. I have to say I was a bit appalled at some of the shoppers. They trampled each other to get to things and left stuff on the floor. I saw one woman deliberately push clothing onto the floor to get deeper into the pile and then step on the clothes! I tried picking up clothing and stickers and putting them back because it offended my obsessive need for order but I finally had to give up. The task was too daunting.

Whew!

Is it time for a nap? This shopping stuff wears me out!