Anyway, there have been a few shopping trips that I've been on the have proven to be unique to say the least.
The first one begins with the rumor that one of my favorite boutiques in Tyler was having a huge blowout sale at their warehouse. So after hearing this I knew I had to find it. Brandon was such a good sport and took me to search for this "hidden" warehouse. Finally after many failed attempts at the rumored location we finally find it about 5 miles on the outskirts of Tyler in an unmarked previously vacant store. Apparently this little sale only happens once a year so it's not something that is hugely advertised and they apparently don't pick the same location each year to have this warehouse sale. Anyway, we finally found the place and it took me no time at all to load Brandon's arms with designer threads that were about one-third of the retail price. The store was organized by price which is something that is hard for me to pay attention to when I can use the excuse "but it's like 80% off", even though it's still not super cheap. After rummaging through several of the racks Brandon convinces me that I should probably start eliminating things by trying them on. As I head towards the back of this not so large store, I notice a giant curtain covering the back wall of the store. I proceeded to ask the associate for a dressing room and she just points to the large curtain and says "Maim I hope you don't mind but it's a communal dressing room." My first thought was ummmm ok this can't be that bad, but as I walk through the curtain I realize it's not a dressing room at all, it's just a large room with a couple of empty racks to hang your "try-on" clothes on and a few large mirrors placed against the surrounding walls. Normally I'm not a shy person when in front of my friends but to be trying on clothes in front of complete strangers was a whole new experience. There was one other girl in the room at the time so I made sure I was on the complete opposite side of the room from her. Once I began trying on clothes the awkwardness of the situation went away and all I could think about was the amazing pieces that I was going to get! :) One thing that I was thankful for was that there was really only about 3 other people in the store at the same time. After finding several things that I knew I could not live without I would just take them out of the dressing area to Brandon and he would give me a thumbs up or down. During my last set of try-ons I again found myself in the dressing area with another lady. I don't know about everyone else but normally if I'm half naked in front of a complete stranger trying on clothes I don't really feel the need to ask advise or conversate with that person. I guess though this lady didn't feel the same way. She kept coming over and asking what I thought about her outfits and wanting me to help her choose, needless to say it was very awkward standing there in nothing but my undies trying to cover my bare top in an un-obvious way but eventually she just went away.
After all of this interesting shopping experience I walked away with a beautiful pea coat, a great pair of designer blue jeans and two absolutely gorgeous Diane Von Furstenburg dresses that I am madly in love with!!! I smile just thinking about the experience because it was so unusual yet very successful!! :)
